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ttldude

4 karma · joined June 11, 2018

Gigatron TTL microcomputer
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ttldude··on Cloning a 6502 Apple-1 in just 930 logic gates
It doesn't need a large memory if remove the video, or if you change it to B/W.
ttldude··on Cloning a 6502 Apple-1 in just 930 logic gates
Typical discrete logics designs were much larger than the Gigatron. So they're not the same. Using 74LS the single board draws 2.5 W.
ttldude··on The Web Began Dying in 2014 (2017)
Thank you, it's framing. Now that makes sense.
ttldude··on The Web Began Dying in 2014 (2017)
I've never seen it before.
ttldude··on The Web Began Dying in 2014 (2017)
Does that help create credibility in some circles?
ttldude··on The Web Began Dying in 2014 (2017)
Oh help, you can't be serious that he uses those on purpose.
ttldude··on The Web Began Dying in 2014 (2017)
Why on earth is he naming them "GOOG", "FB" and "AMZN"?
ttldude··on Gigatron, TTL computer kit without a CPU
You can build them with 74xx, 74LSxx as well as 74HCTxx, or mix those. Mixing with 74HC is also possible if you're careful, but full 74HC won't work.
ttldude··on The C256 Phoenix Project aka What Commodore 256 could have been like
Great to see a follow-up to our Gigatron computer!

I wonder what you will use for video generation in the C256, because the greatness in 8-bit gaming came from these chips. So you'ld have to differentiate there or run the danger of becoming yet another retro knock-off (well, the merits of compatibility should not be underestimated. Most of the effort will be in software otherwise). For the Gigatron it was ok to have limited video effects, because its insanely low chip count was its primary objective: so we have no tiling, no hardware sprites and no color indirection. But we do have indirection per scanline and you can do neat things with that, such as the bending road in the Racer game.

One thought is to design your own video circuit and put it in an FPGA. ASIC is also an option if you go with a 0.18um/0.25um foundry (X-FAB). You can also do it with discrete logic, but it will become big. There is the Vulcan-74 guy doing TTL (well, CMOS) video circuits: http://forum.6502.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3329 and http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.ph... (video: https://youtu.be/EIghk1BUG98)

Another idea is to do a hardware version of the PICO-8 platform: https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php

For sound you should really consider the awesome SAA1099 chip.