Using a "Serial Bus"
The Altair Peripheral Emulator makes use of technology developed for later “consumer” computers such as the Atari 800 and Commodore 64. It employs a cable between a serial port on the Altair computer and a COM port on the Windows PC. A special version of Digital Research’s CP/M 2.2 is available that has been configured to work with APE. This “Serial Bus” is used to transfer disk “sectors” between the Altair and the Windows PC hosting APE.
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Altair Requirements
An Altair 8800 series computer:
Actually any 8080/Z80 based microcomputer with at least 32K of RAM.
An Altair 88-2SIO:
Actually any Motorola 6850 UART based, dual port Serial I/O card addressed at the MITS standard ports of 16 and 18 decimal.
A terminal device:
Attached to the Altair’s port 16.
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Windows PC Requirements
A serial cable:
Connecting the Altair’s port 18 to an available COM port on the Windows PC.
The Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework
CP/M Configurations for use with APE
Digital Research CP/M 2.2 is available for use with the Altair Peripheral Emulator in a number of configurations based on the amount of available RAM, the number of available Serial Ports, and the availability of an optional Tarbell Electronics 1011D Floppy Disk Controller.
|
CP/M Configuration |
Console Port |
APE Port |
APE Disks |
Tarbell Disks |
RAM in Kilobytes |
|
16 |
18 |
3 |
0 |
64 |
|
|
16 |
18 |
3 |
0 |
32 |
|
|
16 |
18 |
2 |
1 |
64 |
|
|
16 |
18 |
2 |
1 |
32 |
|
|
2.7.xxx |
16 |
18 |
Custom |
Custom |
Custom |
Each CP/M Configuration is an APE System Disk file: "APE_System_Disk_kk_An_Tn_ver.ape"
Other configurations of CP/M may be available by sending an email with your required “configuration” to the address below. (More CP/M Configurations here.)
Altair Peripheral Emulator
Quick FAQs
What does it cost?
The Altair Peripheral Emulator is provided without charge and “As Is.”
No warranty is provided, expressed, or implied. “Risk of use” of this
software lies solely with the user. No support is guaranteed.
What is the status of the software?
Since this is the initial release of both the Altair Peripheral Emulator
and the matching BIOS for CP/M 2.2 it should be considered as
“Pre-release” software at this time. Updates and an actual “Release”
will be made available based on user feedback.
More
FAQs here.
How do I get the software?
Download the current version of APE Here. (Version 1.0.2.0)