Show threadAGMSApr 13

Looks up EF9367. Ooo, ahh, it can do 512 pixel wide scan lines. That means 80 column text!

My current project #NthPongEars for the #NabuPC uses a 4 year older TMS9918A video chip that just does 256 pixels per line.

Show threadAGMSMar 21
I didn’t know much about Gould, other than they were the only one with a computer system fast enough to run the head end of the #NABU cable TV data network in 1982, pumping out 6 megabits per second to a city of #NabuPC home computers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NABU_Network
NABU Network - Wikipedia

Show threadPierreNick  💾Jan 26
@AGMS00 Ohh awesome. When I saw the theme of #VCFMontreal this year was “Canadian Computing”, I immediately thought #NabuPC!
Show threadAGMSJan 26
@pierrenick I had a good time at #VCFMontreal. Lots of chats, interesting talks and I even got to ask CuriousMarc (YouTuber restoring Apollo computing and digital radio equipment) a NASA atomic clock question (they used the same HP clocks he is working on, for measuring Doppler speed changes in the radio signal from the space craft). But for me, mostly #NabuPC stories and history and meeting people.
AGMSJan 4

I'm planning on going to the #VCF Vintage Computer Federation's Montreal convention (January 24, 25 2026), to see a couple of #NabuPC talks by Leo Binkowski and D.J. Sures. https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal has show info.

I hope to be in the audience, since I'm writing #NthPongWars initially for the #Nabu. I might be able to demo it.

I also hope to see CuriousMarc of Apollo guidance computer restoration fame demoing his recreation of the space radio data transmission system.

Looks like a fun weekend!

Show threadAGMSSep 27, 2025
Maybe I should make a video about my attempt to allow bigger programs on the Z80 #NabuPC by switching off the 4K boot ROM to access the underlying RAM? :-) Technically it’s just a relocating loader.
AGMSSep 5, 2025

Had fun adding the first power-ups to #NthPongWars, a game for the Z80 #NabuPC. Of course, got many more ideas. The challenge is fitting them in 64K of memory, and making overall game-play coherent.

Details, discussion and video script in the longer blog post at http://web.ncf.ca/au829/WeekendReports/20240207/NthPongWarsBlog.html#2025.09.03

AGMSMar 5, 2025

I spent more time on #NthPongWars today, looking into sound effects on the #NabuPC using the AY-3-8910 sound chip. I also converted some old assembler Pac-man sound code to C to get the hang of it, and found an abandoned sound experiment in the wacka-wacka code.

Longer story and technical details and code on my blog at https://web.ncf.ca/au829/WeekendReports/20240207/NthPongWarsBlog.html#2025.03.04

NABU Nth Pong Wars Blog

AGMSFeb 25, 2025

#NthPongWars continues on the #nabupc now with signs of game-play, after a difficult time figuring out Manhattan vector rotation math.

I added tile power! Every time you run over your own tiles, they gain in strength. Then when you switch to harvest mode, you get accelerated when you consume your tiles, more speed obtained for stronger tiles.

More details on the blog at https://web.ncf.ca/au829/WeekendReports/20240207/NthPongWarsBlog.html#2025.02.23

NABU Nth Pong Wars Blog

AGMSJan 21, 2025

#NthPongWars continues on the #NabuPC. Today's head banging brought to you by #Z88DK / #SDCC compiler system for the Z80, where itoa() indirectly causes a crash or mysterious glitches as local variables suddenly change on their own.

Turns out the underlying utoa() assembler code uses more than the usual registers, including ix and the alternate set. And when compiling for speed, ix is the stack frame pointer! Hilarity ensues when you use a local variable pointer to write to memory :-)