Mangelore's New Hardware Projects -- the on-topic version

[nikoniko]

Sorry, Fotios. Since I pretty thoroughly hijacked your other thread, here's a new thread for people to discuss your projects.

Hi guys,

I've been spending some of my spare time working on a few small C64/128 hardware projects.

Feel free to check them out at
http://c64web.com
click on the Fotios Projects Link

Cheers
Fotios

[RobertB]

I've been spending some of my spare time working on a few small C64/128 hardware projects.

Feel free to check them out at
http://c64web.com
click on the Fotios Projects Link

Oooo, very nice!

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

[airship]

I saw on ebay UK that someone is selling your 8x8K cartridges. They're on my 'to buy' list. After I get an EPROM programmer, of course.

The RS-232 and MIDI boards look good, too. I like the fact that the MIDI cart has switches to match different standards. Should make it compatible with a bunch of the software out there.

[Mangelore]

I saw on ebay UK that someone is selling your 8x8K cartridges. They're on my 'to buy' list. After I get an EPROM programmer, of course.

The RS-232 and MIDI boards look good, too. I like the fact that the MIDI cart has switches to match different standards. Should make it compatible with a bunch of the software out there.

Yes, alee650 is helping me sell the 8x8K cartridges.

I tired to make the MIDI compatible with most vintage C64 MIDI software. However, I wasn't able to support the Datel MIDI standard (Siel/JMS) as at the time did not have the required info or software to test. I liked the look of the Datel MIDI interface and the fact that it fitted in a normal cartridge case, so I attempted to make mine fit in a case as well.

Last week I managed to acquire a Datel MIDI cart with software. It shouldn't be too difficult to mod my cart so it's compatible. I just need to find some more free time which is currently spent on finishing the Stereo SID cart.

[airship]

Stereo SID first, of course.

Time to start buying up 'dead' C64s to harvest the SID chips.

[bacon]

Really nice! Does the MIDI cart work with Steinberg Pro 16 on the C64? The synthpop band I was in as a teenager used that sequencer circa 1987 and someone sent me a disk a couple of years ago. Would bring back some good memories if I could hook up my old analog synth to the 64

[Mangelore]

Does the MIDI cart work with Steinberg Pro 16 on the C64?

I'm not sure. I found a D64 image of this software so I'll test it. Do you remember how to use it? I might need some help with the Steinberg Pro 16 user interface.

[bacon]

Sorry, haven't used it in 20 years so I can't recall how to use it right now. I do seem to remember that it was rather straightforward. We had a pirated copy without a manual back then and we managed to figure it out pretty quickly. I'll try and run it and see if it comes back to me when I see the UI.

[airship]

re: Your Sig, Bacon...

I've always wondered why nobody ever made a 'blinkenlichten' cartridge for the C64. You know, one that would just show the address and data lines flickering. It would have been SO retro!

It would have been even cooler if someone had come up with a C64 switch/light panel with a bootstrap ROM to allow you to enter and run ML via toggles like an Altair.

Even a hex pad and hexadecimal display would have been cool. Sort of like those aftermarket C64 add-on 10-key pads.

KIM-1 Emulator, anyone?

[Golan Klinger]

KIM-1 Emulator, anyone?

You might get a kick out of this.

P.S. This is my 128th post.

[bacon]

re: Your Sig, Bacon...

I've always wondered why nobody ever made a 'blinkenlichten' cartridge for the C64. You know, one that would just show the address and data lines flickering. It would have been SO retro!

There's a picture somewhere of a C64 that someone has equipped with LEDs showing the data and address lines. Not in a cartidge but in the C64 case itself.

KIM-1 Emulator, anyone?

You might get a kick out of this.

Yeah, the Incredible KIMplement is cool, but not as cool as my Micro-KIM

[airship]

Never had a KIM-1. My friend Dave did, though. It was his first computer, before he moved on to an Apple ][. I was jealous as all get-out.

My first computer was a COSMAC ELF-II. Still a single-board computer, with a hex keypad and 2-digit 7-segment display. Only 256 bytes of RAM, but it had the 1861 video display chip. You could type in a program that displayed a VERY blocky Starship Enterprise!

I added a 4K RAM card and an 8-digit LED display from a dead calculator that I hacked in so I could play 'Hunt the Wumpus'. Shortly thereafter, I moved on to an Ohio Scientific C1P, which was a 4K PET clone, but without the built-in display and you had to supply your own cassette. (I used a boom box.) Hence my move to Commodore when the C64 came out. (I picked up a VIC-20 later when their price dropped.)

see: http://groups.msn.com/RCACDP1802CosmacComputer/ for a picture of the ELF-II, though mine didn't have the fancy case.

re: the Micro-KIM - It's good to see that you can still buy a build-it-yourself kit computer for $99.

And sorry, I guess we've drifted off-topic again. *sigh*