Радио 86РК (Radio 86RK): Part 2 (Loading ROM Software) [TCE #0478]
34Thanks to #PCBWAY for helping make this project possible!
Let's load some software via the ROM module that Sergey has included. The module connects via the parallel port and he has helpfully included a 32KByte ROM image in his Github repository. He has also helpfully included a small loader to simplify loading the different programs.
To load a ROM via the MONITOR you need to execute the [R] command with the ROM's start & end address and the location in RAM where it should be loaded.
Using Sergey's simple loader all you need to do is execute these MONITOR commands to get a menu to choose the ROM from:
R0,200,0
G
You'll then be presented with this menu:
0-BASIC
1-EDITOR/ASSEMBLER
2-EDITOR/DISASSEMBLER
3-DP/DDT
4-XONIX
5-OTHELLO
6-TETRIS
To load them directly, it looks like these are the relevant addresses:
;TABLE OF APPS ADDRESSES
;FORMAT: ROM START, ROM END, RAM START
TABLE: DW 0200H,21FFH,0 ; BASIC
DW 2200H,31FFH,0 ; EDITOR/ASSM
DW 3200H,41FFH,0 ; EDITOR/DIS
DW 4200H,54FFH,6400H ; DP/DDT
DW 5500H,5FFFH,0 ; XONIX
DW 6000H,779FH,5800H ; OTHELLO
DW 77A0H,7DFFH,3000H ; TETRIS
Next - let's find some cassette software to load!
From the Part 1 video:
The Radio 86RK was an early Soviet home brew computer (not the first) designed around their version of the Intel 8080, the КР580ВМ80А. It is named after the magazine it was featured in, РАДИО (or RADIO), with the РК (or RK) standing for "Радио Компьютер" (or radio computer), indicating that it was targeted at ham radio enthusiasts, similar to the use of a "ham shack" computer in the West.
It was then used as the basis for a range of industrially produced computers, such as the Партнер 01.01 (Partner) and Альфа БК (Alpha BK) already featured on this channel, which provided a case & keyboard, as well as saving the builder from trying to source scarce parts on their own.
This isn't an original build but Sergey Kiselev's updated version - I'm using v1.3 of his board which requires 2716 (2KByte) EPROMs still and uses the quirky JCUKEN keyboard layout. He has created a v1.4 that allows larger/newer EPROMs to be used as well as switching to the more familiar QWERTY keyboard layout.
https://github.com/skiselev/radio-86rk