Monthly Archives: December 2017

SyncFix64 Prototype

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IMG_4298

After the encouraging results of my first attempt to fix the composite signal from a C64, so that the cheap TFT monitor could display it, I shared the idea on Forum64 to double-check and get some feedback. Consensus seems to be that the circuit at least won’t hurt the video source. Since, in addition to that, it seems to be working for me, I decided to design a board for it in KiCAD.

layout-0.9

The goal was to make it so small that it would fit inside the display’s case alongside the display controller, so I went for all surface mount components. To get immediate results, I created a single sided layout and etched the board myself using the toner transfer method. Continue reading →

Cheap Displays for Old Hardware

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A couple of months ago I dug out my old Commodore hardware again and started tinkering with it – the goal being to finally try out a bunch of mods, hacks, and builds that I missed back in the day. To start with, I bought a cheap TFT display (new link on eBay, even newer link on eBay, a little harder to get on eBay these days) for around 13€ to connect to the C64 and C128.

It was meant to sit on my work bench to e.g. quickly test a naked C64 board. It wouldn’t matter if the video quality wasn’t great. But after I made the necessary adapter cable and hooked everything up, I was a little disappointed to find out that the display wouldn’t show anything other than a black screen interrupted by an occasional flicker. I verified that the display itself was working by connecting it to a Raspberry Pi and I double-checked the cable I had made. Continue reading →

The Modular WifiModem64

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I’ve been playing with the ESP8266 since late 2014 and it was love on first sight: so many possible uses for such a small device at such a low price tag. And very early on I thought: wouldn’t it be great to build a WiFi “modem” from this? That shouldn’t be too hard. But I didn’t find the time to pursue the idea then. When I remembered again this summer, I was not surprised but still excited to find that others had had the same idea and hadn’t been as lazy as me.

Alwyz’s instructions on how to build such a device couldn’t be easier! I followed them and it worked like a charm. For the next months, my setup then looked like variations of this:

IMG_4236
Continue reading →

SD2IEC Revisited

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When I discovered the MMC2IEC / SD2IEC project by chance back in 2009, it made me dig up again my soldering iron and electronic components after many years of disuse. I built myself one of those devices on a prototyping board and had a lot of fun doing so. It was the first time that I got involved with micro controllers and I learned a lot in the process.

Now, many years and projects later, I was looking for an excuse to try out KiCAD and to learn how to design my own boards using it. I had already ordered a small PCB I found on the net as a proof-of-concept to see if the Gerber files I produce would result in working boards. When they turned out just as expected I was eager to create something myself. This was the perfect opportunity to revisit the subject and make myself a brand new SD2IEC.

I wanted the design to be based on Shadowolf’s latest version but also make my own additions and changes:

  • The board should be able to tap into the cassette port of the C64 for power supply.
  • It should be board for external use with proper connectors just like my first build.
  • All components should be cheap to buy from Chinese suppliers.

So, this is the first prototype of what I came up with. I call it the “SD2IEC pluggable”:

IMG_4186
Continue reading →