Commodore.news

IECHost | Luigi Di Fraia has made a demonstration video of his IECHost device. With this device you can connect a Commodore IEC disk drive via USB to a PC. In the demonstration he makes an d64 image in about 25 seconds.

The Final Chesscard | Jani wrote a blog about The Final Chesscard for the Commodore C64. The Final Chesscard is a stand-alone computer with 32K of ROM, 8K of RAM and an extra CPU running at 5 Mhz.

C64 Thermometer | Nostalgia Nerd has made a video about a chapter in the book Experiments with your computer. With this he demonstrates how easy it can be to turn your C64 into a graphical thermometer.

SD-BOX v1.18 | The SD-BOX is a cartridge with an SD card interface for the Commodore C64. The cartridge has many functions for the disk drive and the Datassette. Recent updates: Improvements for the SID player (RSID, PSID, title, author and publisher), Datassette, disk-drive, cartridge restart and an update for the manual.

ACA500 | An update for the ACA500 turbo card from Individual Computers is now available. Changes in this version: ROM name support, new MMU libraries, serial logging, reset to factory and 1MByte slow ram.

1551USB | Cbmhardware is building an interface between the Commodore Plus/4 and a PC. He uses an Arduino Uno that connects to the cartridge port of the Commodore Plus/4 and to the USB of the PC. The transfer rates are 6 kB/s and software for the Commodore Plus/4, the Aruino Uno and the PC is available.

ISEPIC | With permission from the rights owner (Chip Gracey), the ISEPIC cartridge has been brought back to the world. The ISEPIC cartridge is the very first freezer cartridge to have been invented and brought to market back in the 80's for the Commodore 64. This cartridge is similar in function to the freeze function of AR or Super Snapshot cartridges that were developed after the ISEPIC. Developed by Chip Gracey, and marketed through Starpoint software back in 1985, this cartridge only remained on the market for about 6 months before it was to fade into Commodore history. Fast forward a few months ago, COREi64.com has brought back a dimensionally identical reproduction of the ISEPIC cartridge. Original cartridge artwork was also reproduced and a faithful authentic styled 3D printed case completes the package.

1541 Ultimate - firmware | There is new firmware available for the 1541 Ultimate. This version is developed by markusC64. Changes in this version: Many small errors are removed and there is now support for Pagefox and EXOS.

Commodore VIC 20: a visual history | Giacomo Vernoni made a book with high quality pictures of the VIC 20, peripherals and Commodore games on cartridge. A few examples are: VIC 1001, VIC 20 (PAL/NTSC), VIC 1010, VIC 1020, VICmodem, VIC 1515, VIC 1525, VIC 1540, VIC 1541, C2N, 1530, paddles, joysticks, boxes and cartridges.

TerribleFire 530 | The TerribleFire 530 is an accelerator for the Amiga 500. The system is still in development but it is already tested with AmigaOS 1.3, 2.05 & 3.1, games and desktop apps at 25Mhz. All the information is available as open-source.

Commodore 64 Wifi Modem | Hpz937 made a WiFi modem for the Commodore C64. For this modem he used a ESP8266, C64 edge connector and a small PCB. The firmware you will need is also available.

GCart Jr. - VIC20 | Thomas Lövskog is developing cartridges for the Commodore VIC-20. The GCart Junior is a RAM expansion for the VIC-20. At the moment he is testing the first batch of cartridges.

PET keyboard - USB | AkBKukU developed an interface that makes it possible to connect a Commodore PET keyboard via USB to a modern PC. AkBKukU uses a Teensy++ for the interface. The source code is available on Github.

HC508 Amiga 500 accelerator card | Mc68k has completed the first few 50 MHz HC508 Amiga 500 accelerator cards. The specifications are: 68HC000 CPU (50 MHz), 40 pin IDE connector (5 MB/s) for HDD, CD ROM etc., integrated CF card connector (3.2 MB/s), 8 MB Fast RAM and 512k FlashROM for Kickstart.

Amiga laser tank mouse | Jesús de la Torre has developed an laser conversion kit for the Amiga tank mouse. The specifications are: Resolution up to 8500 DPI, independent resolution for X and Y axes, self-tuning and automatic sleep / wake-up funtion.

FM Radio app - GEOS | Timo Voutilainen has made a FM Radio app for GEOS. This app supports a RDA5807 module connected to the user port of the Commodore C64.

Princess C64SD v4.0 Ultra | The Princess C64SD v4.0 Ultra is a new product from Manosoft. Features: Redesigned schematic, C=LINK (Bluetooth), indexing on TAP files and multi cassettes TAP games, TAP for PET / CBM computers, stand-alone operation, ATMega1284p with 128KB flash memory, and improvements for the firmware.

8701 replacement | A prototype has been developed to replace the 8701 clock generator chip used on boards 250425, 250466, 250469 and in the C128. A NTSC and a PAL version will be available in the next few months.

Vampire / Apollo - Gold2 | The Vampire turbo card uses the Apollo FPGA-core to emulate the 68000 CPU and the SAGA graphics chip. The changes for Apollo are: Added CPU counters and TURTLE mode. Improvements for AMMX, PCR, MOVEC Rc,Rn, memory controller and the HDMI core.

Overlay64 v1.0 | Henning Bekel released a new hardware device for the Commodore C64. Overlay64 is a video overlay module that superimposes predefined text on an analogue video signal depending on the state of up to 24 digital input lines.

Key64tapper | Adam Podstawczyński developed a Commodore 64 keyboard emulator. This emulator makes it possible to type a text on a modern PC and send the key strokes via a serial connection to the Commodore C64.

GadgetUK164: Neo Geo to Atari, C64 & Amiga Joystick | GadgetUK164 made a video about how to use a Neo Geo joystick with a Commodore 8-bit or an Amiga. In this video you can see how to connect a 9 pin connector to a Neo Geo joystick.

Commodore 64 SDrive 1564 review | Steve Morrow made a review of the SDrive 1564. The device looks like an 1541 disk drive but uses a SD card for data storage. The device has a LCD display with information about the files and drive.

No More Secrets v0.91 | No More Secrets is a documents that describes the so called 'illegal' op-codes for the NMOS 6510 microprocessor. The document is maintained by Groepaz and gives you information on op-codes such as: RLA, LAX, ANC, ARR, TAS and many more.

CHIP 64 | Vincent John printed a case for the CHIP minicomputer. The case is in the shape of the Commodore C64.

Chameleon 64 - 9f | An new core is available for the Chameleon. Changes in this core: Remote reset, improvements for the Pagefox Cartridge, KCS Power Cartridge (BLOAD), disk-drive (write protection & variable track length), VIA timer 1, REU, menu system, bootloader, freezer, file browser and tools.

Nano SwinSID Ultimate | GadgetUK164 made a review about the Nano SwinSID Ultimate from Máté CodeKiller Sebők and Mihály Hermit Horváth.

Recap Service | Paul Rezendes (Acill) has a re-capping service for the Amiga computers. The old capacitors on an Amiga motherboard can stop working or start to leak with age. Paul removes all old capacitors and replaces them with new high quality capacitors.

8372r3 | The web page Siliconpron has added another die shot of a MOS chip. This time the 8372r3, better known as the Agnus chip in the Amiga. Other available chips are: 6510, 6522, 6526, 6551, 6581r2, 6581r3, 6581r4, 8520 and the 8580r5.

Mini Commodore PET | Adafruit Industries developed a miniature version of the Commodore PET computer. The 9 x 16 LED matrix is combined with the IS31FL3731 and can show many animations. The files for a 3D printer are available.

C64 Hardware A Compendium | Holger Weßling released his new book: C64 Hardware A Compendium. This book covers over 450 hardware introductions for the Commodore C64 in the years 2009 - 2016. Also included some interesting stories from developers, scene musicians and Commodore fans.

Tapecart | Tapecart is a new hardware device for the Commodore C64. You can connect Tapecart to the cassette port of the Commodore C64 and load programs up to 64 kB. Loading speed: 2 kB/s or 10 kB/s with fast loader.

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