The first batch of Rev A boards have arrived. This may sounds like the first revision, but the revisions are being counted in hex, so "A" is actually the 10th! It's almost identical to Rev 9. except for a larger regulator and some ESD protection on the VGA circuit. These were the final updates before the board was ready for public release in a kit.

A prototype of the new board was tested this weekend and passed all the stress tests. There are parts on hand to build two more kits, but like many projects there are growing issues with sourcing more components.

One example is the ROM. The only available part that meets the timing specifications is the AT27C020-55PU. These have more than doubled in price since the start of the project and are now out of stock with a 65 week lead time. Luckily is appears the NOR flash used during development works fine at 55ns even though it is rated at 70ns. The plan is to use this for the kit.

Some of the other parts were at risk, so initial orders have been placed for these. The rest of the parts should be available when needed for a total production of 100 kits during 2022. The plan is to release an initial batch of 20 beta kits in Q2. These will likely be just the basic board-only kit to keep the cost down and come with limited documentation. The full kit should be available in the second half of the year with enclosure and full documentation.

Software debug is progressing well. The B: drive has been set up and the CP/M utilities are being tested. Most things are working (like STAT shown below) but ED is crashing for some reason. Software development should be wrapped up within the next few weeks for the beta kit release.