Apple II VGA Card

Toysoft·AppleII-VGA_new·AppleVGA/AppleVGA.kicad_pcb

About the Apple II VGA Card PCB

Apple II VGA Card is an open source RP2040/RP2350 PCB design by Toysoft, published on GitHub under the MIT license. It is a 2-layer board measuring 112.4 × 74.2 mm, with 28 components from 12 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the Pico, from the RP2040/RP2350 family. Other key parts include the 74LVC245. By type, the board carries 15 resistors, 5 ICs, 4 capacitors, 1 transistor, 1 connector and 1 switch.

It belongs with the displays & leds designs in this gallery.

From the project

https://github.com/markadev/AppleII-VGA

This project is a VGA card for Apple II computers to ouput a crisp RGB signal to a VGA monitor instead of having to rely on the composite output. This is accomplished by snooping the 6502 bus and creating a shadow copy of the video memory within a Raspberry Pi Pico, then processing the raw video memory contents to output a "perfect" signal.

+------+ +-----+ +-----------+ | 6502 |_____________| RAM || Composite | | CPU | System \ +-----+ | Video Gen | +------+ Bus | +-----------+ | +-----------+ \| Raspberry |______________\ | Pi Pico | 640x480 VGA / +-----------+

Apple II VGA Card, from the project README — From the project README

Main components on the Apple II VGA Card

74LVC245 Pico

Apple II VGA Card bill of materials (BOM)

28 components, 12 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.

Qty	Part	Footprint	Refs
4	74LVC245 TI	DIP-20_W7.62mm_Socket	U1, U2, U3, U4
1	Pico	RPi_Pico_SMD_TH	U6
1	DMG2305UX-7 Diodes Incorporated	SOT-23	Q1
1	VGA	IDC-Header_2x04_P2.54mm_Vertical	J2
1	Reset TE Connectivity	SW_PUSH_6mm_H5mm	SW1
1	1N5817 STMicroelectronics	D_DO-41_SOD81_P10.16mm_Horizontal	D1
4	0.1μ	C_Disc_D4.3mm_W1.9mm_P5.00mm	C1, C2, C3, C4
4	10K	R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P10.16mm_Thin_Horizontal	R1, R2, R3, R15
3	500	R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P10.16mm_Thin_Horizontal	R4, R7, R10
3	1K	R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P10.16mm_Thin_Horizontal	R5, R8, R11
3	2K	R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P10.16mm_Thin_Horizontal	R6, R9, R12
2	47	R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P10.16mm_Thin_Horizontal	R13, R14

Apple II VGA Card design files

The KiCad project lives in the Toysoft/AppleII-VGA_new repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Apple II VGA Card: common questions

What microcontroller does the Apple II VGA Card use?

The Apple II VGA Card is built around the Pico, from the RP2040/RP2350 family.

How big is the Apple II VGA Card PCB?

The Apple II VGA Card measures 112.4 × 74.2 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.2 mm thick.

How many components are on the Apple II VGA Card?

28 components, from 12 distinct parts, with part numbers taken from the project's own BOM. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Apple II VGA Card design files?

From the Toysoft/AppleII-VGA_new repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout, the schematic and the BOM; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Apple II VGA Card design in my own project?

Yes, under the terms of its MIT license, which Toysoft chose for the repository.

Can I test firmware for the Apple II VGA Card without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug RP2040/RP2350 firmware against it before you order a PCB.