I'm Back

[shem]

Ok so I've been away for a while but I'm back again.
I have been away from the good old forums for far too
I have been far too busy in the last year or so and with the holidays coming soon I will have a chance and the time to play with some good old 8 bit hardware again.
I've missed out on some new software as well as hardware
One of the issues at the moment is I seem to have less and less time and space for all this stuff but I'm glad to be back
I wonder what new hardware projects are out there and how far the megacart has come

Can't wait to start repairing some good old fashioned 8 bit hardware again
although I am running out of space so will need to re arrange a few things
good to be back

[pitcalco]

Hi Shem,

I have been away for quite some time myself, just popping in now and then to see what is going on. I have my VICs stored away while I am busy with other work, but I must admit I terribly miss toying with the VIC and continuing to learn machine language. I guess this was just as good a time to say hello to another old member.

Take care

[Jeff-20]

Good to see both of you!

[shem]

Cheers Fellas

Over the next two weeks I'm looking to restore a few vics to their former glory.
I have ordered some good quality turned pin sockets just waiting for delivery

[Witzo]

It will be an honour to make acquaintance with some old hands here!

[pitcalco]

Hello there again, Jeff. (and shem, and witzo!)

I have been quite the wallflower lately, but I have been around. Good to chat with you again.

I hope in the New year I will finally have some time to get back into the VIC. I really miss all the fun.

[Vic20-Ian]

Hi Shem,

Welcome back.


I have an old Pet Key Vic I picked up with a few oddities on key reading (I disassembled and cleaned keypads with an eraser and that helped but I think there may be more to it.

It also has one or 2 missing voices 36875 and 36877 I think. any idea where to start with a repair? Do you have spares?

Cheers.

Vic20Ian

[shem]

Hi again Guys hi Ian


Ian your keyboard problem sounds interesting it could be a number of things
Are the wires from the keyboard pcb to the keyboard connector OK?
It could also be the keyboard connector itself it could be corroded and not making a good contact don't forget how old these machines are.
It could also be one of the 6522's thats the ic responsible for scanning the keyboard.
There are 2 6522 ic's in the vic20 and the one nearest to the 20 way keyboard connector is the suspect.

You could always swap the 6522's round and see if the keyboards starts to work properly and see what other fault develops, or you could always try the keyboard with another vic20 or a c64.

As for your missing voices well the ic responsible for all of the vic20's sound and video is the VIC1 chip 6561 (for a PAL system ) or 6560 ( for the NTSC system ) missing voices will be caused by this device starting to fail

I am looking to have a clearout in the next 2-3 weeks and to catalog what spares I do have but i don't think that I will have any VIC1 chips I do have some new 6522's.


Hope this helps
Shem...

[Vic20-Ian]

Many thanks, I will take a look at the keyboard wires and connector and log the difficult intermittent keys to try to diagnose if one wire is broken.

The connector could also be an issue though I think the pins are gold so a break/make should restore any minor corrosion issues.

I have keyboard repair kit paint on hand from another thread recommendation if it becomes really necessary.

I might sacrifice a Cost Reduce Vic to get the 6561 then to repair my Pet keyboard motherboard as the fit is not exactly the same if you try to swap a new top case onto an older Vic.

Many thanks for looking for spares. Please let me know.

Thanks

Ian

[shem]

No problem Ian
if you gonna sacrifice a CR then try to swap the 6522's if they are socketed...
Let me know how you get on
Good Luck.