Step 2. Pick Your Favorite 8-Bit Computer
You must acquire and familiarize yourself with an 8-bit computer from the 1970s-1980s. Not just any 8-bit computer: it must have a parallel interface capable of communicating with Lego set #9750 also known as Interface A.
Lego endorsed 8-bit computers from Apple, BBC, Commodore, IBM, and Philips:
- Apple: Your can use an original Apple II with a language card, or any standard II+, //e, or //gs. You cannot use a //c because it doesn't have the required expansion slot. You can use Bell & Howell version, or a clone such as a Franklin Ace. I use a Laser 128 clone.
- BBC Micro: You can use a B, B+, or Master. (I'm still learning about this series and its variants.)
- Commodore: You can use any PET, VIC-20, 64, or 128. I'm unsure if other models had the same user port, which is required.
- IBM: Any PC or compatible will work, but it must have an ISA slot. (There is a hack for using PCs without an ISA slot.):
- Philips: You could use the P-2000. This is extremely rare. I believe it was used in Denmark and Germany.
Known-working systems that aren't endorsed by Lego:
- I posted a challenge on the popular Eurobricks forum to get 9750 working on other period-correct computers. I made three rules: 1. Use any computer and any programming language from 1992 or older, because Lego's next-generation 9751 system debuted in 1993. 2. Don't use any add-on hardware that was not available back then. Example: A breadboard is fine; an Arduino is unacceptable. 3. It's okay to run emulators if you do not have original machines, but you can't use any additional features that did not exist back then. Example: You can use Windows 1.0 or 2.0, but not 3.1 libraries.
- Thorsten Benter answered the challenge! He successfully connected to Interface A from an Atari 1040 ST, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and Sinclair ZX-81, by using a bare minimum of period-correct add-on hardware. Congratulations Thorsten, your prize is bragging rights! :)
What else? How about an S-100 computer? Any of the 6502 single-board computers such as the KIM-1 should work. I hope to try it soon! Computers such as the TRS-80, which have parallel printer interfaces, might work -- you'd be at the mercy of their BASIC implementations.
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