5 ms·

I have quite a number of Commodore 64s lying around by virtue of developing a hobby of learning component level repair on them. I'm tempted to buy one of these

by 300bps 4y ago

I have quite a number of Commodore 64s lying around by virtue of developing a hobby of learning component level repair on them. I'm tempted to buy one of these Mega65s to play around with it but at $832.50 including shipping to the US, it's a bit much. The main reason I am interested in old computers is because I used those old computers back in the day! Really have to hand it to them on the engineering of it though - looks like an amazing machine.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago
You might be interested in my good friend Randy's labour of love: https://accentual.com/vicii-kawari/ https://accentual.com/vicii-kawari/ FPGA replacement for the VIC-II.
- 300bps 4y ago
  Considering I just bought 10 NOS NTSC VIC-II chips, yes I’m interested. I’ve been following that project for some time but it seems to be On hold for months and counting due to chip shortage. Is it being resumed at some point soon?
  - cmrdporcupine 4y ago
    He's constantly working on it. We both quit our Google jobs back in January (on the same day) and frankly, the VIC is how he seems to be spending most of his time since. The problem remains chip shortages. He had to rework the board a couple times because of lack of FPGA supply. I've seen his latest boards and they are impressive.
dfxm12 4y ago
Consider checking out the mister project. The Mister is one FPGA board that lets you emulate many old computers, like the C64, Atari ST, Amiga 500, Macintosh plus, 486 based systems, even Japanese computers like the Sharp x68k, PC-88, MSX, etc. It's a great piece of kit, with some level of floppy support and more affordable (although you have to bring your own fancy case!).
glonq 4y ago
If they had a no-floppy option and an assemble-it-yourself option, I wonder how much the cost might come down? Heck, some people might even want to DIY the case and keyboard.
- bluescrn 4y ago
  Most of the cost seems likely to come from the costs of producing a very small run of a large presumably-injection-molded case and a custom keyboard. Can't imagine the machine will ever have much of a community with its combination of high price, relatively low nostalgia, and a bulky/unsexy design, but it's cool that they actually managed to finish and ship the product.
technothrasher 4y ago
> I have quite a number of Commodore 64s lying around I've got a bunch as well, some new in box, some completely ratty and worn out, most somewhere in between. Have you registered them with the C64 registry? (https://c64preservation.com/dp.php?pg=registry https://c64preservation.com/dp.php?pg=registry) What's your lowest serial number? I've got one with a pretty low serial, which I was lucky enough to find and purchase at the Dayton Hamvention back in the 1993 for $5. > The main reason I am interested in old computers is because I used those old computers back in the day! Right there with you!
technofiend 4y ago
Things I'm nostalgic for are slightly older like the VT100 and PDP 11 series. There was something just amazing about the soft blip when turning on the VT100, and something very powerful about clacking away on that keyboard, writing code to do whatever you could think of. But even if someone made a brand new VT 100 with a proper CRT and embedded a PDP 11 equivalent, would I pay $832.50 for it? Nah, probably not. Still, kudos to the team for successfully recreating the C64 in FGPA. Preserving digital heritage is important even if it's time consuming and expensive.
- everslick 4y ago
  Actually it is a recreation of the C65. (Which happened to have a C64 mode) Running 3rd party cores is possible though.
- russellendicott 4y ago
  I've always wanted a PDP11 but having never used one I'm overwhelmed when looking for them. I have no way of knowing if I'm buying the right parts or how to tell if they function. Are there any retro recreations of PDP machines? All I've ever been able to find are emulators.
- watmough 4y ago
  Enjoy ... https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11 https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11 The 8 and 11 have been made. There was a PiDP-10 in progress, but not sure what the status is on it currently.
  - technofiend 4y ago
    Yeah, that is cool. I've seen it a few times and thought... maybe. But honestly so far I've gotten all the nostalgia I need out of running SIMH. But thank you.
- driverdan 4y ago
  I have my childhood VT180 sitting here in its original box, along with all the documentation and software. Unfortunately it's not currently working but one of these days I'll dig into it and figure out what's wrong.

by 300bps 4y ago

cmrdporcupine 4y ago

You might be interested in my good friend Randy's labour of love: https://accentual.com/vicii-kawari/ https://accentual.com/vicii-kawari/ FPGA replacement for the VIC-II.

300bps 4y ago
Considering I just bought 10 NOS NTSC VIC-II chips, yes I’m interested. I’ve been following that project for some time but it seems to be On hold for months and counting due to chip shortage. Is it being resumed at some point soon?
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  He's constantly working on it. We both quit our Google jobs back in January (on the same day) and frankly, the VIC is how he seems to be spending most of his time since. The problem remains chip shortages. He had to rework the board a couple times because of lack of FPGA supply. I've seen his latest boards and they are impressive.

dfxm12 4y ago

Consider checking out the mister project. The Mister is one FPGA board that lets you emulate many old computers, like the C64, Atari ST, Amiga 500, Macintosh plus, 486 based systems, even Japanese computers like the Sharp x68k, PC-88, MSX, etc. It's a great piece of kit, with some level of floppy support and more affordable (although you have to bring your own fancy case!).

glonq 4y ago

If they had a no-floppy option and an assemble-it-yourself option, I wonder how much the cost might come down? Heck, some people might even want to DIY the case and keyboard.

bluescrn 4y ago
Most of the cost seems likely to come from the costs of producing a very small run of a large presumably-injection-molded case and a custom keyboard. Can't imagine the machine will ever have much of a community with its combination of high price, relatively low nostalgia, and a bulky/unsexy design, but it's cool that they actually managed to finish and ship the product.

technothrasher 4y ago

> I have quite a number of Commodore 64s lying around I've got a bunch as well, some new in box, some completely ratty and worn out, most somewhere in between. Have you registered them with the C64 registry? (https://c64preservation.com/dp.php?pg=registry https://c64preservation.com/dp.php?pg=registry) What's your lowest serial number? I've got one with a pretty low serial, which I was lucky enough to find and purchase at the Dayton Hamvention back in the 1993 for $5. > The main reason I am interested in old computers is because I used those old computers back in the day! Right there with you!

technofiend 4y ago

Things I'm nostalgic for are slightly older like the VT100 and PDP 11 series. There was something just amazing about the soft blip when turning on the VT100, and something very powerful about clacking away on that keyboard, writing code to do whatever you could think of. But even if someone made a brand new VT 100 with a proper CRT and embedded a PDP 11 equivalent, would I pay $832.50 for it? Nah, probably not. Still, kudos to the team for successfully recreating the C64 in FGPA. Preserving digital heritage is important even if it's time consuming and expensive.

everslick 4y ago
Actually it is a recreation of the C65. (Which happened to have a C64 mode) Running 3rd party cores is possible though.
russellendicott 4y ago
I've always wanted a PDP11 but having never used one I'm overwhelmed when looking for them. I have no way of knowing if I'm buying the right parts or how to tell if they function. Are there any retro recreations of PDP machines? All I've ever been able to find are emulators.
watmough 4y ago
Enjoy ... https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11 https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11 The 8 and 11 have been made. There was a PiDP-10 in progress, but not sure what the status is on it currently.
- technofiend 4y ago
  Yeah, that is cool. I've seen it a few times and thought... maybe. But honestly so far I've gotten all the nostalgia I need out of running SIMH. But thank you.
driverdan 4y ago
I have my childhood VT180 sitting here in its original box, along with all the documentation and software. Unfortunately it's not currently working but one of these days I'll dig into it and figure out what's wrong.