Commodore News Page - News: Hardware

VIC-2020 MINIMON

Mike is developing a new cartridge for the Commodore VIC20. MINIMON is only 2 KB - $9800..$9FFF and the features are: Memory dump / edit, Register dump / edit, Execute code, Direct Assembler / Disassembler, Transfer, Compare, Fill, Hunt, breakpoints, Load, Save and Verify.

2019-04-19 - 13:03:00 - Week: 16 - Item number: 7049 - Category: VIC-20, Hardware

Warp1260

The Polish company CS-LAB is developing the Warp1260 turbo card for the Amiga. You can now watch a demonstration video on YouTube.

2019-04-19 - 13:02:00 - Week: 16 - Item number: 7048 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

Tynemouth Software - SD2PET

Tynemouth Software has written a blog about the development of a SD card disk drive for the Commodore PET series of computers. The SD2PET is now available for pre-order.

2019-04-19 - 13:01:00 - Week: 16 - Item number: 7047 - Category: KIM-1, PET, CBM, Hardware

Usborne books

Usborne has made older computer books available for free in the pdf format. A few examples are: Machine code for beginners, Creepy computer games, The mystery of Silver Mountain and Computer Fun.

2019-04-12 - 13:04:00 - Week: 15 - Item number: 7029 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

Adrian Black - C16 & Plus/4 CPU replacement

Adrian Black has made a video about replacing the 8501 CPU in a Commodore C16 or Plus/4 with a 6510 CPU from a Commodore C64.

2019-04-12 - 13:02:00 - Week: 15 - Item number: 7027 - Category: C16, C116, Plus/4, Hardware

BastichB 64K - Digital Datassette

BastichB 64K made a video about the use of a digital replacement for the Commodore Datassette.

2019-04-05 - 13:08:00 - Week: 14 - Item number: 7018 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

Shift-Clr/Home: More 8-Bit Thoughts In A GigaBit World

Lenard Roach has written another book about the 8-bit world. This book is about the best-selling computer of all time - The Commodore.

2019-04-05 - 13:07:00 - Week: 14 - Item number: 7017 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

VIC-2000 Expander

Radical Brad is working on a modern expansion for the Commodore VIC-20. The features are VGA video, 4096 colours, 16 Megabytes of fast audio / video memory, a blitter system (sprites) and 4 channels of 8 bit sound.

A demonstration video of the VIC-2000 Expander.

2019-03-22 - 13:11:00 - Week: 12 - Item number: 6990 - Category: VIC-20, Hardware

A modern Commodore 64

Eric Hill built himself a modern Commodore C64. He used an Individual Computers MK2 Reloaded, Kickstarter C64C case and the Mechboard64.

2019-03-22 - 13:08:00 - Week: 12 - Item number: 6987 - Category: C64, Hardware

C256 Foenix

Stefany Allaire is working on a successor for the Commodore C64/128. Recent changes: A new design for the case.

2019-03-22 - 13:06:00 - Week: 12 - Item number: 6985 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

Sven Petersen - C64 Power Supply

Sven Petersen has developed a replacement power supply for the Commodore C64. You can built the power supply yourself. The schematics, parts list and PCB lay-outs are available on GitHub.

2019-03-22 - 13:02:00 - Week: 12 - Item number: 6981 - Category: C64, Hardware

Jan Derogee - Rotary Dial Numpad

Jan Derogee has developed new hardware for the Commodore VIC20 and the C64. The VIC20 and C64 don't have a numerical keypad like the C128. To solve that problem in the most possible retro kind of way, there is now the "Rotary Dial Numpad".

2019-03-15 - 13:18:00 - Week: 11 - Item number: 6978 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

C0pperdragon - C64 Video Enhancement

C0pperdragon has developed a modification board for the Commodore 64 with a YPbPr video output. This device passively listens to 22 pins of the VIC-II and uses an FPGA to create a pixel-perfect video image.

2019-03-15 - 13:16:00 - Week: 11 - Item number: 6976 - Category: C64, Hardware

Daniel Renner - Turbo Chameleon v2

Daniel Renner made a video about the new Turbo Chameleon v2 cartridge from Individual Computers.

2019-03-15 - 13:14:00 - Week: 11 - Item number: 6974 - Category: C64, Hardware

Rob Clarke - PET 4010 Voice Response Unit

Rob Clarke has made a video about the Commodore PET 4010 Voice Response Unit. This device was developed for the Commodore PET/CBM computer by the Votrax corporation.

2019-03-15 - 13:12:00 - Week: 11 - Item number: 6972 - Category: KIM-1, PET, CBM, Hardware

SIDFX

SIDFX is a device that makes it possible to install two SID chips inside your Commodore C64, SX-64, 128, 128D or C64 Reloaded. The features are: No soldering required, direct audio-output, automatic detection of different type of SID's and easy configuration.

2019-03-08 - 13:18:00 - Week: 10 - Item number: 6959 - Category: C64, Hardware

MagicFlash64

The magicFlash64 is a kernal replacement for the Commodore 64. The features are: 64 x 8 KB slots (writeable from the C64), flash memory and a Atmega48 micro controller.

2019-03-08 - 13:04:00 - Week: 10 - Item number: 6945 - Category: C64, Hardware

Mega65

Paul Gardner-Stephen is working on a FPGA version of the Commodore C65. His goal is to make an 8-bit computer for the 21st century. Most recent updates: Improvements for audio mixing, freezer, SID, disk-drive and sprites.

2019-03-08 - 13:03:00 - Week: 10 - Item number: 6944 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

Tynemouth Software - C16 / 64KB

Tynemouth Software wrote a blog about upgrading a Commodore C16 to 64 KB of RAM.

2019-03-01 - 13:11:00 - Week: 9 - Item number: 6936 - Category: C16, C116, Plus/4, Hardware

Diag264

Diag264 is a method of testing the hardware of a Commodore C16, C116, Plus/4, C232 or the V364. The tests are: Cassette, serial, userport, RS-232, keyboard, joystick, RAM, ROM, TED, screen, colours and graphics.

2019-03-01 - 13:05:00 - Week: 9 - Item number: 6930 - Category: C16, C116, Plus/4, Hardware

FluxEngine

The FluxEngine is a very cheap USB floppy disk interface capable of reading and writing exotic non-PC floppy disk formats. At this moment not all formats are supported but a few examples are: IBM MFM / DMF, Atari ST, Acorn (A)DFS, Amiga, Brother, etc.

2019-02-22 - 13:15:00 - Week: 8 - Item number: 6923 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

Dan Wood - A500 internet

Dan Wood talks about the connecting an Amiga A500 to the internet. He is using a WiModem232 to make the connection between the RS-232 on the Amiga and a Wifi signal.

2019-02-22 - 13:11:00 - Week: 8 - Item number: 6919 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

FlashFloppy 1.0 - GOTEK

Keir Fraser released new firmware for the GOTEK. Improvement in this version: Game/demo AutoSwap, OLED display text and support for HDM image files.

2019-02-22 - 13:09:00 - Week: 8 - Item number: 6917 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

Daniel Renner - SRAM64

Daniel Renner made a video about replacing the memory of the Commodore C64 with the SRAM64 module.

2019-02-22 - 13:02:00 - Week: 8 - Item number: 6910 - Category: C64, Hardware

A hobbyist guide to the C64 Mini

Holger Weßling wrote a book about the C64 Mini. In this book: Update Firmware, Disk management, Operating systems, Programming languages, Emulators, Hardware, USB, Modding, Hacks, Tips & Tricks, Demo's, Wiki's and FAQ. The book is now also available in a printed version (English & German).

The book as an eBook:

2019-02-15 - 13:18:00 - Week: 7 - Item number: 6907 - Category: C64, Hardware

Jan Derogee - Rotary joystick

Jan has made a "joystick" especially for playing games like Decathlon and Crank Crank Revolution.

2019-02-08 - 13:15:00 - Week: 6 - Item number: 6888 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

SD-BOX v2.3

The SD-BOX is a cartridge with an SD card interface for the Commodore C64. The cartridge has many functions for the disk drive and the Datassette. Recent updates: Added a function for formatting diskettes.

2019-02-08 - 13:13:00 - Week: 6 - Item number: 6886 - Category: C64, Hardware

Turbo Chameleon 64 - v2

Individual computers has announced the Turbo Chameleon 64 version 2. The features are: VGA, Turbo (9.8x), 16MB REU, 4MB GeoRAM, MMC/SD card, PS2 keyboard & mice, realtime clock, USB and cartridge emulation: Action Replay, Retro Replay, KCS Power cartridge, Final Cartridge 3, Expert Cartridge, SuperSnapshot 5, etc.

2019-02-08 - 13:07:00 - Week: 6 - Item number: 6880 - Category: C64, Hardware

The Guru Meditation - A1200 keycaps

In this episode of the Guru Meditation: Bill takes a look at the new Commodore Amiga keycaps from A1200.net.

2019-02-08 - 13:06:00 - Week: 6 - Item number: 6879 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

HAL PCG-6500 - PET/CBM

The guy old made a video of a rare hardware expansion for the Commodore PET/CBM computer. The HAL PCG-6500 is a graphics board with aprogrammable character set generator and a sound device.

2019-02-01 - 13:19:00 - Week: 5 - Item number: 6872 - Category: KIM-1, PET, CBM, Hardware

SX-64 mini

Christian Steenken has built a mini version of the Commodore SX-64. The features are: Excellway EF01 case, Raspberry Pi, 3.5" LCD, WiFi, keyboard, SD card an USB.

2019-02-01 - 13:18:00 - Week: 5 - Item number: 6871 - Category: C64, Hardware

APECAT - Amiga

APECAT is an Amiga processor extension card for application transfer. With this device you can transfer data to the Amiga directly in to the Amiga memory. You can follow the progress on the web page of Stian Søreng.

2019-02-01 - 13:07:00 - Week: 5 - Item number: 6860 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

Wicher 508 - CDTV

The Wicher 508 is new expansion card for the Amiga CDTV. The features are: 8MB Fast RAM (SDRAM) and a IDE controller.

2019-02-01 - 13:01:00 - Week: 5 - Item number: 6854 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

Amiga 500 - Papercraft

Rocky Bergen made a new papercraft design of a retro computer. This time he made the Amiga 500 including a monitor.

2019-01-25 - 13:09:00 - Week: 4 - Item number: 6852 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

Amiga WARP calendar 2019

The Amiga WARP calendar 2019 is now available. You can use the standard version or the starfield version.

2019-01-25 - 13:02:00 - Week: 4 - Item number: 6845 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

Bwack - C64 VICII

Bwack is making a video series about the analysis of the VIC-II die shot. In this part: The address generator.

2019-01-25 - 13:01:00 - Week: 4 - Item number: 6844 - Category: C64, Hardware

Arcade2USB - C64 Mini

TSB made a converter to use the Arcade joystick on a C64 Mini. The converter transforms the digital signals from a Atari/DB9 style joystick to USB signals.

2019-01-18 - 13:18:00 - Week: 3 - Item number: 6842 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

Retrohax - Vampire 500 V2+

Retrohax has written a blog about installing a Vampire 500 V2+ in an Amiga A500.

2019-01-18 - 13:02:00 - Week: 3 - Item number: 6826 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

AmigaKit A600 1MB

AmigaKit has released a new version of the 1 MB RAM expansion for the Amiga A600. The features are: 1MB RAM, auto configuration, optional Real Time Clock module and a 22-pin A1200 clock-port header.

2019-01-11 - 13:00:00 - Week: 2 - Item number: 6808 - Category: Amiga, Hardware

StrikeWiFi - C64

Geoanas is working on a new project. This time he built a WiFi modem for the Commodore C64. The modem connects to the user-port and is compatible with the CCGMS software.

2019-01-04 - 13:19:00 - Week: 1 - Item number: 6805 - Category: C64, Hardware

C128 RM

TheDuckSun is working on a C128 that fits into a C64 case. The features are: VIC/VDC switch, 8 bit colour RAM, 6-36 VDC, Dual-SID, etc. The C128 RM is now available for pre-order.

2019-01-04 - 13:18:00 - Week: 1 - Item number: 6804 - Category: C128(D), Hardware

C256 Foenix

Stefany Allaire is working on a successor for the Commodore C64/128. Recent changes: SD Card support and video output is making progress.

2019-01-04 - 13:16:00 - Week: 1 - Item number: 6802 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

Mega65

Paul Gardner-Stephen is working on a FPGA version of the Commodore C65. His goal is to make an 8-bit computer for the 21st century. Most recent updates: MEGA65 user port cartridge, Benchmarking the 6502 and improvements for the video output.

2019-01-04 - 13:15:00 - Week: 1 - Item number: 6801 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

THEC64 Full size

You can now look at the first photos of the full-size pre-production prototype of THEC64, complete with a fully functional integrated keyboard.

2018-12-28 - 13:14:00 - Week: 52 - Item number: 6784 - Category: C64DTV, C-One, Hardware

The ChickenHead Chronicles - Pi1541

A new episode of The ChickenHead Chronicles is now available. In this episode: Pi1541.

2018-12-28 - 13:10:00 - Week: 52 - Item number: 6780 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

Daniel Renner - Competition Pro USB

Daniel Renner made a video about the use of the Competition Pro Joysticks with the C64 Mini.

2018-12-28 - 13:06:00 - Week: 52 - Item number: 6776 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

HVSC 4 SD2IEC - #69 update

HVSC 4 SD2IEC is a project to convert the HVSC collection to a SD2IEC device. All files are converted to SID DNP files. You can also use the SD-BOX to listen to the SID music.

2018-12-21 - 13:19:00 - Week: 51 - Item number: 6769 - Category: C64, Hardware

Mega65

Paul Gardner-Stephen is working on a FPGA version of the Commodore C65. His goal is to make an 8-bit computer for the 21st century. Most recent updates: MEGAphone - modem and audio interface and serial data transfer.

2018-12-21 - 13:05:00 - Week: 51 - Item number: 6755 - Category: Commodore, Hardware

A hobbyist guide to the C64 Mini

Holger Weßling wrote a new book about the C64 Mini. In this book: Update Firmware, Disk management, Operating systems, Programming languages, Emulators, Hardware, USB, Modding, Hacks, Tips & Tricks, Demo's, Wiki's and FAQ.

2018-12-14 - 13:15:00 - Week: 50 - Item number: 6749 - Category: C64DTV, C-One, Hardware

SD-BOX v2.2

The SD-BOX is a cartridge with an SD card interface for the Commodore C64. The cartridge has many functions for the disk drive and the Datassette. Recent updates: Colour schemes, improvements for the disk drive, language select, memory preview and copying.

2018-12-07 - 13:17:00 - Week: 49 - Item number: 6733 - Category: C64, Hardware