This page is devoted to the N8VEM 8-bit computer system that I am building. What is the N8VEM? As written on the front page of the The N8VEM Home Brew Computer Project website:

The N8VEM Single Board Computer (SBC) is a home brew Z80 small computer project. It is made in the style of vintage computers of the mid to late 1970's and early 1980's using a mix of classic and modern technologies.

It's a community led effort begun by Andrew J Lynch with many contributions from others. Andrew sells the PCBs for a very attractive price, and makes all software and hardware designs freely available for anyone to use. Additionally, he encourages builders to document their progress on a web site, and join the N8VEM Google Group as a way of sharing information. Personally, I can't help but share his enthusiasm in the project. Building my own computer system at the component level certainly sounds like fun.

So, after umming and aahing about whether this was the computer project for me, I decided to submit by justifying to myself that the bags of IC's that I had salvaged all these years should be put to good use. I also liked the idea that the Z80 CPU board could operate stand-alone or part of a bigger system. Not long afterwards I emailed Andrew requesting the full set of circuit boards and received them in about a weeks time.

...and there they sat for a few months as I concentrated my efforts on restoring my Cromemco Z-1 S-100 bus system. Fully aware that I have an attention span towards my projects and hobbies like a bee buzzing from flower to flower, it was only a matter of time before I began.

Then one day while standing around bored out of my brain after mistakenly agreeing to accompany a female while she shops, I decided to exercise mild revenge by taking her to an electronics shop to witness how a male in his early 30's can get excited over IC sockets, decoupling capacitors, and TTL. This gave me enough to almost complete the Z80 CPU card the next day while she continued shopping alone.

Anyhow, the following links shall be updated with further information and photos as I get more parts, find more time, and build more boards.

The Boards

Feel free to mail me at BRAemil@chookfest.net for feedback, stories, or general abuse. All correspondence is welcome!

Last updated: 18 October 2009