Anyone interested in a hardware project ?

[Mark Smith]

Hello,

Anybody here interested in a hardware project ?  Done just for fun when time allows.

I've an itching to make "something", not sure what yet but something interesting.  Ideas I've dreamt up so far are :

1)  Co-processor for the 64/128 - little board that'll go into the cartridge slot and can have tasks assigned to it by the main CPU .. so it won't take over like the SuperCPU, it'll just sit there waiting to be told to do number crunching tasks.

2)  Universal StereoSID board .. something that can be jumpered to take either 6581 or 8580, different filters and that fits into most shape 64s or 128s.

3)  Port replicator.  Bring all those awkware to reach ports (cartridge, user, tape, serial, joystick, reset) out into a seperate box that can be positioned more conveniently.


Any other ideas ?  Looking for a thinking sessions first, start simple and see what gets made.

Regards

Mark

[Mangelore]

Some interesting ideas there Mark. Not sure if I have the technical skills required to assist but happy to try.

Here's a few things I've been working on during spare time.

1. C64/128 to VGA adapter (on the go atm).

2. C64/128 hard drive based around a EPIA motherboard with a 2GB compact flash card and 64HDD Pro 128 (on the go atm with micro-atx board).

3. High capacity power supply for the C64/C128 with the ability to power four 1541-II/1581 drives. (Already completed a replacement C128D power supply).

Cheers
Fotios

[Mark Smith]

I've also been thinking about a C128 to VGA converter .. but I've also been wondering if it would be easier to do a C128 to component (YPrPb on HDTVs) converter instead.

Getting RGBI digital converted to RGB analog shouldn't be to hard (bunch of resistors), and there are schematics for getting RGB converted to YPrPb.
http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/interfaces/diytranscoder.html

Might be a good cheap test to try out ?  And the sync rates should fall within what a TV can handle.  I'm not keen to try it until I can get hold of a cheap TV with component inputs to try it on .. my current TV is too expensive to risk letting the smoke out :-)

Mark