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Tube❄️Time

oh yes! it works! this board is the MOnSter 6502 and i'm trying to figure out how to replace the really expensive transistor array devices (4x NMOS) with something cheaper.

the MOnSter 6502 circuit board with a green LED lit in the middle of the accumulator register. lots of other colorful LEDs are also lit.
27 comments
Jeff Haluska

@tubetime Are you planning on a second revision or is the Monster 6502 just expensive to keep operational?

Jencen

@tubetime Does this mean there may possibly be a version of the Monster 6502 that people could purchase?

DELETED

@tubetime What does it do other than look pretty in photos? I know nothing about electronics. I heard that 6502 CPU is in the Commodore 64, but that's about all I know. Is this the same 6502?

Tube❄️Time

@bojanland it runs code. it's (more or less) the same CPU. It was in the Apple II, the C64 (the 6510 variant), the Atari 2600, the Atari 400/800/1200, and a bunch of other computers.

Tube❄️Time

finally getting around to some measurements

Tube❄️Time

whatever is driving the bus is very slow. the new analog switch closes quickly and loads the bus into accumulator bit 0, but the bus is still settling.

Tube❄️Time

more tiny chips on tiny boards. they're slowly taking over!

Tube❄️Time

here are 175 more adapter boards. gotta break them free first before soldering them down.

Tube❄️Time replied to Rue

@RueNahcMohr hct4066 I'll have you know. also these are very cheap, 20 cents each

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

another meaningless scope photo to some, but this contains clues as to why the MOnSter 6502 tops out at 100KHz or so. notice how, in the center of the screen, when channel 1 (the clock signal) falls, there is a corresponding drop in channel 3 (the data bus)

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

this is an effect of the precharge mosfet. the clock signal goes to the gate, the drain goes to 5V, and the source goes to the data bus bit. the idea is that when the clock goes high, the bit gets charged up (to the clock pulse voltage minus the threshold voltage). when the clock goes low, the mosfet turns off, and the data bit remains charged.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

in practice, due to the gate to source capacitance (Cgs) the falling edge of the clock couples into the data bus bit. years ago I added bus capacitance which mitigates this somewhat. I've come up with a better solution.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

I've replaced the precharge mosfet with an analog switch chip -- one of those little circuit boards. and look: the glitch is gone, and we've got a clean signal now.

Tube❄️Time replied to Tube❄️Time

the rising edge looks much cleaner as well. (we're looking at channel 2, purple)

Chuck replied to Tube❄️Time

@tubetime Was gonna say cuz that rising edge on yellow looks hella analog 😃

That said I like how the scope is labelling the voltages on the right edge.My Rigol doesn't do that, it seems like a reasonable upgrade.

David Mc Carthy

@tubetime thats a whole lot of ALD1106s. Is there also one under the bodge board?

Tube❄️Time

@davidmc no, i am replacing them all with a different device (TBD).

David Mc Carthy

@tubetime oh god yeah just saw context now. building a whole CPU out of $6 matched MOSFETs is an expesive business. My first guess would have been SOT23 2n7000 and I guess that'd work for gates but body diode might scupper pass transistor stuff. 74hc4066 switches area good shout, txb0108 family might work as well.

Tube❄️Time

@hennichodernich I need transistors without the parasitic body diode from source to drain

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