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.
The Chips Go Marching One-by-one..
Got all of the 4066 chips lined up and ready to go into the breadboard.
The First 4066 on the Breadboard
Placing the first chip is always the hardest!
MegaWinner Laying Out the Parts
Going off of the initial schematic, MegaWinner starts the layout.
Soldering Station
Victor and Agent Friday created a mini soldering station.
Soldering a Joystick Wire
We needed some joystick wires for the breadboard connections, so we soldered some up.
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!
Other Notable Snapshots
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
Goog shows off his cool CommVEx 2010 attendee badge - only CommVEx attendees got one of these beauties!
1541 Drive Troubles
One member was having trouble with his 1541 drive so we jumped in to see what the problem was.
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
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
