0075 A Gravis Ultrasound that needs repair, a 3D printed joystick and a software defined PicoPOST

PicoPOST firmware developer here! Awesome showcase of how good my code normally is 😅 There's a new release (0.5.0) coming very soon which should fix the incorrect high-byte address decoding, might even fix the spurious reads and finally also reports the reset line activity (assert and release).

Just in case anyone is thinking of building the C64 RF modulator replacement, I recommend waiting for the new version. It should be ready in the next couple of weeks but includes a number of improvements over the current version. Thanks for the shoutout Adrian!

FYI the C64 was extremely popular in Finland in the 80s. I read somewhere that it had most C64's per capita in the world. It is quite often mentioned of the most generational thing for the millenials. If you ever visit Finland, there are couple museums that might interest you: Tietokonemuseo Ata in Helsinki or Suomen pelimuseo in Tampere (<2h train trip from Helsinki).

Soundcards right up to the late 90s had no shielding whatsoever and usually werent grounded properly either causing excessive noise from the cpu, however they were still a country mile better than anything found built in to a motherboard, i used to make my own shielding with aluminium foil inside laminating sheets, then run it through the laminator - it works extremely well, you ought to give it a go.

Welcome to Finland! Finland loves your show A 🇫🇮👌🏻

I love all of the weird adapters people mail you to test out. That RAM one on the red board is so cool, I love the ingenuity that never stops in this community

Please assemble that MixSID board. It is not just stereo SID that requires special demos etc. You can configure it to have both SIDs on the default address, and if you install one 6581 and one 8580 on that board, you get a "pseudo stereo" effect due to the sound characteristic differences between them even with all the period correct games that has got nothing to do with a dual SID setup. I have the PCBs sitting for some time now, the web page has a great interactive assembly guide, but I would like to see it in action before I start building it.

That Gravis Ultrasound looks like a million bucks after you cleaned and fixed it!

In case no one has mentioned yet, but those micro-switched joysticks would typically have suction cups feet which allowed you to stick it to your table for more stable playing. I imagine you'd be able to by them somewhere, and you could just glue 'em on.

That joystick is just calling out for some suction cups on the base!

The GUS was really something else at the time. I too had one, and one of the main motivators was demos. I'd actually been thinking recently that there's really no reason that one could be created with cheap hardware nowadays. Glad someone did! Thanks for all the great videos. You're a legend.

I see where the developer of the PicoPOST has replied to you with a firmware update. Now that's service!

Would love to see someone buid up an old machine with PICO cards for the video, audio, RAM card, POST card, etc. I.E. whatever pico cards are available, and build a PICO-chu machine. Paint the case lemon yellow, with a lightning bolt symbol somewhere on the outside, and viola!

@22:29. I think the screw placement is because of the fire buttons. The screws would obstruct the fire buttons if they were placed at the corners.

Came here for the video, stayed for the awesomeness that is Olof Gustafsson's music for the various Pinball games. Though the main title tunes are so good that I find myself booting up the games but not actually playing them, just listening to the main menu music. :) Great video. I am waiting for an Orpheus II in the mail (Christmas present for myself) and there's this one Swedish guy that makes replica GUS and SB 1.5s and I might get his cards too sometimes. I have some retro systems that I am going to build in the near future.

29:04 Dynablaster was a great 5-player game, for the Amiga, that utilised a parallel port adapter.

I also was never so much a fan of these joysticks, but there was one type of arcade-style joystick that I really loved. It had suction cups on the bottom, so it stayed down on a surface so you didn't have to hold it in your hands which gave a more real arcade experience. Then they started creating them with cheap suction cups that didn't hold anymore and the love was gone.

Adrian, I love it now that retro computing is your career. Thank you for taking a "plain" mail call, and getting me all enthused about Finland, GUS, and Gummy Bears (edit: No Gummy this time). Most of all, thank you for teaching me how to fix those "untested" Commodores I keep buying on Ebay (plus two Nabus that were unfortunately in perfect working condition.)

The absolute best C64 game The Great Giana Sisters does support dual Sid, at least there are official tracks released by the composer with the music played in stereo with dual Sid. 🤓

the joystick assembly looks like a standard part that is made for Arcade machines. Pretty neat idea and seems pretty well executed as well.