Steampunk-Inspired NVictria Is a Cosmac Elf-VIP Computer Over 40 Years in the Making
100-year-old typewriter as a TTY printer. Flat CRT for video, VFDs for bling, AND it can speak!
In the late 1970s, RCA introduced the two-chip CDP1801 and later the one-chip CDP1802 microprocessor family. Today they are known as the RCA 1802. These product series were the first commercially available microcontrollers using CMOS technology. At the time, computer hobbyists built kits known as the COSMAC Elf. Daniel Ross made one back then. 40+ years later, he is still adding new hardware and features to the NVictria, a steampunk-inspired COSMAC Elf-VIP.
Original COSMAC Elf and VIP overview
The COSMAC Elf was a computer kit with an RCA 1802 microprocessor. Users entered programs with toggle switches instead of saving data to a ROM.
Later came the COSMAC VIP, which took the barebones Elf and few luxuries like a video display chip. This computer included 2048 bytes of RAM, which users could expand to 32 kilobytes. A cassette interface provided an improved way to load programs into RAM, compared to the COSMAC Elf's archaic (even for the time) manual method. Additionally, the VIP included a 512 byte operating system in its ROM.
Interestingly, the COSMAC VIP included 20 games programmed with an early interpreted language called CHIP-8. The user had to enter by hand (and then save to tape) those "pack-in" games.
"... I started to build a Steampunk themed COSMAC computer. I wanted lots of lights, motion, brass, bling bling and more bling." — Daniel Ross
NVictria
NVictria has a sizeable main cabinet with the RCA 1802 (CPU), memory, display logic, I/O ports, and power supply boards. Additionally, the central unit has 7-segment VFDs for display and a couple of switches for input. On top are LED "test tubes" that display memory addresses and data.
An RCA CDP1861 graphics chip handles 64 x 128 pixels on dual flat CRTs. Both show the same image and are similar to the displays used in Sony's Watchman portable TV.
Almost 40 years later, the latest addition to the NVictria is a teletype. Ross used a 1900-era Remington #7 mechanical typewriter combined with a slightly more modern Sharp PA-3000 electronic typewriter. The PA-3000's daisy wheel print head acts as a TTY-output device.
Last, there is even a dual-chip SPEECH unit.
Check out the NVictria project page for links related to the project. You can also find many more pictures and details on Ross' blog.
