Hi. The Gigatron is awesome. I have the same wooden box version. Everything was running slow because you kept changing the screen display to solid (pressing select). If it has to draw every line, its quite slow, thats why you have the different scan line screens.
Yep! I realised after making the video (see the comment I included in the video during editing). Have you made any of the expansions? Looks like there's some really neat upgrades that people have made!
The "CRT Look" is not only cosmetic -- it affects the speed. By allowing the black lines, you give it more time to compute. With the solid display you left it on, it only computes during the blanking interval.
Got one of these as a kit a couple of years ago for a xmas project to do. Went together well and worked first go. really interesting kit too with good documentation. Didn't realise they've released new bits for it so will have to check that out.
They really did a fantastic job. It's been languishing with me as I screwed up the Pluggy McPlugface, but it seems a lot of interesting things have been done since!
Very cool. I wish I still had the old 8-in-1 "cheapy" (compared to other things) console we had in the early 80s or maybe '79. I'd bet it was done a similar way without a CPU (as you say 30 seconds after I type this). It was no 2600, it just had things like Pong, Basketball, Tennis, Gridiron etc. very blocky kind of games and rudimentary sound.
The buildings shown in the background of Racer are based on actual buildings in the home town of the makers of the Gigatron (and my home town too): Eindhoven. The university, the train station, the Evoluon (shaped like a flying saucer), some of the skyscrapers that have been built there... RIP Marcel van Kervinck. I talked to him a couple of times while he was working on the project. Very smart guy, passed away way too young.
Oh wow! I've visited the Netherlands some time ago, but just for a weekend. ruclips.net/video/ARRIniCRdWk/видео.html Yeah, I was a little sad when I saw that Marcel had passed away in 2020 - I didn't know much about him, but I'm glad that his unique Gigatron lives on.
Hmmm ... good question. I'd like to do the following: [1] Get Pluggy McPlugface working to try out Tiny BASIC and the keyboard [2] Try some of the hardware expansions [3] Try to display a rotating 3D cube ... ?
You might find this hard to believe, but micro-usb has double the rated lifetime for insert/removal cycles. IMO both connectors are pretty crap. If you're going to use an unusual USB connection for power why not standard USB-B?
@@ardentdrops Standard USB-B would be even better, in terms of current carrying capacity, durability. I don't disbelieve you at all, about the rated lifetime. It's unfortunate that the rated lifetime doesn't match up with reality. I have many network switches and firewalls that use mini-b, and none of them have had it fail. I've had many devices (like my headphones, several phones) using micro-b fail. That may just be my experience though, and the different use-cases of the plugs. Mobile things do damage cables more.
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![🇬🇧 BBC Master Compact: Part 2 (Using a Gotek) [TCE #0552]](/img/tr.png)
![🇩🇪 Robotron KC 87: Part 2 (Powering on) [TCE #0548]](/img/1.gif)
Hi. The Gigatron is awesome. I have the same wooden box version. Everything was running slow because you kept changing the screen display to solid (pressing select). If it has to draw every line, its quite slow, thats why you have the different scan line screens.
Yep! I realised after making the video (see the comment I included in the video during editing). Have you made any of the expansions? Looks like there's some really neat upgrades that people have made!
Nice looking computer!
Not enough computers in wood cases these days
@@Brfff Especially the steam-powered ones.
The "CRT Look" is not only cosmetic -- it affects the speed. By allowing the black lines, you give it more time to compute. With the solid display you left it on, it only computes during the blanking interval.
Got one of these as a kit a couple of years ago for a xmas project to do. Went together well and worked first go. really interesting kit too with good documentation. Didn't realise they've released new bits for it so will have to check that out.
They really did a fantastic job. It's been languishing with me as I screwed up the Pluggy McPlugface, but it seems a lot of interesting things have been done since!
Very cool. I wish I still had the old 8-in-1 "cheapy" (compared to other things) console we had in the early 80s or maybe '79. I'd bet it was done a similar way without a CPU (as you say 30 seconds after I type this). It was no 2600, it just had things like Pong, Basketball, Tennis, Gridiron etc. very blocky kind of games and rudimentary sound.
The buildings shown in the background of Racer are based on actual buildings in the home town of the makers of the Gigatron (and my home town too): Eindhoven. The university, the train station, the Evoluon (shaped like a flying saucer), some of the skyscrapers that have been built there...
RIP Marcel van Kervinck. I talked to him a couple of times while he was working on the project. Very smart guy, passed away way too young.
Oh wow! I've visited the Netherlands some time ago, but just for a weekend.
ruclips.net/video/ARRIniCRdWk/видео.html
Yeah, I was a little sad when I saw that Marcel had passed away in 2020 - I didn't know much about him, but I'm glad that his unique Gigatron lives on.
these are really nice...i want one!...
what gets me..this allows 64 colors.. where cpc can only do 16 albeit at double the vertical resolution :(
If you scroll down their FAQ they have some interesting info about how they arrived at the 160x120 resolution ... gigatron.io/?page_id=160
Yes, it bit-bangs a VGA signal. The 64-color limit is due to the DAC and how much memory is allocated for the screen buffer.
What are your plans for this series? will you write code for it? or explore the logics?
Hmmm ... good question. I'd like to do the following:
[1] Get Pluggy McPlugface working to try out Tiny BASIC and the keyboard
[2] Try some of the hardware expansions
[3] Try to display a rotating 3D cube ... ?
Mini USB, not micro. Good thing too, micro breaks way too easily.
Indeed, good catch.
Mini USB, also known as that darn usb plug that you never have a cable for
I have not seen a mini-USB-B in years. Micro became the standard quite quickly, and I only had a couple devices that used the taller mini.
You might find this hard to believe, but micro-usb has double the rated lifetime for insert/removal cycles. IMO both connectors are pretty crap. If you're going to use an unusual USB connection for power why not standard USB-B?
@@ardentdrops Standard USB-B would be even better, in terms of current carrying capacity, durability. I don't disbelieve you at all, about the rated lifetime. It's unfortunate that the rated lifetime doesn't match up with reality. I have many network switches and firewalls that use mini-b, and none of them have had it fail. I've had many devices (like my headphones, several phones) using micro-b fail. That may just be my experience though, and the different use-cases of the plugs. Mobile things do damage cables more.
clever but didn't buildup any community