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Commodore 64 audio input modification - Load tape games using a IPOD/IPHONE/MedPlayer


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I recently saw a pretty easy modification to a C64 Datasette to allow you to attach a MP3 play to it to emulate tapes. It was a German video with no write up so I thought I would give it a hit.

I already have a uIEC devices but that nostalgic feeling of using a tape deck again just made me what to perform this mod.

 

Bill Of Materials:

C64 Datasette

1 x 100Kohm resistor

1 x 3.5mm mono audio jack or old headphones you can destroy for the project

Speaker wire if not using old headphone

PC motherboard speaker (Optional)

1 x 100nf capacitor (Optional)

 

 

First we start with the humble C64 Datasette.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9356_zpsf674e8fb.jpg

 

Flip the Datasette over and start by removing the 4 screws holding the front case on

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9357_zps1d9372ff.jpg

 

This will expose inards. We now need to flip the tape mechanism over ready for the mod.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9358_zps24bcd4fe.jpg

 

Next we will start with prepping the audio input lead. For this mod I just butchered some old headphones. You need to just use the left channel only. You could also just get a mono 3.5mm audio plug and make up your own cable.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9359_zps94b08b68.jpg

 

Feed the cut cable through the rubber grommet at the back of the datasette.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9360_zps1ac1094b.jpg

 

Here is a closer picture of the cable fed through.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9361_zps8c749737.jpg

 

We now need to solder the cable onto the bottom of the datasette

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9362_zpsa89388f2.jpg

 

Solder a 100Kohm resistor onto the point shown. This will be the positive point for the cable to be soldered onto

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9363_zpsbe542d95.jpg

 

Solder the positive lead to the resitor and the negative to the ground point shown

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9364_zpsd89d54db.jpg

 

As an added extra I wanted to add an internal speaker so I could hear what was going on. I just used a new style computer motherboard speaker to do this.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9365_zps678c7801.jpg

 

Remove the connector ready to solder onto the board

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9366_zpsa935b6e6.jpg

 

You will also need a 100nf capacitor

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9367_zps7977315f.jpg

 

Solder the capacitor to the points shown

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9368_zps449d2f39.jpg

 

Next solder the speaker to the points shown.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9369_zps7d814fc1.jpg

 

Just so things don't move around I placed some double sided tape under the speaker and audio input wires

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9370_zps815b9277.jpg

 

Put the tape mechanism back into place and attach the top lid.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9371_zps3dafe8f1.jpg

 

Now to test it out. I am using a Ipod with a little dock and attached the audio input cable from the datasette to it. I have previously converted a .TAP file to a .WAV file and copied that to the ipod.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9373_zps0cd61a59.jpg

 

Type LOAD and hit return. Press play on the datasette and then play on the ipod

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9374_zps238ea2f6.jpg

 

10 seconds later "BINGO!". 1942 found! One thing i found you need to hit the space bar very quickly as the IPOD does not pause like an original tape used to.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9375_zpsfedef5ce.jpg

 

A familiar NOVALOAD loading screen appears

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9376_zps143603d8.jpg

 

5 minutes later we are in business! 1942 is loaded just like the old days.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/Datasette/IMG_9372_zps686f4cd5.jpg

 

That's it. Original tapes will still work after this mod is performed but now you can load up your tape wave files using whatever media player you like.

 

A few notes to consider.

I could not get the speaker working but with the video I saw he used a larger speaker and could hear the crazy sounds of the tape loading. Not such a bad thing.

 

Find .TAP files VIA google. To convert them to wave I used a program called "TAPClean Front End"

It can be downloaded from here http://www.luigidifraia.com/c64/

I liked this program as it analyses the .TAP file and lets you know if it is consistent and gives you the option to fix the wave file.

 

You can add a 3.5mm jack if you like and use a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable to attach to your media player. Remember that only the left channel is used.

 

I tried to use the the headphone jack but could not get the WAVE file to recognise in the datasette. I nearly gave up till I remembered I had little IPOD dock. This has a line out that come from the IPOD connector. This worked straight away. You can get these from eBay or I have seen them recently at the Reject Shop. You could probably get this working from the headphone output of the IPOD but you would need to test and work out the best volume to use to get it to work.

 

Special thanks to Jesder for hooking me up with a couple of datasettes to perform this wonderful mod on

 

 

Now go forth and mod your datasettes!!

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U ARSE

why the hell would you want to put us through the HELL of loading via tape again ??

I was nostalgic when you mentioned you were looking for a tape deck, but to actually have to use it again..... It was years of owning a C64 before I got a disk drive and those years were hell thanks for bringing back those wasted hours while I tried to load Test Drive via tape...

And dont even get me started on the World\Summer\California and Winter Games, 5 of us sitting around waiting for it to load in school holidays

 

Great mod and good write up :p

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U ARSE

why the hell would you want to put us through the HELL of loading via tape again ??

I was nostalgic when you mentioned you were looking for a tape deck, but to actually have to use it again..... It was years of owning a C64 before I got a disk drive and those years were hell thanks for bringing back those wasted hours while I tried to load Test Drive via tape...

And dont even get me started on the World\Summer\California and Winter Games, 5 of us sitting around waiting for it to load in school holidays

 

Great mod and good write up :p

Haha.

Well reason why is.... Because we can!

It is a pain in the arse but at least using a media player you can actually see exactly how long it will be before the game is loaded.

I have done it now and my modding craving has been satisfied for a couple of months.

Nothing beats the uIEC device and a Jiffy DOS roms. The way the C64 should have been back in the day.

 

Still think it is the best games machine built so far.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got a call from my folks earlier in the week to say they came across more computer bits from my child hood. In the pile was another C64 tape deck, so I'm going to give this mod a go myself :D

 

(The pile also contained numerous boxed games, a boxed C16, a 300 baud C64 modem, boxed printer - it was like Christmas 25 years ago :D)

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I got a call from my folks earlier in the week to say they came across more computer bits from my child hood. In the pile was another C64 tape deck, so I'm going to give this mod a go myself :D

 

(The pile also contained numerous boxed games, a boxed C16, a 300 baud C64 modem, boxed printer - it was like Christmas 25 years ago :D)

Good luck,

I have had something weird happen and now the images won't load. After I first did the mod I tested it about 5 times and it worked perfectly.

Now I cannot get it to work at all. It finds the game but won't load. The second drive you sent me doesn't work at all. Going to try it out on a second C64 I have here. Maybe something to do with my rig.

Let me know if you need any help.

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