Blog – Page 3 – RETRO Innovations

QuadPortIEC Arriving!

QuadPortIEC FInished Unit — QuadPortIEC Finished Unit

Sometimes, a product gets lost on the way to final production. Our QuadPortIEC 4 port IEC bus hub is one such product. After announcing the design here and showing off completed boards here, we focused our attention on the recently introduced ZoomFloppy and then the EasyFlash 3. Finally, we sent the boards off for assembly, but still felt a bare board with wires would simply not work as a product. Finally, about a year or so ago, Commodore enthusiast Jim Peters in Iowa requested some bare PCBs and assembled units for personal use, which we supplied. He took it upon himself to machine finished cases for the units, with fabulous results. Thus, we hired him to supply finished cases for the remaining stock, and now can offer them in the store.

The design has not changed; QuadPortIEC is nothing more than a “dumb” IEC hub. ATN switches on the front for each port allow “silencing” of each bus segment, but that’s the only functionality exposed.

Still, we are glad to finally put the units in the store, where they will sell for USD$30.00. Since the units fill out a small flat rate box, we may need to adjust shipping charges for buyers.

2013 Midwest Gaming Classic

RETRO Innovations will be traveling to Brookfield, WI this weekend for the 2013 Midwest Gaming Classic. We’re simply attending, not manning a store table, but feel free to email us if you’d like to place an order for pickup and skip the shipping costs.

Since we don’t have enough things to keep us busy, we’ve been on an arcade machine buying spree over the last few months, picking up:

a KLAX upright conversion, in great condition
a Pole Position, in good condition, working, but missing a few sound effects
a non working asteroids, in rough condition
a Shoot the Bull game in a Ms. Pac Man cabinet
Some Championship Bowling ROMSTAR game, in a Super Pac Man cabinet (purchased for the cab, monitor and wiring).
a Gyruss, complete and working
a Defender, with monitor issues
a StarFire unit, in a Defender case, with PCB issues (but, partially working)

Since our goal is to see if there are product opportunities in game restoration for RETRO Innovations, buying machines that need help seemed appropriate. KLAX was a fluke, as it’s in great condition, but the others all need some TLC for optimum operation. To start that process, a trip to MGC is required. We know the Ms. Pac Man needs to be converted back, and that requires some parts (we have a known working PCB for the game already). Asteroids might be beyond help, and so might be parted out, while the Pole Position just needs some TLC on the PCB and general cleaning.

It’s an interesting exercise, and they should be fun to play… err test!

JiffyDOS for VIC-20 and C16/+4 Now Available!

As announced this afternoon at World of Commodore 2012, RETRO Innovations has acquired the rights to offer Click Here Software’s port of JiffyDOS for the Commodore VIC-20, C16, and +4 machines, thus completing the set of JiffyDOS KERNAL replacement offerings. Within the next few days, the KERNAL replacements and image files will be available in the online store for sale. Many thanks for those customers who kept asking for the versions, as that helped show that demand still exists for these versions of JiffyDOS.

Seeing (EasyFlash 3) Red!

The difference between a project and a product often boils down to looks. Along with a professionally designed and manufactured circuit board, a proper enclosure completes the package.

Thought we have long offered a un-machined cartridge case with 64NIC+ Ethernet cartridges, we had resisted the thought of milling cartridge cases. In the case of the 64NIC+, the Ethernet jack machining is tough and prone to error. A proper CNC milling machine is required to efficiently handle such a design. However, the EasyFlash 3 did not require so complex a solution to correctly machine a suitable cartridge enclosure. Some simple jigs on the drill press and creative use of drill bits ably substituted for a CNC mill. As a result, EasyFlash 3 arrives in an optional fully machined enclosure.

The red color choice was somewhat arbitrary, as we have clear enclosures. Still, translucent red and the red LED on the unit seemed to fit well together. I hope you agree.

The EasyFlash 3 is now available in our online store.

EasyFlash Introduction

Skoe, designer of the EasyFlash 3, along with others,created a demonstration video of the EasyFlash 3 features:

X Pander-3 VIC Progress

The wait is almost over for VIC Expansion enthusiasts. After a significant delay, X-Pander 3 VIC units are nearing the end of assembly. As the photo shows, only the IO2/IO3 SWAP jumpers are left to assemble. We hope to add this to the store by the end of the week.

Given the width of VIC-20 cartridges, the finished units will have the switches located underneath the board, but will otherwise look identical.

As the picture suggests, the unit shares the same basic layout and operation as the X-Pander 64, but adds additional switches to control BLK and RAM lines.

uIEC/SD Daughtercard v3.2 In Production

While replenishing stock of uIEC/SD daughtercards, I decided to improve the design a bit. Hopefully, this version will eliminate the need to offer the original daughtercard option.

Features:

Buttons now on side of unit, for easier access. Buttons can now be used on C128D/C128DCR when installed.
Operational Mini-USB connector. If desired, power with a small Mini-USB phone charger
Complete 7805-based linear regulator section available for hobbyists. Parts are not present on the board, but should be trivial to source (2 caps and an LM7805)
Oversized holes at front of board to allow PCB standoff usage. When powered via MiniUSB, standoffs can be used to level the PCB.

The new daughtercard works with all uIEC/SD versions (3.0,3.1, and 3.2). Stock will be arriving soon. Production boards will have sorter switch posts, for some reason, I accidentally ordered taller ones for the prototype.

64NIC+ In Action

Dan Kovacs referred me to some YouTube videos he made of the 64NIC+ in action. Enjoy:

Toronto PET User Group YouTube Channel

The Toronto PET User’s Group (TPUG) has placed a number of 2009 and 2011 World of Commodore (WoC) presentations online at http://www.youtube.com/TorontoPETUsersGroup. Yours truly is in some of the 2011 ones, discussing EasyFlash 3 and ZoomFloppy. I guess, now that presentations will be online forever, I’ll have to do a better job or presenting and ensuring all information is accurate (I think there’s a few inaccuracies in my WoC presentations). In any event, if you’ve never met me, check out the videos and realize you’re not missing much :-).

C2N Power! v2.0 Hardware Ready

Well, C2N Power! v2 is manufactured and the first few units are assembled, Hopefully, this weekend I can verify electrical operation and then I’m hoping to ship a few of them to developers for software creation. The offer is still open for assembly programmers who want a small weekend challenge.

The unit is shown assembled for Real Time Clock operation, with a Maxim DS1307+ installed under the unit, with I2C pullup resistors and the MOTOR line conversion transistor in place. On top, a lone 3V3 Lithium battery powers the RTC when CBM power is absent.