micsaund.com » Retro Computing http://www.micsaund.com Mike's World of fun stuff (pinball, games, electronics, amusement parks, computers, more) Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:37:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 FPGA board emulates classic platforms http://www.micsaund.com/2009/05/04/fpga-board-emulates-classic-platforms/ http://www.micsaund.com/2009/05/04/fpga-board-emulates-classic-platforms/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 22:28:36 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/?p=828 FPGA Replay board uses an FPGA to play classic arcade games

FPGA Replay board uses an FPGA to play classic arcade games


This cool projects aims to take the various FPGA-based arcade platforms and run them on a common piece of hardware, thus letting you play many games and platforms without having tons of equipment sitting around.


I've written here about various FPGA arcade and emulator projects, such as the Minimig Amiga 500 project. All of these projects are using a hardware programming language like VHDL or Verilog to implement the circuitry of classic arcade and computer platforms on a regular, (relatively) cheap field programmable gate array (FPGA).

There is one project, though, which is attempting to create a single hardware platform that you can buy which will run many of these independent projects. Currently, the board is still in the design and debug phase, with only a few developers having them, but eventually, the FPGA Replay board will be offered as a pre-assembled unit which you can download the various games onto, or work on your own pet projects.

Currently, the games supported by the FPGA Replay include:

  • Scramble
  • Frogger
  • Asteroids Deluxe
  • Pac Man
  • LadyBug
  • Space Invaders
  • Galaxian

I'll be keeping an eye on the progress of the FPGA Replay as I think this would be really fun to play around with, if only for the games. But, it could also be a challenging project to take one of my favorite games (like Robotron or Joust) and try to create the VHDL code to actually run it. I suppose that's something to add to my ever-growing list of "long term to-do" projects ;)

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2009/05/04/fpga-board-emulates-classic-platforms/feed/ 1 Digital Apollo – the story of the first computers in space http://www.micsaund.com/2009/03/26/digital-apollo-the-story-of-the-first-computers-in-space/ http://www.micsaund.com/2009/03/26/digital-apollo-the-story-of-the-first-computers-in-space/#comments Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:38:19 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/?p=805 Digital Apollo book covers the computer technology of the Apollo space missions

Digital Apollo book covers the computer technology of the Apollo space missions


Have you ever thought about how amazing it was when the Apollo space missions actually took someone to the moon considering that they didn't have the fancy technology we have today? This book recounts the design and use of the on-board Apollo digital computers.


In the 1960s, the United States had a focus: beat the Russians to the moon. Amazing feats of engineering and bravery were accomplished with the entire country backing the NASA Apollo space program. To this day, I have the highest respect for the people who worked on these projects and achieved such amazing goals without the help of modern-day computers and their ability to run endless simulations and model every possible scenario. Those engineers and astronauts in the 60s did it with clear thinking, hard work, and solid design principles.

One of the amazing pieces of technology which resulted from their work was the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) on-board computer which helped the Apollo missions navigate properly. These ancient (in computer time) machines were built from individual transistors and used a type of memory almost nobody has heard of which uses magnetic coils wrapped around a piece of iron. The AGC processor module even had interrupts like modern processors, which allowed certain events to grab the computer's attention for immediate handling.

These computers weight upwards of 70 pounds and had the computing power available today in a small $2 AVR or PIC microcontroller. It's amazing how far computers have come in the past several decades. Yet, while I do enjoy using microcontrollers to build my projects, there's something "utilitarian" about them -- they're not exciting or pushing the envelope like the Apollo Guidance Computer did. Those engineers that got to work on the Apollo missions truly were leading the charge into the future and we are the benefactors of their work today.

Check-out Digital Apollo and read the excerpts to decide if you want to take a tiny step back in time.

Thanks to SparkFun for letting me know this book is available.

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2009/03/26/digital-apollo-the-story-of-the-first-computers-in-space/feed/ 0 Retro 8 bit BASIC computer is a blast from the past http://www.micsaund.com/2008/12/25/retro-8-bit-basic-computer-is-a-blast-from-the-past/ http://www.micsaund.com/2008/12/25/retro-8-bit-basic-computer-is-a-blast-from-the-past/#comments Thu, 25 Dec 2008 19:21:12 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/?p=714 Retro Computer System runs BASIC
Get in the computer time machine and travel back to the days of a simple computer that's programmed in BASIC and boots in under 1 second. Or, you can buy the Retro Computer System.

Many readers of this site will have had at least a bit of experience with the personal computers of yore, such as the Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari, or any number of other similar systems. The machines from that era were simple by today's standards but they had a certain charm and there was certainly a level of variety in the computer 'ecosystem' that made the various models vastly different from each other (for you young'uns who've only ever used Windows, there was a time in the ancient computer past where programs would not run on every machine you could buy!)

All of those early computers had several things in common. You'd turn them on and almost instantly, you were at a prompt ready to begin writing a program or doing whatever else you wanted. There was almost always a BASIC programming language that formed the base of the user interface. There was often an "expansion port" where you could hook-up either home-brew circuits or store bought goodies. It was very different from today.

Well, if you want to re-live those glory days of the simple computer, Multilabs has you covered with their new Retro Computer System. It's a simple 8-bit system that boots straight into a BASIC language prompt, just like the old C64. There are numerous ports such as a PS2 keyboard port, DB9 digital joystick port for use with Atari style sticks, and of course an expansion port. Video is output via an ezVGA chip, so you can use the Retro with a regular VGA monitor rather than tracking-down an ancient composite monitor which most of us don't have any longer.

The BASIC language used on the Retro will look familiar to anyone who's used any of the computers I mentioned above. It even uses line numbering! Here's a sample from the sample Eliza-esque demo:

Screenshot of Retro Computer System demo program


430 COLOR 57:LOCATE 0,9:PRINT CHR$(128)
440 LOCATE 4,8:PRINT CHR$(129)
450 COLOR 22:LOCATE 0,11:PRINT CHR$(130)
460 LOCATE 4,12:PRINT CHR$(131)
470 COLOR 63:LOCATE 26,0:PRINT "USER INTERFACE"
475 LOCATE 19,13:PRINT "DOCTOR RETRO RESPONSE"

Multilabs sells a blank PCB that plugs into the expansion port and allows you to interface relays, sensors, and anything else to use with the Retro. Since there isn't an over-complicated gigabyte-sized operating system getting in the way, you can address your expansion port hardware directly without any drivers, so you can really get down to business working on your projects!

The Multilabs Retro Computer System is $100 which is relatively cheap for the functionality you get. If you don't have any PS2 keyboards, don't forget to order one (I think I dumped all my old keyboards just over a year ago - it figures!) I may put a Retro in my ever-growing to-buy list but if Multilabs wants to send an eval unit, that's cool too :) . I certainly miss the simplicity of my C64 and being able to trivially write programs and just have fun with a computer. If you have any experience with the Retro, please leave a comment below!

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2008/12/25/retro-8-bit-basic-computer-is-a-blast-from-the-past/feed/ 0 Build your own FPGA based Amiga 500 clone http://www.micsaund.com/2008/07/22/build-your-own-fpga-based-amiga-500-clone/ http://www.micsaund.com/2008/07/22/build-your-own-fpga-based-amiga-500-clone/#comments Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:58:56 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/?p=633 An Amiga 500 designed in an FPGA
The Amiga 500 was one of the very popular "non-IBM" choices back in the day thanks to its great selection of games powered by then-cutting-edge graphics chips and incredible stereo sound processors. If you long for the days of the Amiga and have a desire to build a project, this open-source hardware design might just what you need!

We've come a long way since 1987, which was the year the incredible Commodore Amiga was introduced. The Amiga was literally ahead of its time with 4096 color graphics, stereo sound, built-in speech synthesis and of course, a graphical user interface. Remember that back then, the IBM PC compatibles had mono or four-color CGA graphics, a PC speaker that still to this day only goes "beeeep!" and a pricetag that was at least 5X the Amiga. Yeah, I'm one of "those guys" who hated IBM clones back then and frankly, I still stand by that - they sucked back then - admit it ;)

Anyway, there's a GPL open-source hardware project out there called the Minimig which incorporates a fully Amiga 500 compatible design onto a Xilinx Spartan3 FPGA housed on a 12cm x 12cm board. The board includes PS2 keyboard and mouse connectors as well as the obvious video-out and sound. Being an open-source project, you are free to take the design and hack it however you see fit, and several people have done exactly that and created a board that fits into a standard ATX case, a board you can buy that's pre-built, and more. Pretty cool in my opinion!

Check-out more about the Minimig Amiga 500 project and if you are up to it, build your own or even contribute to the project to help fix the remaining minor bugs. After that, you can get back to your game of Lemmings!

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2008/07/22/build-your-own-fpga-based-amiga-500-clone/feed/ 1 Good example of creativity at Microsoft http://www.micsaund.com/2007/09/15/good-example-of-creativity-at-microsoft/ http://www.micsaund.com/2007/09/15/good-example-of-creativity-at-microsoft/#comments Sat, 15 Sep 2007 22:03:46 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/2007/09/15/good-example-of-creativity-at-microsoft/ Bill Gates of Microsoft as a young kid
If you've ever wondered why nobody looks to Microsoft for creativity or "cool" this video will explain why.

It's no secret that Microsoft isn't "cool" especially when compared to certain other companies like Apple or Oracle. They have a reputation for being nerdy and/or button-down shirt types who nobody will admit to idolizing or wanting to be like. Well, except for the main characters in Revenge of the Nerds.

Here is a video showing a glimpse of that MS creativity. They made a rap music video to promote the then-new upgrade to MS-DOS 5.0 with its GUI (if you could call it that). Now you can see why Microsoft focuses on business utilities and tries to avoid anything creative.

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2007/09/15/good-example-of-creativity-at-microsoft/feed/ 1 Very rare: Atari Music Video system on Ebay http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/26/very-rare-atari-music-video-system-on-ebay/ http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/26/very-rare-atari-music-video-system-on-ebay/#comments Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:13:01 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/26/very-rare-atari-music-video-system-on-ebay/ The Atari logo on the Video Music system
I'm a pretty big Atari fan and I've never heard of the Atari Music System and chances are that you haven't either. Read on...

Instruction sheed for the Atari Video Music system
Nearly everyone remembers at least one of the Atari game consoles. For me, my life was the Atari 2600 when I was a kid. It's what kept me gaming for hours on end when I could not afford to pound quarters into the games at the local arcade. Of course, I also had various experiences with other Atari products like the Atari 800 computer, Atari Lynx handheld gaming system, and the Atari Jaguar home gaming system. Note the common theme -- all are computer-ish gaming-ish systems.

That's why finding this odd piece of Atari history was so surprising. The Atari Video Music system is a rather boring looking piece of equipment created in 1976 by Bob Brown (the creator of the home Pong system). It connects to your stereo via standard RCA style jacks and uses the music signals to create various psychedelic patterns on your TV screen (this was the 70's, remember!) There are several different basic modes which control the base pattern created on the screen, and then you can manipulate a series of knobs to further tweak the visual display to suit your mood or desires.

Here's a video showing it in action:

Currently, there is one of these Atari Video Music systems available on Ebay. At the time of writing this, it's only at $149.99, so it's still pretty cheap if you want to own a very unusual piece of Atari history!

Full view of the Atari Music System

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/26/very-rare-atari-music-video-system-on-ebay/feed/ 0 Old school relay computer #2 http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/04/old-school-relay-computer-2/ http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/04/old-school-relay-computer-2/#comments Sun, 05 Aug 2007 02:28:28 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/04/old-school-relay-computer-2/ One of the many schematic diagrams for the relay computer two
There's something strangely fascinating with watching the videos of this home designed relay-based computer operate.


I featured a relay-based home-built computer some time early in the life of this blog and recently found out about this "Relay Computer Two" by another inventor.

It features 268 relays configured for an 8-bit instruction word and 16-bit address bus. This is slightly less than the 400 relays used in the linked post above so the builder had to implement some short-cuts such as a floating-zero condition.

Check the below video of the relay computer two in operation and see if you get the same odd fascination with hearing it click while the LEDs display the status of the various registers ;)

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2007/08/04/old-school-relay-computer-2/feed/ 2 Build your own classic computer http://www.micsaund.com/2007/07/18/build-your-own-classic-computer/ http://www.micsaund.com/2007/07/18/build-your-own-classic-computer/#comments Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:42:40 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/2007/07/18/build-your-own-classic-computer/ Replica kit lets you build an Apple 1
These kits will let you build a replica Apple 1, ELF2K, and micro-Kim and re-live the glory days when computers weren't just something you bought off a shelf.

If you're nostalgic about very early era computers or perhaps you just want to learn a bit about basic computer architecture, these kits will be for you!

DIY kit to build a Micro-Kim retro computer
There are a few kits available, the most reconizable being the original Apple 1. I have to admit that I'm not at all familiar with the other two, the Kim-1 (Micro Kim) and Cosmac ELF (ELF 2k) since I was just a bit too young to be involved in those very, very early groundbreaking days of the personal computer.

If you're just looking to learn about computer architecture, these kits are perfect. They use simple memory interfacing and have a very basic design devoid of all the bells and whistles packed into any modern design. You can get a bit of "on the metal" machine coding skills for a 6502 or whatever other geeky nugget of knowledge you hope to extract.

You'll find information on memory maps, circuit diagrams, and programming info for all of the kits. They all use through-hole mounting so the assembly and soldering should be pretty easy for nearly anyone.

Links to the DIY kits:

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2007/07/18/build-your-own-classic-computer/feed/ 1 Professionally built computerized coffee table http://www.micsaund.com/2007/02/28/professionally-built-computerized-coffee-table/ http://www.micsaund.com/2007/02/28/professionally-built-computerized-coffee-table/#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2007 02:42:59 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/2007/02/28/professionally-built-computerized-coffee-table/ Professionally built computerized coffee table
If you've fought the battle with your significant other over having a computer in the living room, this might be your answer. Built into a nice-looking coffee table, this computer lets you play MAME, games, movies, music and more without the beige box.

I think that any good nerd already knows about the arcade emulator MAME. Well, it's also on most of those nerd's to-do lists to build a MAME cabinet, but where do you put it? Well, you could always build it into a coffee table so that it's always handy and ready to play, but that's a ton of work.

Well, lust no more. This professionally built computer-coffee-table is available in several styles, all of which will let you play MAME and other games, as well as stream music, movies and more to your TV, which is likely in the vicinity. Included in the professional level build is a professional level price. However, for your money, you get a very complete and ready-to-run system:

  • Intel® Pentium® D - Dual Core Processor
  • 160GB hard disk
  • 4 USB 2.0/1.1 ports for plug & play capability
  • RJ45 Ethernet 10/100Mb connector
  • 802.11g wireless network adaptor
  • 512MB DDR2 SDRAM
  • 17”/19" LCD TFT
  • Integrated DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive
  • Internal amplifier and speakers
  • Apple Airport Express for wireless music streaming from Apple iTunes
  • Compact wireless keyboard with trackball
  • Sanwa joysticks
  • Happ arcade buttons and illuminated trackball
  • Powered by Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  • Apple iTunes jukebox
  • Apple QuickTime movie player
  • Taito Legends retro games package
  • MAME™ compatible retro-gaming platform
  • Firefox web browser
  • NOD32 Antivirus
  • MSN messenger for instant chat

That's a pretty complete system. The Arcade Game Table will run you about £3,300 with free delivery and installation. Not bad if you're in the UK. Probably too much if you're elsewhere.

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2007/02/28/professionally-built-computerized-coffee-table/feed/ 1 Retro style nixie-tube clock powered by a 6502 microprocessor http://www.micsaund.com/2006/04/04/retro-style-nixie-tube-clock-powered-by-a-6502-microprocessor/ http://www.micsaund.com/2006/04/04/retro-style-nixie-tube-clock-powered-by-a-6502-microprocessor/#comments Wed, 05 Apr 2006 02:49:14 +0000 micsaund http://www.micsaund.com/2006/04/04/retro-style-nixie-tube-clock-powered-by-a-6502-microprocessor/ Nixie tubes
Combining the orange glow of nixie tubes with an old-style microprocessor leads to this neat clock.

The 6502 stands tall in many a nerd's memory. It powered the venerable Commodore 64, the Apple II, and countless other personal computers and gadgets from the wonder years of computing. It's not often used these days due to the fact that many microcontrollers are easier to develop with and offer equal or better power.

However, in a nod towards the good ole' days, Ryan Brooks has combined the retro 6502 microprocessor with an even older technology: nixie tubes.

Nixie tubes are a remnant from the very early days of digital readouts. They are a vacuum tube which has the numbers 0 through 9 built-in. By energizing the various sections of the tube, you can cause the numbers to emit their characteristic orange glow. It's very similar to the orange glow you may have seen looking into the back of a TV, especially the older ones. OK - maybe it's just total nerds like me who spent their childhoods peering into the backs of TVs wondering how they work ;)

Anyway, this project is pretty cool both in the appearance and in the concept of combining two classic elements of electronic history into one project. There are handfuls of other nixie-tube clocks out there, but very few that strive to be more than a nifty looking clock like Ryan's.

]]> http://www.micsaund.com/2006/04/04/retro-style-nixie-tube-clock-powered-by-a-6502-microprocessor/feed/ 0