Tynemouth Software is repairing an Commodore PET 2001-8. After testing the 6550 RAM chips it was discovered that 14 of the 18 chips were defective. Other defective components: ROM, CPU, a transistor for the Datassette, capacitors for the rectifier diodes and a power connector.

MCes has developed an adaptive RAM expansion for the Commodore VIC20. The features are: +3K, +16K, +24k, 12 x 8K = 96K, write protect and you can configure or disable the cartridge with pokes. The price is 44 Euros.

Keyman64 is an hardware expansion for the keyboard on your Commodore C64. With Keyman64 you can assign actions to key combinations. These action could be a series of keystrokes or hardware switches. The possibilities could be: assign commands to (function) keys, do a reset, switching a Kernal, switch on/of LED's etc. The configuration or firmware update is possible via a USB connection.

Staringlizard started an Kickstarter to make the world's smallest C64 emulator. This project will be a sequel to the Memwa project. The specifications of the Memwa2 are: More powerful MCU, microSD, USB keyboard, HDMI output and a SID chip or a replacement like the Swinsid.

A new firmware for the Sum USB (A1200) and the Sum A600 models is now available. Changes in this version: Apple USB keyboard support, F10: displaying selected keys codes, F12: displaying device settings and a new short-cut for adapter settings.

Egretz is working on a modern version of the TurboCard64. The original TurboCard64, from the year 1987, is an hardware expansion for the Commodore C64 with an 4 MHz 65816 CPU and 256 KByte RAM. You can follow his progress on his web page (German language).

There is a new version of the C64SD v3 Princess under development. The new version "FLC" can control the Datassette motor. This makes it possible to make .TAP files automatically from tapes with multiple files. And a new menu (v2.0) for all versions.

Bwack is working on a "stripefixer". This electronic circuit will counteract some of those vertical bar interference on the screen that the C64 is known for. In the videos you can see how he is building and testing the "stripefixer".

HerMIDI is a MIDI interface for the Commodore 64 made by Hermit. The devices has only a few components and you can built it yourself. Changes in this version: Commodore Plus4 and C-16 support, Update for the documentation, Better initialization and improvement for asynchronous mode.

Ruud Baltissen has found a way to use bigger hard-disks in the Commodore 80286 PC's. The Commodore 80286 PC (PC30-III, PC35-III, PC40-III or PC45-III) has a limit of 512 MB for the hard-disk. But Ruud added the XTIDE Universal BIOS to the system and now the limit of your hard-disk is 8 GB.

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. In the last month he has been working on the keyboard interface, speed control, booting from Flash and the MEGA65 prototype.

Stigsworld is doing an restoration of an Commodore CBM 8032 computer. On his videos you can see how to remove the rust, sanding, priming and painting the metal case. He also shows how to install an PET Micro SD and how to remove the monitor.

The SCSI2SD Hard Drive Emulator is developed by Michael McMaster and is an system that makes it possible to use modern SD cards on a retro computer system. Features: Includes an active SCSI terminator. Emulates up to 4 SCSI devices. Firmware and configuration over USB, selectable SCSI ID and parity support and more.

Jim Brain is working on a new memory expansion for the Commodore VIC20. The features are: The memory is organized in 5 "windows": RAM1/2/3, BLK1, BLK2, BLK3, and BLK5. Each "window" can be configured to show any 8kB RAM or FLASH ROM page in the memory space. There are 1024 8kB pages of FLASH RAM, and 128 8kB pages of RAM.

Amiga PCB Explorer is a web based information system developed by Christian Euler. You can use the system for repairing Amiga motherboards. Besides the layout of the A4000 Rev.B motherboard, the layout of the A1200 Rev 2B is now also available with components, pin assignment and traces.

Mark Gladson started an Kickstarter project to make replicas of the VIC-20 IEEE interface cartridge (VIC-1112). The project will produce fully assembled cartridges with case and label included.

Loriano Pagni started an Kickstarter campaign for producing Amiga inspired key caps for mechanical keyboards. The key caps will be UV printed (at over 300 dpi) on caps compatible with Cherry MX switches. The key caps will be available in following colours: black, white, beige, dark grey, orange, green, lilac, yellow, pink, red, and light blue.

Amigakit is now selling a Classic Boing Ball Mouse. The feature are: 1000 DPI optical mouse with scroll wheel (third button). DB9 connection for Classic Amiga computers: A500, A500+, A600*, A1200, A1500, A2000, A3000, A4000, A4000T.

The Sum adapter enables connecting USB HID keyboards to your Amiga 600. It has been designed for installation inside A600’s casing. Sum is based upon a 16-bit Microchip micro-controller. Features: Support for both USB HID and USB-PS/2 keyboards, built-in USB stack, configuration mode, boot-loader (firmware upgrade) and a status LED.

A new Kickstart project wants to produce new A1200 computer housings. The housing will be made with injection molds with a quality plastic (ASA) with anti-UV and will be super resistive. No yellowing anymore. The new housing are prepared for a CF slot, HcX display and video out. Update: The housing is now available with the Amiga logo.

Staringlizard has developed an replacement for the Amiga A520 adapter. The Amiv 2.0 can converts the Amiga RGB 15 KHz signal to HDMI to make it possible to connect your A500 or A1200 to a modern screen. The Amiv has buttons to shrink the picture horizontally and move the picture horizontally and vertically.

YouTube: AMIV 2.0 - Amiga A520 adapter HDMI remake

The SaV64 is a over voltage protector for your Commodore computer. Features: 5 VDC protection for the Commodore 64 (C/G/GS/Aldi), Commodore VIC-20 CR or Plus/4. Maximum current is 3 Amperes, LED indicator, reset button and four possible trip point settings.

Frank Linde has developed a HiRes card for the CBM 8296-D. The features of the High Resolution Extension (HRE) are: Resolution of 640 x 250 pixels. The CBM video signal and the HRE video signal can be mixed. Control of the HRE through the User Port (POKE). Integration of simple drawing tasks (GPU). You can read all the details on his blog.

YouTube: High Resolution Extension

If you have a 3D printer you can now print your own Amiga Boing Ball. The ball can be printed with a single-head printer in two colours and you do not need any glue to put the ball together.

On the Forum64 there is a thread on whitening the housing of retro computers. They are experimenting with a replacement for hydrogen peroxide and Oxi. In this method the housing is placed in a plastic container with Domol (cleaning solution), the container is placed in the sun for a day or two.

The FPGA Arcade is an retro computer system developed by MikeJ and can be used to emulate (in hardware) many retro computers such as: Amiga, Apple II+, AtariST, Atari 800XL, BBC B, Commodore VIC-20 / C64, MSX and the Spectrum. Miflos has received his FPGA Arcade has build the system inside a mini-itx case. You can follow his progress on his blog.

The FPGA Arcade web page.

GadgetUK164 has made an number of repair videos for the Commodore C64. The most recent videos are about CIA problems, looking at faulty chips, PLA repair, SID repair and repairing a missing pin on a SID chip.

All the repair videos of GadgetUK164.

Radical Brad is working on a 6502 project. He is building an 1980's retro game system with the following rules: CPU: 6502, 74xx logic gates, breadboard, Video: VGA, 256 colours and 400x300 pixels, GPU system with Blitter and a sound system with 4 channels.

RetroGameModz has made a video about repairing a PCB. In this video you can see the repair of damaged surface mount solder pads as well as cleaning up corrosion from a leaking electrolytic capacitor.

If you want to convert your Amiga 1200 to a PC you can watch this video. The components inside the A1200 are: Acer V3 751G I7 GT640M 8GB RAM, Blue-Ray, 240GB SSD, 2TB HDD, Keyrah V2, 2x USB 3.0, Retro mouse and a WinUAE Emulator.

The U17 PLAnkton is a replacement for the original PLA in the Commodore C64. This PLA replacement is developed by e5frog and is based on a Xilinx XC9536XL. The U17 PLAnkton is compatible with all C64 computers and it only uses 20 mA of current instead of 100 mA of the original PLA.

Chrisxyz published a series of photos of the Amiga Ranger. The Amiga Ranger was to be the successor of the Amiga 1000. On the photos you can see the Zorro boards and a mock-up of the housing and the disk drives.

Jani released an cartridge that can be used when testing or repairing a Commodore 1541 disk drive. The available programs are: Alignment check, Show BAM, Disk command, Directory, Error scan, Fast format, Head exerciser, Send I0, Reverse knock, Speed check, Performance test, Validate disk and Sector view.

AuSPuFF2 has developed and Amiga RGB to YPrPb component converter. The circuit is based on the "Narmi" design, but this design uses different operational amplifier and both +5 VDC and -5VDC power supplies. The circuit board is designed with SMD components to fit inside a SUB-D connector.

How to make an 23 pin D-SUB connector.

Перезапуск is developing a adapter that makes it possible to use a SID 8580 with a motherboard for a SID 6581. To make this possible the adapter has a 12 to 9 VDC conversion, modifications for the filter capacitors, AD-convertor (POT) and audio output.

k3ys developed an mini 32K RAM expansion that hides in the Commodore VIC20 cartridge port. The RAM expansion is based on the design from Adam Bergström. You can select how much RAM is active, enable or disable the cartridge and make the RAM read-only.

John Carlsen developed an video digital-to-analogue converter for the Commodore 128. This converter works together with the Gonbes GBS-8220 video converter. The video DAC converts the digital RGBI (red, green, blue, and intensity) signals accurately to the analogue levels used inside a genuine Commodore monitor.

Lichtmichel is developing a small series of acrylic housings for the Commodore C64. You can add LED lighting and your own design of ventilation openings. The housing will be laser cut from acrylic and is made for the ASSY 250469 motherboard. But custom designs for other motherboards are possible.

A new Kickstart project wants to produce new A1200 computer housings. The housing will be made with injection molds with a quality plastic (ASA) with anti-UV and will be super resistive. No yellowing anymore. The new housing are prepared for a CF slot, HcX display and video out.

Retro 7-bit has developed the Sum USB adapter for the Amiga 1200. Now they have made an prototype for the Amiga 500, 2000 and 3000. You can watch a YouTube video and learn more about the Sum USB adapter for the A 500/2000/3000.

Chris Adams built a robot in 1982 that looked like a dog and he called it K9. After many years he decided to restore the K9 to its former glory. The K9 is controlled by a Commodore VIC20 with a speech synthesizer. You can read more about the K9 on his blog.

Servant64 is a Open-Source project that makes it possible to use a bidirectional connection between a Commodore 64 (User-port) and a Windows PC (USB). The hardware is based on cost effective and modular hardware.

Individual Computers is developing a new Amiga motherboard. The features are: Form factor: A500 case. Chipset: AGA chips Alice, Lisa and Paula. CPU: A1200-compatible CPU slot. Power supply: 14 - 19 VDC. Video: 15kHz RGB / Indivision AGA MK2. Audio: 3.5mm stereo jack. Keyboard: A500 / A1200. ROMs: 1 MB flash ROM. Floppy Disk: PC disk drive: IO Subsystem: 32-bit, 14MB/s. Mass Storage: 2 CF-cards.

A new core for the MiST is now available. The features are: OCS, ECS and AGA chip-sets, ChipRAM: 0.5MB - 2.0MB, SlowRAM: 0.0MB - 1.5MB, FastRAM: 0.0MB - 24MB, CPU: 68000, 68010 and 68020, Kickstart: 1.2 - 3.1, Floppy disks, Hard disks, PAL / NTSC, Amiga mouse, joysticks, MIDI in/out and USB.

Thomas Lövskog is developing cartridges for the Commodore VIC-20. The GCart Junior is a RAM expansion for the VIC-20. The features are: RAM expansion for Block 1, 2, 3 & 5 and RAM 1, 2 & 3. Memory enable, disable and write protect. RAM at IO#2 and IO#3. 16 MB Flash with super fast loading and a 3D printed casing.

Schema is developing a WiFi cartridge for the Commodore C64. At this moment he has a working prototype that is communicating on 2400 Baud. You can use a standard terminal program for the communication and all the RS-232 signals are supported.

Ilkka Sjöstedt wrote a blog about the C64 Reloaded. The C64 Reloaded is a new C64 motherboard. This motherboard is designed to use the original C64 chipset, but it is manufactured with today’s standards. Extras are: S-video and audio connectors, ROM switcher for Kernal and character set, standard 5 VDC power supply and you can order ZIF sockets for the chips.

For the Amiga A500/A2000 Commodore made an Diagnostic Kit. This system is a very rare and was only used by official Commodore service companies. Patrick from dottyflowers.com has acquired one of this diagnostic kits and has managed to rescue the software for this system using Kryoflux and the ADF workshop.

This snapshot of an smack-a-mole arcade cabinet shows the new input device, the "lighthammer". This new game and input device will be demonstrated (or you can play it yourself) on the Commodore meeting in Maarssen (the Netherlands) on june 20, 2015.

Tommes is printing new parts for Commodore / Amiga computers. A few Examples are: Expansion Slot Cover for the Amiga 1000, Interlock Knobs for the SX-64, Commodore Monitor 1901 cover, F-Keys for C64C, etc.