commodore 64 mods & arcade gaming gear
I HAVE UPDATED THE PRICES. After a few years away from the Commodore 64 hobby, I am now slowly getting back into it again (link). As part of this, I have parts for a very limited batch of the MechBoard64 Light Mod Edition (Board Revision ... Read more
At the bottom of one of my boxes with various Commodore 64 parts, I got a pleasent surprise. Someone (probably me) had left a C64 lightgun The Defender 64. Still hyped on the find, I quickly inserted it into a working machine and loaded ... Read more
I have a confession to make I find beauty in old retro computer hardware like the Commodore 64 I therefore find it very discouraging spending numerous hours making everything nice a neat on a C64 motherboard or a MechBoard64 keyboard and then havnig to ... Read more
After releasing the information needed to build the MechBoard64 (link) back in 2020, several people have organized group buys or made small batches for everyone to enjoy. Just as I had hoped for. In this context, Australian based Retro Fuzion (link) has gone the extra ... Read more
Back in 2015, original molds for the Commodore 64C slim cases were put into production as I have described previously (link, link). I really enjoyed getting new cases for my machines, but my childhood Commodore 64 was the breadbox version. I was therefore thrilled when ... Read more
Back in 2015, we all thought that Phase5 would make new Commdore 64 keycaps for all of us to enjoy (link). As that went down the drain, another keycap crowdfunding campaign was launched in late 2019. This time with someone who was known in the ... Read more
Quite some time ago I visited an arcade hall in Copenhagen, Denmark (link) called Bip Bip Bar (link). They have since moved to a much better location in Copenhagen. The name Bip Bip refers to the Danish name for the Game Watch handheld gaming ... Read more
A while ago, I build an upright arcade machine for one of my neighbors. It should meet the following criteria: look like an 80s wodden cabinet arcade machine, work without having to fiddle with coins, contain as many original arcade games as possible and be ... Read more
It has been more than four years since my last post. I guess, real life issues took over my free time to such an extend that the Commodore 64 hobby was put on hold. The primary reason was because I have renovated our 1000 sqft ... Read more
The video signals coming from the Commodore 64 have always been challenged by inherent ‘clock noise’ of the VIC-II graphics chip and the color bleeding of the S-video signal. The problems are easily recognized in the form of vertical lines (banding artifacts) or as a ... Read more
It has been a while since I last worked on my mechanical keyboard project, the MechBoard64 (link). I have been wanting to add some lights to the keyboard for quite some time, but never got around to it. How cool would an illuminated MechBoard64 look ... Read more
My SixtyClone C64 Replica has a sweet looking blue printed circuit board (PCB) (link). The same is the case for the installed VIC-II² PAL/NTSC Switch (link) which enables swapping the video output of a Commodore 64 between PAL and NTSC by the flick of a ... Read more
Have you ever run a Commodore 64 game or demo that sounded strange or the graphics would either move too slow or too fast? Then you might have experienced a PAL/NTSC related issue . Hardware-wise, the Commodore 64 is synchronized to its graphics output and the ... Read more
I recently treated myself with one of these nice blue Commodore 64 replica PCBs from Bob s Bits on Tindie.com (link). After populating it with new parts (except for the orignal chips of course), I thought I would share my exprience. The SixtyClone is basically a ... Read more
Giving just the right amount of electrical power to your Commodore 64 s is vital to ensure a stable operation. Voltage drops may give rise to stability issues while too much voltage will undoubtedly fry the delicate chips on the old C64 motherboards. The latter is ... Read more
I came across this very well preserved Commodore 64 keyboard and thought I would share some details. The keyboard is the third (and last) generation of keyboards originally created for the Commodore VIC-20 home computer. It has a tall, thin font similar to Helvetica Narrow ... Read more
I ve been racking my brain for quite some time, to find a solution on what to do with my MechBoard64 (link) keyboard project The project started as I needed two new keyboards for my C64 Reloaded boards (link, link). Going into such a large project ... Read more
Getting tired of using your old Competition Pro joystick with the sloppy spring and the far-from-always-working fire buttons? If so, you could clean and possibly change the worn out parts of the joystick as described here (link) or you could look for a replacement joystick. ... Read more
Someone finally got too tired of waiting for Phase5 to deliver new keycaps from their 2015 campaign (link). Jim Drew, from CBMstuff.com (link) just launched another Indiegogo campaign in which he tries to reach a fixed funding (all-or-nothing) goal of 1000 keycap sets (link). If ... Read more
According to Microsoft, about 14% of all Xbox One gamers have a temporary mobility limitation and 8% of their gamers have a permanent mobility limitation. I did not know that, nor have I ever even considered that physically disabled gamers may experience issues when playing ... Read more
Getting commercially available parts to produce a brand new Commodore 64, that has never set foot in a Commodore factory, has been on top of my must have list for quite some time. It s fairly easy to get a brand new C64 motherboard (C64 Reloaded ... Read more
A little more than a year has passed since I presented Mod of the Year 2017 (link). That machine was a tribute to my all time favorite Commodore 64 game Montezuma’s Revenge (link). Since then, I ve spend a quite some time on creating a brand ... Read more
This is a short tutorial on how to mod the C64 Reloaded MK2 (link) motherboard with an SD2IEC unit. The C64R-MK2 comes with jumper pinouts for adding an SD2IEC unit. The pinout is called CN4b and is located near the cassette port. No connectors are ... Read more
To reduce any radio frequency (RF) interference with surroudning hardware (e.g. old tube TV s), Commodore added shielding to their machines. In the early machines the RF shield came in the form of an aluminum covered cardboard that was wrapped around the motherboard. As carboard is ... Read more
Part of the QA procedure for the MechBoard64 s (link) includes testing the keyboards in a real Commodore 64. Doing it this way calls for a lot of power cycles, cartridge swaps for testing keys, plugging and unplugging of the keyboards etc. I therefore use a motherboard ... Read more
Introduction I own a near mint Commodore 1541 diskette drive that I only use for special occasions. At those times I drape my sweaty hands with white cotton gloves, gently release my original Montezuma’s Revenge diskette from its paper pocket and with my breath held ... Read more
I m a Commodore 64 hardware horder! I have spend quite some time collecting some of the different versions of the Commodore 64 (link) that was produced over the years. Whenever I manage to get a new machine for my collection, I usually clean it (keyboard, ... Read more
Replacing the original Commodore 64 power supply may be the single most valuable step to prolong the life of the old hardware! The main issue with the original C64 power supplies is the 5V line. When it eventually fails (and it will!), from e.g. a shorted internal ... Read more
Getting a brand spanking new Commodore 64 is no longer just a wet dream for a retro geek like me. With the new Pixelwizard cases (link), new motherboards (link, link) and new keyboards (link) the dream is certainly within reach. However, I still need new ... Read more
Tired of waiting ages for your old floppies to load? One way to speed up transfer times between disk and the Commodore 64 is by substituting the standard CBM Kernal with an enhanced Disk Operating System. In this context, JiffyDOS was created by Mark Fellows in 1985 and ... Read more
I recently purchased a C64 Reloaded MK2 motherboard (link) to accompany my other two C64 Reloaded boards (link, link) that I have in my collection. I guess I couldn t ignore the thrill of getting new hardware Anyways, instead of mounting it in an old case (C64C slim ... Read more
I finally got myself a C64 Reloaded MK2 motherboard from Individual Computers (link) and some new-old-stock MOS 8580 SIDs. The board is a nice addition to my two MK1 C64 Reloaded boards (link, link) and the first step towards building a brand new Commodore 64 ... Read more
It s finally time to show what has been clutting up my workbench for way too long! Back in 2015 I got my hands on two C64 Reloaded boards (link) and installed them inside cases from the Kickstarter campaign (link). I also entered the Phase5 Indiegogo ... Read more
I m not proud of it but I ve cheated! It s a horrible thing to do but I simply didn t have the patience not to The initial idea was to grab my kick-a$$ Stihl chainsaw, go fell a suitable oak tree, use my mobile sawmill to make ... Read more
This may come as a shock to some, but the sad news is that the old chips inside a Commodore 64 will eventually fail!! Most often the chips will simply die due to old age or other external factors like a faulty power supply. When ... Read more
Are Data Back-ups for Sissies? Some of us still have heaps of old 5.25 floppies laying around. It is well known that data stored on this type of media is not the safest place to keep it. While most of the data can quite easily ... Read more
What may seem like a very silly idea at first, may just turn out to be great when placed in the hands of creative and skilled people. Here is an example: let s make a platform game for the Commodore 64, have the main character take ... Read more
It has been almost two years since I boldly announced that I would make new keyboards (link) for my C64 Reloaded boards (link). I have now realized that making new keyboards is by far the biggest Commodore 64 project that I have ever gotten myself ... Read more
Another year has passed and once again it is time to present this year s Commodore 64 mod of the year! In 2015 it was a painted breadbox that was modified with potentiometers and a hardware solution for playing SID tunes in stereo (link). In 2016 a ... Read more
Repairing Commodore 1541 Diskette Drives (link) is not something I have tried before. But when I recently had these four broken drives thrown in my general direction I had to take up the challenge! The problem with diskette drive repair s is that most diagnostick software ... Read more
I really like the cartridge format for the Commodore 64 (link). The simplicity of loading games by inserting the cart into the Expansion Port, turn on the machine and boom the game is ready to go! It does not get any easier than that. In this ... Read more
My Commodore 64 gaming escapades are usually done at my basement workbench after the family has gone to sleep at night. But once in a while I bring a machine up to the living room to play on the big screen TV. Even though the ... Read more
and a yellow longboard have been added to my collection of Commodore 64 motherboards. The yellow Assy 250425 Revision B longboard is in really great shape. It has a MOS 8500 MPU which is quite unusual for the long boards. Normally they have MOS 6510 ... Read more
I just finished this custom fight stick for a German gamer. The stick is made from a solid piece of oak wood that I got from a local lumber mill and the fight stick is made for the Tekken fighting game. Due to this, I ... Read more
During the last couple of weeks I ve received 8 (!) broken Commodore 64 machines that were in need of repair. The repair logs of three of them have already been described here (link), while the latter five had issues ranging from faulty Serial Ports (link, link, link), ... Read more
I have fixed quite a few broken Commodore 64 s, but this one was by far the most challeging one! The machine started out as a simple memory fault that was fixed so it could run the cartridge game of Jupiter Lander. However, it took a ... Read more
I just got this stack of broken and badly discolored Commodore 64C s from a friend. The cases were made in China, Hong Kong and Germany The first board is an Assy 250469 Rev. A board that had a broken keyboard some of the keys ... Read more
Montezuma s Revenge is by far my all time favourite game for the Commodore 64 (link). Maybe it s because the gameplay is so simple. All you have to do is find keys, open doors, don t get killed, get to the bottom of the maze, repeat In ... Read more
My all time favourite game for the Commodore 64 is Montezuma s Revenge by Parker Brothers! I own the game on diskette but never managed to get a copy of it on tape. After years of searching for it online, I finally found a copy on Ebay! How ... Read more
I arrived at the Bip Bip Bar arcade hall late in the afternoon wearing my favourite t-shirt with Arcader written on the front. An old rusty female bike was slapdash parked next to the stairwell leading to the basement entrance of the arcade. As I opened the ... Read more