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Hardware

IMG_2157
General Programming Hardware Microcontroller Software Development Vintage Computing 

Exploring MSX-DOS and CP/M on OneChipBook FPGA-powered laptop

September 23, 2025December 11, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment cp/m, fpga, msx-dos, msx2, onechipbook, turbo pascal, z80

The OneChipBook, available on AliExpress for around $200, is a very interesting FPGA-powered laptop with 32MB RAM, a 10-inch 1024×768

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IMG_3405
General Programming Hardware Microcontroller Networking Vintage Computing 

Internet access from Pocket 386 retro laptop using Wemos D1 ESP8266 serial Wifi adapter

August 4, 2025December 8, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment ESP8266, ms dos, pocket 386, serial, wifi

Although there is a USB port on the Pocket 386, I seldom use it for file transfer. The device driver,

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BW TV
Hardware Oscilloscope Vintage Computing 

MM-9M 10″ portable 800-line vintage B&W CRT monitor

June 29, 2025August 24, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment composite, crt, dosbox, norton commander, tecsun

I love B&W CRT displays, for they bring back old memories of the long-lost past, of the first time I

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IMG_1009
Hardware Vintage Computing 

My journey with the Book 8088: swapping CGA/VGA cards, broken CF slot, and USB booting

May 18, 2025August 22, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment book 8088

Out of curiosity, I purchased two Book 8088 units from AliExpress, one with CGA and the other with VGA, hoping

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IMG_0988
Hardware Vintage Computing 

Sharp Font Writer FW 600 Vintage 1984 Word Processor with Printer

April 29, 2025May 30, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment printer, sharp, word processor

In late 2022, I acquired the Sharp FW-600 Font Writer – a vintage word processor with a built-in printer, originally

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IMG_0108
Hardware Radio/TV Vintage Computing Windows Tips 

Toshiba 14AF43 14″ stereo CRT TV with composite, S-video and component inputs

June 29, 2024February 20, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment component input, composite, CRT TV, s-video

I came across the Toshiba 14AF43, a rare 14″ stereo CRT TV with composite, S-Video, component inputs, and decided to

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IMG_0099
Hardware Networking Vintage Computing VoIP Windows Tips 

Dial-up Internet access in 2024 using the Viking DLE-200B telephone line simulator

May 28, 2024October 21, 2024 ToughDev 2 Comments dial-up, DLE-200B, Internet access, mypal, phone line simulator, retrozilla

I got to know the Internet in secondary school, using a 33.6Kbps US Robotics dial-up modem on my Pentium I

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Tandy 100RSX Deskmate Bootup
Hardware Reverse-engineer Vintage Computing 

Tandy 2500RSX: a solid 386 workhorse from the DOS era

April 16, 2024August 18, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment deskmate, ms dos, tandy

My first introduction to computers came in primary school with the Tandy 1000RSX, an 80386SX machine running at 25 MHz.

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tecsun radio lcd
Hardware Radio/TV Reverse-engineer 

Repairing a failed Tecsun S-8800 radio due to damaged charging board

September 2, 2023November 19, 2024 ToughDev 4 Comments s-8800, tecsun

In June, my Tecsun S-8800 which was purchased in Feb 2020 stopped working totally. It had started 2 months earlier

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dsPIC memory organization
General Programming Hardware Microcontroller Popular Articles Radio/TV Software Development 

dsMP3, my LW/MW/FM/SW radio with MP3 recording/playback [Part 2 – Firmware Design]

July 19, 2023May 25, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment ch375, ch376, dspic

UPDATE (May 2025) – Check out Hackaday’s write-up of the dsMP3 project here In my previous post I described how

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imageonline-co-straightend-image(1)
Hardware Microcontroller Popular Articles Radio/TV 

dsMP3, my LW/MW/FM/SW radio with MP3 recording/playback [Part 1 – Hardware Design]

May 15, 2023May 16, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment ch375, ch376, dspic, rtc, si4735, tda1308

UPDATE (May 2025) – Check out Hackaday’s write-up of the dsMP3 project here Wondering why even high-end multiband radios such

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ch376_pinout
CodeProject Hardware Microcontroller 

Integrating FatFs FAT filesystem module with CH375/CH376 USB controller

April 25, 2023May 9, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment ch375, ch376, dspic, fatfs, spi

In a recent embedded project, I need to access data stored on a USB thumb drive using a dsPIC33EP512MC502. As

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DS0007 - Copy
Hardware Oscilloscope Reverse-engineer 

Rigol DS1054Z, GW-INSTEK GDS1054B and Hantek DSO4084C digital oscilloscopes

March 12, 2023September 10, 2023 ToughDev 1 Comment DS1054Z, DSO4084C, GDS1054B, hantek, instek, rigol

Over a period of five years I have bought myself three low-end modern digital oscilloscopes, the Rigol DS1054Z, GW-INSTEK GDS1054B

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PXL_20230328_032504608
Hardware Radio/TV 

Grundig GV509M, Panasonic NV-FJ625 and Phillips VR 330 VCR/VHS Player/Recorder

February 28, 2023January 28, 2024 ToughDev 0 Comment grundig, panasonic, phillips, vcr, vhs

In my store room I have a collection of three VCRs, Panasonic NV-FJ625, Phillips VR 330 and Grundig GV509M. The

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24c64
CodeProject General Programming Hardware Microcontroller 

Emulating EEPROM using flash memory on dsPIC33EP512MC502

January 17, 2023May 9, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment dspic, eeprom, flash, mplab, pickit4, xc16

One thing I don’t like about the dsPICEE3P (and the PIC32MX) lines is that these devices do not have EEPROM

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About ToughDev

Since 2008, ToughDev has explored embedded systems, software development, reverse engineering, and retro computing, bridging legacy hardware with modern software. Our work spans mobile applications, VoIP, microcontroller firmware, and hands-on development with vintage and undocumented systems.

Recent work includes the Super 8086 Box PC XT emulator, the dsMP3 embedded radio, and detailed teardowns of vintage PCs such as the Tandy 2500RSX.

If you’re interested in technical consulting, custom development, or engaging us on a project, please visit our home page to learn more about our work or request a quotation.

For website-related matters, broken links, general technical questions, or other technical issues with this site, please contact the webmaster.

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  • ToughDev on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
  • Анатолий on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
  • ToughDev on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
  • Анатолий on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
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