The ESP8266 WiFi Module–how to get it to work with an Arduino

Finally got around to playing with the ESP8266 WiFi Module with an Arduino UNO. I am using the UNO simply because it has a steady, 3.3v output while the HalfByte Console isn’t as steady and the module is, from everything I have read, is not tolerant of much more than the 3.3 volts. Until I […]

Building your own hand held gaming console Part 1

Since getting involved with Arduino and other Microcontrollers, I have designed and built several ‘consoles’ with the most involved one, the HalfByte Console Computer having its own PC Board designed and fabricated. That was a fun project, well, they all have been, but this one was special: it was my first PC board design that […]

Holiday Greetings from Half-Byte!

To celebrate the season, I give you a little code snippet for Half-Byte Tiny Basic: 100 CLS 110 LINE 40,2,20,22,1 120 LINE 40,2,60,22,1 130 LINE 20,22,60,22,1 140 BOX 38,22,4,2,1 150 SET 40,1 160 SET 38,10 170 SET 30,15 180 SET 45,17 190 SET 24,18 200 SET 48,19 210 SET 36,12 220 SET 32,16: RESET 37,14 […]

Holiday Greetings from Half-Byte!

To celebrate the season, I give you a little code snippet for Half-Byte Tiny Basic:100 CLS110 LINE 40,2,20,22,1120 LINE 40,2,60,22,1130 LINE 20,22,60,22,1140 BOX 38,22,4,2,1150 SET 40,1160 SET 38,10170 SET 30,15180 SET 45,17190 SET 24,18200 SET 48,19210 SET 36,12220 SET 32,16: RESET 37,14230 DELAY 1000240 # Seasons Greetings!250 CURSOR 8,5260 PRINT “Merry”270 CURSOR 6,6280 PRINT “Christmas!”290 […]

Hacking the Half-Byte Console and Tiny Basic v2 (or, making Tiny Basic tell me the temperature)

I had one main goal in mind when I designed the Half-Byte Console: to bring together parent and child in a learning experience. Now that the console is a reality and a few are out in the wild, I want it to do other things. So, I thought ‘what can this do that isn’t expensive […]

Half-Byte Tiny Basic Type In Game: Invader

Yep, I use ‘Invader’ a lot. Here’s a version, just for Half-Byte Tiny Basic. It features Wii Nunchuck support, sound and AWESOME graphics! Just awesome! 100 CLS110 X=0:Y=0:D=1:Z=75120 LINE 0,38,79,38,1130 B=9:C=5:U=4:V=0140 CURSOR 0,7:?”Score:”;150 GOSUB 800160 GOSUB 900170 P=PAD(3)180 IF P=1 S=1185 IF P=1 TONE 1024,100190 IF S=1 GOSUB 700290 GOTO 150700 CURSOR B,U:?CHR(142);710 DELAY Z:CURSOR […]

Half-Byte Console, now available

We have kits and an assembled and tested unit for sale on our eBay store. Half-Byte Console VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL For information on the Programmer’s Kit, click here. For information on Half-Byte Tiny Basic, click here. For sample HB Tiny Basic code, click here.

A Timex-Sinclair 1000 is reborn (using the Half-Byte Console)

The Sinclair ZX-81 is one of my favorite computers. I bought the kit version, back in 1981, with some money I got from a tax return. I was in heaven. I bought a COMPUTER, one I can put together. I did it and, with my Dad’s help, it worked. (The resistor on the reset pin […]

Burning the bootloader on a ATMega 328p with two Arduino UNO’s

In my zeal to keep my costs down on the Half-Byte Console project, I mistakenly ordered a bunch of ATMega328p controller chips without any bootloader. Oh well, I thought, they are easy to program. So, armed with Bing and the Goog, I set out find a simple, quick solution that would not require a tremendous […]

Half-Byte Tiny Basic is now available!

Half-Byte Tiny Basic is now complete. It supports 80×48 graphic resolution, 20 by 8 lines of text using a 4 x 6 bit character set. Audio generation via 16384 tones from a single channel. Graphical support in the form of Line, Box, Set, Reset, Circle and Shift statements and the Get function. 16 bit integer […]