PDXCUG Meeting - Prototyping Party

Vol. 1, No. 4 - August 12, 2010 - Meeting Highlights

The Portland Commodore Users Group had a successful meeting and prototyping party for the Commodore Joystick Switch.

Here are the notes from our meeting.

Commodore Joystick Prototyping

Members get busy with the prototyping of the Commodore Joystick Switch. We built the circuit using only one of the 4066 chips to switch the fire button between joysticks 1 and 2. We had a little hang-up on the flip flop - it wasn't flipping and flopping. But after we realized that the chip was the wrong part number, we re-aligned the wiring and everything started working.

4066 Chips

The Chips Go Marching One-by-one..

Got all of the 4066 chips lined up and ready to go into the breadboard.

PDXCUG Commodore Joystick Switch Breadboard

The First 4066 on the Breadboard

Placing the first chip is always the hardest!

Joystick Switch Prototype

MegaWinner Laying Out the Parts

Going off of the initial schematic, MegaWinner starts the layout.

Joystick Switch Soldering

Soldering Station

Victor and Agent Friday created a mini soldering station.

Soldering a Joystick Wire

Soldering a Joystick Wire

We needed some joystick wires for the breadboard connections, so we soldered some up.

Joystick Switch Prototype Testing

The prototype is complete - the first test begins.

Mega Winner is describing what will happen with the LEDs when the switch is pushed.

 

Video - Joystick Switch in Action

Here is the joystick switch in action - this is the first successful test where the joystick performs the switching. The prototype only switches the joystick button. The other lines (up, down, left, right, etc.) were not wired up for the initial test.

 

Member Snapshots

A few snapshots of different members having a good time. A few of us decided to bring our significant others to tonight's meeting - what fun!

PDX Commodore Club Members
PDX Commodore Club Members
PDX Commodore Club Members
PDX Commodore Club Member
PDX Commodore Club Members
PDX Commodore Club Members
PDX Commodore Club Members
PDX Commodore Club Members

Other Notable Snapshots

PDXCUG Sign

New PDXCUG Sign

A new lightbox illuminates the club's logo and sets the mood for our prototyping party. This thing is totally cool!

CommVEx 2010 Attendee Badge

CommVEx 2010 Attendee Badge

Goog shows off his cool CommVEx 2010 attendee badge - only CommVEx attendees got one of these beauties!

1541 Disk Drive Troubles

1541 Drive Troubles

One member was having trouble with his 1541 drive so we jumped in to see what the problem was.

1541 Disk Drive Inspection

1541 Inspection

After further inspection, it is determined that the inside is dirty and cleaning the head & rails ought to do the trick.


Game Time

Members turn to a four player version of Bomberman and get some of the week's frustrations out by blowing each other up.

Protovision 4 Player Joystick Interface

Protovision 4-way Joystick Adapter

Protovision 4-way Joystick Adapter

Joysticks are the theme for tonight's gaming activities - we played a few rounds of 4-player Bomb Mania. Check out Protovision Online to order yours.

Members Play Bomb Mania Game

PDXCUG Members Playing Bomb Mania Game
PDXCUG Members Playing Bomb Mania Game
PDXCUG Members Playing Bomb Mania Game
PDXCUG Members Playing Bomb Mania Game