SC/MP National Industrial Basic Language (NIBL) Retro

[Phil_G]

Spent today in the shed making this ultra simple SC/MP computer which runs NIBL basic.
Its another of Karen Orton's designs and couldnt be simpler - two chips!

NIBL is a fairly standard Tiny-basic with a few nice extras like do/while, indirection, multiple separate memory pages and as the SC/MP has a few on-chip I/O pins, you can do real world stuff with it.

Genuine chips being hens teeth, the project makes use of Karens cycle-perfect SC/MP emulation on a PIC chip, with the genuine NIBL interpreter code in its flash. Since it's a PIC running NIBL she calls it a 'PICL'
Terminal connection is via our old faithful FTDI lead, like the one you'd use to program a Promini.

Here's her projects site - this one is near the bottom of the page:
http://www.techlib.com/area_50/Readers/Karen/micro.htm

If anyone fancies making an authentic 1976 computer, I can supply a pre-programmed PIC chip at cost and I have a few spare RAM chips.

Beware cheap chinese veroboard though - this short had me baffled for a while:

[Rogall]

Like you I have rekindled, hope that's not Amazon copyright, my interest in retro computing. So many thanks for pointing to Karen O's site and the retro computing boys. What a talent she was.

I'm determined to have ago at making one but I've yet to find where my PIC programmer is hidden. So if still available I'd like one of your pre-programmed PIC chips and memory chip. Let me know cost and P&P. Do I need to send my PM?
Cheers
Roger

[Martin]

Around 1980, I played with a KIM 1 and an AIM 65 loaned to me by a polytechnic. Neither had a case - just circuit boards with small calculator-style displays. The KIM 1 had a calculator-like keypad, and the AIM 65 a proper QWERTY keyboard. Both used a 6502 chip.

The KIM 1 was machine-code-only. I think there was a Tiny BASIC available for it - but that required some expansion pack which I didn't have. I seem to remember that its display was just like a calculator - about six digits, each with seven segments.

The AIM 65 had a bit more RAM and a proper assembler which used a cassette tape somehow for storage of the 'source code.' It had more characters on the display, and could display (most) letters as well as numbers. The one I used also had Tiny BASIC. I think you could get some other languages in ROM but mine didn't have those. It also had a built-in small thermal printer - like the ones you used to see on cash registers for printing small receipts.

I still have a manual I bought for the AIM 65 lying around somewhere, but I had to give the machines back.

[Rogall]

I'd like one of your pre-programmed PIC chips and memory chip.

No problem Roger, you mean for this very project, the 'PICL'?

Hi Phil
Yes the PICL, many thanks
Roger

[Phil_G]

[Rogall]

I'd like one of your pre-programmed PIC chips and memory chip.

Hi Roger sorry for the delay, the PIC chips arrived yesterday so I'll make up a set tomorrow and post Monday. PM your address please
Cheers
Phil

Hi Phil
Many,many thanks. PM on it's way.
Cheers
Roger

[Phil_G]

Added video to the NIBL computer using an ebay 4.5" screen and Geoff Graham's VT100 terminal chip, plus a Perixx mini-keyboard:
Based on a pic chip and not much else, this superb emulation is dead easy to build and the display is rock solid and crystal clear (the photos and video dont do it justice). Here NIBL is hard-coded to 1200 baud, but the terminal will run at 115200 and beyond. Its monochrome only of course.
The 4.5" screen here is a £10 ebay purchase, intended for car reversing, and the keyboard is a Perixx mini PS2. The next step is a cassette-tape emulation where we can store and reload programs via an SD card.
The PIC32MX chip isnt quite so straightforward as usual pics to program, I had to make up an adapter on veroboard - there are many necessary connections and components, it wont program without them.
To summarise, what we have here is a full implementation of a 1976 SC/MP system with 8k RAM and resident NIBL basic including a full video terminal in just three chips!!!
Retro but not, if you catch my drift...
Cheers
Phil





https://geoffg.net/terminal.html
http://techlib.com/area_50/Readers/Karen/micro.htm#PICL

[Timbucus]

Nice project Phil - very impressed - Karen also did a simple PIC terminal as part of her Orton PAGE2 / NIBL computer using a 16F876 - it is mentioned on Page 14 of the manual https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/sho ... ostcount=1. In the prototype it is built onboard but, it is also perfectly usable as a 1200 Baud (at the moment) general serial Terminal device if you build the custom keyboard matrix it scans!

[Phil_G]

I'd spotted Karens PIC terminal but I'd completely forgotten about it Tim, thats a handy bookmark.
You'll have seen that Martin is well on with a higher res 46-character-wide version on a 328P, so with Geoffs thats at least three options!
Its amazing what clever people can do in 64μS
Cheers
Phil

EDIT:
I've just done a small PCB for Karen's 2007 PICL design, its under 3" square and has all the Flag and Sense lines brought out to LEDs, buttons and a header, and talks via the usual USB-to-serial CH340 module rather than Karens original MAX232. The chips are a 6264 static RAM and a PIC16F877 or 877A variant.

For anyone fancying a look at NIBL or a trip down memory lane, this computer is really simple to make.
Its nice to make one of Karens many projects as a tribute to all she achieved.

Here's a video:



If anyone would like a board, please email me and I'll send a PCB at cost, strictly non-profit.

Here's Karens original PICL page from 2007: http://techlib.com/area_50/Readers/Karen/micro.htm#PICL

FURTHER EDIT:
I've done a bit of a software revision sufficiently improved to call it a "PICL V2", same PCB, no hardware changes:



Cheers
Phil

[Martin]

I thought I'd have a go at Karen's Mk 14 emulator thing, but I don't have any PIC 16s.

I ordered this board from AliExpress yesterday. It cost me £23 including tax and shipping, though it seems to have gone up in price hugely today. It has the necessary eight seven-segment LEDs and a 20-key matrix keypad, but they're probably wired to the wrong pins of the PIC, compared to Karen's design. I'll have a look once it arrives. Maybe I'll be able to rewire it to suit. It also has connectors for plugging in standard LCD display modules, some pots, a buzzer, infra red receiver, real-time clock by the looks of it, and a few other goodies...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005871026928.html