Zyklus-MPS

Now that the machine has been running on a (very slightly modified) version of 1.5, I figured it would be a good time to start thinking about fixing some small bugs or other annoyances and maybe add some features. In order to do so, I need an easy way to upload a new version to […]

In my quest to write a manual for Direct, I’ve been going through the code with a pair of tweezers, along with the machine trying stuff out. A lot of the functionality is pretty straight forward and I got it mapped out, but some pattern / sequence related stuff threw me for a loop. My […]

On the Zyklus MPS front, there’s a lot brewing as wel. In essence we could now release everything as open source, where people can build their own and run it on the old MPS-1 software. But wouldn’t it be nice to have the ReZyklus variant of the software? I managed to find a linker and […]

The winter is coming, long dark evenings ahead for many a new hobby project. For Direct, I have quite a few things lined up: Replace all tantalum caps Create a better solid power supply Get the MELCARDS working and create a MELCARD writer to connect to USB Write a manual Create a schematic of the […]

Most of the old Z80 assembly code has been ported to a more modern variant (z88dk-z80asm) – thanks to David for translating quite a lot of it. Now I can build new EPROMS and burn them, but the better and quicker way, I thought, would be using EPROM Emulators so I can upload the bin […]

Time for a little Re-Zyklus update: The original machine had very heavy duty aluminum Encoder Dials. Some of the builders have tried 3d printed alternatives but just to see how it would pan out, I had JLCPCB create aluminum ones in black (would fit nicely with the white panels done by Paul). Thanks to user […]

The original system had a dedicated MIDI breakout box, connected using an EDAC connector. There was another box for the audio connections. It was hard to find, but I managed to find a picture showing the original box: It uses the same midi and jack connectors as the Zyklus MPS. So I set out to […]

Not a whole lot to update lately. Just a few things: The PCB Paul created for the memory card came in. It’s again a work of art….   I’m going to arrange for a company to map out the old memory card connections towards the IDC. The pins are too thin to measure by hand, […]

Although some details still remain to be done or finished, Direct is now fully running and usable. There were a few issues trying to get it to this point: There was a short on the newly soldered joints for the replacement button panel, which caused Track and Thru switch 4 and 5 to trigger simultaneously. […]

I’ll elaborate more soon on what the hiccups were, but here she is, running Version 1.7, which is actually 1.5 but slightly modified by me. I can’t connect it yet to any keyboards as I’m still working on making the breakout box, but here she is, alive and kicking!