• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

My Vic-20 project , "Franken-Vic"

J

Jay

Experienced Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2012
Messages
57
So here is Franken-Vic, named so because it was built out of two Vics. Both were missing parts, both had one half of their case broken. So I stuck them both together and now have a working machine :)

Its still a project. Lots of work to do, modern av cables to buy, 32k expander to purchase, NES controller to mod for this, games to buy, etc. So in general, Im having a ton of fun with this old girl.

Well here it is with my datasette and 1541 drive.

6p3pmq.jpg


4smmtk.jpg
 
Hi,

That is really a nice project. I, too, have a VIC20 (which was intended only as an add-on to my collections) so I decided that instead of hunting down CARTRIDGES for it, I was lucky to get the first batch of Behr-Bonz cartridge which has about 127 games for Vic20 in one cart.

Here is a thread on another forum (if interested)
http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56288

However, the person responsible is no longer in this forum. You can PM me for his email address if you want it. He might still have one available.
 
Me and another guy drove an hour away to buy an Amiga 2000 that we found on Craigslist. We stopped for lunch in a nearby city. We passed a thrift store, and I said "That's exactly the kind of place that will have a C64." He disagreed, so we went inside on a bet. They didn't have any C64s. They did have a VIC-20, complete in box, for $5. So, I bought it. I bought a Behr-Bonz, too, when I first heard of it.

I had this idea of putting the VIC in a fancy display and playing video games on it. Years later, I can't find that blasted cartridge anywhere. I have put my VIC on the air though. :)
 
Congrats on the VIC-20! I'm a big fan of those as well.
Even though the Behr-Bonz is no longer available, you can get the awesome Mega-Cart:
http://www.mega-cart.com/

It has 200 games, memory expanders, utilities and other great things. With this and an SD2IEC (which you can use on other Commodore machines like the C64 and C128 ) you will be all set.
Good luck!
 
A multi cart is a great idea, definitely cheaper in the long run, than buying countless games AND a memory expander. I think I will pick one up the beginning of September :)

Oh and yeah, because i want to run dual drivers, i just picked up another 1541 driver and the cables off ebay, for a mere 20 bucks. Tested and working! It may take me a few months, but ill gather all the bits and pieces for this old girl.

33l15sj.jpg
 
Jay said:
A multi cart is a great idea, definitely cheaper in the long run, than buying countless games AND a memory expander. I think I will pick one up the beginning of September :)

Oh and yeah, because i want to run dual drivers, i just picked up another 1541 driver and the cables off ebay, for a mere 20 bucks. Tested and working! It may take me a few months, but ill gather all the bits and pieces for this old girl.

33l15sj.jpg
Click to expand...

The drives are good for historic context (remember the 1540 was the original VIC-20 drive, not the 1541...) but for sanity of mind you should really consider the SD2IEC board. It lets you use SD cards and store programs or disk images in them. A 2GB SD card will hold way more than all the software ever written for the VIC.

https://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/SD2IEC

You can find many of these for sale on ebay.
 
I know that the 1540 came out first, but theyre not as common as the 1541 and only record on one side of the disk. Ive seen so many pictures of these Commodores with dual 1541 drives that i just had to pick up another one. How can i turn down a working drive and cables for a mere 20 bucks?

The SD2IEC board looks to be really cool, I will be sure to read up on them in depth soon. Thanks for the tip.

Im new to vintage computers, but its been fun learning about a computer that came out when I was born.
 
You can often find the first gen 1541 known as the VIC 1541. It's the same color scheme as the older VIC-20 (without the rainbow stripes on top, which is the one you have).
Here's an example of one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIC-1541-DISK-DRIVE-COMMODORE-64-/121729590210?hash=item1c57a623c2

Both the 1540 and the 1541 are single sided disk drives with a capacity of 170KB.

You can make your 1541 operate faster on the VIC-20 by using the following command from BASIC:
OPEN 15,8,15, "UI-" : CLOSE 15

Good luck and welcome to the never ending joy and money-pit of vintage computing!
Don't forget to try out the WinVICE emulator on your PC for day-to-day retro fun.
 
Yep, the 1540 and 1541 are mechanically identical. The only difference is the 1541 has a default mode where it runs slower than the 1540 to work with the C64.
 
Got my second 1541 in.

modded a sega master controller for easier gameplay.

now just have to find a vintage, era correct, tv for this.

2jfa83d.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top