VECTREX KEYBOARD INTERFACE

Back in the 80s a keyboard interface for the Vectrex was planned by GCE.
In fact, it was supposed to turn the Vectrex into a personal computer complete with Basic, and storage capabilities.
Sadly however, the keyboard interface never saw the light of day :-(

In has not been until recently (2006) that this project has been picked up by vectrex enthausiast "Koko".
He was interested in the idea and tried if he could get a PS/2 keyboard working with the Vectrex. As it turns out it really wasn't all that hard once you figure out the Vectrex hardware. So, with some research and a few spare parts he had lying around the house he was actually able to build a PS/2 interface for the Vectrex. The tough part was building the software. The Vectrex does not have a serial port so software does all the work capturing the serial bit stream and deciphering the scan codes. All this without losing sound or joystick functionality.

A movie of his project has been placed onto YouTube here.

Here is the SCHEMATIC of the circuit board.
Driver code is available here.

Richard Hutchinson sells these keyboard-interfaces at his website: www.vectrex.biz. Here is a photo of his final product:


Hopefully eventually some software will arise so that everyone can enjoy this cool keyboard interface.


For more information, please visit: Koko's place