Over the years there have been a few special RC2014 computers made. Some of these were offered as a limited edition kit, whilst others are purely a one-off. Unless specifically mentioned, none of these are still available to buy.
RC2014 Mini After Dark
The RC2014 Mini After Dark was the first Limited Edition RC2014 kit which went on sale in January 2020. The design is based on the RC2014 Mini, but using the OSHPark After Dark PCB service. This distinctive look shows off the PCB tracks, so a lot of time was taken to neaten up the PCB layout and make the tracks look as good as possible. Some of the components, such as chip sockets were upgraded to premium parts, and connectors were swapped out for white ones. Finally, a mirrored acrylic base with brass standoffs was supplied so the underside of the board could be appreciated too. Did I mention how nice the tracks look?
Numbers were limited to 25, with each one having its number marked on the PCB. Later, during the Covid shutdown, the Center For Computing History was struggling financially on account of not being able to open. An extra kit was put together and auctioned off as number zero to raise money for them
RC2014 Classic II and RC2014 Zed Ukrainian Special
In 2022 two kits were launched as fundraisers to help support Ukraine against their invasion. These kits were based on the RC2014 Classic II and RC2014 Zed respectively, but were supplied with a yellow backplane, connectors, LED, switch and jumpers. The image of the yellow backplane with blue modules above is representative of the Ukrainian flag. Functionally these work exactly the same as the standard kit, but 50% of the cost of each sale went to Ukrainian Humanity Assistance Fund. Almost £2000 was raised in total. See the original listing for RC2014 Classic II Ukraine Special and RC2014 Zed Ukraine Special on z80kits.
CrayZee Eighty
Sometimes when you have a daft idea, the only way to exorcise it is to make it a reality. This was what happened when I wondered if a backplane could be made on a flexible PCB and curled round with the modules coming out from the center. Spoiler: It can! Not only that, but it looked a bit like the original Cray super computers. So I took that idea and ran with it!
The full writeup on the CrayZee Eighty can be found here
Etch-a-sketchy
Sometimes things just come together nicely. Etch-a-sketchy was one of those times. I had recently launched the Dual Paddle Analogue Module from Peacock Media, and was also selling a NeoPixel Matrix Module, also from Peacock Media. Liverpool Makefest was coming up and I wanted a hands-on exhibit for the public. A conversation with Shiela Dixon resulted in this lovely device.
It is an RC2014 Mini II running a custom ROM with Shielas code to write to the NeoPixel display. The Dual Paddle Analogue Module is connected to two pots (potentiometers) which are mounted inside pots (Pot Noodle pots) and control the NeoPixels like an Etch-a-sketch. But in colour! Read about it in more detail here.
RC2014 Pro Pride and RC2014 Zed Pro Pride
The Limited Edition Pride kits were the most ambitions kits yet. The RC2014 Pro Pride and RC2014 Zed Pro Pride are based on the RC2014 Pro and RC2014 Zed Pro respectively, and include additional modules such as the Digital I/O Module, ESP8266 Wifi Module, Pi Pico VGA Terminal and DS1302 Real Time Clock.
The main difference is that the PCBs have been colour coded to the rainbow of the Pride flag, along with the headers, connectors, LEDs, jumpers, and anything else that can be made to match. Whilst most of the PCBs feature standard colours of solder resist from the manufacturers, a few specific colours were unavailable. For these modules a process of dye sublimation was developed. An assembly guide shows a lot of detail of each module.
Kits were limited to 40 of each model and went on sale in June 2023. For every kit sold during June, £40 was split between Trans Rescue and Rainbow Railroad, two fantastic charities doing great work for LGBTQ+ folks. Each of those charities got a donation of £1380
Pixel Purse Display
This is not strictly speaking a custom RC2014 – however, this display was made specifically for showing off the RC2014 at live events. It stared life as a kids toy. Well, 3 of them actually. But with the screens harvested, daisy chained together and hooked up to an ESP32 they are much more fun. A laser cut diffuser on top of a 3D printed mesh looks great.
It is essentially a serial terminal that decodes ANSI escape codes, but every character is a single pixel. That makes it almost impossible to use as a serial terminal, but with something like the Mandelbrot program that sets each pixel to a colour it looks fantastic! This can normally be seen at events being driven by an RC2014 Mini After Dark.
RCade
The RCade is what you get if you put an RC2014 Zed in to a Pimoroni Picade cabinet. A custom laser cut interior support was created and the standard joystick mount was replaced with an RC2014 keyboard mount.
Inside is an RC2014 Zed along with RTC, IDE Module with 2.5″ HDD, YM2149 Sound Card and a Pi Zero terminal. A power supply is built in to the enclosure and the original Pimoroni amplifier and speaker are retained. You can read the full writeup on it here.
