Build With Soldering¶
This page builds the RP6502-PICO from a bare circuit board that you solder yourself. US builders can expect a cost of under $100. To have a factory solder the board, see Build Without Soldering.
Buying an RP6502-PICO¶
You’ll place two orders: one for the printed circuit board (PCB), and one for the electronic components.
I keep circuit boards in a Ko-fi store, but it ships only within the United States. For everyone else, international shipping is either too slow or too expensive to beat having boards made locally or in China.
US import tariffs aren’t a concern here. Orders from my store and from Mouser ship within the USA, so there’s no surprise bill from the courier.
Step 1. Watch the Video¶
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 the Parts¶
Upload the full 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 4. Solder the Board¶
Solder the board as the video in Step 1 shows.
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.
Full Parts List (All Components)¶
Qty |
Reference |
Description |
Mfr Name |
Mfr Part Number |
Mouser Part Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 |
C1-C9, C11 |
0.1μF Ceramic Capacitor |
Vishay |
A104M15X7RF5TAA |
594-A104M15X7RF5TAA |
2 |
C10, C12 |
47μF Ceramic Capacitor |
TDK |
FG22X5R1A476MNT06 |
810-FG22X5R1A476MNT6 |
4 |
R1, R6, R11, R18 |
8.06k resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-8K06 |
603-MFR-25FBF52-8K06 |
3 |
R2, R7, R12 |
4.02k resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-4K02 |
603-MFR-25FBF52-4K02 |
3 |
R3, R8, R13 |
2k resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-2K |
603-MFR-25FBF52-2K |
2 |
R21, R24 |
1.8k resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-1K8 |
603-MFR-25FBF52-1K8 |
3 |
R4, R9, R14 |
1k resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-1K |
603-MFR-25FBF52-1K |
3 |
R5, R10, R15 |
499 ohm resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-499R |
603-MFR-25FBF52-499R |
2 |
R19, R22 |
220 ohm resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-220R |
603-MFR-25FBF52-220R |
2 |
R20, R23 |
100 ohm resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-100R |
603-MFR-25FBF52-100R |
2 |
R16, R17 |
47 ohm resistor 1% |
YAGEO |
MFR-25FBF52-47R |
603-MFR-25FBF52-47R |
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 |
1 |
J1 |
GPIO 2x12 Pin Header |
Amp |
10129381-924001BLF |
649-1012938192401BLF |
1 |
J2 |
PIX 2x6 Pin Header |
Amp |
10129381-912001BLF |
649-1012938191201BLF |
4 |
U2, U4 |
Pico 20 Pin Socket |
Wurth |
61302011821 |
710-61302011821 |
1 |
J3 |
VGA Jack |
Amp |
L77HDE15SD1CH4FVGA |
523-7HDE15SD1CH4FVGA |
1 |
J4 |
Audio Jack |
CUI |
SJ1-3525NG-GR |
490-SJ1-3525NG-GR |
1 |
SW1 |
Reset Button |
CUI |
TS11-674-43-BK-160-RA-D |
179-TS1167443160RAD |
3 |
U6, U7, U8 |
14-pin IC Socket |
TE |
1-2199298-3 |
571-1-2199298-3 |
1 |
U3 |
32-pin IC Socket |
TE |
1-2199300-2 |
571-1-2199300-2 |
2 |
U1, U5 |
40-pin IC Socket |
TE |
1-2199299-5 |
571-1-2199299-5 |
4 |
PCB |
Stick-on Bumper Feet |
Essentra |
ASPR-8-125 |
144-ASPR-8-125 |