Markus Gritsch developed a simple USB joystick adapter. With this adapter you can use a digital joystick with your favorite emulator. Markus used a PIC micro controller and a few components on a experimental circuit board. Het tested his adapter with the VICE emulator on his laptop and the famous Competition Pro Retro joystick. The schematic and the firmware are available.

There is a new version of the TDC (Turbo Demo Cart). The new model has a turbo switch. The selectable speeds are 1 MHz, 2 MHz or 4 MHz. The TDC has now 2 SID chip sockets and can use 1 or 2 SID's. With the TDC the C64 runs 2x or 4x faster, but it slows down to normal speed when the VIC and SID chips are accessed. Visit the TDC web page for more technical details.

For the HxC floppy emulator is new firmware available. The HxC floppy emulator is a replacement of a 3.5 inch disk-drive in for example an Amiga or a Atari ST. With this device you can connect the original floppy controller in the computer to a SD memory card or a USB port on a PC. Recent changes in the firmware: File support for: .imz, .ghk, Roland W30, .krz, .ede, .sap and .ldf. Improvements for Oric, TI99/4A, Atari ST, Ensoniq SQ-80, CPC, Spectrum and MSX.

Digital Audio Concepts has released the "SID Symphony II" cartridge. With this cartridge you can add a second SID to your Commodore C64 without opening the C64. Features: SID register mapping from $DE00 to $DFE0. Access LED. Reset button. 12 V DC-to-DC converter for 6581 SID chip. The price of the SID Symphony II cartridge, without an SID chip, is $39.95.

The firmware 6g (beta) is now available for the Chameleon cartridge. Changes in this version: Implemented bit-fade in SID when no waveform is selected or when reading write-only registers. Update of disk image after write actions by the emulated drives. Door open emulation for disk drive. Improvements on CPU instruction, irq and nmi timing. SID stereo mapping for $D500 and $D700.

Kananga has released an update for the FE3 RAM disk for the Commodore VIC-20. Changes: Support for the wildcards ? and *. You can now replace a file with SAVE "@:name",13. Support for the command channel (15) with status, scratch and rename.

Source code of the FE3 RAM Disk on Google Code.

A new audio cartridge for the Plus/4 will be available soon. This cartridge has the following features: 8580 SID support. 3.5 mm audio jack. C64 compatible joystick port. AMIGA mouse support. DigiBlaster playback emulation (8-bit D/A). SID base addresses $FD40, $FE80 or $D400. In the next 2 to 3 weeks the first series is being assembled. You can read more about the cartridge in the comprehensive (English or Hungarian) pdf manual.

Mfilos made a custom Auto AGA/RTG switch on his Amiga 4000. He wanted to use the manual switch from Ratte's Auto AGA/RTG switch. But he wanted a nicer switch on the place where the keyboard lock switch is located. A small pcb with a CD 4017 IC, two relays and a couple of small components is now built into the A4000. You can read all about this project on the blog from Mfilos.

Rik Magers made his own version of the Commodore 1541 disk drive. He started with a uIEC from Jim Brain Designs. The uIEC has JiffyDOS and the ability to store up to 32GB. Rik got hold of a small plastic box that looks similar to a real 1541. After cutting, tweaking and several tubes of glue, he had a mini version of the 1541 including working LEDs on the front.

The uIEC/SD from Jim Brain Designs.

Ken from the web page pcmodhouse.com has built a modern version of a Commodore PET 2001. He bought an non working PET 2001 and replaced the motherboard, keyboard and monitor with modern items. The specifications of the PET 2011 are: AMD Phenom X6 1090T, MSI 870A-G54, 16GB DDR3-1333, Radeon 6850 1GB, 64GB SSD, 640GB WD Black and a 650 Watt XFX PSU. You can see all the details of this "casemod" on his web page.

There is new software available for the ZoomFloppy. Changes in this version: Support for IEEE-488 drives (Thomas Winkler). Experimental support for 1571 serial nibbling via the SRQ protocol. (Arnd Menge). Support for low-level drive analysis with the 1541 index-hole sensor. Many improvements and bug fixes. You can download the new software and a comprehensive English manual from the web page of Nate Lawson.


ZoomFloppy at the go4retro web shop.

The PETdisk is a new storage device, made by bitfixer, for the Commodore CBM / PET with an IEEE-488 port. The system is in two parts. A datassette module that makes it possible to play "data" from a PC soundcard to the CBM / PET and play "data" from the CBM / PET to the PC. The IEEE-488 module has an SD card and a micro processor. You can use the commands LOAD, SAVE and LOAD "$" to load or store data on the SD card. The device number can be changed with a help of a jumper. The USB cable is used to provide 5VDC from the datassette module to the IEEE-488 module.

Demonstration video of the PETdisk.

ACube Systems presents the AmigaOne 500. The system is built around the well known Sam460ex. With AmigaOne 500 you can use AmigaOS 4.1 straight out of the box. The specifications are: Sam460ex 1.15 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, DVD RW, PCI SATA 3512 Controller, AmigaOS 4.1 including manual and a AmigaOne mouse. The price will be around 1000 Euro.

Fullmaj started a project with an MOS6581 SID chip and a Arduino board. The Arduino board is used to "translate" the Midi signals and commands to a SID chip. Features: Control of the SID over Arduino Hardware SPI interface. Midi Receive interface through Opto-coupler and Led visualization of Midi Traffic. On the blog of Fullmaj you can find a sound sample, the schematic and the firmware.

Kananga is working on a RAM disk for the Commodore VIC-20 and the Final Expansion 3. This RAM disk makes use of the 512 kByte of extra RAM from the FE3 and will give you a virtual disk with 1651 blocks free. At the moment Kananga is working on making the RAM disk faster, but you can try the beta version.

Source code on Google Code.

Jac Goudsmit is working on a modern version of the Commodore CBM/PET computer. He uses a combination of a modern programmable Propeller chip, a 6502 processor and a GadgetGangster Propeller Platform motherboard. The latest changes are: Schematics improved. RAM is now controlled directly instead of via latches. The signals CLK2 and SYNC and the LED are removed from the design. At the moment Jac is working on a software update for the ProPeddle.

The petSD from Nils Eilers will be soon for sale at retro-donald.de. The petSD is a new storage device system for the Commodore CBM computers with a IEEE 488 bus. Some of the features are: Modular design. Bus drivers. FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 SD cards. D64/D71/D81. Subdirectory. Real time clock. Easy firmware upgrade. USB and Ethernet interface.

Technical information about the petSD.

The firmware 6f (beta) is now available for the Chameleon cartridge. Changes in this version: Emulation of illegal opcodes SHX and SHY. Support for backwards reading of the PS/2 keyboard matrix. Improved the VIC-II emulation for line 0x138 which does not exist on PAL (line 0x137 is 1 cycle longer). Lightpen trigger from emulated CIA for stable rasters effects. Fixed vertical sprite stretching bug in VIC-II emulation. Preliminary docking station support.

Gilbert Coville repaired an old Commodore KIM-1 computer. On his web page you can see a comprehensive description of the repair. At the start the KIM-1 was missing a few parts: a 6530 PIO / RAM / ROM, three 7-segment displays and a unknown component. The most difficult part is replacing the 6530.

Video van de KIM-1 reparatie.

Today I could take this spy photo with my mobile of a new emulator. This mysterious emulator was presented to a select group of Commodore users. Some details are: Ethernet, USB, VGA, Video, IEC, 2 x Joystick, Datassette, keyboard connector and a unknown FPGA engine cartridge. On the PCB is printed: Made by Gideon...

Thomas Lövskog is working on a new cartridge for the Commodore VIC-20. The cartridge will have the following features: 64k - 1024k SRAM, 8k Kernal, Diskmanagement and Basic extensions with fullscreen editor, SD card, Audio decoder for MIDI, MP3, FLAC, WAV, OGG, etc, RTC with battery backup, WiFi, 3 buttons (RESET, NMI, DISK) and a 0.96" display for text, icons etc. At the moment Thomas is working on the design of the printed circuit board, after that he wants to make the first proto-types.

Skoe showed a new version of the EasyFlash cartridge. In this version the cartridge will be able to switch to another Kernal, and the RAM under the Kernal will also be available. In total you can choose from 8 Kernals and 7 EasyFlashes. The USB connection can be used for updating the Firmware. The EasyFlash can also emulate another cartridge like the FinalCartride-III, ActionReplay etc.

SIDcog is a project from Johannes Ahlebrand. He made a hardware simulation of the Commodore SID music chip inside a Propeller micro controller. Some of the features are: 31kHz sample rate. 16 bit resolution. Full filter and envelope support. All 4 waveform types and combined waveform. Ring modulation and oscillator synchronization. On the Youtube channel from Johannes you can see several demonstrations of the SIDcog.

Sidcog information and download.

Frank Buß started a project to connect a digital joystick to a PC using the USB interface. On his web page you can follow the step by step progress of building the interface. The interface uses Freescale microcontroller that will simulate a USB keyboard and translates the joystick signals to keyboard signals. The firmware and schematic of the interface can be downloaded from the web page. It will cost about 20 Euro to build the interface.

YouTube video of the C64 USB joystick adapter.

On this YouTube video you can see a Papilio FPGA board with a SID 6581 VHDL core (no filters) acting as a networked SID device. The program ACID 64 is used to send the SID data to a network device. Then a program from Markus Gritsch sends this network data to the FPGA via the serial port. The FPGA has a RS232 UART for receiving and sending the data, a 16KB FIFO buffer for storing the data and a emulated SID chip for playing the audio.

ACID64 web page

Luigi Di Fraia made a video about a new proto-type of his DC2N. The DC2N is a device that reads data from a Datassette and sends it to a PC. The latest, and final version, the DC2N 4 is controlled from the PC or Mac and will not have a local display anymore. The controls, reading of the data and a firmware update is done via the (mini) USB connection.

There is now new firmware available for the Ultimate II. Changes in this version: The REU emulation and SX-64 cartridge slot timing have been improved. And many more small changes and improvements. The (pre-)order form has been reopened with adjusted mail rates and different mail options.

The Sound Ultimate Expander 6400 audio digitizer and its accompanying Digimaster 64 software were released on July 24, 2011 at the Commodore Vegas Expo v7. With this cartridge you can digitize audio into your Commodore C64. The cartridge is available and will cost $25 including a cartridge case.

Proto-type of the SUX 6400.

You can see a demonstration of a prototype of the Mega SwinSID on YouTube. This time the original SID is replaced by a STM32 ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller. The microcontroller works at 80 MHz and it uses the integrated 12 bit DACs for stereo output. Currently it is in early stage of development and only basic SID emulation is working.

SwinSID web page

The Commodore C64 can be used to control all kinds of hardware. In this demonstration you can see that the C64 is used to control a pallet warehouse. A program written in BASIC is used to move the pallets from one place in the warehouse to another place. The movement is controlled with 3 stepper motors that can make the mechanical arm move in the X, Y and Z directions. The commands for the motors are given via 5 outputs at the user-port of the C64.

Read the article about the pallet warehouse.

Markus Gritsch wrote an alternative firmware for his HybridSID device. It can now act as a "Network SID Device" and can be used as the sound output device for ACID 64 and GoatTracker. When the HybridSID works together with ACID 64 you will have support for the RSID format and the music is played cycle exact. The HybridSID is a open source project, the schematics and firmware are available to build your own device.

Twylo told us last month that he is working on a SD card for the Commodore PET/CBM. He now has an improved proto-type. This prototype is made on a so-called breadboard with loose components and wire connection. In the near future he is going to make some prototype PCBs. You can watch the latest proto-type in a YouTube video.

Jorge Castillo gave a demonstration of his voice synthesizer, that is controlled by an Commodore C64. The synthesizer is made with PIC16F648A micro controller. It is connected to the user-port of the C64. The program XL VIP terminal is used to communicate between the C64 and the PIC controller. You can watch the demonstration video on YouTube.

Technical information PIC voice synthesizer C64.

The firmware 6d (beta) is now available for the Chameleon cartridge. Changes in this version: Turbo speed increase. Auto speed option for the turbo. Turbo slows down when access to the IEC bus - GEOS works now! 1541 emulation improved (IEC timing, VIA6522). New cartridge emulations: Mikro Assembler, StarDOS, Business Basic, S'More, Prophet-64, Capture, Mach-5, Westermann Learning, Epyx Fastload, Easy-flash and PageFox.

The KryoFlux system can now write an image back to a diskette. In a demonstration you can see that original and protected games (Xenon 2, Turrican 2 and Dragon's Lair) are written back to a diskette, and work without problems. The software for writing images is in beta stage, but will be available in the near future for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. You can visit the KryoFlux web page for more information.

KryoFlux web page

The DiskFreezerX is a project that aims to capture bit cell exact information from floppy disk drives as a standalone device. On Lallafa's blog you can follow the project, and at the moment the hardware is working. The device is made out of several modules: Processor board with a SAM7 ARM processor. IO board with an SD card slot. Floppy adapter module. And a 256 KiB SPI memory module.

Jens Schönfeld showed a proto-type of the RR-Net MK3. This cartridge for the Commodore C64 has the following features: Ethernet (Wiznet W5100 chip with integrated TCP/IP stack), 8 kbyte ROM (Writeable with the C64), 128kbyte RAM (bank switching). The RR-Net MK3 can also be use together with the Chameleon, Retro Replay, MMC Replay and the Nordic Replay via the clock-port.

Jeri Ellsworth released a video on YouTube. In this video you can see a old project of Jeri from 2005. This project was the successor of the C64-DTV. The Amiga version needed more Flash memory, and the toy company lost interest because it would be more expensive. Later the market for this kind of toys collapsed.

For the HxC floppy emulator is new firmware available. The HxC floppy emulator is a replacement of a 3.5 inch disk-drive in for example an Amiga or a Atari ST. With this device you can connect the original floppy controller in the computer to a SD memory card or a USB port on a PC. Recent changes in the firmware: New track generator. Variable bit-rate support. Kurzweil KRZ file support. Many new file systems supported for example ADF Amiga / UAE Extended and D81 (C64+1581). SD-card settings window and much more.

Markus Gritsch has improved the firmware of his HybridSID. In this version he added level bars for the SID voices on the display. HybridSID is a hybrid SID player, built with emulated and real hardware. The CPU and CIA are emulated with a PIC32 and the sound is generated by a "real" SID chip. You can watch a demonstration on YouTube.

Alessandro Dorigatti has made a ZX Spectrum (48k PAL) core for the C-One with FPGA extender. The core supports the ULA+ 64 color mode, a Kempston joystick emulation and can load TAP files. This core requires a monitor that supports 50Hz. An English manual and a keyboard layout is included.

The (beta) firmware v6 is now available for the Chameleon cartridge. Changes in version 6: Fixed RAM mirrors for 1541 drive emulation and reading from emulated SID. Cartridge emulations: KCS power, SSv5, C64GS, Comal-80, Zaxxon, Ocean type 1, Simons Basic, Fun play, Super Games, Warp Speed, Dinamic and Magic Desk. Implemented: Disk-change (button), SDR register in CIA and IEC bus disable bit. Improved: VIC-II timing for mode bits (MCM, BMM and ECM).

Nils Eilers is working on a new storage device for Commodore CBM computers with a IEEE 488 bus. The petSD can replace the floppy or hard-disk and uses a SD memory card for the data storage. He has made a working prototype with an ATmega 1284P, IEEE 488 bus drivers, real time clock and a serial-USB-converter. At this moment the following features are working: load, save, directory, disk-status, mount a d64 image and disk changes. You can follow the progress of the petSD on the web page of Nils.

DAC (Digital Audio Concepts) has a new product available, the internal Stereo SID board for the Commodore 64 and 128. With this dual SID board you can install a second SID (6581 or 8580) inside your C64 or C128 (without soldering). You can buy a empty pcb, pcb with parts or a complete assembled version.

Jac Goudsmit has started a new hardware project. He is going to build a modern version of the Commodore CBM/PET computer. He uses a modern programmable Propeller chip in combination with a real 6502 processor on the ProPeddle circuit board. The ProPeddle circuit board is placed on a GadgetGangster Propeller Platform motherboard to complete the system. You can follow the progress of ProPeddle on the blog of Jac.

Markus Gritsch has build a hybrid between an emulated and a hardware SID Player. The CPU and CIA are emulated with a PIC32 and the sound is generated by a hardware SID chip. This HybridSID is demonstrated in a YouTube video. In the comments of the video you can find a link with detailed information about the HybridSID.

Twylo got hold of some Commodore PET computers, but without a disk-drive. He decided to make his own storage device. He build and interface between the PET and a SD memory card. You can see a small demonstration in a YouTube video.

Individual Computers released a successor to the A603 memory expansion for the Amiga 600. The specifications of the A604 are: 1 MB additional Chip RAM, Clock (with battery), Clock-port, Second clock-port for a Subway USB controller (60% faster), Expansion socket for an Indivision ECS. The A604 will be for sale in the near future at the Vesalia.de web shop.

Peter build himself a 8580 SID-player. For this project he used a AT91SAM7S256 @ 48MHz processor, 64KB RAM, 2x16 LCD display and a SD card for 35000+ PSID files. The system is build inside a Pioneer DT 555 case and can be controlled with the help of a menu. Watch the video on YouTube for more information about this project.

TobiFlexx has adapted the Minimig-core for the Chameleon cartridge. He made a video where you can see a demonstration of the Minimig on the Chameleon. The specifications of the Minimig-core can be seen with sysinfo. The Chameleon cartridge is a cartridge for the Commodore C64 but can also be used as a stand-alone device.