The Membership Card is a complete computer that fits in an Altoids tin. Inspired by classic 8-bit computers like the Altair 8800 and Heathkit H8, it is thoroughly documented and easy to build, with big parts, big pads, and big traces and spaces. It uses only generic parts common in the 1980s (and still available today) -- no custom parts, and no surface mount. It's fully self-contained: You don't need PCs, Windows, megabyte compilers, or secret software to use it. Now you can learn about computers right from the ground up, and really understand how they work!
It comes as a two-board set. The Z80 Membership Card itself is a stand-alone single-board computer that can "power up" your projects, like the Parallax BASIC Stamps or Arduino microcomputers. But you need a way to program it, and of course some kind of input and output "shield" to put it to work.
Links to buy the kits are near the end of the page.
I got to wondering... Could we have built an 8080 microcomputer, like the famous Altair 8800, but in a pocket-sized package? No "wizard behind the curtain" modern chips to make it work. It had to be built with vintage parts and through-hole techniques; just as it would have been back then. It must be user programmable; not simply running a fixed program like the HP-35. And, it's got to have a real front panel, like the Altair with its classic switches and blinkie-lights!
The kits are linked near the end of the page.
Implementation of a super-lightweight network file system for sharing files across and between 8-bit computers. Originally designed for the Spectrum but has been ported to the Atari. Implementations exist for Linux, Spectrum, and Atari.
Protocol spec: https://github.com/FujiNetWIFI/spectranet/blob/master/tnfs/tnfs-protocol.md
FujiNet was intended to be a network adapter that attaches to the SIO (Peripheral) port of an Atari 8-bit computer system but has become an all encompassing SIO peripheral emulator. Designed to physically interface with any 8-bit Atari system via the SIO port with a 3d printed SIO plug. Also has an SIO jack on the back so that other peripherals can be plugged in as passthrough devices. Powered from the Atari (unless it's used on a 400 or 800, they don't supply enough current).
Emulates data storage on cassettes and floppy disks. Data can be stored on SD card or TNFS network share. Emulates the 850 modem. Emulates most of the common Atari printers, but converts files to PDF and saves them. Implements a brand-new network (N:) device.
Implements Bluetooth, NTP, text-to-speech.
PCBway community page for an adapter for a Commodore 1541-series disk drive. Makes it possible to add a parallel interface port to the drive for the purposes of disk ripping. Rather than cutting traces and soldering directly to a 6522 chip, it fits in between the chip and its socket. Add some ribbon cable and a DB-15 plug and there you go.
The picture is a helpful reference for how the IC socket and header bars are positioned.
Note that, per the response to my question:
Pins 9 and 10 are connected to pins 18 and 39 of 6522 - CB0 and CA1 (some count it from 1 so it's CB1 and CA2 then). They are needed only when drive is connected with C64 via userport to handshake while sending data. You don't need those for XUM1541/ZoomFloppy.
A collection of cartridges, adapters and replacements for the Commodore C64.
- DiskBuddy64 is a minimal adapter that can interface a Commodore 1541(II) floppy disk drive to your PC via USB in order to read from and write on disks. It uses its own fast loader.
- TapeBuddy64 is a simple and inexpensive adapter that can interface a Commodore Datasette to your PC via USB in order to read from and write on tapes.
- SD2IEC LP is a C64 SD-card adapter and floppy disk drive emulator based on the design by Lars Pontoppidan with cassette port plug. Copy C64 games and programs to SD-card on your PC, put the SD-card in your SD2IEC and load games and programs on your C64!
- Tapuino is a Commodore Datasette emulator based on the design and firmware by Sweetlilmre. Put your TAP-files on an SD-Card and plug the device in your good old Commodore!
- The classic xu1541 is a Commodore floppy disk drive to USB adapter based on the designs by Till Harbaum and Spiro R. Trikaliotis. It connects a variety of CBM drives (1541, 1541-II, 1570, 1571, 1581, SX-64's internal floppy disk) to USB-equipped PCs running Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. This allows for easy transfer of disk images to and from these devices and helps you preserve your old data.
- TapeDump64 is a simple and inexpensive adapter that can interface a Commodore Datasette to your PC via USB in order to dump your old software saved on tapes as TAP files. It is inspired by TrueTape64, a similar project by Francesco Vannini.
- A C64 keyboard to USB adapter based on the design and firmware by Mikkel Holm Olsen. Use the original keyboard with you favourite emulator!
- The SwinSID nano is a replacement board for the legendary SID soundchip of the Commodore C64 based on the design by Swinkels.
- A simple 8k cartridge for C64.
- A MagicDesk compatible cartridge for Commodore C64 based on the work of Marko Šolajić and Zzarko. Build your own cartridges out of multiple PRG-files! Has a 64k variant and a 256k variant.
- A 512k MagicDesk compatible cartridge for Commodore C64 based on the work of Marko Šolajić and Zzarko. Build your own cartridges out of even more PRG-files!
- The FreeLoad cartridge is a simple clone of an Epyx Fastload cartridge, offering a system reset button, a file access activity LED and a disable switch. Load 5x faster from your floppy disk drive, your SD2IEC or your Pi1541!
If you have an interest in the Commodore 64 (C64), SX-64 and Commodore 128 (C128) and all the various hardware that comes with that, like 1541 disk drives, modems, 1702 monitors, etc, then the Commodore Computer Club and Users Group is for you.
We also discuss the Commodore Amiga, VIC-20, Commodore 16 (C16), Plus/4, CBM PET and even the C64 Direct-to-TV (C64DTV) designed by Jeri Ellsworth. If it’s Commodore related, we discuss it at our meetings.
The goal of the club is to have monthly meetings and discuss cool things that are still happening in the scene as well as share project ideas or concepts and to inspire each other for new ones.
In May of 2011 we started the Retro Computing Club as a “sister” club to compliment and cover other vintage computers like Apple, Atari, IBM PC, Tandy, Texas Instruments, Macintosh and more along with video game consoles like Nintendo, Vectrex, Sega, etc.
Like any self-respecting user group, their resources page is well populated.
Keir Fraser’s Greaseweazle is a project for versatile floppy drive control over USB. By extracting the raw flux transitions from a drive, any diskette format can be captured and analyzed - PC, Amiga, Amstrad, PDP-11, many older electronic musical instruments, and industrial equipment. The Greaseweazle also supports writing to floppy disks. The design is fully open and comes with no license encumberment.
A companion code library, Disk-Utilities, converts between flux images and multiple, standardized floppy disk image file formats. These can then be used in hardware floppy emulators, like the Gotek or FlashFloppy, or as disk images in hundreds of pure software emulators.
Very inexpensive! $30us!
The FluxEngine is a very cheap USB floppy disk interface capable of reading and writing exotic non-PC floppy disk formats. It allows you to use a conventional PC drive to accept Amiga disks, CLV Macintosh disks, bizarre 128-sector CP/M disks, and other weird and bizarre formats. (Although not all of these are supported yet. I could really use samples.)
The hardware consists of a single, commodity part with a floppy drive connector soldered onto it. No ordering custom boards, no fiddly surface mount assembly, and no fuss: nineteen simpler solder joints and you’re done. You can make one for $15 (plus shipping).
Github: https://github.com/davidgiven/fluxengine
I might even have the board it requires in my drawers someplace. It looks suspiciously familiar.
As I haven't found a good source on archiving your personal collection of Atari software on floppy disk, I documented my own progress, so others might benefit from it.
I started looking for methods to copy my floppies to a PC so that when my 1050(s) break down, I still have some of my source code, letters, games, etc. As I only have recent hardware in the form of Apple, PC (intel) 'antiques' - albeit almost 20 years younger than my atari's - laptops from Y2k or a little bit more recent and several 'embedded' stuff in the form of Arduino and Raspberry Pi's, I started this journey by looking into the various methods that are available to hook up one of the aforementioned devices to my Atari and 1050 setup so I could start archiving.
Atari 8 bit computers, NES and SMS game consoles on your TV with nothing more than a ESP32 and a sense of nostalgia. Simple schematic to rig up video and audio outputs to connect to a television.
Emulates the Atari 400/800, XL, XEGS, 5200, NES, Sega Master System, and Game Gear. Controllers and keyboards must be Bluetooth enabled so that they can connect to the ESP32.
Most interestingly, it has an HTML-with-Javascript page (https://github.com/rossumur/esp_8_bit/blob/master/atr_image_explorer.htm) that stands alone which implements a drag-and-drop .atr image explorer/binary disassembler.
I offer the most common X cables that Joe Forster/STA lists on his site, not the X adapters as I have no ability to make the PC boards required. Special cables not listed below will be considered on a case by case basis and if I have the parts to build them.
The prices for the cables are in Canadian dollars and do not include shipping. The cable costs vary as each one contains different components and take different amounts of time to build. Shipping is typically $7 for one cable in a bubble-wrap envelope and multiple cables would mean a different shipping container and higher costs. Since I have no shopping basket, e-finance capability or ordering page, please email me with your orders. All of my cables are verified working under DOS, and are tested using various drives with the latest ROM versions and/or JiffyDOS.
The main goal of this project is to archive pristine versions of original Commodore 64 software, including copy protection. A secondary goal and benefit of this will be to catalog and document all the different copy protection methods used. This information will be used to improve emulation, as well as allow remastering of the software onto new disks for you to enjoy on the real thing.
They sell new hardware for classic 8-bits, including flash cards, hardware programmers, and interfaces.
How somebody recapped their 1050 disk drive (as well as the specific parts they used), connected the drive to their PC, and ripped disk images for archival.
Win 7/8/10, and Linux/i386/AMD64 kernel driver and development library to control serial CBM devices, such as the Commodore 1541 disk drive, connected to the PC's parallel port via a XM1541 or XA1541 cable. Fast disk copier included. Successor of cbm4linux. Also supports the XU1541 and the XUM1541 devices (a.k.a. "ZoomFloppy").
OpenCBM provides an interface to the Commodore IEC bus at the level of simple TALK and LISTEN commands, similar to the one provided by the Commodore kernel routines. Additionally, some higher and lower level bus control is available as well, allowing for full control of the bus.
The CBM serial devices are connected to the PC either to the parallel port via an XM1541 or XA1541 cable and, optionally, an XP1541 or XP1571 add-on cable. Alternatively, more modern USB cable solutions like XU1541 or XUM1541 (a.k.a. ZoomFloppy) are supported.
Any Linux, FreeBSD or MacOS X variant that support libusb-1.0 should be supported. Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X have been explicitly tested.
Official documentation: https://opencbm.trikaliotis.net/
New games for classic computers and consoles.
The official, canonical documentation for batari BASIC.
batari Basic (bB) is a BASIC-like language for creating Atari 2600 games. It is a compiled language that runs on a computer, and it creates a binary file that can be run on an Atari 2600 emulator or the binary file may be used to make a cartridge that will operate on a real Atari 2600.
A reference for batari BASIC, a compiled dialect of BASIC for the Atari 2600.