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Funny to see this appear online today. I was discussing the real nand2tetris computer built from 74 ICs yesterday with my 8 year old son yesterday: https://ha

Funny to see this appear online today. I was discussing the real nand2tetris computer built from 74 ICs yesterday with my 8 year old son yesterday: https://hackaday.io/project/185131-the-hack-computer-from-nand2tetris-on-breadboards https://hackaday.io/project/185131-the-hack-computer-from-na... and now this pops up. I'm thinking of buying a bunch of 74xx ICs and buttons and led+resistors somewhere and let him mess with them. It's stone age digital tech according to current norms, but I'd rather see him do it with physical components than behind a screen.

pulvinar 3y ago
That's what my dad did. I remember it as confusing, the parts being marked like SN7424 7411 with one of those numbers being the date code.
Spastche 3y ago
do it. you can use them all for basic synth building too. sequencers and square waves are stupidly easy to build
gumby 3y ago
That’s how I got started — 7400 TTL chips are very forgiving to a young person’s hand. I was amazed you could just write away to National and the day’s send back a databook! I would pour over them and think of ways to use various chips.
colanderman 3y ago
Vintage X-in-1 kits. Particularly the 300-in-1 kit had a breadboard and a bunch of logic chips. 500-in-1 similar but even has a microprocessor.
- hyperman1 3y ago
  I owned a 200 in 1 as a kid, and spent a lof of time playing it. I've never really looked at the others. The 300 in 1 is indeed a level up. I'll think about it.
WalterBright 3y ago
A EE in my dorm in the 70's designed and built his own CPU out of 74xx chips when he was in high school. Even the other students were in awe of that.
- cjk2 3y ago
  I did that in the early 90s. Was only a 4-bit job but it mostly worked! Edit: it only ever ran one program which was to count to 99. There is a whole community of these machines: https://www.homebrewcpuring.org https://www.homebrewcpuring.org

pulvinar 3y ago

That's what my dad did. I remember it as confusing, the parts being marked like SN7424 7411 with one of those numbers being the date code.

Spastche 3y ago

do it. you can use them all for basic synth building too. sequencers and square waves are stupidly easy to build

gumby 3y ago

That’s how I got started — 7400 TTL chips are very forgiving to a young person’s hand. I was amazed you could just write away to National and the day’s send back a databook! I would pour over them and think of ways to use various chips.

colanderman 3y ago

Vintage X-in-1 kits. Particularly the 300-in-1 kit had a breadboard and a bunch of logic chips. 500-in-1 similar but even has a microprocessor.

hyperman1 3y ago
I owned a 200 in 1 as a kid, and spent a lof of time playing it. I've never really looked at the others. The 300 in 1 is indeed a level up. I'll think about it.

WalterBright 3y ago

A EE in my dorm in the 70's designed and built his own CPU out of 74xx chips when he was in high school. Even the other students were in awe of that.

cjk2 3y ago
I did that in the early 90s. Was only a 4-bit job but it mostly worked! Edit: it only ever ran one program which was to count to 99. There is a whole community of these machines: https://www.homebrewcpuring.org https://www.homebrewcpuring.org