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1.4 +Introduction
1.5 +------------
1.6 +
1.7 +The AcornElectronMainboard distribution provides schematic and circuit layout
1.8 +files for use with KiCad describing the mainboard of the Acorn Electron
1.9 +microcomputer. This microcomputer was designed and produced by Acorn Computers
1.10 +of Cambridge, United Kingdom starting from initial work in around 1982, with
1.11 +commercial availability from 1983 onwards.
1.12 +
1.13 +The following principal resources are provided:
1.14 +
1.15 +AcornElectronMainboard.kicad_pcb The circuit board layout (currently empty)
1.16 +
1.17 +AcornElectronMainboard.pro The KiCad project file
1.18 +
1.19 +AcornElectronMainboard.sch The circuit schematic providing the
1.20 + relationships between components
1.21 +
1.22 +Other schematic files are provided, these describing certain areas of
1.23 +functionality including the cassette circuit, clock signal generation,
1.24 +expansion connector, dynamic RAM access, sound output, RF/UHF output, and
1.25 +common video signal processing.
1.26 +
1.27 +AcornElectron.lib Acorn Electron component library
1.28 + containing definitions for the 6502A CPU,
1.29 + edge connector, ULA and RF modulator (used
1.30 + by the schematic editor)
1.31 +
1.32 +A range of related files are provided, these being either .dcm (documentation
1.33 +library) files or .lib (component library) files for other specialised
1.34 +components that are not readily available in KiCad. Various transistor
1.35 +libraries are based on existing KiCad libraries:
1.36 +
1.37 +BC213 and BC309 are based on BC307
1.38 +BC239 is based on BC237
1.39 +
1.40 +Overview
1.41 +--------
1.42 +
1.43 +Starting with the availability of a schematic, the initial objective of this
1.44 +distribution is to provide a convenient reference for the Acorn Electron
1.45 +mainboard, its components, and the connections between these components. With
1.46 +such information recorded and suitably encoded, the possibility may emerge of
1.47 +designing circuit boards that replicate some or all of the described circuit,
1.48 +potentially with modifications and enhancements.
1.49 +
1.50 +Note that the keyboard is not described in this distribution. A separate
1.51 +AcornElectronKeyboard distribution is to be made available for such purposes.
1.52 +
1.53 +Contact, Copyright and Licence Information
1.54 +------------------------------------------
1.55 +
1.56 +The author can be contacted at the following e-mail address:
1.57 +
1.58 +paul@boddie.org.uk
1.59 +
1.60 +Copyright and licence information can be found in the docs directory - see
1.61 +docs/COPYING.txt and docs/gpl-3.0.txt for more information.