LEGO Interface A (9750/9771) – LEGO Technic Control 1 (TC1) reference/ideas thread

[maehw]

11 hours ago, amine said:

Hello,

I am looking for this Newletter below that I found back to your previous post.

Can you upload a scan ?

Thanks a lot

 

Hi all and merry Christmas!

Could you please reference the exact post?

If it is the ebay one, we'd have to ask Daniel Schmatz because I didn't obtain those newsletters in printed form and the image above very much looks like a photo and not a screenshot. 

Still in touch with Daniel about the software BTW, so we might get a German version of Lego Lines some day. 

[amine]

 

25 minutes ago, maehw said:

Hi all and merry Christmas!

Could you please reference the exact post?

If it is the ebay one, we'd have to ask Daniel Schmatz because I didn't obtain those newsletters in printed form and the image above very much looks like a photo and not a screenshot. 

Still in touch with Daniel about the software BTW, so we might get a German version of Lego Lines some day. 

It is from your own post just before.

Merry Christmas to everyone !

Edited December 24, 2025 by amine

[maehw]

On 12/24/2025 at 11:48 AM, amine said:

 

It is from your own post just before.

Merry Christmas to everyone !

On the bottom right corner it reads "verkauft" — German for "sold". 

I didn't have the budget at that time. 

That has been sold to Daniel. 

[Gunners TekZone]

Sorry, you can disregard this post.  While doing more digging, I realised that it would probably be cheaper (than a Blocko card... $70USD?? Ouch!) and potentially easier for me to take already available info and just make my own 9767, then try to mod one of the two types of general I/O cards I recently acquired. 

Those cards will still be part of a personal project to figure out and find use for.  But as they will not be LEGO related (at least directly at first, if ever) it is not a topic for the forum.

Hey y'all.  I didn't want to clutter this topic with my latest wannabee project, but as it is somewhat content related, and I suspect I could benefit from the vast knowledge of many current members following this post... I wished to post my topic link here.  I hope that is OK.

 

Edited yesterday at 07:17 AM by Gunners TekZone

[evank]

@Gunners TekZone here is the schematic: https://www.brickhacks.com/9767.php

[Gunners TekZone]

5 hours ago, evank said:

@Gunners TekZone here is the schematic: https://www.brickhacks.com/9767.php

Thanks.  Having seen that prior, and then also finding others like this DIY 9767 design are what really convinced me to go in another direction for the LEGO Int-A, and save the multi I/O cards for different experiments.

 

[Toastie]

1 hour ago, Gunners TekZone said:

and save the multi I/O cards for different experiments.

BUT 

This IS a totally relevant post to this thread!!! Sure you can use them for much more sophisticated stuff, but, also for talking/listening to Interface A! This thread is not about what can be done cheaper or less demanding, it is about what devices can interface to 9750! Your cards can do much more, but hey, I am absolutely sure that the chippies on these cards would be so happy when running 4.5V Technic machines.

Is there a chance that you repost the card pictures? I have no idea how the Apple works on its inside, but I saw (but did not take screenshots, when I was preparing for a nice, 3 beers night diving into Apple ][ hardware) the photographs, all the chippies, I am familiar with ... of course these cards will do, I thought, but then - gone ... 

Man, I am using the I/O port of an Atari 1040 to talk to 9570. Believe it or not, I can hear some sort of "snickering", when it does. A friendly sound, though.

This thread is about just doing or envisioning it.

Best
Thorsten

[Gunners TekZone]

15 minutes ago, Toastie said:

Is there a chance that you repost the card pictures?

Certainly!!  And thanks for the invite to explore these cards potential Interface-A use here.

 

 

 

I was planning on comparing them to the 9767 pin-out I found for the Apple II series... 

 

But there was enough differences that I figured it would be easier to start with a proto-board (if I can find some at a cheap enough price, including shipping) and try to make my own.

Edited 22 hours ago by Gunners TekZone

[Toastie]

Thank you very much @Gunners TekZone!

It will take some time for me plowing through the (to me) unknown Apple hardware - but what is time! I love these chips. And others may be way more educated to come up with ideas, proposals, solutions.

For sure: You can make it way less sophisticated, as said. On the other hand: You absolutely don't need an Apple or IBM PC/XT to control 9750. A ZX81 - the totally el cheapo Zeddy - is well suited to do so, with a little help from (again) dead cheap ancient TTL chips.

Not the point: This thread is not about saving here and there, it is about making it work. If someone figures out how to connect a Cray X-MP to 9570: It is >totally< relevant to this thread! And most probably, I will faint.

It is just fantasizing about what >could< possibly work, regardless of the approach. @evank will judge and approve or not, just for locking anything appropriate into his (wonderful!) website. How cool is that. But here on EB: Just go nuts.

All the best
Thorsten 

[Gunners TekZone]

1 hour ago, Toastie said:

If someone figures out how to connect a Cray X-MP to 9570: It is >totally< relevant to this thread! And most probably, I will faint.

Hmmmm...   Perhaps after I have tackled my (totally new to me as well) Apple IIe clone to Int-A project (The Int-B partially pictured is another set of projects all together)  

 

Meanwhile, I just ordered a couple of these...

Edited 20 hours ago by Gunners TekZone

[evank]

LOL - Cray. Juuuuuuuuust a bit overkill.

It would be cool to see 9750 interfaced to that pocket computer! :)

@Gunners TekZone in case you haven't seen it already, here is a video I made about the current 9767 options: 

[Gunners TekZone]

@evank  Hey Evan.  Yes I have been watching your stuff for awhile now.

I currently have my Interface-A running on my Commodore 128... Eventually the APCO IIe clone, and then, yes... the Pocket PC?!?  (Well, OK, via an Arduino)