Main channel: The PicoGUS, a $40 Gravis Ultrasound ISA card! (Patreon)

The PicoGUS: A $40 Gravis Ultrasound ISA card! (Yes, really.)

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