mjg@ecsvax.UUCP (12/07/83)
Do-it-Yourself PCs
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There are now a number of bare PC boards on the market which
allow you to build your own IBM PC or a reasonable facimile.
I have just bought a bare board and I thought it would be a
good idea to share some of the building experiences as I go
along. Maybe there are others out there who have already done
this and we can have a net.pc.doityourself. At this time I
have not started construction, I am just accumulating parts
and information. Having built several computers before this I
think I should warn others that this is not a task for a complete
beginner. You should have some experience, or at least access to
friends who can help.
For now I am just going to list whats available that I know of.
If anyone out there knows of other sources or has built anything
at all - whole pcs or boards I would appreciate some feedback.
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Netronics Inc. (see Dec. Byte p418)
Phone: 1-800-243-7428
Bare Motherboard with BIOS rom $89.95 [D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D[D, has no on board RAM. $89.95
256k RAM board with Serial RS232 port (bare) $39.95
Color Graphics Board (bare) $89.95
Modem Board with 2 RS232 ports (bare) $49.95
Printer Spooler Board (bare) $49.95
Disk Controller with Hard Disk SASI interface,
parallel printer port and real time clock (bare) $69.95
Also available are things like cases, keyboards, power supplies
etc. Most boards can be obtained made up or with kits
of parts.
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Display Telecommunications Corp (see Dec Byte p613)
Megaboard PC motherboard with sockets for up to 5 8k*8 proms
or EEPROMS, 8 expansion slots. Claims full PC compatibility. $99.95
Mega-BIOS fully compatible MS-DOS/PC-DOS BIOS rom $29.95
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Micromint (see Byte Dec. p569)
MPX16 bare board. This is a pc bus-compatible board with many
features on the card that normally need plug ins - such as floppy
controller, RS232 etc. Expensive $300 because it is multi-layer
and extremely dense. Micromint in fact recommend that you buy the
socketed wave soldered board if you want a guarantee of success.
This costs $595 without any ICs. A complete IC kit costs an extra
$595, giving you 256k of RAM.
The problem with this board is that they only advertise CPM/86
for it. It has limited on board ROM and needs a keyboard adapter
to work with a standard pc keyboard.
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SuperComputer 1101 South Grand Ave, Suite J
Santa Ana CA 714[D[D[D(714) 540-1880.
Advertised in Computer Shopper, Nov and Dec 1983
This is the one I bought because I was in the area at the time and
was able to see it for myself before buying. Quality of the PC boards
is excellent. It remains to be seen whether it works when I put it
together.
Super PC Mother Board. Has 7 expansion slots and space for up to
8 2764 or 27128 EPROMS. This gives up to 128k bytes rom capacity I
think. bare board $95
manual $ 5 with board
$25 separately
Super XT Mother Board XT PC compatible. Looks like one above but has
8 slots. Same price.
Monochrome Graphics Board. (bare $60) Has 64 k bytes of ram on board
for enhanced graphics options.
Printer Parrallel Board (bare) $30
EPROM programmer board (bare) $70 with software
DISK controller with RS232 serial and printer parallel (bare) $60
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Typical prices for other items are
Keyboard $200
Case $150
Power Supply $200
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If anyone is interested in having a dialog on the net on this I would
be very happy. If you have bought any of the above boards and have
some experiences to relate I am sure others would be interested and
encouraged.
Please reply to me here on ecsvax or by phone (evenings EST) at
919-847-4779.
Mike Gingell,
Raleigh,
NC.
...............ecsvax!mjg