Content:
Intro
Project home hage
What’s needed
Create SD card
Price information about Signal Converter

Intro

Some inventive has used a Raspberry Pi as a Co processor to the BBC Micro.
It emulates the different microprocessor in a furious speed.
The lasted software uses the Pi as an native co-processor running BASIC programs 6500 times faster.

It run Elite Executive version as a dream.

Here is the list of what the project has created so far.

250MHz 65tube based 65C02 Co Processor
40MHz lib6502 based 65C02 Co Processor
60MHz Z80 Co Processor with CP/M
?? Mzh 80×86 Co Processor
?? Mhz ARM2 Co Processor
?? Mhz 32016 Co Processor
1 Ghz ARM1176 Co Processor (native mode)

You will find more information on the project home page.

Using *FX commmands you can easily switch between the different emulators without cycling the power. Just *fx151,230,4 and press Ctrl Break and you are in Z80 modus.

Screen shots of the different CPU emulations
    

You will find a short manual I have compiled here.

What’s needed

The emulator works on PI 2, 3 and zero. I have tested it on PI 3 and Zero. Will recommend the Pi Zero as it it faster, cheaper and smaller and can be fitted on all 3 version of my signal converter.

The PI is not 5V tolerant so you need a 5V to 3.3V signal converter.
You can make this yourself with a VERO board and cables or you can buy this from me.
Schematics is below of the latest versions.

Create kernels for SD card

You need a new Linux kernel for the PI from the PiTubeDirect project and you can find information how to do this from the project pages.

I have provided a quicker method with the latest stable kernels for Raspberry PI 3 and Zero:

1. Format a micro SD card (Minimum 16MB) with standard FAT
2. Download this local archive  with all things needed. This is the Anaconda release from 17 Jan 2017.
3. Unzip archive with sub directories to root of the micro SD card
4. Put the card in the PI and boot
5. Type *FX 151,230,0 to active 6502 coprocessor. The achieve is set to boot without the processor by default. See manual to change this.

You can power the Raspberry PI from BBC micro by setting JP1.
!!Important: Do not power the Raspberry with USB and BBC at the same time!!

When you use power from the BBC micro the BBC will be faster to boot compared to the PI. You therefor may need to push CTL Break after booting the BBC.
You can also disable to co-processor by default. This is the default setting of my SD image. See my manual for setup.

To help you troubleshot there is an TTL level serial port on the card that you can connect to you PC via a USB TTL serial dongle. Baud rate is 115200, 8 bit, none parity.

Pictures of the different converter versions.

Prices of PiTubeDirect signal converter

The Signal converter is available in 3 version and can also be bought as a DIY kit.
All board is usually available from a small stock and shipped within 2 day.

Below I have tried to visualize the pricing of the boards. If you choose the master version as one of the board, the price for the packages will be the one in parentheses.
This is because there have been shipping issues with the master board so better packages is needed.
Please note that the Raspberry Pi is not included. Prices for boards include shipping.

Nkr is for shipping in Norway, Euro and Pund is for Europe, Dollar is the rest of the world
21 Feb 2017: Due to increased shipping cost, loss when exchange currency and PayPal fee, I needed to adjust the prices.