RetroMatic 2000 update 7: more HxC testing
In my last post I managed to flash the HxC firmware onto Gotek hardware, add a display, and test it on my Amstrad CPC 6128.
Next up: get it working with my Video Genie II (a TRS-80 clone).
read moreIn my last post I managed to flash the HxC firmware onto Gotek hardware, add a display, and test it on my Amstrad CPC 6128.
Next up: get it working with my Video Genie II (a TRS-80 clone).
read moreThe second part of my retro computer “helper” is to be a floppy drive emulator, to load files off a memory card or stick. This should be more convenient and reliable than physical disks. It will also allow me to transfer files to more modern computers.
My chosen floppy emulator was the HxC: it seems very well designed, and supports almost any format you can imagine.
read moreMy RetroMatic 2000 project has two halves – so far I’ve been working on the first half: a module that converts a weird video signal from a 1980s computer to clean VGA.
Before starting work on the second half (a floppy drive emulator to load software onto these machines), I’ve been having a think about the final aesthetics of my project.
read moreIn my last three posts, I prototyped getting an HD9800 video conversion board to accept signals from my old computers and display them reasonably satisfactorily on an LCD VGA monitor.
But there is one major difference between the original video and the VGA signal: scanlines.
read moreAfter my testing of the HD9800 video converter board, I wanted to experiment with reprogramming the TV5725 video conversion chip on the board.
A number of people have already done sterling work on reverse engineering it to invoke modes not supported by the supplied on-screen controller.
I hope to build on their work :-)
read moreAfter my initial research and designs, I started ordering components for the video converter part of my RetroMatic 2000.
It’s based around a GBS8200 board (or the HD9800 clone version), with extra circuits to modify the input (clean up the sync signal) and output (generate scanlines).
Here’s a scrapbook from my prototyping phase…
read moreI’m building what I call the “RetroMatic 2000” for the Retro Challenge 2017/04.
I’ve been planning, designing, and prototyping it for the last month or so.
Here’s a scrapbook of what I compiled during the research and development phase for the video converter aspect of the project (converting 288p RGB or mono composite from a retro computer to VGA suitable for an LCD monitor).
read moreToday is the first day of the Retro Challenge – a one month semi-formal excuse to do something cool with retro computer technology throughout April.
I only found out about this a couple of weeks ago. I’ve just spent March planning and prototyping a retro computing project, but I haven’t started the main build yet. I’d also been vaguely thinking about publishing my progress somewhere so others could appreciate what I’m doing. So this seemed the perfect excuse!
read moreWhen I grew up, the Commodore PET was one of my favourite ‘aspirational’ computers.
It had already been around for about 3 years by the time I got into computers in 1980, and technologically was way beyond anything else I had came across: decent keyboard, decent graphics, built-in green-screen monitor, disk interfaces, etc.
It also had an archetypal look that you associated with a monolithic computer. Indeed when the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy transitioned to TV, its Deep Thought super computer looked suspiciously like a giant Commodore PET.
read moreI recently bought a Video Genie II computer off eBay. Now to get it all running smoothly, and try out some enhancements.
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