VDC-II
About the VDC-II PCB
VDC-II is an open source PCB design by sam-falvo, published on GitHub under the MPL-2.0 license. It is a 4-layer board measuring 63.5 × 102.6 mm, with 21 components from 8 distinct parts.
Other key parts include the 74HCT688, SN74LVC8T245PWR and VDC-II-card. By type, the board carries 7 capacitors, 7 resistors, 4 ICs, 2 connectors and 1 switch.
It belongs with the displays & leds and retro computing designs in this gallery.
From the project
An open source Video Display Controller following in the footsteps, but not a clone, of the Commodore 8568 VDC chip.
Problem is, I've never built an RC2014 or an expansion board for it before. And, there are many unknowns along the way: for example, I've never worked with level shifting logic before, and interfacing a 25MHz dot-clock circuit to the 7MHz bus of the RC2014 will involve multiple clock domains and its respective complexities. To get my feet wet, I decided to target a design for the 39-pin RC2014 expansion bus using a small FPGA part, specifically the TinyFPGA BX.
Main components on the VDC-II
VDC-II bill of materials (BOM)
21 components, 8 distinct parts.
| Qty | Part | Footprint | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 74HCT688 | DIP-20_W7.62mm_Socket | U1 |
| 2 | SN74LVC8T245PWR | TSSOP-24_4.4x7.8mm_P0.65mm | U2, U3 |
| 1 | VDC-II-card | DIP-28_W15.24mm_Socket | U4 |
| 1 | Conn_RC40_Male | PinHeader_1x40_P2.54mm_Vertical | J1 |
| 1 | VideoMezzanine14 | PinHeader_2x07_P2.54mm_Vertical | J2 |
| 1 | SW_DIP_x07 | SW_DIP_SPSTx07_Slide_9.78x19.96mm_W7.62mm_P2.54mm | SW1 |
| 7 | 100nF | C_Disc_D6.0mm_W4.4mm_P5.00mm | C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7 |
| 7 | 4.7K | R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P10.16mm_Horizontal | R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7 |
VDC-II design files
The KiCad project lives in the sam-falvo/VDC-II repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.
VDC-II: common questions
How big is the VDC-II PCB?
The VDC-II measures 63.5 × 102.6 mm, has 4 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.
How many components are on the VDC-II?
21 components, from 8 distinct parts. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.
Where can I download the VDC-II design files?
From the sam-falvo/VDC-II repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout; the links under Design files point to each one.
Can I use the VDC-II design in my own project?
Yes, under the terms of its MPL-2.0 license, which sam-falvo chose for the repository.
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