The Sinclair QL Forum

There’s two ways that people seem to look at homebrew Computers…

1. Using modern components Like FPGAs and stuff possibly combined with original CPU.. this is probably the easiest and most straightforward. Especially if you’re good at programming FPGAs
2. The Old School method of using old Legacy ...

I was thinking of more of an Old School Retro machine staying away from too much 'NEW' FPGA stuff.

A rough spec would be

MC68008P10 just to keep originality (and these are cheap, I can get them for $1.50 each)
512K SRAM RAM +
Dual Port VRAM (IDT7008 etc 64K or even 128K)
MCU (Intel 8049 or similar ...

I suppose the first thing would be to put down a an achievable specification on paper ! Some thing like :

MC68008P10 CPU (clocked at up-to 10MHz?)
768K SRAM
Various ROM (EEPROM, 27C010 ?)
Two CPLDs to replace the original ULAs
Possible Dual port SRAM as video RAM ?
CF Card (IDE) to connect Hard ...

Hi.

I was just wondering has anyone made a 'Real' homebrew Sinclair QL from old Legacy ICs MC688008 etc. As I'd like to build my own QL and I don't have a MIST FPGA board. As old QLs die and they get harder to get (Cheap) then this seems like a good way to keep the QL alive.

Thanks