Will a 1970's era Intel 8085 design kit power up after 40 years?
A look at the Intel MCS-85 System Design Kit and some vintage computer and processor history.
This exact kit was the standard for a lab class in computer architecture and program that I took as a junior at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ) in 1986. Even though by this point "better" processors were widely available, for purposes of learning programming (in assembly, of course) and architecture it was fine.
Except there was the one time in class and my lab partner and I could not get the kit to do anything, and we soon came to the realization: "this thing is broken." Of course this was back in the days before everyone had a 'scope on their bench, and we didn't have any other such tools (not even a meter) in the classroom, so when we told the instructors that the kit was broken, they didn't believe us and told us our program didn't work. After a few heated minutes of back and forth, I finally said, "Let's take this kit down to the basement and let Chris look at it."
This basement lab was where proper benches were set up and you could check out test equipment (Simpson meters! HP 'scopes with tubes! Power supplies!). The person who ran the lab was this hulking big guy called Chris, who had this Van Dyke beard and always worse (American) football jerseys and sat at a desk inside the cage where the gear was kept. He was the sort of person who didn't take shit and had no time for idiots, but if you came to him with honest questions and concerns, he'd go over and above to help you. I knew him from various other classes and such, so when the instructors and I got to the lab with the 8085 kit and I said, "This doesn't work and they don't believe me," he immediately took it to the bench, pulled off the cover, plugged it in, and metered a few things and said, "he's right, the thing doesn't work." He then pulled another kit from a shelf and handed it to me. The instructors were pissed, of course, but since not finishing the day's project meant that your grade got docked, well, I didn't care. With the new kit in hand, I went back to the classroom, and finished the project.
And I've been playing with little micros ever since.