You can be proud of the work that you have done here! I built my first S100 CP/M computer from scratch, wire wrapping all the boards, cutting S100 edge connectors from double sided bare pcb and using an exacto knife for the fingers. I even wound my own S100 power transformer from an old tv set transformer. This was in 1977. The Z80 cpu was new then ;-) I knew, when I saw the PI Pico, that a lot of folks were going to make good use of it!
I'd be having nightmares of a tactile button army chasing me through the city to the commando soundtrack after all that soldering 😁 reaaly impressive work!
I'd really love to get the PETSCII symbols on there, but there's really no space! The letters on the keyboard are currently 2mm high, and I just don't think I could get the definition for the graphics
Cool project. It is nice that the keyboard letters are large, bold a highly visible. It would be even awesomer to find the matching keyboard font (as opposed to screen font). Something narrow bold sans-serif.
My first computer was a C=128 I loved that machine and actually paid for it by writing BASIC programs for a few of the local business men who had commodores. I worked on the PD and we worked 4 12's and. 4 off, my wife worked as a nurses aide on shifts as well so I had a LOT of time on my hands with no body to bother me so I took the fantastic manual that came with the 128 and learned BASIC that way. I was quite good with it, suddenly the local hardware store was printing bills using my software, keeping their bookkeeping up to date with it, as was the Dairy Queen and the Super Stop store as well. I ended up going to college, I know I should have taken up computers there, but being a disabled cop, I wanted to work in the law so I studied law and became a paralegal, however I worked in every computer class I could. I ended up being pretty much. an aide. to the instructors as I was more up on working with the infernal machines then they were, especially since most of the programing was taught using BASIC it was easy to go from the BASIC on the commodore to MS BASIC. Ah for the good old days before Windows 95! I would love to have one of those pocket models, perhaps one day I shall get the parts.... Thanks a billion for the hard work and videos!
Pew Pew !!!! You had me laughing !!!! Subscribed! Loved this project! I had a raspberry pi 0 running BMC64, attached to the underside of a keyboard, running via a powerbank, so all you could see was a keyboard and an hdmi out to the tv/monitor..
Thanks! While researching, I contemplated using a Pi0 and BMC64, but really wanted to make a project with the Pico.. the shortage on Zero's didn't exactly help! I could probably remake it with the same keyboard and physical layout, not sure about the LCD output on the Zero's interface though. Could be fun!
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes , the only problem find with the Pi0 and 4 is that the first has a mini-hdmi, and the second has a micro-hdmi... those simply KILL portability. I could just slide the device into my pocket and use it while on my break at work, except that I need to take a cable or adapter... I can't forgive the PI foundation for that. But the 0 is just superb, a single 18650 battery will last three hours of gaming... since I only have half an hour's break, it's no big deal.
Very impressive! Especially your dedication of building a second one for the sake of this video :D Those components really look like a pain, especially the display connector. I imagine hot air would have melted it?
Thank you! That was mostly the dedication of building one for my wife ;) I ended up hot-air'ing the display connector in place, but as long as you're careful with temp and heat management it's fine. Also lots and lots of flux!
That would be great! The code for this project is freely available, and you'd just need to really port the keyboard input from the MCUME pico64 code into the pico20 code.
You should, KiCad is fun as heck to mess around in anyway. I find PCB design and routing to be like a great puzzle that you can make something out of at the end!
VERY impressive. Your attention to detail is outstanding. I would like to see the software expanded to the VIC-20, CoCo, Apple II, etc. If the screen has the needed resolution perhaps other computer with 16x64 or 24x80 like TRS-80 Models I, III and IV. This, or something very close, could emulate almost everyone's first computer. My first computer was TRS-80 Models I, and I would be happy to help emulate that computer.
Thank you, I appreciate it! :) The MCUME emulator software I'm using is open source (link in description) and could possibly be expanded to other systems! It already supports VIC20 and Speccy's for example! Good luck!
Cool little project for PAX! The thing I've been hoping to do more of is see things like the Pico with minimal/cheap help replacing chips that are simply unobtanium now. The VIC/VIC-II/TED chips from Commodore machines, for example. This isn't that, but it's still very cool because pocket sized! Sort of.
Thanks! The Pico is such a fun little micro, I'm very much enjoying working with them, but I guess it's still a micro and has limitations... Emulation can only go so far!
Great job done! Just amazing. Would great if you could implement a PICO with WiFi and BT support so you can download new releases on the SD via wifi and connect you BT headset to listen to audio!
That's a great idea, the Pico W already can provide those, but the software needs to support and I'm not sure there much performance left available to support it. Would be interested to see someone implement though!
Hi! Really like your Project! I am planning on doing a compilation video of the coolest Pico projects out there. Am I allowed to showcase your project and use some footage from this video?
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes Thanks man, appreciate that. Of cause I will mention your channel and give credit to your video. I will do that. Have a nice day!
It's probably my favourite C64 SID track, and is the canonical version of how the song sounds in my head. I loved OutRun so much as a kid and played it all the time on my C64!
"Because I'm a masochist like that." HAHA! Oh, man, I don't think I could ever complete this project without a pick-and-place machine and a solder-compatible oven or at least a heat gun! Why didn't you start your keys in the middle and work outward (so that at least you'd have less reach-over to have to do from either side)?
What an awesome idea. I was just wondering the other day if the Pico could run C64. I assumed it could since I've seen someone boot up Doom on one fairly recently. Of course ideas get swooshed around loosely and get covered by other things along the way, sometimes to never resurface. Thanks for making it wash ashore once more. It'd be awesome if you had a .bom put together for this. Those tact switches look painful but serviceable. I was hoping to see Tapper or my all-time favorite, Forbidden Forest running on this thing.
Thanks! The BOM shouldn't be too complex, I'll see if I can find some time to put something together this week and add to the repo. The main limitation on the MCUME emu is that it can only load single file .PRG files (ie not multi-disk games), but it looks like both Tapper and Forbidden Forest should fit the bill!
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes I was wondering what compatibility would be like on one of these. Guess that answers my question. Most everything I'd be looking to emulate would be single disk so definitely sounds great!
@@androxilogin there's a few graphical glitches here and there, and some games just refuse to run outright. Anything that requires a fastload doesn't seem to work, and I've noticed some games are bugged out - like in Impossible Mission, the robots immediately zap me even though I'm across the room so it's unplayable. Still lots of fun stuff works though!
Really nice Project. I would like to build one. Is there a more detailed BOM available. I tried to find all thing from the schematic but it isn't easy to find for example the speaker, the ILI9341 connector, the display and the LiPo battery.
Thanks for the push, I've been meaning to making the BOM and keep getting distracted. I've added that to the repo now, and have purchasing details for the more specific parts in the README - github.com/silvervest/c64pico#bom
It can probably run it, but I doubt it'd run well. The SID emulation (ReSID) is pretty slow on the RP2040 core, and sound and music in games is pretty slow.
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes hm well. I see I am looking for something handheld and can run sid wizard. So I can make retro music on the go. I wonder what model of rasberry pi would run it well. I am looking for cheap and easy solution like pi zero or maybe pi1
@@hirusthehellhound ah then yeah, this is definitely not what you'd be looking for! Pi Zero2 running minimal linux and VICE may be an option, but it'd be a very custom build. Good luck!
I don't think I have the patience in me to build them to sell, maybe a limited run at some point in the future but definitely not an ongoing product. I have released all my designs so if you have the knowhow or know someone that does, you can build one yourself!
I built a lot of prototypes and tried out different parts and designs, so all up it would have cost me a few hundred AU dollars at least. I honestly tried not to keep track so I wouldn't get discouraged :)
"I didn't really get any videos or photos. One that I did get..." Welcome to self-contradiction, heh. Why was that the only one you got of something going on during that event?
