nILS

Thanks tilted. I must have come across that page earlier, cause when I got there it had 3 pokeys in the shopping basket =)

@seppoman >> ... I don't like this spirit ! > you 're jealous I don't think julien was the one insulted here... > [...] if i could use a mass media to resell my SID to capital the investment i made in MB6582. That's the definition of "commercial", ain't it?

Some minor updates: Since the PAL version isn't that much better when it comes to the pitch and due to the fact that it is virtually impossible to get a hand on a matching crystal, I'm going with the NTSC version. (Thx to SmashTV, stryd_one, jimp and DrBunsen for looking for alternative solutions) Port of my test application (screenshot below) has been ported to C for easier translation to the PIC. Since there's got to be a stereo version I'm looking into ways to drive (at least) 2 pokeys from a core atm. EDIT: I attached the pokey test app so you guys can fiddle around with it, too. Apparently I'm not the only one: sd2000/sparx has a Pokey board as well ;-) Cheerio, nILS pokey_test_app.zip pokey_test_app.zip

I sure hope you have a Vollkasko-Versicherung =) Two months ago there was a huge storm and the house I live in decided to lose some of it'sroofing tiles and gently place them in my windshield, hood and fender. Cost me 1500€ to get it fixed (and that was with used parts at a very friendly car shop). Well I guess I was lucky none of the tiles hit my the roof of my convertible which would easily total the car. Get your car stuff sorted out first - the SIDs can wait.

AC = ALTERNATING current, that means that it switches polarity at 50 (or 60)Hz (50 (or 60) times a second). So, there IS NO polarity, hence the cable isn't marked ;) See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternating_current

SLP: I seriously doubt that the pokey will become anything as hyped as the SID is =) It *is* a pretty simple chip. Yet I find it to create some nice sounds if handled right. Since availability of the pokey is great due to ATARI's overproduction right before the crash, not being able to order bulks isn't that big a problem. jaicen: That is very true =) Especially the NTSC version clocked at ~1.79MHz has serious problems with the pitch. I did some calculations today (thanks stryd ;)) and found the PAL version at ~1.77MHz to be way more accurate. At the moment I'm running the pokey on 1.8432 since it was the closest crystal available w/o any frequency dividers - the pitch difference is noticeable =) About the "simple to build" part: Well, the core module is obviously the same and the pokey module is extremely close to the SID board. What would/will keep this simple is the fact that the CS (which is really the only "hard to build" thing) will be a lot smaller and simpler than for the SID. Basically, all you would need is 5x8 buttons to control the 5 relevant registers - that's it =) This is obviously not the most usable version, but it gives you an idea of the dimension we're talking about.

s1: Yeah, I did read the "read before you post"-thread =) It's just not anything *new* worth documenting here yet. I will put it all down in the wiki when I get a bit further. Wild_Weasel: I bought a "Ballblazer" cartridge for the ATARI 7800 on eBay for ~$5. The commando "Commando" cartridge has a Pokey chip inside as well. Most of the 8bit ATARI computers have one inside, they're a lot more expansive though. You can buy the chips at a lot of outlet type stores (www.batescomponents.com, www.loadparts.com, ...) for about $5-7 a chip. Problem with that is, you have to order >100 chips.

As some of you might have read in the chat or across the forum, I started working on a POKEY synth. My plan is to start with a board designed by Mike Hill way back in time that hooks up to the LPT Port of a computer to test the POKEY and fiddle around with it a bit and hopefully finally come up with an mbPokey board and the MIOS app to go with it. I'll try to use this thread as a blog, mainly to keep me from quitting the project when that damn little chip does what it wants rather than what I want it to =) First up, a few links (most of them have been posted around here somewhere before): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_POKEY - Wikipedia entry for the POKEY chip (polish version is much more in-depth, but my polish isn't really all that good) http://krap.pl/mirrorz/atari/homepage.ntlworld.com/kryten_droid/Atari/800XL/atari_hw/pokey.htm - HTML version of the datasheet of the Pokey. The original datasheet can be found on the web as well - only god and smashTV now where they got it =) http://www.hillsoftware.com/atari/index.html . Mike Hill's website. He's the guy who created the LPT-Pokey schem and wrote a DOS app for it (won't work on Windows obviously) http://www.pokey.nl/xoops/modules/books/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=10 - Some information on what to do with the POKEY So far, I built the LPT interface on a piece of perfboard and ported Mike's application to Windows and added a complete (well sorta) CS to it, so that I can access all registers. I have a small and rather random sound test right here. I really want to thank SmashTV, Mike Hill, stryd_one and jimp at this point - without those guys I wouldn't even have gotten this far :D I'll post some pictures later on today =) Cheerio, nILS

I prefer dead squirrels - they have to have died a natural death though (being run over by a car for instance).

I got the LPT-Pokey thing to work with a windows port of the software. I'll probably have some of the boards etched, just in case someone cares to build one =)

I just ordered at reichelt. I coudl order for you though. This would of course cost you the shipping twice... Maybe someone is about to order anyways?

I've got a friend doing import from China to Germany commercially. This cuts the shipping costs from China to Europe to virtually nothing. If this might help, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

*whack*

:D

It's a shame with the photoshopped LCDs. BTW, if anyone wonders how to find out - if you find an LCD wit black background, just check the colors using photoshop or any other graphics app - if the black around the letters is RGB(0,0,0) it's definitely a fake =) Often it's really easy to tell that it's a fake when there's no cables plugged in or soldered to it. And that's what's really scaring me about pollin. All LCDs there are taken at different angles, the font on the display matches perspective perfectly, there's noise everywhere, it all looks absolutely real, except for the fact that the displays are not hooked up to anything =)

Wilba's right, Reichelt carries those. Part #: Taster 3301 They're 0.11€ a piece and come in different lengths. I *think* you'll need the 13mm ones. I used them in my mbSID, and they work nicely =)

How about instead of whackaday.com use whackaway.com :D

[OT]Sere is nossing better sen german oak![/OT] ;D

Just got a POKEY on eBay last night. I'll start with the POKEY->LPT thing. If this yields any nice results, I may consider starting on a MIDIboxPokey. Anyone else interested? Maybe some code or midibox guru.

s1: yeah, should have done my homework =) It really scared me at first that the approach I chose was working so well, since I had intended to use it as a testing implementation only.

JB Weld. http://www.jbweld.net

The higher the grit number the finer the paper. 100 grit is pretty rough (used to smooth the wood at first and get rid of minor scratches...), 1000 is basically polishing =)

Any hard-wood will do just fine. I personally would use 15-30mm multiplex beech (sth. like this). That's nearly indestructable. About the sanding: I usually start sanding with 100 grit and end up with 400-1000 depending on how smooth I want it to be. That's really up to you though. When it comes painting it, you've got a lot more choices to make =) IMHO wood should look like wood, so I'd go with matte clear paint. Basically any clear coat spray paint used for cars will do the trick. Sand the wood until you find it nice and smooth. |: Paint it, let it dry, sand it with finer sandpaper :| repeat until you're happy with what you've got (the last two or three layers of paint don't really need any sanding, the final one definitely not). Since you're planning to use the piece of equipment live, I'd go with a minimum of 5 layers of paint.

What worked nicely for me is 13mm tactiles, LEDs mounted 6mm above the board and the encoders mounted to the bottom of the board.

julienvoirin: I am aware of the clockbox (stryd_ones arp was based on it) and I plan to "borrow" some of the code from him or at least let myself be inspired by it =) Jaicen: It's a 4xSID v1 with full CS - so plenty of buttons, knobs and LEDs to misuse =)