Replacing a Commodore 64 SID Chip with a Raspberry Pi Pico. The SIDKick Pico is here!

You've got to love repairing an old computer with an even more powerful computer emulating a single old chip. It is however the thing that makes non-enthusiast think we're crazy.

Huge fan of ARMSID here but as you probably know, I'm totally with you in that a big part of this hobby is keeping costs to a minimum. I'm all over this.

With through hole parts and plated through boards, I have taken to bending the leads and putting the parts into the board and tacking them onto the board component side up. Then I turn the board over. No need to bend the leads to hold them in place. Makes it very easy to remove a part if needed. Now cut off all the leads and solder the stubs. The solder will be drawn into the hole by capillary action leaving a smooth bump instead of a jagged spike where the lead was cut. Looks neat and very easy to clean off any flux residue. Large components like big caps, ic holders and rows of pins where the upper holes are hidden by the part require a slightly modified technique where you solder one or two leads or pins to the bottom side first.

LOL, ending is worth the wait. I'm ordering a gaggle of these boards :)

+1 for the Pythonesque Angry Adrian!!!!

TOP JOB! For what it is worth, I normally follow these steps when doing SMD drag-soldering: (1) apply liquid flux to the empty pads, without the chip; (2) give the flux a few seconds to begin drying and become sticky; (3) put the chip on the pads and align the pins (the sticky flux will give it just enough stability, and also ensure a good solder joint under the pin, on the surfaces that actually touch the pads); (4) tack the corner pins, still without flux paste; (5) Only now apply flux paste; (6) drag-solder the whole thing, including reflowing the joints of the tacked pins. This works fine every time.

Brilliant video. So glad you are able to make this sort of content again. It really is a joy.

Thanks Lee! I love these bits and pieces! Can’t wait to make time to Frankenstein my perfectly original C64

Had just decided to make this my next soldering project. Thank you for walk through!

Great view of soldering SMD. I don't think I've seen any other channels show it that cleanly. Thanks!

I've been waiting for a pico sid. Good to see it materialized. I wouldn't mind seeing a version of the board with RP2040 directly on it, just to make it that much more slick.

Using the breadboard to hold the pins secure for soldering has blown my mind a little bit

That cylinder player is so cool! I love seeing all the detail and care that goes into that simple sequence!

Great video, Lee. Awesome thumbnail and fun editing. Very fun to watch

Sadly i can't get any c64 spares here so I am glad that there's people fixing them for future generations and also thinking in budget friendly repairs

With "No Clean Sticky Flux" I dip a fine Tooth Pick into the tube and then Dab the PCB track where the component goes, I also place a dab on the components mating surface/s, I then place the component down & solder, when I use the Hot Air Station I do much the same by Dabbing flux on the PCB and Chip/s and I then pre-tin them, a little more flux then goes on the PCB, followed by the chip "be it DIL or BGA" which is then placed into position/s, and then using a Hot Air gun on high Temp with a low air, flow marry the component/s to the PCB.. And yes several components can be all heated onto the PCB in one go, but that took me a lot of practicing, so maybe two at a time max until you are comfortable doing more at a time..

Really love these uses for the Rpi! Recently used on as a modchip for the Gamecube. They're versatile, very easy to program, and they can easily be repurposed.

I know this wasn't entirely your intention with this video, but I just ordered up a bunch of the A8 Pico Cart boards. I didn't know they existed and I bought an 800XL late last year. New toy to play with. Thanks for mentioning it!

Excellent video, and I love the kit! Great SMD soldering, too! Thanks for sharing

It's awesome that such replacements exist for the C64. I wish the NES community was as afraid to do the same thing, their concern is that others would take their hard work and sell it as their own. And the face that lots of clone NES CPU and PPU already exsist, but like the SID and the original NES CPU and PPU these go up to $40-$50. An inaccurate clone goes for like $4-$16. Though I think the SID is more prone to break than the NES CPU or PPU.