Breadboarding an 8 bit computer

[GreyGeek]

Ben Eater has a YouTube channel on which he documents the construction of an 8 bit computer on a breadboard in a series of videos explaining each section of the computer and how it works. It is a very interesting series.

Here is his video explaining the signals on an Ethernet cable:

His series starts here:

And, his webpage documenting the entire project:
https://eater.net/8bit

[MoonRise]

Nice! Watched that whole thing on his explanation. Topics I haven't really touched on since college!

[GreyGeek]

Nice! Watched that whole thing on his explanation. Topics I haven't really touched on since college!

As part of my Physics curriculum I took Electronics in grad school. 1967 was a time when electronics had, a few years before, migrated from vacuum tubes into transistors, and they were just morphing into VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated) chips and the Operational Amplifier. It was a GREAT time to be studying electronics. Radio Shack had about every transistor and VLSI chips available, along with loads of tools and testing equipment. When RS phased out of those parts I was forced to go online to James Inc. to get the same things. Meanwhile, I built almost everything Heathkit had to offer in the way of electronic devices: color tv, grid dip meter, QRP transmitter, paddle board key, strip chart recorder, analog computer, and many more. Now, I can put all that stuff on my phone and still have 32GB free.