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VECOS – A windows-like operating system for the Vectrex for the UVMC2 [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ranfp_vz30 (youtube.com)

50 points | 47h ago | Discuss on Hacker News | Back to Radar

Comments

d3Xt3r 46h ago on HN

That looks bloody amazing. Would love to see this ported to PC, maybe even as a DE for Linux.

alexrzem 43h ago on HN

There is a Vectrex Mini on Kickstarter

MomsAVoxell 28h ago on HN

I didn't get my Vectrex in the 80's, I had real computers instead, which I used to gather the wealth required to .. finally .. get myself that Vectrex I always wanted .. So I personally can't wait for this thing to ship .. it'll be the 80's all over again, but faster/better/stronger/cooler.

5- 27h ago on HN

> the console features a built-in 5-inch high-quality IPS display with a 800 x 480 resolution

(from https://vectrex.com/vectrex-mini-details/)

you got me excited for a moment there.

thomassmith65 15h ago on HN

I don't want a Vectrex, but I do want a vector CRT display and driver I can use with a modern computer. They don't make them anymore; not even for oscilloscopes.

wrs 5h ago on HN

Turns out that’s what a Vectrex is! Or can be. As a pointless weekend project, I opened up my Vectrex, disconnected its logic board from its analog board, and gave it a new controller so an external computer can drive it. It doesn’t look as good, because the clever circuitry in the original to keep the beam velocity consistent lives on the digital board, but I think I can fix that in the controller firmware. Yet another post for my nonexistent blog.

MegaDeKay 2h ago on HN

Well...

You can take a regular CRT and rewind the deflection coils on the yoke to work as a vector CRT display. Arcade Jason has a good video on how to do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci9qiGVMF7s

Then you need a vector generator if you don't have an OG vector game. This one on Github is pretty good and can be connected to either an oscilloscope or vector monitor.

https://github.com/english1234/vstcm

If you use the vstcm to drive your rewound crt, you still have a problem. The deflection coils are very low impedance (around an ohm I think), so you need an amplifier stable at very low impedances that can generate a voltage sufficient to get deflection across the full screen in x and y. I think Arcade Jason was working on one of these too but I don't think it is out yet. ElectronAsh was working on one as well but I don't think he finished it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tybGveLtlkA

https://github.com/ElectronAsh/Vector-XY-Deflection-Board

Or you could follow iz8dwf's amazing series on how he built a black and white vector monitor.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbKEoUHtoVucsrySlogDz...

MomsAVoxell 28h ago on HN

Just when I thought the world couldn't get any more amazing for hacking stuff this week (M-VAVE FM1's firmware bonanza is a delight!), now I have a freakin' damn good reason to get my Vectrex out of storage (okay, another freakin' damn good reason) and give it a modern kick in the ol' capacitors.

Sheesh, hackers. Things are getting positively juicy. What's next, a hack that makes the Vectrex function as a HUD for DCS, maybe? (Hint: someone is indeed working on this...)

atomicthumbs 25h ago on HN

I don't think you got the right link for UVMC2.

bobajeff 25h ago on HN

Awesome, I love it. I never even heard of the Vectrex before. I'm guessing it was too expensive for most people since it's basically a whole arcade machine.

CharlesW (author) 25h ago on HN

As a kid, it was incredibly exciting to see in person! It was pretty small (had a 9" CRT) and $200 (~$650 today). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vectrex

thomassmith65 14h ago on HN

A Vectrex wasn't prohibitively expensive, but, even for its time, vector graphics seemed a bit primitive*.

1980s TV gaming consoles may not have had high resolution, but they were less visually monotonous than glowing lines on black.

* Consider that Asteroids is the only vector-based game listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_in_video_games

** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroids_(video_game) was already three years old by the time Vectrex hit the market

MegaDeKay 2h ago on HN

$199 when it was introduced in 1982. It was discounted a couple times after that after Milton Bradley bought them and got down to $100. That's a pretty decent price considering the Atari 2600 debuted in 1977 at $199.

It was basically a whole arcade machine, just a lot smaller :-)

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