RC2014 Community Newsletter
Issue 41
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In This Issue
 
  • Ukrainian Fundraiser
  • 8x8 LED Matrix
  • Pi Pico Firmware
  • BreakIntoProg video
  • RC2040
  • EMF Camp
  • Backplane 5 discount
  • Community support
  • Feedback

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Ukrainian Fundraiser

I am sure we have all seen the awful situation over in Ukraine and want to do what we can to help. Unfortunately I have very few ways that I can help. However, I can make awesome retro computer kits.  And awesome retro computer kits can make money. And money can help charities save lives.

So I have a short run of 20 RC2014 Classic II kits and 20 RC2014 Zed kits that are themed in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. They are no different from the standard models, and are priced exactly the same. However, 50% of the sale price of these two yellow and blue kits will be donated to a humanitarian charity.

Since their launch earlier this week, 35 kits have been sold, raising £1627.50
Currently the Classic II is sold out, but once all of the initial 40 kits are shipped (Just waiting for some extra components on Monday to finish shipping the last few) I hope to release another smaller batch.

8x8 LED Matrix Module

The 8x8 LED Matrix Module, launched in the last newsletter, is proving to be popular.
If you have done anything interesting with your one, please tag #RC2014 on Twitter or Instagram. I'd love to see!

Pi Pico VGA Terminal Firmware Update

At launch, the Pi Pico VGA Terminal worked great, but keyboard support was a bit hit and miss. Thanks to a firmware update, all keyboards we've tested are now working fine.

If your Pi Pico VGA Terminal isn't currently working with your favourite keyboard, grab the latest 1.0 .uf2  from GitHub and everything should work fine. 
If you haven't built your RC2014 kit yet and want to see what's involved, L Break Into Program has an amazing YouTube series where he builds an RC2014 Pro, does some troubleshooting and gets it running. Even if you've already built one, there's lots of good tips here for your next project

Tiny RC2040 32x24mm!

How do you make an RC2014 the size of a postage stamp? Simple, emulate it on a Pi Pico! That's just what Extreme Electronics did. There's a writeup here and the code is up on GitHub

EMF Camp 2022

As events are are starting to return to normal, we are really excited to see EMF Camp back on the calendar!  RC2014 will be there, and hopefully running a workshop or two. It would be great to see as many of you there as possible too.

Backplane 5 Discount

The Backplane 5 is getting a facelift soon, so I need to shift some of the old stock.

So, how about 40% off of the kits or the bare PCB?

Just enter the discount code 5MINUS40 at checkout before the end of April

Community Support
Got a question about the RC2014? A project you want to share with other RC2014 users?  Need to find some software that runs on your RC2014?  Or just want to see what other RC2014 owners are up to?

Google Groups and GitHub are starting to become vibrant parts of the RC2014 infrastructure.  Why not join up today?  No Google account needed!

Or follow @ZXSpectROM on Twitter or RC2014Z80 on Instagram for RC2014 news accompanied by other retro computing or cool electronics stuff

Feedback

We'd love to hear feedback about your RC2014, this newsletter or anything else.  Please use the email or Google Group links at the top of this email to get in touch.
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