Chuck Peddle, one of the most important engineers of the early home computing era, has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 82. He's best known as the lead designer for MOS Technology's 6502, a low-cost processor (just $25 in 1975) that found i...
The Commodore PET 2001 was one of the very first personal computers I remember ever seeing. The green-screened 8-bit system wasn’t very powerful, but I always loved its iconic all-in-one design. I always wanted to own one if just to put it on display, but I don’t really have the space to spare. Then I saw The Ruiz Brothers and Phillip Burgess’ awesome build – a tiny PET that I could finally own.
This miniature replica of the PET was made using a custom 3D-printed case, along with a green CharliePlex LED Matrix, which allows it to display tiny messages or images on the screen.
The tiny screen has 144 LEDs, and is controlled using the Adafruit Feather, a teensy and lightweight prototyping board. I wonder if it would be possible to get a PET emulator running on this thing. After all, it runs at 48 MHz and has 256kB of flash RAM. The original PET 2001 had a 6502 that ran at 1MHz and had a maximum of 32kB of RAM.
If you want to build a tiny PET for yourself, head on over to Adafruit’s website to see all the parts you need, along with detailed instructions.
Most of us think of Commodore's pre-C64 computing history in terms of the still-legendary PET-2001, but an eBay auction run by Lawrence Bezuska shows just how far back the tradition really goes. He's selling a KIM-1, the stripped-down hobbyist computer from Chuck Peddle that was the foundation for what the PET became. It's so old that it was originally made by MOS Technologies in 1976 -- Commodore bought the company and kept making the KIM-1 until 1981. Inside, you're still looking at a 6502 chip, although you get just 1.12Kb of RAM and lose more than a few things that even DIY enthusiasts take for granted today, such as a power supply. There's no way you'll play Doom on it, then, but the winning bidder does get the luxury of a keypad just inches away from bare circuitry. If you're quick enough to make the May 17th auction deadline and miss the days of very, very low-level programming, be sure to check the source link.
Chuck Peddle, one of the most important engineers of the early home computing era, has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 82. He's best known as the lead designer for MOS Technology's 6502, a low-cost processor (just $25 in 1975) that found i...
