Commodore.news

Portable KIM-1 | Scott Lawrence made a portable KIM computer. For this KIM-1 he used an old plastic case he picked-up on a hamfest and a display from a surplus store. The computer inside is a Arduino Uno R3 micro board and a Seeed Studio protoshield. You can follow the whole process on his blog.

History of Personal Computing: Commodore PET | A new episode of the Personal Computing podcast is available. In this episode: Retrochallenge!, Altair 8800b, Wade Ripkowski, Commodore brochures, The Commodore bankruptcy, The Commodore PET 2001, Commodore PET 4032 and the Commodore PET Disk Drive 4040.

BX720D project | Steve Gray is working on a new project. In 1983 Commodore wanted to sell a CBM-II BX-256-80 / BX-700 machine, but it never happened. Now Steve want to built one himself. The specifications are: CBM-II 710 computer, 8250LP disk drives, 8088 co-processor board and a few extras.

ASM80 / IDE | Martin Maly has built an online development tool for retro computers. The features are: Code editor, Simulated workspace for your files, Compiling engines for 8080/8085, Z80, 6502, 6800 and 6809 CPU. Embedded emulators for all these CPUs and emulators for PMI-80, PMD-85, JPR-1, ZX Spectrum, KIM-1 and the Grant Searle Single Board computers.

Kim Uno | Oscar from Obsolescence Guaranteed made an replica of the Commodore KIM-1. For this project Oscar uses a Arduino Uno and a expansion shield with LEDs and a small keyboard. The project is now finished and is a 10 USD open source KIM-1 mini replica and a 6502 programmable calculator.

Kim Uno | Oscar from Obsolescence Guaranteed made an replica of the Commodore KIM-1. For this project Oscar uses a Arduino Uno and a expansion shield with LEDs and a small keyboard. The project is a work in progress and the future plans include the emulation of the 6530 timers and a adding 6 times a 7-segment display and a 23 key keyboard.

PET 2001 RAM Adapter | D'Asaro Designs is now producing 6550 RAM adapters for the Commodore PET 2001. The adapter makes it possible to replace a bad 6550 RAM chip with a 2114 RAM chip. Features: Fully functional pin-compatible. Batten and Allen PCB edge pins. Gold-plated machined DIP socket for the 2114 RAM and the necessary 2114 RAM chip is included.

KIM Kenner archive | Patrick from dottyflowers.com has scanned the Dutch computer magazines KIM Kenner, 6502 Kenner and µP Kenner. The magazines are now available on his web page. The start of KIM Kenner was in 1979 and was continued by 6502 Kenner in 1981. The last years the magazine was know as uP Kenner. The magazine lasted almost 19 years.

Video on the PET / CBM computers | Jan Derogee has made a video where he demonstrates video on the PET / CBM computers. In his demonstration he uses an CBM 3032 and the Cassiopei. The data for the animation is loaded from the Cassiopei and transformed to PETSCII. The frame rate of the video is about 12 frames/sec.

Paddle Shooter - PET/CBM | Chizman made a new game for the Commodore CBM / PET computer. The game is a shooting game controlled with paddles. In 2008 Chizman made this game for the Commodore Plus/4, but this CBM / PET version is more enhanced with speech and music. The game can also be played with the keyboard on a real CBM / PET or with the VICE emulator.

PET/CBM Editor ROM | Steve Gray is working on a project to build various Editor ROMs for the Commodore PET/CBM computer models. The Editor ROM is responsible for all video initialization, screen output, keyboard input, full-screen editor and IRQ handling. You can read more about this project on Steve's web page.

Floppydays - Podcast #6 | The Floppydays podcast of last August is about the Commodore PET. In this episode: Better World Books, VCF Midwest, 2013 Chicago TI International World Faire, World Longest Yard Sale, Historically Brewed book, Commodore PET history, Commodore a company on the edge, VICE, CBUG, TPUG, World of Commodore, Terry Stewart, Port Commodore, Edward Shockley's Pets, CBM Pet File Archive and the PET Index at 6502.org.

Commodore PET games | Senil Data Systems made a web page about games for the Commodore 8032 computer. On this web page you can find software and games. Senil Data Systems also develops games for the older Commodore computers such as the game Gemäuer von Kalawaum. This game is a conversion from a classic Atari game.

Colour PET - project | Steve Gray started a new project. He uses a 80 column (monochrome) CBM/PET to display a 40 column screen with colour. A normal 80 column CBM/PET uses two RAM banks for the text. Steve now uses one RAM bank for the text (40 columns) and the other RAM bank for the colour information. You can read all the details on Steve's web page.

Ladybug - PET/CBM | Mike Johnson (Mr. NOP) released a game for the Commodore PET/CBM 30xx and 40xx models. In the game you must navigate through a maze and collect food. You can change the doors to keep away the predators. Some levels have faster enemy speeds and level 4 has an invisible maze.

Stairrunner - CBM/PET | Martijn from Revival Studios released a new game for the Commodore PET/CBM computer. In this game you need to help Wizzy to reach the top of each building. But all the elevators are out of control. The game can be played on all CBM / PET computers except the 2001. The game is available on a real cassette or as an digital download.

Down! - CBM/PET | Martijn from Revival Studios released a new game for the Commodore PET/CBM computers. In the game your village is under attack and you must go and help. The only way is going down! The game can be played on all CBM / PET computers except the 2001. The game is available on a real cassette or as an digital download.

CBM 8032 repair | DomesticHacks is working on restoring an Commodore CBM 8032 computer. The 8032 is equipped with several expansions. In the videos you can see the progress of the repair and how to diagnose the CBM 8032. The videos are in the German language, the music in the videos is from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).

Oil's Wel - CBM/PET | Mr. NOP released a new game for the Commodore CBM/ PET. In the game you must drill for oil. But deep under ground all kinds of creatures want to destroy your drilling machine. The game is written in assembler and is available for the PET 2001, CBM 3032 and the CBM 4032.

Commodore Pet 2001-32N (CBM 3032) review | Terry Stewart (tezza) talks about the vintage / classic computers in his collection. This time he talks about his Commodore Pet 2001-32N (or CBM 3032). He shows brochures, hardware, the inside of the computer, the PETDisk system, games, programs, documentation, etc.

Avalanche - PET/CBM | Avalanche is a new game for the Commodore PET/CBM, made by Revival Studios. In the game you have to shoot the various gems that are falling down from the top of the screen. The gems are marked with symbols and the player has to match up the symbol of his ship with the symbol on the gems. The game is available for all Commodore PET/CBM models, except the 2001, on cassette or as a free digital download.

Die Gemäuer von Kalawaum - PET/CBM | SenilyDeluxe has made a PET/CBM version of the Atari classic Die Gemäuer von Kalawaum from the year 1991. This version uses PETSCII Art for displaying the game. At the moment there are some small errors such in the power and the awarding system. You can see a video of the game, including an introduction of the original game.

PETpix Video | PETpix video is a system for the Commodore PET / CBM computer that can play video images. The system is developed by Michael Hill (gubbish). He records video with his video camera, then converts the images to PETSCII images on his PC. The PETSCII files are transferred to a SD card. The Commodore PET / CBM computer reads the images from the SD card and displays them as a video.

World's First: Single Board Computer KIM-1 | On the video channel from mkkiani you can see many World's First. This time he shows the Commodore KIM-1. The KIM-1 was released in 1976 and was the first single board computer that was commercially available. The KIM-1 has an 6502 CPU, 1 kByte RAM, ROM, Hexadecimal keyboard, LED display, 15 In / Outputs and a Cassette interface.

The Commodore PET serial registry project | This web page wants to make a register of all Commodore PET / CBM computers and peripherals. The database now holds more 50 serials and is still growing. Besides the serials database you can also find software, books, adverts, manuals, brochures and much more.

The Commodore PET serial registry project | A new web page wants to make a register of all Commodore PET / CBM computers and peripherals. You can create a user account and put all your devices in the database, including a picture. On the web page you can see all the data: Model, Country of manufacturing, Serial number, Picture, Owner etc.

TPUG - YouTube channel | TPUG (Toronto PET Users Group) has launched a YouTube channel. On this channel you can see several presentations from recent World of Commodore shows. A few examples of these presentations are: PetSynth, Ultimate, Fastfingers, ZoomFloppy, EasyFlash, Visual 6502 etc.

PETvet | Bitfixer has started a new project. After his PETdisk he now is developing the PETvet. The PETvet is a RAM / ROM replacement for the Commodore PET. The PETvet also allows you to view the memory of a running PET by halting the CPU and sending the memory contents over a serial port. When the prototype is finished a kit will be available.

Proxa 7000 | The Proxa 7000 expansion was made by the German company Ultra Electronic. It adds CBM 8000 series compatibility to the CBM 700 series. For a long time nobody could use this rare expansion because the software was missing. But recently the software was found. You can read more about this very rare expansion on Steve Gray's Commodore web page.

Commodore PET in a FPGA | Thomas created an Commodore PET inside a FPGA. Features: Digilent Nexys3 FPGA board. 6502 implementation (Max: 50 Mhz). 640x400 VGA output. 16K ROM / 16K RAM. PS/2 keyboard. Datassette simulation. CB2 audio.

Commodore PET 2011 | 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.

PETdisk | 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.

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