Motorola MEK6800D1

The MEK6800D1 was Motorola’s early evaluation kit for engineers learning and developing with the MC6800 microprocessor. The exposed board provided processor, memory, monitor facilities and accessible buses for experiments and prototype hardware.

It helped introduce Motorola’s 6800 architecture to designers and educators at the beginning of the microprocessor era.

Notable Features

• A monitor program and hexadecimal controls supported direct machine-code development.
• The board exposed address, data and control signals for custom interfaces.

Historical Significance

• It helped introduce Motorola’s 6800 architecture to designers and educators at the beginning of the microprocessor era.

Collector’s Notes

• Original boards are scarce; revision markings, monitor ROMs, documentation and any associated terminal hardware are important.
• Memory, storage, displays and expansion hardware should be documented because configurations often changed during a system’s working life.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Motorola MEK6800D1
Manufacturer	Motorola
Launched	Wednesday, January 1, 1975
Country	United States
CPU	Motorola MC6800 at approximately 1 MHz
Units Sold
Form Factor	Exposed development board
Power	External regulated DC supply
Networking	Not integrated
Operating System	Resident monitor
Expansion / I/O	Exposed processor bus and parallel/serial development interfaces
Keyboard	Hexadecimal keypad or external terminal
Storage	Program entry through monitor; optional paper tape or terminal storage
Sound	No integrated sound
Colours	Monochrome indicators
Graphics	Not applicable
Display	Hexadecimal LED indicators or external terminal, depending on configuration
ROM	Monitor firmware in ROM
RAM	Typically 256 bytes; expandable
CPU Speed	Approximately 1 MHz