The Easter Egg in the “Schrott-Tornado” at the Deutsches Museum
![](docs/schrott_tornado/schrott_tornado.jpg)
The Deutsches Museum in Munich (Germany) has a new art installation as part of the reopened Electronics exhibition: The “Schrott-Tornado”, a tornado-shaped sculpture made from scrap electronics. There is (at least) one item in it that is most definitely not trash.
UP9600: How to Bit-Bang 9600 Baud RS-232 on the C64
![](docs/up9600/userport.png)
The user port of the Commodore 64 exposes a TTL-level RS-232 serial port that supports up to 1200 baud1. In 1997, Daniel Dallmann came up with a very sophisticated trick that allowed sending and receiving at 9600 baud2, using slightly different wiring and a dedicated driver. This “UP9600” wiring has become the de-facto standard for all modern accessories, like C64 WiFi modems. Let’s see how UP9600 works.
Free Joystick Extension Cable to Build Your DB9 Competition Pro
![](docs/competition_pro/joyext.jpg)
This article explains how to convert a “Competition Pro Extra USB” (which you can still buy new) to work with a C64, Amiga or Atari. For the conversion, you need a joystick extension cable like this:
[UPDATE] Converting the “Competition Pro Extra USB” to C64/Amiga/Atari DB9
![](/docs/competition_pro/competition_pro.jpg)
I updated the instructions to a USB Competition Pro to DB9, so you can use it with a C64, Amiga etc. They now include the new “V3” and “V04T” pinouts and were updated with the use of a joystick extension cable.
Building the Tynemouth Mini PET
Dumping MiniDisc Media
![](docs/dumping_md/sonicstage1.png)
Update 2022: Web MiniDisc Pro can access NetMD devices through the browser and can also download protected files!
Tynemouth Minstrel ZX80 Clone Kit
I have previously shown an unassembled Sinclair ZX81 Kit that could be bought in the early 80s. Today, it is possible to buy a clone of the ZX80 from Tynemouth Software. Here are some pictures.
Converting a Commodore 1541 or 1570 Drive into a 1551
Sinclair ZX81 Kit
Converting the "Competition Pro Extra USB" to C64/Amiga/Atari DB9
![](docs/competition_pro/inside.jpg)
- Updated 2022-03-09: Added “SL-6603-TWT” pinout. Thanks a lot to Risto K for the infos and the photos!
- Updated 2022-01-26: Added “V2” pinout.
- Updated 2022-01-22: Added “SL-6603-SPORTS-DE” pinout.
- Updated 2022-01-14: Added “SL-6603-SBK” and “KOKA” pinouts.
- Updated 2022-01-06: Added new “V3” and “V04T” pinouts and instructions on how to use a joystick extension cable.
Speedlink makes several versions of the Competition Pro joystick that have all the physical properties and the excellent switches of the original Competition Pro, but come with a USB interface: