pet 2001 display

[Blacklord]

Original post by stilgar the hammer

hello all,
I was wondering, does anyone know how to interface the 40x24 text screen of the pet 2001 to a 486 and/or Pentium 1 motherboard?

I have a 2001-16 with so much damage, I am unable to repair it, so I have several 486 and P1 motherboards sitting around, so I thought I would put one in the pet case. I reproduce medieval Armour (like in knights) , I use a DOS database for my notes.

I thought it would be cool to have the pet in the shop doing something other than just collecting dust, the biggest requirement for it would be to have network. (my database is often updated on my network.)

My current shop unit (which I was going to put in the pet case) is a Pentium 1 AT.
This unit not only runs my database, but also controls 2 of my DOS CNC machines.

any help,
Stilgar

[Blacklord]

Hi Stilgar,

You'd need to replace the monitor completely with a new (modern) one.

have a look at this for an example of re-use of a PET case.

cheers,

Lance

[Blacklord]

Original post by stilgar the hammer

I was hoping to use the original CRT, my funds are a bit tight at this time.

thanks
Stilgar

[Blacklord]

Original post by donni

That's not going to be easy.
The old pet monitor needs a vertical/horizontal and video signal to work.
The Teachers Pet for example has a small print that converts the sync/lum signal from the C64 motherboard, to a vertical/horizontal/video signal that the old pet monitor needs.
You are going to need some kind of converter that changes the vga signal from your pentium 1 motherboard to the signals the pet monitor needs.
As far as I know nobody ever designed that.

[Blacklord]

Original post by stilgar the hammer

Hmmm... does anyone have a used cheap (under $50) 8" monitor for sale??

Stilgar

[Blacklord]

Original post by stilgar the hammer

I have a friend close by that repairs TV and other electronic equipment.
He said if I could get the freq of the sync signals, he may be able to get it to work.
I already have a VGA to RGB converter with the 2 sync lines.

thanks
Stilgar

[Blacklord]

Original post by Anders Carlsson

There were a couple of circuits to convert PET video to a composite signal, two old designs one newer one. I tried to build one of the older ones but got a very poor picture that kept rolling around. However you are looking for the other way around...

Are you planning to reuse the PET keyboard? Perhaps the Keyrah can be made to support it too, even though the layout is far from practical for even an outdated PC.

[Blacklord]

Original post by stilgar the hammer

the pet I have was used in a chemical engineering shop. it was updated with a dark brown keyboard, it was the size of modern keyboard. no cassette. when I tried to start it up. it did nothing, then it stated with testing of the character rom, got halfway thru, then died completly. the PSU still works. upon closer inspection I found many chips (ceramic) had large cracks. when I looked up info on it, I found that most of the chips was rom.

the processor was repaired before, someone tried to solder a broken pin to the socket. my plans for now is to put a 686 Motherboard with VGA video, and a newer keyboard (no number pad), CD drive, Floppy drive. I just like the 8" screen. Because of family I have little money to spend for new parts (all parts I have are in storage)

thanks
Stilgar