Serial Terminal With Cathode Ray Tube

By Holger Zahnleiter

Abstract

Back in the day I disdained green (monochrome) CRTs, terminals and boring business computers. Didn’t my Commodore 64 have 16 colors and sprites and soft-scrolling and sound and everything?

But nowerdays I am fascinated by the idea of directly controlling the creation of an image on a phosphorus screen. I did not hesitate when I got the change to purchase two Brother WP-1 word processors for very little money at eBay.

This project is about building a serial terminal from new and vintage parts. It is still ongoing. I am working on the electronics right now. Visit my Git repository for more details.

Serial Terminal

  • Case/mechanics
    • The case is a custom design I made with the free version of Fusion 360. It is 3D printed using a Creality CR-10 Max printer (PLA).
    • The print has been lavishly primed, filled, sanded, and spray painted.
    • The keyboard is from an Atari 800.
  • Electronics
    • I am using a modern switching power supply.
    • From the WP-1 I salvaged the CRT and the driver PCB.
    • I am also reusing the CRTC-II (Hitachi HD6345) from the WP-1.
    • I am currently working on the electronics. It is still a way to go before calling it done.
  • Software
    • Not begun yet.

Project Source

Find the project's sources here: https://gitlab.com/hzahnlei/vt-6502-serial-terminal

My Git repositories usually do not only contain source code. Typically you will find documentation, instructions and tests.

Status

  • Begin date: 2023-06-06
  • End date: ongoing
  • Status: active

Disclaimer

This is a non-profit, free and open source project. The information on this web site and the documents downloadable from here have been carefully reviewed and is believed to be reliable, but I do not assume any liability arising out of the application or use of any documents, programs or circuit described herein. Furthermore I want to declare that I'm not responsible in any way for the content of other web pages, books and other sources I'm refering to.

Credits

I am using free and/or open source products and services. I want to thank enterprises, organizations and individuals alike for providing free services and open source software, electronics and mechanical designs and for sharing their knowledge and insights.

The respective products and services are recognized in the README.md that accompanies the project source.