Keycaps, LEDs, Power Supplies // Jim Drew VCF Midwest Interview

While exploring the floor of the Vintage Computer Festival Midwest in Schaumburg, Illinois, I had a wonderful opportunity to catch up with retro hardware legend Jim Drew from CBMstuff.com. Jim has been a staple in the Commodore and Amiga community for decades, famously creating iconic hardware like the Emplant board for the Amiga and the SuperCard series of disk copiers. In this interview, Jim reveals some new hardware announcements for the Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Amiga, and other 8-bit platforms! We dive deep into: The SuperCard Pro Copy Station: A brand-new standalone enclosure setup with built-in Wi-Fi. It allows you to dump and archive physical floppy disks directly to an SD card or network server without needing to be connected to a computer; making it the ultimate high-resolution flux archiving tool. The Bling Board: Custom-built mechanical keyboards for the C64. Jim engineered them with dual ports so the internal cable routing fits perfectly whether you have an original breadbin or a C64C case. The Bling Box: All the features of the Bling Board in an external keyboard suitable for the C128D, big box Amigas, PC-XT and ATs, and more. The Truth About Commodore LEDs: Jim designed the custom LED lighting for the C64 Ultimate and the newly announced Commodore 77. He breaks down the math on why standard RGB LEDs pull way too much current for vintage power supplies and why he had to engineer custom low-voltage LEDs specifically for the machine. Cycle-Exact Chip Replacements & 6502 Accelerators: Jim’s massive new passion project! He's releasing programmable, cycle-exact hardware replacements for dying vintage chips, including the 6502 and 6510 CPUs, as well as complex interface chips (CIA, VIA, PIA, RIOT). Even better, these CPU replacements double as hardware accelerators, allowing you to map memory as RAM/ROM and run 8-bit BASIC at speeds up to 20MHz! 🧠 Beyond the Video: The Legacy of SuperCard Pro 🧠 If you're new to floppy disk preservation, you might be wondering how the SuperCard Pro (SCP) compares to popular modern tools like the Greaseweazle. Jim originally created the SuperCard Pro format in 2012, long before the Greaseweazle hit the market. The .SCP flux format became the de-facto standard in the archiving community for backing up heavily copy-protected disks because it captures the raw magnetic flux transitions on the disk surface at an incredibly high resolution. With almost 20,000 SCP units sold, the format is universally supported by modern emulators and archiving tools today. 🔗Links & Resources🔗 CBM Stuff: https://www.cbmstuff.com .: Timeline :. 00:00 - Meeting Retro Hardware Legend Jim Drew 00:17 - The New SuperCard Pro Standalone Copy Station 01:14 - SuperCard Pro vs. Greaseweazle Flux Archiving 01:57 - The Bling Board & Box: Custom C64 & C128 Mechanical Keyboards 03:16 - Manufacturing Keyboards for the C64 Ultimate 03:46 - The Truth About C64 Ultimate & Commodore 77 LEDs 06:06 - Custom Keycaps & The History of Orange Function Keys 08:31 - Cycle-Exact 6502 Replacements & 20MHz Accelerators! Get $10 off a C64 Ultimate (or other merch) for new Commodore members: http://www.commodore.net/referral/e8d... Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and add some COMMENTs. Until next time, reboot and remember the past! ██████╗░  ░██████╗  ██████╗░ ██╔══██╗  ██╔════╝  ██╔══██╗ ██████╔╝  ╚█████╗░  ██████╔╝ ██╔══██╗  ░╚═══██╗  ██╔══██╗ ██║░░██║  ██████╔╝  ██║░░██║ ╚═╝░░╚═╝  ╚═════╝░  ╚═╝░░╚═╝ DISCLAIMER: Everything seen in this video is 100% real through video and audio capture, with no AI except in pre-production. #c64 #commodore64 #commodore #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #8bit #Nostalgia #90svibes #80svibes #VintageTech #HardwarePreservation #VintageComputer #RetroTech #amiga #c128