{"id":1370,"date":"2009-03-02T08:32:56","date_gmt":"2009-03-02T15:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/?p=1370"},"modified":"2015-09-26T11:11:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-26T18:11:09","slug":"diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY 8-bit Computer: Big Mess o\u2019 Wires"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/bmow_case9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"304\" height=\"406\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/\">Steve Chamberlin<\/a> created an 8-bit computer from discrete logic and called his project the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/\">Big Mess o\u2019 Wires<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The BMOW runs at 2MHz and has 512K RAM and 16K ROM.\u00a0 It is constructed with primarily <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/7400_series\">7400 series logic<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2009\/02\/02\/wire-wrap-photos\/\">over 1048 wirewrap connections<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The feature list is very impressive:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2008\/06\/21\/multitasking-success\/\">multitask<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>It has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2008\/06\/24\/video-tests\/\">VGA video output<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>It can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2009\/02\/07\/music-demo\/\">make sounds and music<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>It even runs <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2008\/11\/28\/microsoft-basic\/\">Microsoft Basic<\/a>!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a video of a music test from his site:<br \/>\n<object width=\"425\" height=\"344\" data=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/zdTH4KGBaBk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/zdTH4KGBaBk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><\/object><\/p>\n<p>I am completely blown away by this project.\u00a0 Has someone invited Steve to the Maker Faire??\u00a0 I want to see this thing in person!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/\">Check out his site<\/a> and prepare to spend at least an hour looking at all of his plans and construction photos.<\/p>\n<p>Totally amazing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/about\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1375\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires\/april_component_side_closeup\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/april_component_side_closeup.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"761,567\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"april_component_side_closeup\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/april_component_side_closeup.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1375\" title=\"april_component_side_closeup\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/april_component_side_closeup-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"april_component_side_closeup\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2009\/02\/02\/wire-wrap-photos\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1372\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires\/attachment\/1372\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bmow20photos20021t.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"512,384\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon PowerShot SD800 IS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1233556232&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.6&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.04&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"bmow20photos20021t\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bmow20photos20021t.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1372\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/bmow20photos20021t-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2008\/11\/15\/microchess-video-support\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1377\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires\/microchessvideo\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/microchessvideo.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"676,507\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon PowerShot SD800 IS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1226782839&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;6.142&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.076923076923077&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"microchessvideo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/microchessvideo.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1377\" title=\"microchessvideo\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/microchessvideo-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"microchessvideo\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stevechamberlin.com\/cpu\/2008\/09\/20\/mixed-mode-video\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1378\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires\/mixedmode_l\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/mixedmode_l.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1898,1486\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;3.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon PowerShot SD800 IS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1221969134&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;6.142&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.1&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"mixedmode_l\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/mixedmode_l-1023x801.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1378\" title=\"mixedmode_l\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/mixedmode_l-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"mixedmode_l\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steve Chamberlin created an 8-bit computer from discrete logic and called his project the Big Mess o\u2019 Wires. The BMOW runs at 2MHz and has 512K RAM and 16K ROM.\u00a0 It is constructed with primarily 7400 series logic and over 1048 wirewrap connections. The feature list is very impressive: It can multitask. It has VGA &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/diy-8-bit-computer-big-mess-o-wires\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">DIY 8-bit Computer: Big Mess o\u2019 Wires<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[75,41,181,36,59,45,180,35],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-electronics","tag-8-bit","tag-computing","tag-cpu","tag-diy","tag-interesting","tag-video","tag-wirewrap","tag-wiring"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pioCd-m6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1748,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/04\/diy-tivo-ir-blaster\/","url_meta":{"origin":1370,"position":0},"title":"DIY TiVo IR Blaster","author":"Jeff","date":"April 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I discovered that our local cable provider will soon be discontinuing analog cable service for most channels. \u00a0 Because of this they are forcing encouraging customers to get new cable boxes and upgrade to digital cable. I hate cable boxes.\u00a0 More than just another piece of equipment to find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DIY TiVo IR Blaster","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/3477836908_bc02a1a13c.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":668,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/bluetooth-handset-hack\/","url_meta":{"origin":1370,"position":1},"title":"Bluetooth Handset Hack","author":"Jeff","date":"November 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Kylie recently gave me an old, broken Motorola HS820 bluetooth headset.\u00a0 The headset suffered from a defective microphone that resulted in extremely low volume on outgoing audio, even though everything else worked fine. Upon receiving it, I proceeded to rip the headset apart, interested to see what was inside.\u00a0 I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Projects&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Projects","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/projects-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/retro_wireless_handset.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1337,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/diy-flexible-printed-circuits\/","url_meta":{"origin":1370,"position":2},"title":"DIY Flexible Printed Circuits","author":"Jeff","date":"February 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a really cool Instructable about using a flexible copper-clad material called Pyralux to make flexible printed circuit boards.\u00a0 You could make some really cool business cards with this stuff. DIY Flexible Printed Circuits (via makezine)","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pyralux material","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/f5x10thfb7fpni0medium-500x375.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5386,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/soldering-is-easy-shoutout-in-lifehackers-how-to-get-started-with-diy-electronics-projects\/","url_meta":{"origin":1370,"position":3},"title":"Soldering is Easy shoutout in Lifehacker&#8217;s &#8220;How to Get Started with DIY Electronics Projects&#8221;","author":"Jeff","date":"January 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo credit: bionerd Soldering is Easy got a shoutout from Lifehacker's Thorin Klosowski\u00a0this week in his post How to Get Started with DIY Electronics Projects, alongside Ladyada's \"E is for Electronics\" coloring book. Lots of great advice here: One of the key things to learn right off the bat is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"null","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8094\/8354836798_332aba85d9.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":192,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/bre-pettis-living-the-diy-dream\/","url_meta":{"origin":1370,"position":4},"title":"Bre Pettis | Living the DIY Dream","author":"Jeff","date":"September 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Bre Pettis (formerly of Make Magazine's Weekend Projects) is hosting a new TV show that premieres on the History Channel later this month. I\u2019m really excited.\u00a0 I just found out that my TV show pilot, called History Hacker is going to air on the History Channel on Friday, September 26th\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"DIY\"","block_context":{"text":"DIY","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/tag\/diy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2829798704_6d636a2eaa.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1089,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/improvements-to-the-diy-pid-controlled-soldering-hotplate\/","url_meta":{"origin":1370,"position":5},"title":"Improvements to the DIY PID-Controlled Soldering Hotplate","author":"Jeff","date":"January 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I posted about the DIY PID-Controlled Soldering Hotplate I designed and built to improve my surface mount soldering capabilities. I mentioned one issue I was having with the hotplate on flickr.\u00a0 Specifically, the aluminum baseplate was getting too hot for comfort (literally) when I set the hotplate to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Improvements to PID Controlled Hotplate","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/3224112528_54f5f3a154.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1370"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7890,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions\/7890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}