DC-64 & Blue-64 new BETA boards: installation and availability

[@1337Shockwav3]

Love the new TOD implementation :) Great project.

[@andymuzzo8568]

Nice. Great looking piece of kit.

[@joakimberglund]

Have you given any thought of creating a new C64 PCB (like SixtyClone) with all the power stuff replaced with this? and perhaps powered by a standard USB PD supply?

[@sideprojectslab7352]

Hi, no I haven't really thought about it. In general it's difficult to draw a line about where does the original hardware stop existing. So the way I decided to go about it was to make the smallest amount of modifications that would allow achieving my 3 goals: DC-Power, Bluetooth control and HDMI output (with audio too). The first two are done now, and the third is currently in development and going well so far

[@yorgle]

Is the DC64 adaptable to work with the C128?

[@sideprojectslab7352]

Good question, I really can't say as I heven't looked into it at all, however at some point I'll have to design a new version, specific for a specific motherboard version of the C64-C, and I have a hunch that that might be more in line with the power circuit of the C128, so never say never :)

[@SvenKillig]

Nice project! Could the rectifier be removed altogether since the input is DC?

[@sideprojectslab7352]

Absolutely, however it is in general good practice to have some protection against reverse polarity, as not all wall adapters have the same polarity. So having a diode in series is rather desirable. If you know what you are doing you could definitely short both legs of the rectifier, effectively bypassing it entirely, or you could remove it and replace it with a single schottky diode, however it is not the easiest component to remove, having 4 through hole pins...

[@LuisFCorreia]

Personally, I would just remove the rectifier bridge and solder across. no need to make that diode suffer for more (it's also a huge failure point)

[@sideprojectslab7352]

Indeed you are free to do so :)