The PicoGUS: An ingenious multifunction ISA sound card

Описание

If you are into retro PCs, you probably know that the Gravis Ultrasound is one of the most expensive soundcards out there. It was used extensively in the early to mid-90s PC demo scene, and if you want to hear those demos as they were intended and on a real physical computer, you will need to splash out big cash for a Gravis Ultrasound card.

This is where the PicoGUS comes in -- it's a Gravis Ultrasound running inside a Raspberry Pi Pico2040 in an ISA card. No tricks here -- this really is emulating the Gravis Ultrasound on a $5 microcontroller! (It also can emulate several other cards too.)

The creator of the project sent me this card to play with, so let's dig into it and hear it running one of the best PC demos of all time.

-- Links

PicoGUS:
https://github.com/polpo/picogus
https://polpo.org/picogus/
https://www.tindie.com/stores/polpo/

Hand386:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805356267711.html

Apple II VGA card:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReTXGczq8Vk
https://github.com/V2RetroComputing/analog

PicoMEM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De5ufcDueRU&t=2780s
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=94320

Second Reality: (Demo itself)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw17c70uJes
https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=63

-- Music

2nd Reality by Skaven
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=74573
http://www.mikseri.net/skaven

Surfing on a sine wave by FearofDark
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=169104
http://fodxm.co.uk/

3D Galax by Beldoroon
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=36523

Inner Strength by LASERLORE
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=44390

Ice Frontier by Skaven
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=44366
http://www.mikseri.net/skaven

Eternity by 4MAT
https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=154795

-- Tools

Deoxit D5:
https://amzn.to/2VvOKy1
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1602/.f

O-Ring Pick Set: (I use these to lift chips off boards)
https://amzn.to/3a9x54J

Elenco Electronics LP-560 Logic Probe:
https://amzn.to/2VrT5lW

Hakko FR301 Desoldering Iron:
https://amzn.to/2ye6xC0

Rigol DS1054Z Four Channel Oscilloscope:
https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/1000z/

Head Worn Magnifying Goggles / Dual Lens Flip-In Head Magnifier:
https://amzn.to/3adRbuy

TL866II Plus Chip Tester and EPROM programmer: (The MiniPro)
https://amzn.to/2wG4tlP
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33000308958.html

TS100 Soldering Iron:
https://amzn.to/2K36dJ5
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TS100-65W-MINI-Digital-OLED-Programmable-Soldering-Iron-Anti-static-Structure/113382669853

EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter:
https://www.eevblog.com/product/121gw/

DSLogic Basic Logic Analyzer:
https://amzn.to/2RDSDQw
https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Logic-DSLogic-Basic-Analyzer-16Ch-100MHz-4Ch-400MHz-Xilinx-Spartan-6-FPGA/202543965672

Magnetic Screw Holder:
https://amzn.to/3b8LOhG
https://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-magnetic-parts-tray-90566.html

Universal ZIP sockets: (clones, used on my ZIF-64 test machine)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/14-16-18-20-24-28-32-40-pin-IC-Test-Universal-ZIF-Socket-Fs/303206721971

RetroTink 2X Upconverter: (to hook up something like a C64 to HDMI)
http://www.retrotink.com/

Plato (Clone) Side Cutters: (order five)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-5-10PCS-Micro-Scissor-125mm-PLATO-170-Electronics-Cutter-Side-Cutting-Pliers/163458746184

Heat Sinks:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32537183709.html

Little squeezy bottles: (available elsewhere too)
https://amzn.to/3b8LOOI

--- Links

My GitHub repository:
https://github.com/misterblack1?tab=repositories

Commodore Computer Club / Vancouver, WA – Portland, OR – PDX Commodore Users Group
https://www.commodorecomputerclub.com/

--- Instructional videos

My video on damage-free chip removal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVjwPsVFd8

--- Music

Intro music and other tracks by:
Nathan Divino
@itsnathandivino