🇫🇷 Thomson TO8D: Part 2 (Keyboard Problems Still) [TCE #0480]
24Continuing work on this beautiful 6809-based French computer. It has keyboard issues so I pull it all apart and give it a good clean. I also add in a DC power socket to power an external cassette recorder (aka LEP).
Re-assembling, it seems there are still keyboard issues that I will need to investigate deeper ... a simple wipe down with IPA doesn't seem to have helped, so I'll need to see which keys are not working and isolate a track or more that could be causing the issue.
The machine has a 14-pin DIN (DIN14) socket for a second disk drive, same as the Atari ST, but it seems the pinout is different. If no-one has made a DIN14-to-34pin-floppy-connecter then I will give it a go.
There is one already made for the Atari ST on Github that I could re-use:
https://github.com/5vsupply/Atari_Floppy
I also have the SDDRIVE still to build ... but I need a PLCC32-to-32pin adaptor for my EPROM programmer (ordered).
From Part 1:
Let's have a look at the ordinateur français Thomson TO8D. This is a 2nd generation Thomson machine, an improvement on the TO8 by including a built-in 3½" floppy disk drive but still using a 6809 clocked at 1MHz. It has 256KBytes of RAM and can run BASIC 512 or the original BASIC Microsoft 1.0 (common to all MO and TO machines). The BASICs are included on the internal ROM, meaning no MEMO7 cartridge is needed (like on the TO7).
This machine has a built-in power supply generating +5V and +12V DC. I'm planning to add a 2.1mm DC power socket (centre positive) so I can power my MK90.090 cassette recorder or LEP (magnétophone or lecteur enregistreur de programmes) via the machine.
It has a 5-pin DIN for the cassette as well as a 14-pin DIN for a second floppy disk drive (pin out seems different to the Atari ST ... from my quick check).