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PLC14500 Nano

The PLC14500 Nano is a retro-style trainer board intended for the user to familiarize with the Motorola MC14500 1-bit ICU (Industrial Control Unit), PLCs and Ladder Logic. The board has abundant LEDs that show the status of the system buses and registers. This, combined with the possibility to run the software step by step, gives the user a great deal of insight into how their programs are executing. The slow clock mode makes instead for a mesmerizing light show that won’t fail to impress when the board is parked on a desk, waiting for the next coding adventure.

Main features:

- 256 Bytes of program RAM (can be replaced with an EEPROM)
- 7 Inputs each with toggle and momentary switch capability
- 7 Outputs
- 1 Timer mapped to the I/O bus (0.5 to 30s, adjustable via a trimmer)
- 8 bits scratchpad RAM
- 3 clock modes (fast, slow, manual step)

True to its retro style PLC14500 Nano sports exclusively through-hole components and chips in DIP packages. You might notice an intruder in the Bill of Materials, an Arduino Nano! It’s there purely to act as a bootloader, with a convenient USB interface that surely is easy to connect to modern PCs. However, to not spoil the illusion, the Arduino is mounted on the bottom side of the PCB, so it won’t be visible when using the board.”

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