Denial

That's a really nice gadget! I suspect there are quite a few people who need those, even if they don't realize it. Well done!

provides a way to ditch CRT's in favor of VGA or HDMI. To my way of thinking that would be great. Composite inputs / CRTs are getting more and more difficult to find. Making the output compatible to displays that are actually available wouldn't change the character of the machine at all, really. Bu...

An interesting note: the SYM-1 was a later development from the Jolt, by the same guy, Ray Holt. Holt is also arguably the "inventor" of the microprocessor. In 1968 or so he created a microprocessor chipset (not a single chip) for the classified Central Air Data Computer for the US F-14. h...

If you put a new graphics video chip into the cartridge port, though, then there's not much left of the VIC-20. . Everyone has their own opinion on these things, but I agree with that statement. For me, much of the appeal is the minimalist systems we had 35 years ago and making the most of them. It...

Can you post a short program that demonstrates that? I would be interested in trying it out.

I don't have one, but I thought I should mention the Jolt, which is probably the first 6502 system not from MOS. http://bugbookmuseum.blogspot.com/2014/10/vintage-computer-super-jolt-1975.html EDIT: oops, that was the "Super Jolt," a later upgrade. Here is the original Jolt: http://www.old...

ZX-81 was much odder, WITHOUT any expansion! The display memory was "dynamically allocated" to only use what it needed. Each line of video used enough bytes to go from left edge to the rightmost non-blank character. So, if you put a single character on each line at the left side, the scree...

@akator Thanks! When I bought my VIC back in 1983(?) I planned to build all sorts of attachments, including a robot. That didn't happen then, for lots of reasons, but now I'm making it happen. Like most of my projects, it has taken a LOT longer than I imagined! I encourage you to make something like...

Here are a couple of crappy pictures. Not much to see yet. It has a frame, a VIC, a battery and power supply and electric control panel, and wheels and motors. I plan to put a plastic a skin over the frame to make it look nice.

Here is the picture I posted in the monitor thread: http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9343 You can see the top corner of the wooden frame sticking up behind the VIC. Right now it is a wooden frame with wheels and not much else. But I will try to get a pic of it...

Thanks!
You have both been very helpful. The BASIC4 assembly listing was especially helpful. Should give me a good start.

I would like to create an autostart ROM that modifies/replaces some kernal code, then goes back and does a "normal" VIC startup. Or at least appears to. The main intention is to create a mass storage device or bus that works on the expansion port rather than IEC but have the kernal treat i...

I bought mine about a year and a half ago. It's no longer available. But here is one almost identical: https://www.ebay.com/itm/DVD-GPS-Reverse-Backup-Camera-4-3-TFT-LCD-Color-Car-Rearview-Monitor-XI/113692334995?hash=item1a78975b93%3Ag%3Au3EAAOSw5LRcdibm&LH_BIN=1 Prices have gone up, it seems. ...

Put four resistors on the buttons: R, 2R, 4R, 8R. The times for each button would be T, 2T, 4T, and 8T. If combinations of buttons are pushed, you get times in between, in binary fashion. For instance with 8R and 4R you get 1/(1/8 +1/4) = 8/3R -> 8/3T. Now you can detect 4 buttons in any combination...

I needed a chap monitor for my VIC that would run off 12V. I went to ebay and found a car backup monitor. The one I got is a 4.3" LCD. I paid $8 US for it. It works rather nice: If you need a small, cheap monitor, especially one that runs off 12V (VIC Laptop, anyone?) this is a good option. 12V...