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Old 24th Apr 2018, 4:10 pm   #22
Slothie
Octode
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Newbury, Berkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,287
Default Re: MK14 schematic revisions

In the last few years prices for PCB manufacture have dropped hugely as China has become more accessible to the "hobbyist".
The CAD software I am using is KICAD, its a bit quirky and has a few irritating but not show stopping bugs, but its unrestricted and its used and developed by CERN so it has reasonable support. It is supported on Linux (which I use), Windows and MacOS. I used to use Eagle CAD but its 80mm x 50mm board size limit for the free/cheap versions made it unusable for any substantial circuit with 40 pin DIPs! To get bigger boards you needed to buy a £1000+ licence which was a non-starter. All I can say is that having climbed the steep learning curve and the quirky interface its been worth it. There are possibly better free or cheap options but I didn't have time to evaluate too many
Thanks for even thinking of measuring the keyboard! I'm constantly conflicted between making an exact replica and a functional one. I suppose I'm trying to recreate the "look and feel" with perhaps period appropriate modifications to make it more usable (keyboard being the obvious example!) To be honest I'm hugely impressed with Karen Orton's PIC14 and it would have been good enough to satisfy my nostalgia until I stumbled across a SC/MP on eBay and this whole crazy project started... I love your PIC14, looks like you'll be able to take it on the bus or train to while away those boring trips!

Last edited by Slothie; 24th Apr 2018 at 4:24 pm. Reason: mistake
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