Vulcan-74 - A 6502 Powered Retro MegaProject

[GARTHWILSON]

Thanks, and it's good to hear from you! I look forward to your getting the impressive pictures back up.

[Oneironaut]

Thanks!

I will be posting my new project here when I get some nerd cave time again. I miss this place!

This forum is certainly the most friendly 6502 place on the web, and that works for me, since my final project will be for the VIC-20, the Friendly Computer!

Regarding my missing photos, I put my temp folder back where it originally was, and it seems like they are once again displaying here.

See ya'll when the snow flies!
Brad

[Oneironaut]

It snowed out at my place this morning!

Although many would consider this to be a negative event, I see the bright side, which means time again in my Retro Hacking Lab!

Vulcan-74 has morphed into something a LOT different than initially planned, but the core goals are mostly the same.... tons of 1980's logic doing unheard of things with retro graphics.

I hope to make another post soon.

At this point, I have the task of cleaning my space, which was taken over by farming projects and parts.

Vulcan-74 is now officially known as VIC-20 JetPack, but I will keep updating this thread, as I am using the same massive dual breadboards and components as I started out with.

Looking forward to dropping down a few hundred more 74 logic parts soon!

I would also like to mention that my 6502 boot code will be coming from a 256 byte diode matrix!
.... I expect it to require at least 1000 diodes.

Cheers,
Radical Brad

[Oneironaut]

Question for the admins here...

I am about to continue my project, but it has now been renamed from Vulcan-74 to VIC-20 Jetpack.
Photos will be shown starting from scratch (empty breadboard).

Should I just rename this entire thread and keep it going or start a new one?
All the tech shown earlier is being used, just in a different way.

Will wait for an answer before posting.

Thanks,
Brad

[BigEd]

I'd recommend a new thread, if there's a new name and a new goal.

[Oneironaut]

That sounds as logical as a handful of 7400 ICs.
Will do!

[Oneironaut]

Vulcan-74 is about to get reloaded in a big way!

It has been 4 years since I started this project, and it has evolved through several iterations, each one pushing the boundaries of what was considered possible on a breadboard. I have learned a LOT about the amazing 6502 processor, and have continued to code in 6502 assembly for my VIC-20 and related projects.

But now I feel the need to bring back Vulcan-74 and complete the project.

For the final revision of V74, I am going 100% old school, so the display is being completely redone as NTSC, all built with 7400 logic of course!

The single CPU in V74 will still be the 6502, with everything else being 7400 logic and SRAM.
I still plan on breadboarding the prototype with the final version completely hand wired.

This time a keyboard will be included along with the dual joysticks, as I plan to integrate a full 6502 IDE and design suite so that everything can be coded right on the unit itself. It will be a full computer as well as a game system.

Since I consider this to be the final build, I am going to post it as an ongoing blog in MUCH great detail, with schematics, images, videos, and code.

I have recently redone my website, and plan to post it there, but will keep this thread up to date on the highlights.
I will post the address to the new Vulcan-74 Build Blog as soon as I have a few photos in place.

Cheers!
Radical Brad

[ElEctric_EyE]

That's great to hear! I'll be following along here and your website. Good luck!

[ttlworks]

Brad, welcome back to the forum.
Missed you.

Looking forward to see, how your adventures continue.
Good luck.

For replacing that 6502 with a TTL CPU later, just ask Drass.

[Oneironaut]

Thanks, I missed this place!

I have started sorting photos and have a clean workspace with 2 giant breadboards ready to go.
The new blog is going to be a combination of the Vulcan-74 build as well as some breadboarding tips, tricks, and black magic.

Cheers,
Brad

[BigEd]

Be sure to post a link!

[Oneironaut]

Will do!

I am currently adapting my site to migrate my electronics tutorials and robot builds. Currently, I just have my bike and trike tutorials here, but will be splitting it into 3 subsections.

https://www.atomiczombie.com/tutorials/

Will up my java intake to push an extra hour out of the day in hopes of getting it done a little sooner!

Brad

BigEd wrote:

Be sure to post a link!

[Oneironaut]

*** UPDATE ***
Vulcan-74 is moving on to the final version! See the final build come to life here...
https://www.atomiczombie.com/vulcan-74/

There will be much more detail, regular updates, and yes... even schematics!

Imagine the possibilities....





Cheers!
Radical Brad

[Oneironaut]

V74 is making the round again on Hackaday...

https://hackaday.com/2019/04/04/a-6502- ... -of-chips/

Must be something about all those wires!
Eye candy for nerds like me, I guess.

Brad

[Oneironaut]

It has been a busy few weeks around here, getting the farm ready for spring and... shoveling snow!!

I did manage to get a few ICs down and part of the DataBus wired.



I am wiring this small part of the project first. This will get the 6502 booted, with a small OS framework.
Also shown here is the IO decode, capable of addressing 256 individual IO lines.
I may only need 64 of them, so it will expand as required.



See the rest of my update here...

https://www.atomiczombie.com/vulcan-74-page-7/

I should have the 6502 booted up on my next session.
On my original prototype, I did the video generator first, but here I am working from the 6502 outwards.
Here, the NTSC Video Generator will be programmable, so the OS running on the 6502 needs to be operational.

Cheers!
Brad