The RCBus is an extended version of the RC2014TM bus, designed to overcome the limitations of the RC2014TM bus. The bus extensions and formal specification have been developed by members of the retro-computing community via the retro-comp forum.
The RCBus specification v1.0 is available below.
RCBus forum: retro-comp google group.
The RCBus exists for these reasons:
- To overcome the limitations of the RC2014TM bus whilst maintaining compatibility with existing products. The additions include support for advanced features, such as the Z80 interrupt priority chain, and support for other processor families.
- To help clarify what is a genuine RC2014TM product and what is a product with a degree of compatibility to an RC2014TM
- To reduce the chance of trademark infringement (RC2014 is a trademark belonging to RFC2795 Ltd)
The RC2014TM bus specification is a subset of the full RCBus specification. This subset is defined by the RCBus-2014 specification. Similarly, the Z80 family extensions are defined by the RCBus-Z80 specification. Other processors and applications have their own extensions within the RCBus specification. Compatibility can be defined by which specifications are supported.

Modules designed for the 40-pin RCBus (or RC2014 standard bus) can be used with 80-pin RCBus backplanes, but not all 80-pin RCBus modules can be used with 40-pin RCbus/RC2014 backplanes.
Notes relating to RCBus specification:
RCBus Product Ranges
- SC700 series, 80-pin RCBus (extended RC2014 bus)
- SC600 series, 40-pin RCBus (RC2014 compatible)
- SC100 series, 40-pin+ RC2014 styling
RCBus Information
RC2014 Information
RCBus Product Summary
There are a number of physical options in common use for RCBus products. These include:
Type | Row 1 | Row 2 | Profile | Bus spec. |
| 80 pin | 40 pins | 40 pins | RCBus | RCBus 80 pin |
| 40 pin | 40 pins | n/a | RCBus | RCBus 40 pin |
| SP 40+ | 39 pins | 10+ pins | RC2014 Standard | RC2014 Enhanced |
| SP 39 | 39 pins | n/a | RC2014 Standard | RC2014 Standard |
| LP 40 | 40 pins | n/a | RC2014 Low Profile | RC2014 Standard |
Designs available on this site are shown below.
Backplanes | 80 pin | 40 pin | SP 40+ | LP 40 |
| 6+1 slot, 5V in | SC701 | SC671 | n/a | n/a |
| 6+1 slot | SC702 | SC672 SC147 | n/a | n/a |
| 10+1 slot, 5V in | n/a | SC673 | n/a | n/a |
| 11+1, 12V in | n/a | SC133 | n/a | n/a |
| 12+1 slot, 5V in | SC709 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 12+1 slot | SC710 | SC141 | n/a | n/a |
| 3 slot, 5V in | SC723 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Motherboards | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| Z80 RomWBW | SC720 | SC114 | n/a | n/a |
| Z180 RomWBW | SC126 | SC130 | n/a | n/a |
Power supply | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| 8-15 volt | SC703 | SC614 | n/a | SC142 |
| 5 volt | SC712 | n/a | n/a | SC149 |
Processor | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| Z80 CPU | SC706 | SC601 | SC153 | SC149 |
| Z80 SBC | SC708 | n/a | SC108 | n/a |
| Z80 + MMU | SC730 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Z180 CPU | SC722 | n/a | SC111 | n/a |
Memory | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| 128k | SC707 | n/a | SC152 | SC143 SC150 SC151 |
| 512k | SC714 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 512k x2 | SC721 | SC602 | SC119 | n/a |
Storage | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| CF card | SC715 SC729 | SC604 SC613 | n/a | SC145 |
| SD card | n/a | SC611 | n/a | n/a |
Serial | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| 68B50 | SC705 | SC610 SC612 | n/a | SC139 |
| SIO | SC716 | SC603 | SC104 SC132 | n/a |
| SIO+CTC | SC725 | n/a | SC110 | n/a |
Digital | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| 8 in, 8 out | SC719 | SC605 | SC129 | SC134 SC135 SC136 |
| PIO | SC717 | n/a | SC103 | n/a |
Prototype | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| Prototyping | SC711 SC733 | SC607 | n/a | n/a |
| Breakout | SC724 | n/a | SC115 | n/a |
Other | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| I2C master | SC704 | SC608 | n/a | SC137 |
| CTC | SC718 | n/a | SC102 | n/a |
| Clock | SC726 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| RTC | SC727 | SC606 | n/a | n/a |
| Riser | SC728 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| PWM | SC731 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Servo | SC732 | SC609 | n/a | n/a |
| Z80 Base systems | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| SCM+BASIC | n/a | SC114 | n/a | SC192 |
| SCM+CP/M | n/a | n/a | n/a | SC191 SC193 |
| RomWBW | SC791 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| SCM+RomWBW | SC720 SC794 | SC691 | n/a | n/a |
| Z180 Base systems | 80 pin | 40 pin | 40+ | LP |
| SCM+BASIC | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| SCM+CP/M | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| RomWBW | n/a | SC130 | n/a | n/a |
| SCM+RomWBW | SC126 SC792 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
CP/M allows software to be added. eg. BASIC
RomWBW includes CP/M, BASIC and much more