Monday, August 23, 2010

First Post


Hi. My name is Rich Goldner. I'm currently retired, but have worked in the computer industry for over 40 years. I'm an old guy, one of the original microcomputer pioneers, although I am no one you would know. I built my first microcomputer in 1975, the year the Altair computer was heralded in the January 1975 issue of "Popular Electronics" as the first home computer. In December of that year I ordered an IMSAI computer kit. It was a knock-off of the Altair, but with some of its basic problems fixed.

The IMSAI came with 256 bytes of memory. Please note that that is not kilobytes, megabytes or gigabytes. It had no ROM and a bootstrap program had to be keyed in from the front panel switches every time you powered it on. Above is a picture of one.
At some time in the future I may get deeper into the IMSAI and what I accomplished with it.

But I have other interests and hobbies that you may be interested in. Firstly, I love to program and I am first and foremost a programmer. I also love what's called embedded hardware or microcontrollers. I am also interested in CNC machines to shape both wood and metal. I have built approximately six CNC machines.

My current projects use the STM8S-Discover boards. These are manufactured by STMicroelectronics. The price performance is amazing. You can get started for $7. More on this later.