The Really Old-School Company Limited
The Cody Computer
The Cody Computer
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Meet the Cody Computer!
The Cody Computer is an 8-bit home computer intended to be built as a DIY kit project. Inspired by (but not compatible with) the Commodore home computers of the 1980s, it's built around the Western Design Center's 65C02 and 65C22 and the Parallax Propeller microcontroller. You can find more information and videos of it in action at www.codycomputer.org.
Designed by Frederick John Milens III, named after Cody ("He wasn't much of a dog, but he was a great little kid" says Frederick in The Cody Computer Book) and sold by us with Frederick's blessing, the Cody Computer is a wonderfully self-contained, super fun-to-build kit for any retro enthusiast.
Named in honor of a good little boy who preferred museums, rockets, and computer chips to chew-sticks and squeak-toys, it's just supposed to be simple, silly, fun, and perhaps a little bit educational - It doesn't compete with your modern computer or even the new incarnations of old computers [And we think that's a good thing! - ed] but is nonetheless super capable, very nostalgic and a whole ton of fun to play with.
Note: We currently have a 1-2 week lead-time on Cody Computer kits.
Features
- Easy-to-assemble computer built around the modern 65C02, 65C22, and P8X32A.
- 3D-printed mechanical components and 30-key mechanical keyboard with 3D-printed custom keycap set (included).
- Boots to "Cody BASIC" and supports assembly language cross-development using 64tass.
- 160x200 NTSC video graphics loosely inspired by the VIC-II's multicolor mode.
- Audio peripheral implementing a limited subset of Commodore SID functionality.
- Expansion/cartridge port, two buffered UARTs, and Atari-style joystick connectors.
- Comprehensive manual covering everything you could need - from build instructions, example programs, and a whole lot more.
Kit Contents
- 1x Cody Computer PCB
- 1x Cody Keyboard PCB
- 1x Case Top
- 1x Case Bottom
- 1x Case Badge (no white inlay, see "Additional Requirements", below)
- 5x Case Inlays (uncoloured, see below)
- 2x Case brackets
- 1x Keyboard Plate
- 30x Keys (no white inlay, see below)
- All electronic components
- 31 Gateron Brown keyboard switches
- Keyboard connector cable
Additional Requirements
The Cody Computer is a lot of fun to put together and easily achievable even by a beginner, but there are a few additional things you'll need:
- Basic soldering equipment
- Parallax "Prop Plug" or FTDI-style USB-to-serial adapter (for initial EEPROM programming and loading/saving of programs - see the manual for details)
- The Cody Computer requires a 5V "wall-wart" adapter (1A recommended) or equivalent power supply - we do not supply this
- The coloured badge inlays and white badge / key inlays in the photos are achieved by you, as part of the build. The parts are supplied in single-colour.
- We use white air-dry clay for the key / badge text inlays
- We use acrylic paint for the coloured badge inlay
- You will need a monitor capable of display a composite signal (NTSC) standard. Most reasonable monitors that support composite will be fine with this, but you should check
- Alternatively, we've had great results using "Mini AV2HDMI" style adapters with the Cody, which allows video and audio over a single cable to modern HDMI-compatible monitors!
Notes
The Cody Computer is © Frederick John Milens III and generously released under the GNU General Public License, version 3.
You can find the project on GitHub (and please do give it a ⭐️ while you're there!)
Kits and commercial support are supplied by The Really Old-School Company Limited with the blessing of (but not the endorsement of) Frederick.
In the spirit of Open Source, we actively contribute back to the project, and we make a donation back for every kit sold.
We never had the chance to meet Cody, but we really wish we did - he definitely sounds like our kinda guy 🤩
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