Collecting retro consoles is a wonderful practice, but its complexity keeps increasing due to the shortage of parts, and truly ridiculous prices. Many users prefer to set aside the hardware and relive those old glories with the help of emulation, but there are projects that seek to fill the gap one component at a time. That is the case of Scopetrex, an optimized version of the classic Vectrex console, which uses an oscilloscope as its monitor.
A Brief History of the Vectrex
The Vectrex console was released in the US market at the end of 1982, and Europe had to wait until the following year to get it. Having its own built-in monitor and rendering vector-based graphics made it one of the most interesting systems of its time, but it did not survive the video game crash. Since then, the Vectrex has been a highly coveted console, and its fans were amazed to discover that the famous Mini Vectrex prototype was real.
Building Your Own Vectrex
If you want to have a Vectrex, you should know that it is a commitment of 1,700 euros at best, although everything depends on its condition. However, there is an alternative... and that is that you build one from scratch. This is where the Scopetrex project comes in, which essentially shares the design and the bill of materials to manufacture an optimized clone of the Vectrex, using a single PCB.
The first advantage of Scopetrex is that you won't be forced to hunt for original parts, but you can use relatively modern and inexpensive equivalents. For example, an original Motorola 6809 chip often costs a fortune, but the 6809E is more accessible and has wider availability (the same happens with the AY-3-9810 audio chip). The power supply for the entire system is just 5 volts, and a power supply with 500 mA should be enough.
As for the display, Scopetrex can use an oscilloscope, or an XY monitor for a better experience (the Tektronix 602 and 604 are two of the mentioned models). Finally, Scopetrex needs something essential: a copy of the original Vectrex console ROM. I guess finding dumps online isn't that complicated, but the project's GitHub page implies that it will never provide it.
Official site and downloads: Click here
