In the last post I finished laying out and routing the PCB for the new version of the Mini VIC. I like to leave things for a couple of days if I can, and then go back and check over. I wanted to check the board dimensions, and a couple of things on the actual schematic. In order to check the...

   This is a bit of a strange issue that came up during some recent testing. It only happens if you load the PRG version of Rodman from a disk drive onto a VIC and run it immediately before the disk spins down. When you do that, the disk activity light goes out, but the drive keeps spinning....

   Way back in , I started looking into producing a Mini VIC kit, along the same lines as the Mini PET. Something that was VIC compatible but built using modern W Cxx and HC parts. The trickiest part of that was finding a way to replace the VIC video and sound chip. I tried various options...

   Just a quick post to let you know about some of the things coming up in . Mini VIC The first project likely to be finished is the Mini VIC. I am currently tweaking the design to improve the video output you might have noticed the recent deep dive into VIC video output circuitry The...

   The post I wrote on fixing Autofire in VIC Bandits and Multitron was originally much longer. Patreon supporters got to see the full version in October, but when I came to post it here on the blog in November, I thought it was too long, so I cut some bits out. I now present the deleted and...

   The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed a bodge board near the VIC chip on the early VIC board I repaired in the last post http: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk vic vic repair.html This is presumably a factory modification, the board has a Commodore part number ...

   I had a request for help with a broken VIC from a friend in America. Seemed like a normal faulty VIC until he sent me a photo of the board. Well now, that’s not your average VIC . That’s a very early one with the same board as the VIC , the original Japanese version. well, almost the...

   As far as I am aware, the majority of the Minstrel kits that are built work first time, or are quickly fixed due to the wrong jumper settings, a missed solder joint or solder bridge, or misplaced component etc. When there are problems, I try to troubleshoot via email, and usually get things...

   Five years ago to the day, I put up a blog post announcing a new kit for sale. The Minstrel, a Z based, ZX compatible computer kit. http: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk minstrel issue zx compatible computer kit.html Today it is back, and for sale on Tindie again, and there is...

   Over the years of adding various games to the Penultimate cartridge, I have come across a few that behave oddly when you have a datasette or SD IEC plugged into the VIC. Games that automatically start or automatically fire, ones that don’t register the joystick at all, and one that only moved...

   Tank War is a pretty simple Atari Combat clone for the Commodore VIC . One or two players drive tanks around a fixed maze shooting at each other. Very slowly. But then again, I guess tanks do move quite slowly anyway, so lets call it an accurate simulation. And it has tank controls...

   I recently reopened my Tindie store, see http: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk a change of plan.html Before I did that, I was running low on stock on most things, so I needed to order more boards. Since I was doing that, I thought it would be a good opportunity to make a few changes. ...

   In the last post I look at the Sony TCM , a great cassette recorders for use with s computers. http: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk sony tcm cassette recorder part .html One of the things I didn’t like was the battery power option, since I would rather not use C cells, and...

   The end of life of the Z in it’s original pin form back in April was a bit of a blow, as that was the heart of a lot of projects in production, and even more that were still in development. At the time, I tried to buy in enough Z s to keep me going for a short while, but it was a bit of a...

   This is a Sony TCM . A very simple mono cassette recorder, ideal for use with s computers that load programs from tape like the ZX or ZX Spectrum etc., or modern recreations like the Minstrel or etc. It was introduced into Sony’s range in . It was replaced by the face lifted...

   In a previous post, I went through some troubleshooting suggestions for the divMMC future, including a bit of a diversion into a repair of one of those issues, a Z with a bad M line.http: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk divmmc troubleshooting.html In the original Patreon post, I have a...

   There are a bunch of new release from The Future Was bit on cassette and cartridge, including some VIC titles. When there is a new VIC game, I like to get that ready to add to the next update to the Penultimate Cartridge. First there was Super Monza Grand Prix. Then there was...

   As far as I am aware, most users order a divMMC future from The Future Was bit, they plug it in and it works first time. Occasionally, we hear from users that have problems, so I thought I would cover some of the troubleshooting steps we go through. First I should cover normal...

   This was meant to be a quick post just scanning over the schematics to work out the memory map and IO connections, but you know me...... Sometime last year, I repaired a Multitech Micro Professor MPF I. http: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk multitech micro professor mpf i repair.html ...

   I should give a flashing images warning here. If you are affected by such things, give these post a miss. We are still spending for more time on Jelly Load than any sensible person should, tweaking all the parameters to try to get it as fast and reliable as possible those two things are normally...

   A couple of months ago, I built a PET serial interface blog post to follow , and was talking to TFW b about it. They revealed a secret plan they had been working on was along similar lines. A scheme that would later be called ..... Jelly Load. The idea was to inject data into videos...

   I don’t know what it is about old monitors recently I seem to be having bad luck. I had another one start to flicker. Usual problem, failing capacitors in the power supply. This Acer from December also seemed to be unnecessarily difficult to service. Everything...

   This was going to be a part of another post, but it has grown, as they tend to, into a post of it’s own. Look out for the project itself in the coming weeks. As part of an upcoming project, I needed a power source, and a good choice theses days are cells. These are Lithium...

   I am currently looking at options for how and where to sell my products suggestions welcome . As part of that, I have been checking stock, and I seem to be running out of everything. All the main kits have been hit by parts being discontinued. The Mini PET kits need dual port RAM chips and...

   This is one of those cases of requirements creep, or oh, that’s a good idea, let’s add that . It started with a suggestion from my discord that I should make a module for the Minstrel Expansion Bus that clicks when you type on the keyboard, like the ZX Spectrum does and the ZX ...