When I embarked on this new development, the first concern was to make the two-layer board robust from a power management and safety point of view. We knew that the CPU and TED should be fully ESD protected, I/O ports changed to Commodore 64 style and few additions to the original concept without spending a fortune.

Given the limited size, reducing the loop area seen by signals on the two-layer PCB—to achieve a better, not optimal noise reduction—was the headache. The approach was to define a critical netlist and to place components accordingly. The adoption of Through-Hole Technology components (except for the tiny ESD protection) was a compromise to preserve the early 80s design. However, the logics are HCT, not LS as well as all parts available on the aftermarket and official disty.

The machine works flawlessly providing superior audio and video performance, low power consumption and compatibility with the 1530 Datassette Unit (C2N model), SD2IEC, Atari joysticks and pads.

I am going to describe each test in separate log sessions.