Build Without Soldering

This page builds the RP6502-PICO from a board of sockets that a factory assembles. Prices vary, so you need to get a quote, but expect about $150 in total. To solder the board yourself, see Build With Soldering.

You don’t need to solder, but you will need to plug the eight ICs into their sockets and flash the two Pi Picos with a USB cable.

Buying an RP6502-PICO

You’ll place two orders: one for the printed circuit boards (PCB) with assembly, and one for the eight ICs.

Step 1. Watch the Video

Here’s the video where I build one without soldering.

Step 2. Order Printed Circuit Boards

Order from the project page at PCBWay or download the gerbers to have the boards made anywhere you prefer.

Gerbers are like PDFs for circuit boards. When asked to upload them, just hand over the zip file linked above. The manufacturer’s website should detect a two-layer 150 x 100 mm board.

PCB shops that cater to hobbyists optimize their basic service for batches of five, so you can’t order just one board.

There are plenty of options to tweak if you want to. The defaults get you a classic green-and-white board with leaded (Pb) HASL. Consider the lead-free HASL upgrade if the other four boards are going to live in a drawer for the next 20 years.

Step 3. Order Assembly

PCBWay assembles in quantities as low as one, using the boards from step 2. The result is a “board of sockets”. You install the ICs yourself later. Parts availability is rarely a constraint; every component has multiple vendors.

Download the BOM, notes, and photos.

Warning

This BOM is not a shopping list. It tells the factory how to build a board of sockets, so it contains no active parts. Upload it to Mouser and you will receive, with flawless accuracy, every part except the ones that make a computer compute. That order comes later, in Step 4. More Parts.

Request assembly along with your PCB order and send the BOM, notes, and photos. There’s no centroid file because there are no surface-mount parts. The default options work fine. Let them source the parts and make substitutions.

Expect a short delay while they quote the bill of materials, then pay and wait. They quoted four weeks; mine arrived in three.

If they have a question, make sure both you and your sales rep have read the notes you sent. If you have a question about options on their website, ask your sales rep before heading to the forums. They help people all day with projects far more complex than this, and they can figure out your build from the zip files even if you can’t. They do this all day long and will probably enjoy the easy win.

Step 4. More Parts

Factory-assembled boards still need you to install the eight ICs. Upload the active parts list to a Mouser shopping cart.

Mouser prints a Customer# on each parts bag. Map that column to the CSV reference column and your bags arrive labeled like “C1-C9, C11”. If you forget, no problem — the PCB silkscreen already has the location info.

If something is out of stock, check the Parts Substitution notes.

Step 5. Pi Pico Firmware

Download the pico zip and unpack the UF2 files inside it.

Every RP6502-PICO needs both Picos flashed with two different files. The VGA file is the same for everyone. The RIA file depends on which Pi Pico you have. The Pi Pico 2 W goes in U2, the RIA socket, and takes the “-w” file.

To flash a Pi Pico, hold its BOOTSEL button while plugging it into a computer. The Pico 2 mounts as a storage device. Copy the RIA or VGA UF2 file to it. The copy takes under 30 seconds, and the LED turns on when it’s done.

Formally, a Pi Pico flashed with the RIA firmware is an RP6502-RIA, a Pi Pico 2 W flashed with the RIA-W firmware is an RP6502-RIA-W, and a Pi Pico flashed with the VGA firmware is an RP6502-VGA.

It is not possible to “brick” a Pi Pico from a failed flash. You can always recover with the BOOTSEL method. Once you have a machine running, later upgrades don’t need BOOTSEL. See Firmware Updates.

Step 6. First Boot

Plug the eight ICs into their sockets. Each one goes in only one way. The six black chips each have a notch at one end, and it lines up with the notch in the outline of the chip on the silkscreen. The two Pi Picos go in with their USB connectors at the edge of the board. If you are not sure about one, ask someone before you power on.

Connect a VGA monitor, or an HDMI display with a VGA-to-HDMI cable, and plug a USB keyboard into the RIA. Apply 5V power to the VGA module, enough for all your devices plus one watt for the RP6502-PICO itself. A fresh RIA boots into the RP6502 monitor. Continue with RP6502-PICO.

Active Parts List (ICs Only)

Active Parts CSV

Qty	Reference	Description	Mfr Name	Mfr Part Number	Mouser Part Number
1	U2	Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W with headers	Raspberry Pi	SC1634	358-SC1634
1	U4	Raspberry Pi Pico 2 with headers	Raspberry Pi	SC1632	358-SC1632
1	U1	WDC W65C02S	WDC	W65C02S6TPG-14	955-W65C02S6TPG-14
1	U5	WDC W65C22S	WDC	W65C22S6TPG-14	955-W65C22S6TPG-14
1	U3	128k RAM AS6C1008	Alliance	AS6C1008-55PCN	913-AS6C1008-55PCN
1	U6	74AC00 Quad NAND	TI	CD74AC00E	595-CD74AC00E
1	U7	74AC02 Quad NOR	TI	CD74AC02E	595-CD74AC02E
1	U8	74HC30 8-input NAND	TI	CD74HC30E	595-CD74HC30E
4	PCB	Stick-on Bumper Feet	Essentra	ASPR-8-125	144-ASPR-8-125