On Jan 28, 2014, at 12:25 PM, Dan Gahlinger <dgahling at hotmail.com> wrote:
But it reminded me of another old related
question,could you today, build a brand new 1541 with current parts?
I dont mean emulated like the SD drives or whatnot,I mean a real, functioning, exact
1541.
Is it still possible to buy a brand new 6502, 6520, IC ?(I did a quick search, but my
google-fu sucks atm)
Some yes, some no. There are plenty of NOS or pulled period-
appropriate 6502s available (Jameco, Unicorn, eBay), along with
their accompanying peripheral chips (6522s and 6551s are pretty
easy to find, 6526s not so much, but you don't need either of
the last two for a 1541). Or you can get new-production CMOS
chips from Western Design Center (65C02, 65C21, 65C22, 65C51)
that should be basically functionally equivalent.
I think the much harder task would be finding the drive
mechanisms, especially the heads. You could build a lot of the
parts yourself, especially with a 3D printer, but I have no
idea if anyone makes appropriate heads anymore (my guess is no,
and good luck getting them made for you for a reasonable price
unless you're making a million).
- Dave