The object of this project is to take an old C64 Dtv joystick and connect a pc keyboard and external Commodore 64 disk drive to the board.

Feel free to post your constructed comments on the forum.

Sources and inspiration:

C64 DTV Software Secrets Summarized
DTV64 Micro Tower
DTV (c64) Yellow Box
Brain Innovations

Today (19/07/09) i bought most of the parts i need from Maplin.

Parts List:
- 2 x DB9 male connectors (Joystick)
- 1 x Mini DIN 6 (PS/2) female connector (Keyboard)
- 1 x Voltage plug 2,1 mm
- 1 x push button switch 'make'
- 1 x experimental PCB
- 1 x Voltage regulator
- 1 x 470 uF capacitor
- 2 x 100 nF capacitor
- 1 x rectifier single phase 1A (swapped for bridge rectifier)
- 1 x Plastic box

Today (22/07/09) the C64 Dtv turned up in the post. Bought on ebay for £10. Fired it up, and it works a treat. Bought back some good memories. Now the next thing to do is strip this down to reveal the pcb board.

Today (28/07/09) I started on creating the C64 housing. I am using a transformer box that i bought from Maplins. Here you can see the 2 joystick ports and the ps/2 keyboard connector. At the moment nothing inside is connected.

Antoher view showing the disk drive port. I have also fitted a reset switch on the other side, and this will also have the socket for the power.

Here is the first part of the electronics completed. This is based on the schematic design which can be found at:

http://www.richardlagendijk.nl/cip/article/index/hacking_the_dtv_2

From left to right.

Bridge rectifier - Capacitor(470uF) - Capacitor(100uF) - 7805 voltage regulator - Capacitor(100uF)

Here the dtv has been stripped down to expose its pcb.

Now lets get on with some soldering....

Here i have soldered the 2 joystick ports on and the ps/2 keyboard. Yea that ps/2 keyboard was a bitch to solder.

You need a nice pointy soldering iron for this job. I think before i end up putting it in a box i will need to glue those cables down otherwise they going to just pop off.

Another pic showing a close up of my great soldering work. :)

Please note: i made a mistake with Joystick (A) right connector here. For some reason i soldered it to one of the chips pins. Dont know why, it was late and i was tired. Luckly nothing got short circuited.

If you want to make sure you get the right solder points, please view this link: http://www.richardlagendijk.nl/foto/cip/computer_c64_dtv2_07.jpg

Its alive, got the keyboard hooked up. I really thought this would not work, but to my amazement it worked first time.

A note to everyone who doesnt know, but you hold down [ctrl] key when turning on the unit. This skips the intro and goes straight to the c64 prompt.

Todays date showing on the monitor, keyed in through the newly connected keyboard.

Completed. Finally i have managed to get everything all crammed into the box. The box now has 2 joystick ports, 1 ps/2 keyboard socket, 1 power socket and 1 disk drive port.

Nice shot of Pitstop II playing in the background.

Nice close up of the unit, with the power light all lit up. I took the plastic on/ off switch housing from the original joystick.

The test with the disk drive was not completely successfully. I can send commands from the 64 to the drive and the drive spins up, but im not sure if its the disk or drive at fault. And yes i do realize the disk is for a pc, but it should format.

by using the command:
print#15,"N:title,id"

This should format the disk. The head aligns with the noisy clicking (which is normal), but after about 50 secs the red light just flashes on the disk drive. I'm hoping the disk is at fault.

Complete system, showing the old 1541 disk drive.

Future Development:

• Hopefully get the drive unit working.
  
• Connect unit to pc
  
• Replace hard drive with SD memory card
  
• Flash the DTV rom

Any questions, please post them on the forum.