I am not up to date about all the differents models of Dandanator, but the Rancanuo Team is proposing two models which can also be used on CPC+ with an adaptator (not sure if it's included, I just asked the question) :

• CPC Dandanator Mini Dual aka the plain model with two banks of 512 Kb internal memory, choosable with a commutator
• New Dandanator Elite + with one 512 Kb internal memory bank plus the ability to insert its own in house cartridges which looks like 3 inch disks

Longshot has released version 1.8 of the Amstrad CPC CRTC Compendium (8th May 2024) which is a documentation about the CRTC 6845 (and some others circuits). Note that the CRTC is a generic component used in several computers including the IBM PC.

It is possible to check if an emulator is good with the SHAKER tests by Longshot. SHAKER is a program designed to run on CPC machines produced by AMSTRAD in the 80s-90s. The objective of this program is to carry out extensive tests on the video circuits of this machine. These video circuits are the GATE ARRAY and the CRTC 6845. AMSTRAD produced several series of GATE ARRAY and used CRTC models produced by different manufacturers (HITACHI, MOTOROLA, UMC, AMSTRAD). This has been causing compatibility problems on operations that exceed the functional specifications of these circuits. The identified CRTCs are numbered from 0 to 4.

And last, if you like reading, don't hesitate to go check Longshot's blog.

Another interesting video by Rodrik Studio who is repairing an Amstrad PC 1640.

I do hope that we won't be faced with a midlife crisis, as this year the Amstrad CPC 464 is just 40 years old. I leave you to the good hands of ChinnyVision who will talk about it better than me.

Stephbb75 is presenting in video (in french, you can use automatic subtitles) the Amstrad CPC expansion card : the M4 wifi board made by Duke on Youtube.

One month ago, he made a first video where he is presenting his Amstrad CPC 6128.

The Amstrad CPC wifi card by Abalore which lets you streaming Amstrad CPC games from Internet (Amsteam) is adding a new feature : a RJ45 port.

Ian Scott has released a new firmware v1.20 for his ISA card PicoGUS which supports the sound card Gravis Ultra Sound (and much more). This firmware replaces the Adlib mode with a SoundBlaster 2.0 mode where Adlib support is better, and also a fix for the MPU-401 emulation mode. The new firmware can be downloaded on Ian Scott's Github.

Retro Erick is presenting in video the PicoMEM ISA card made by FreddyV (FreddyV on Twitter).

This card is a must for all PC XT, even for 286, 386 and 486+, its features are (and more are on the way, see the github) :

• integrated BIOS
• less than 640 Kb ? You can fill up to 640 Kb (16 Kb granularity), it's possible to have up to 736 Kb of conventional memory
• EMS memory (2 Mb)
• up to 2 virtual disks drives and 4 virtual hard disks (up to 4 Gb). The images are on a SD card and can be created directly from the BIOS (recent feature)
• USB mouse but you must use a USB OTG hub with its own power !
• NE2000 network card support using wifi (it's better to be near your wifi router)
• POST code for PicoMEM cards rev 1.1 and 1.11 with this Sparkfun screen

Abalore in three words it's :

• the past in one word to start AbalaoreOS about which I didnt write in time (it started in February 2023). And yes, it's a WIP operating system for Amstrad. You can see video about it on CPCWiki and his Youtube channel.
• the present in two words first a wifi card which leads to its use Amsteam which is the streaming of Amstrad CPC games.

What will he bring us for the future ?

Retro Erick is presenting in video the a new CGA card wi tested with the MCE2HDMI. This card is able to do CGA composite and can be bought on Aliexpress. The MCE2HDMI can be bought on Serdashop (where I bought several things, including a few weeks ago two waveblasters card to get MIDI on my PPC 640 without connecting my Roland expander). You can see another Retro Erik video presenting the test of the MCE2HDMI.

You must know that the MCE2HDMI is none other than the RGBtoHDMI by Hoglet67 which exists for many others computers (8 and 16bit), not only for PC with Hercules/MDA/CGA/EGA, but also the Amstrad CPC and CPC+. A list of vendors of the many RGBtoHDMI is available.

RetroVirtualMachine v2.1.11 by Juan Carlos González Amestoy is available since a moment. It's an Amstrad CPC emulator for MacOS, Windows and Linux.

His author is showing us the use on an Apple Vision Pro which is very very interesting, I need one !

The version 1.01 of Mod Master XT by FreddyV is available as source code on github.

This msdos utility lets you hear a lot of music modules formats on any PC even a PC XT (CGA), for example an Amstrad PC 1512/1640 or a PPC 512/640...

Amstrad Retro Geek is presenting an Exernal Gotek for Amstrad CPC 664 and 6128 with personalize USB key, 2 colors LCD screen, activity LED, rottary button to choose an image, buzzer for the drive sound, choice of drive A or B in a 3D printed box by Benemerit (Madrid, Espagne). The video is well done with integrated subtitles in french and english.

The PicoMEM 8bit ISA card by FreddyV has now its own Github with firmware updates, documentation and drivers. The last two features added are mouse support (put it on an alimented USB hub, not directly) and network.

Tube Time has done many things, you can follow him on Twitter or Mastodon, and his github is a gold mine, notably :

• EGAMemory his last project : a 192 Kb of RAM for a 64 Kb EGA card so you can get EGA high resolution (for a PC 1640 you needed the ECD monitor, the CD monitor was only low EGA resolution, whereas the MD monitor was only MDA and Hercules)
• Quapple, a clone of the Quadlink card sold in the past to run Apple 2 programs in your PC with an ISA card (see this video on Youtube testing the card)
• The Graphics Gremlin : an ISA retro video card using a FGPA which supports MDA and CGA with a VGA output and the original video port
• The Snark Barker : a clone of the Sound Blaster 1.0 (with CMS support)
• Orchid Tiny Turbo 286 Accelerator Card : a clone of the original card transforming your PC XT in a PC AT with a 80286. This isn't the only card who existed. There is also the Microsoft Mach 20 Performance Enhancement System (1988) or the card by Intel (first link and second link) which adds a 80386. The first page on Dos Days mentions other accelerators)