Something you don't see very often. Inside an 8K Commodore PET model 2001-8N. Notice the 4 holes drilled in the front of the PCB to stop you buying the cheaper model and upgrading the RAM yourself. Yes, they actually did that. Although it wasn't too hard to add bodge wires, I have seen that done.

New blog post - blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/02/10-y... Something a little different this week, looking back at 10 years and 10,000 miles with my 2016 Nissan Leaf, how much has that cost me? Normal service will be resumed next week with a PET repair post.

New blog post - blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/02/10-y... Something a little different this week, looking back at 10 years and 10,000 miles with my 2016 Nissan Leaf, how much has that cost me? Normal service will be resumed next week with a PET repair post.

It's like someone once saw a PET and was asked to draw it from memory. Things like that do make you sad. All of that dross polluting actual factual information and being given equal status. I saw someone call AI "digital asbestos" and talk of how much work is going to be involved in purging it all.

Wow, a V4.3C, the very earliest menu button driven Penultimate. I hope you have that insured for at least $1M. The reissues are V4.3D where I moved the ROM and the RAM chips to clear the central support in the case lid. (before there were actually any of those TFW8b VIC20 cases).

In case you missed it, there is a limited edition 10th anniversary reissue of the original VIC20 Penultimate Cartridge from 2016: www.tindie.com/products/tyn... More info in the blog post: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/10-y...

I teased DesTest VIC20 at VCF Montreal. Today I've released it. Take a look here: factorofmatt.com/destest-vic20 There are two binaries: one for use on a standard 8K cartridge and one as a replacement kernal.

Excellent example of a fake remarked different part in this video from Mick at "Buy it Fix it", including X-raying the part to try to determine what it actually was. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLQW... Great channel by the way if you like someone fixing electronics in my accent.

New blog post - Celebrating 10 years of the VIC20 Penultimate Cartridge with a limited edition reissue of the 2016 version blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/10-y... Available now from Tindie www.tindie.com/products/tyn... Or get the latest Penultimate +3 from TFW8b www.tfw8b.com/product/penu...

New blog post - Celebrating 10 years of the VIC20 Penultimate Cartridge with a limited edition reissue of the 2016 version blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/10-y... Available now from Tindie www.tindie.com/products/tyn... Or get the latest Penultimate +3 from TFW8b www.tfw8b.com/product/penu...

Sadly I don't have a #ZX80, but I do own the next best thing, a @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk #Minstrel2. Happy birthday to the ZX80! #retrogaming

Dear Texas Instruments, please put the SN76489 back into production.

New blog post: Part 3 of the new CRTC microcontroller for the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/a-ne... The pictures show the stages of the hardware development (so far)

New blog post: Part 3 of the new CRTC microcontroller for the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/a-ne... The pictures show the stages of the hardware development (so far)

Great review and demo of the @futurewas8bit.bsky.social SD2BBC. I am going to claim full credit for the use of the RJ12 connector on the cable. That worked out really well, and as a bonus, the same cable can plug into a different adapter for the DE-9 userport connector on the BBC Master Compact.

New blog post - Second mart of the quest for a new CRTC microcontroller for the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/a-ne... This time writing the code, maybe more than once. It's also the post that has been rewritten a bit, combining a couple of previous Patreon Preview posts.

New blog post - Second mart of the quest for a new CRTC microcontroller for the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/a-ne... This time writing the code, maybe more than once. It's also the post that has been rewritten a bit, combining a couple of previous Patreon Preview posts.

Updated my starter pack slightly, if you’re not on it and I follow you and you do retro stuff then it’s just because I’m incredibly lazy go.bsky.app/5Gtwxao

I had a question about making sounds on the Commodore PET and Mini PET, so I have updated one of my old blog posts: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2022/05/pet-... This covers various ways to make music on the PET, as explained by someone with little understanding of proper musical terminology (sorry).

New blog post - part 1 of a series looking at replacing the microcontroller used as the CRTC in the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/a-ne... This time looking at various options I considered.

New blog post - part 1 of a series looking at replacing the microcontroller used as the CRTC in the Minstrel 4th. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/a-ne... This time looking at various options I considered.

A mini setup on the bench today, I needed to do some PET stuff and my main bench is full of a different project. One of the first batch of SD2PETs (2019). The first Mini PET (2020). The first Deluxe Keyboard (2020). Definitely not the first mini LCD from Amazon (2024). All still working nicely.

New blog post - a round up of the current range of modules and backplanes for the Minstrel Expansion Bus: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/mins... Also a look at some of the things you can use them for on the Minstrel 2, Minstrel 3, ZX81 or TS1000.

New blog post - a round up of the current range of modules and backplanes for the Minstrel Expansion Bus: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2026/01/mins... Also a look at some of the things you can use them for on the Minstrel 2, Minstrel 3, ZX81 or TS1000.

I am Running The Month to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK. If you see one of my runs give me a Like or, if you're able, make a donation at runthemonthme.prostatecanceruk.org/fundraising/.... #runthemonth #prostatecanceruk

New blog post - Fitting Perilous Swamp into 8K on a PET 2001: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/fitt... When I converted the ZX81 game last month, it was 8.5K. It should be easy to fit that into 8K, right? Lots of things you can do to make your BASIC programs smaller, faster (and less readable).

New blog post - Fitting Perilous Swamp into 8K on a PET 2001: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/fitt... When I converted the ZX81 game last month, it was 8.5K. It should be easy to fit that into 8K, right? Lots of things you can do to make your BASIC programs smaller, faster (and less readable).

New blog post: Faster isn't always better - A Cautionary Tale. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/fast... An unexpectedly seasonal post, the red and green in the first photo looking very festive, piles of presents, and the feature charts from Microchip looking like they got them out of a cracker.

New blog post: Faster isn't always better - A Cautionary Tale. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/fast... An unexpectedly seasonal post, the red and green in the first photo looking very festive, piles of presents, and the feature charts from Microchip looking like they got them out of a cracker.

These disassemblies have been very useful to me many times over the years, helping to understand how these machines work, writing new code to run on the Minstrel 2 and the Minstrel 3, right through to porting the 4K and 8K BASIC from the ZX80 and ZX81 to run on the Minstrel 4th.

With help of @robertprice.bsky.social , I've connected my Timex Sinclair 2040 printer to my @tynemouthsoftware.co.uk #Minstrel4th. ZX Printer was well-supported by #JupiterAce with lots of software, which I'll be exploring. www.robertprice.co.uk/robblog/usin... www.jupiter-ace.co.uk/sw_zxprinter...

New blog post, that moment when it goes from "Yay! I sold one" to "Oh, now I have to write the documentation" blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/i-so... Or, how many times do I need to redraw this schematic until I am happy with it?

New blog post, that moment when it goes from "Yay! I sold one" to "Oh, now I have to write the documentation" blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/i-so... Or, how many times do I need to redraw this schematic until I am happy with it?

Hmm.. Looking at the calendar, I guess now is the time to say.. If you want something from www.tfw8b.com/shop/ to be delivered before #xmas, you should probably order your #8bit thing via express shipping NOW! #Commodore64 #CommodoreVIC20 #SinclairSpectrum #AndMore

New blog post - "Can I Add Games to the Penultimate Cartridge?" blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/can-... (quick answer is yes, that's why we made the PU+3)

The full family.

New blog post - "Can I Add Games to the Penultimate Cartridge?" blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/12/can-... (quick answer is yes, that's why we made the PU+3)

Great video. Thanks Robin. Throbin. Oh. wait, no, that sounds wrong.

Disappointing response to the new Software Serial card. A lot of work went into that, I was hoping there might have been a bit more interest. I guess those days are gone, the state the world is in right now, people have other priorities, and things have moved on. Oh well.

New blog post - a new serial card for Minstrel 4th and RC2014 - blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/11/soft... Yes, that's it. No UART, no ACIA, no DART, no SIO no microcontroller, no Raspberry Pi. How did I do it?

I used 4 channels as there were only a few traces to display, if you read the post you will also see 8 channel captures. And these are not cheap Chinese knocks offs, these are quality bits of kit from the actual designers, Ikalogic in France. Great products and support. www.ikalogic.com

New blog post - a new serial card for Minstrel 4th and RC2014 - blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/11/soft... Yes, that's it. No UART, no ACIA, no DART, no SIO no microcontroller, no Raspberry Pi. How did I do it?

Looking for a ZX-compatible computer you build yourself? You will NOT do better.

Let's try something different. Let's make today "make me a reasonable offer Friday". See something in my Tindie store, send me an email or a DM with a reasonable offer (please don't insult me) and where you are so I can include postage, and I'll see what I can do. www.tindie.com/stores/tynem...

Rod Hull Replays: Perilous Swamp - Commodore VIC20 - PSION Conversion - Featuring #JellyLoad 🪼😎 www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb0Z... #RetroComputing #Commodore #CommodoreVIC20 #VIC20 #8bit #RetroGaming

New blog post - Converting a ZX81 BASIC game to run in Commodore BASIC on the VIC 20 (and the PET, C64 and TED) blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/11/peri... BASIC is quite a portable language, so let's see how easily it ports.

New blog post - Converting a ZX81 BASIC game to run in Commodore BASIC on the VIC 20 (and the PET, C64 and TED) blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/11/peri... BASIC is quite a portable language, so let's see how easily it ports.

It's official! #PicoIDE, the open source IDE/ATAPI drive emulator I've been working on for the better part of this year, will be launching at Crowd Supply! Go there to sign up for updates and to be notified when the campaign is live: www.crowdsupply.com/polpotronics...

New blog post - I have designed a new serial card for the Minstrel 4th and RC2014 bus. More on that next week, but first a look back at some of the things I tried before settling on this design. blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2025/11/a-ne...

Doing a bit more experimenting with ZX81 #Forth multitasking on #Minstrel4th. Combined several example programs from user manual to make a real-time clock. A must-have for a personal computer in 2025! #retrogaming