If you’re interested in building your own 6502 computer, I provide a kit that includes all of the components used in my 6502 video series.
Please note: In addition to the base kit, you will need:
Also, if you want to follow all of the experiments and debugging in the videos, I recommend the clock module kit and an Arduino Mega. The clock module kit also happens to include a 5-volt power supply, as does the VGA kit.
If you’re interested in following along with my 8-bit breadboard CPU videos and building your own, I’ve assembled kits that include all of the components I used in the videos, including the Arduino nano (used to program the LED and control EEPROMs) and a 5 volt power supply. It’s a challenging but extremely rewarding project.
I broke the whole thing into four kits if you want to take things slow. But you can save $15 by buying the complete bundle:
If you’d like to start without committing to the entire project, you can also just get the individual kits:
If you’re interested in building your own “World’s worst video card”, I offer a kit that includes all of the components used in my video series.
Please note: In addition to the VGA kit, you will want some way to program the EEPROM that holds the image to be displayed. The easiest way to do this is with an EEPROM programmer. Alternately you may want to investigate building your own programmer with an Arduino or similar.
All of these kits include the high quality breadboards and other components that I use in the videos. I’ve found that high quality breadboards are important for such a large project with many connections. Hunting down flaky loose connections is no fun.
I also sell the breadboards by themselves if you want extras or to use them for other projects:
In addition to what comes with the kits, you’ll need a few common tools. For kit 1, to connect the power supply, you need:
For the remainder of the kits (2, 3, and 4) you'll also need:
I also highly recommend having some sort of basic multimeter. I hear the ANENG AN8008 is a good value, though you can spend as much or as little as you want on a multimeter and most will do the job just fine.
Finally, you’ll probably want something to build the computer on so it’s easy to pick the whole thing up and move it. I used a simple piece of foam board (buy it locally). But you can be creative and use whatever you have.
No soldering is required! There are several minor points in the videos where I do some soldering, but in all cases it’s not required. Alternative approaches are shown on this website.
Some people find a logic probe to be really handy, though with the number of LEDs on the computer, most things you’ll want to probe will already be visible. Some people also find an oscilloscope (even one of these toy ones) useful, though I really don’t think it’s necessary at all. I use an oscilloscope in a couple videos to demo a few things, but watching those demos is all you need. The computer itself runs slow enough that you can probably troubleshoot everything using a multimeter or even just using the LEDs and some persistence.
If you're not sure what to buy someone, we also offer gift cards.
If you have questions about an order, payment, or shipping, please contact support@eater.net and include your order number. For technical help assembling or troubleshooting the kits, please post a question at reddit.com/r/beneater since it’s difficult for me to answer these individually.
In addition to my own kits, some links on this page are to products sold by Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Non-US customers: Note that all kits ship from California. I’m willing to ship a box anywhere you want, but the buyer—that’s you—is responsible for any applicable import duties and local taxes. In some cases, the carrier (FedEx or UPS) may charge a fee to collect these taxes from you. Please verify with your customs and taxing authorities before making a purchase to understand what else you may be required to pay.
Finally, the 5-volt power supply included in clock and VGA kits has a North American style plug. It will work worldwide because it supports 100-240 volts, but if your country uses a different type of electrical outlet, you will need to provide a plug adapter (e.g., something like this).