An idea for a useless project

[Gyro Gearloose]

Has anyone ever tried to make a SX-20? Hey at least it would be more legible on that 5" CRT.

[Gyro Gearloose]

No one? Come on. Next you'll tell me my idea for a VIC-20 to MCA bus adapter is dumb too.

[JonBrawn]

Has anyone ever tried to make a SX-20? Hey at least it would be more legible on that 5" CRT.

- A video conferencing system by Cisco
- A stopped-flow spectrometer
- A boat manufactured by Bennington
- An item of personal training equipment, "Squat Rack" whatever a squat is.
- A member of the PowerShot range of Cannon cameras
- A stereo receiver by Kripa Electronics

None of these seems particularly relevant to a VIC-20 enthusiast, so what had you in mind?

[joshuadenmark]

Has anyone ever tried to make a SX-20? Hey at least it would be more legible on that 5" CRT.

I had the same idea - SX-20 and I bought a tiny CRT a couple of years ago, but didn't get further than that.
But perhaps one day

[Gyro Gearloose]

Has anyone ever tried to make a SX-20? Hey at least it would be more legible on that 5" CRT.

I had the same idea - SX-20 and I bought a tiny CRT a couple of years ago, but didn't get further than that.
But perhaps one day

Yeah it would be useless but kinda fun. Since you bought a CRT I guess you don't have a SX-64 to start with?

And what tiny CRT did you buy?

[joshuadenmark]

No, sadly no SX-64

This is the CRT:

[orion70]

It would be a great idea, as the screen would in fact be much more readable than the 64's (and already in the right color scheme, too). But I guess it's the kind of task requiring too many manual skills for me - like, creating the shell, etc. Maybe acquiring an already made one, like an empty SxX-64? Bah, I'll stick to lurking here what others do

[Gyro Gearloose]

It's just an idle speculation. I guess it would be possible to design a VIC-20 motherboard in the SX form factor, but who would want to actually do it? A madman, surely.

[English Invader]

I think I'd rather have a VIC-20 laptop than a Me Too Osbourne. I've never liked the SX-64. It's about as portable as a mainframe.

[chysn]

When I was a kid, I’d occasionally hook my VIC-20 up to a portable battery-powered Panasonic black and white 5” TV. The TV was longer-than-wide, so it could prop up on the VIC at an angle for easy viewing.

I think my 50-year-old eyes would have a tough time with it now, but it wasn’t a bad setup back in the day.

[pms]

I did think about putting a VIC-20 in a SX-64 case.
I have two SX-64's, so that's not the problem.
But I noticed the VIC-20 board does not fit in the case. You have to cut the board in two peaces

And putting in an emulator would not be soVICsticated.

[beamrider]

https://github.com/danwerner21/vic2020

If you were so inclined, you could modify the above and join two halves with a ribbon connector?

[JonBrawn]

If you are going to use a VIC-2020, be aware that you need real, genuine ICs for the 74 series logic, not random re-labelled knock-offs, and of the right family (e.g. if the parts list calls for LS then do not try HCT etc.) - his timing is very tight, and "only the best will do".