The music is a MicroBeast/NanoBeast port of of the Ulasyn engine by utz of the Irrlicht Project. Deep dive (and I mean deeeep) on this soon...
October 23, 2026 at 10:48 PM
The music is a MicroBeast/NanoBeast port of of the Ulasyn engine by utz of the Irrlicht Project. Deep dive (and I mean deeeep) on this soon...
What's better than 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast or a NanoBeast? That's right! 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast *and* a NanoBeast. Perfectly in time thanks to SynchroBeast (tm)!
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
MicroBeast orchestra
YouTube video by the anarchic collective
youtu.be
October 23, 2026 at 10:09 PM
What's better than 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast or a NanoBeast? That's right! 1-bit beepage on a MicroBeast *and* a NanoBeast. Perfectly in time thanks to SynchroBeast (tm)!
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
youtu.be/0BKwF2iblig
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
October 23, 2026 at 1:13 PM
I built an audio line out interface for my* Feersum NanoBeast out of scrap, and tested it with some classic one-bit beeping ("PhaseF" by utz of Irrlicht Project).
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
Line out for NanoBeast
Recently I was doing some one-bit beeping on my borrowed NanoBeast and comparing it to my MicroBeast. An unfair comparison because the MicroBeast has been modified to provide a line output, which is c...
blog.ant.org
October 20, 2026 at 2:53 PM
I built an audio line out interface for my* Feersum NanoBeast out of scrap, and tested it with some classic one-bit beeping ("PhaseF" by utz of Irrlicht Project).
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
[* @lockfarm.bsky.social 's]
blog.ant.org/line-out-for...
#retrocomputing #z80
I did the early work to build a Z80 emulation of the original Nut 56-bit serial processor. It should be possible to run the original HP ROMs on MicroBeast.
Sadly, I've not had the spare time to complete that project. I suspect it would have a bit of a niche audience!
Sadly, I've not had the spare time to complete that project. I suspect it would have a bit of a niche audience!
October 19, 2026 at 2:45 PM
I did the early work to build a Z80 emulation of the original Nut 56-bit serial processor. It should be possible to run the original HP ROMs on MicroBeast.
Sadly, I've not had the spare time to complete that project. I suspect it would have a bit of a niche audience!
Sadly, I've not had the spare time to complete that project. I suspect it would have a bit of a niche audience!
I made a really WEIRD display
YouTube video by Witchcraft and Alchemy
www.youtube.com
October 19, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Quazar has a slot expansion for the Microbeast to add further hardware, and has had some nice work with his Rc2014 sound cards
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKDK...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKDK...
Feersum MicroBeast with Quazar hardware (2 x Soundchip Interfaces, plus MicroBeast Expansion Card)
YouTube video by QuazarSamCoupe
www.youtube.com
October 14, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Quazar has a slot expansion for the Microbeast to add further hardware, and has had some nice work with his Rc2014 sound cards
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKDK...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKDK...
MicroBeast BIOS 1.8 makes a huge difference
October 14, 2026 at 7:57 AM
MicroBeast BIOS 1.8 makes a huge difference
Had a really good evening playing around with the MicroBeast last night. The firmware update has improved an already great little machine into a fabulous one. It's amazing how a handful of thoughtful changes can make the world of difference.
October 14, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Had a really good evening playing around with the MicroBeast last night. The firmware update has improved an already great little machine into a fabulous one. It's amazing how a handful of thoughtful changes can make the world of difference.
Some nice subtle improvements. I'm not sure whether Ctrl+D switched the LED display off in the previous version. And DOWNLOAD is now bundled in the standard firmware.
October 13, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Some nice subtle improvements. I'm not sure whether Ctrl+D switched the LED display off in the previous version. And DOWNLOAD is now bundled in the standard firmware.
Mmmm. The destructions are wrong at this point. Not getting the option on the MicroBeast I was told to expect. Asking the Oracle. Hold please caller.
October 13, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Mmmm. The destructions are wrong at this point. Not getting the option on the MicroBeast I was told to expect. Asking the Oracle. Hold please caller.
Seems to have transferred okay.
October 13, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Seems to have transferred okay.
Further to last night's MicroBeast outing, updating the firmware to the latest and greatest. Needs to be sent via YMODEM. Thankfully I wrote a script that does this in Linux.
October 13, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Further to last night's MicroBeast outing, updating the firmware to the latest and greatest. Needs to be sent via YMODEM. Thankfully I wrote a script that does this in Linux.
Of course! MicroBeast comes with Microsoft's CP/M MBASIC.
October 13, 2026 at 9:51 AM
Of course! MicroBeast comes with Microsoft's CP/M MBASIC.
New friend! Hi, MicroBeast! 👋🏻🤩 Do you speak BASIC?
October 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
New friend! Hi, MicroBeast! 👋🏻🤩 Do you speak BASIC?
You can't go wrong with a MicroBeast
The MicroBeast is a big hit at Geekery this evening.
October 12, 2026 at 8:01 PM
You can't go wrong with a MicroBeast
The MicroBeast is a big hit at Geekery this evening.
October 12, 2026 at 7:12 PM
The MicroBeast is a big hit at Geekery this evening.
Some more eBay offers...
➡️ £10 off Trinity Interface bundle for #SAMCoupe
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11746024...
➡️ £5 off SAA1099 Soundchip Interface for #RC2014 / #RCbus / compatibles
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
➡️ £2 off 3 Slot Expansion Card for #MicroBeast
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11741115...
➡️ £10 off Trinity Interface bundle for #SAMCoupe
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11746024...
➡️ £5 off SAA1099 Soundchip Interface for #RC2014 / #RCbus / compatibles
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
➡️ £2 off 3 Slot Expansion Card for #MicroBeast
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11741115...
October 11, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Some more eBay offers...
➡️ £10 off Trinity Interface bundle for #SAMCoupe
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11746024...
➡️ £5 off SAA1099 Soundchip Interface for #RC2014 / #RCbus / compatibles
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
➡️ £2 off 3 Slot Expansion Card for #MicroBeast
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11741115...
➡️ £10 off Trinity Interface bundle for #SAMCoupe
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11746024...
➡️ £5 off SAA1099 Soundchip Interface for #RC2014 / #RCbus / compatibles
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
➡️ £2 off 3 Slot Expansion Card for #MicroBeast
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11741115...
I need to see if I can get that running with MicroBeast/VideoBeast - I don't fancy writing a full FS layer from scratch!
October 7, 2026 at 9:31 PM
I need to see if I can get that running with MicroBeast/VideoBeast - I don't fancy writing a full FS layer from scratch!
On MicroBeast I've got very used to large address spaces through paging, so I don't miss internal 24 bit representations on a 16 bit (address space) Z80.
But internally, 32 bit is just necessary if you need a basically compatible and performant C implementation.
But internally, 32 bit is just necessary if you need a basically compatible and performant C implementation.
October 7, 2026 at 6:57 PM
On MicroBeast I've got very used to large address spaces through paging, so I don't miss internal 24 bit representations on a 16 bit (address space) Z80.
But internally, 32 bit is just necessary if you need a basically compatible and performant C implementation.
But internally, 32 bit is just necessary if you need a basically compatible and performant C implementation.
Full JKempston joystick 4 MicroBeast PCB write up: blog.ant.org/make-a-pcb-f...
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
Make a PCB for the Kempston joystick interface
The joystick interface we played with in Testing the Kempston compatible joystick interface works beautifully, but it is somewhat delicate. Even moving the MicroBeast a couple of feet or so runs the r...
blog.ant.org
October 3, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Full JKempston joystick 4 MicroBeast PCB write up: blog.ant.org/make-a-pcb-f...
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
#retrocompuiting #z80 #microbeast
I've got the SAA1099P Soundchip Interface (for MicroBeast / RC2014 / RCbus / compatibles) on eBay with a couple pounds off and a couple pounds to charity.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
#saa1099p #microbeast #rc2014 #rcbus #chiptune
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
#saa1099p #microbeast #rc2014 #rcbus #chiptune
October 2, 2026 at 9:55 AM
I've got the SAA1099P Soundchip Interface (for MicroBeast / RC2014 / RCbus / compatibles) on eBay with a couple pounds off and a couple pounds to charity.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
#saa1099p #microbeast #rc2014 #rcbus #chiptune
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11744144...
#saa1099p #microbeast #rc2014 #rcbus #chiptune
October 1, 2026 at 4:57 PM
I tried out the uc80 C compiler for z80 + cp/m with surprisingly good results:
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
uc80 C compiler for z80 CP/M
Recently I covered the Minz retro-compiler which made some grand claims about code size and performance, but wasn't quite able to back them up. Not yet at any rate, but it's exciting technology that I...
blog.ant.org
September 30, 2026 at 9:34 PM
I tried out the uc80 C compiler for z80 + cp/m with surprisingly good results:
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast
blog.ant.org/uc80-c-compi...
#retrocomputing #z80 #microbeast