[Coco] RS232 Schematics, was DriveWire survey

Sun May 11 12:05:38 EDT 2014

Jim,

Building an interface between the Wiznet ethernet module and the Coco bus
has been on my list for a while, but I just haven't had the free time.  I
do have an interface board that might help you bootstrap a little easier:
http://www.bexkat.com/coco/DE1%20Coco%20Adaptor.pdf.  It buffers the Coco
signals and breaks them out to a header.  I also have a schematic and
layout of a board that may be useful as a base for an "all in one" PAK-type
unit - it has a CPLD, XMega chip, and Wiznet module headers.  Overkill for
this, but it was intended to be a more general design platform.  My thought
with an ethernet interface was to build a simple parallel-to-serial/I2C
interface with the Coco, and use that as the means to connect to any number
of add-ons.

Let me know if you want one of the interface boards or if anything I've
done would be of any use.  Happy to collaborate.  You can contact me
directly off-list at stock at bexkat.com.
  -Matt

On Sun, May 11, 2014 at 11:39 AM, CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <
coco at maltedmedia.com> wrote:

>
> Jim,
> The registers, I couldn't tell ya. I'll leave that for someone else.
>
> The perfboards....
> The closest you'll come here is there is a couple of people that have been
> developing projects and posting them to "OSHPark" so others could order
> them. I know Kip Koon has a small "cartridge" extender board he was
> developing, and there was someone else doing an extender "project" board, I
> don't quite remember who.
> There are also 2 or 3 "rompak" boards available.
>
> As for cases... everyone's been recycling old cases. Old 8-track tape
> cases will work if modified. Info for this mod is documented in "80 Micro
> C" magazine. I have the links if you need them.
>
> As for software, almost every comm program (there were many) for the Coco
> (rsdos and os9) could use either RS232 (faster) or the bitbanger (slower).
> Also OS9 used the pak for remote terminals as well.
> There were multitudes of Coco BBSs all over the states and I imagine
> anywhere else (internationally) that the Coco was available. The Coco had
> it's own forums on both Delphi and Compuserve that allowed downloads to the
> Coco from the user upload databases which grew to be quite large. The Coco
> could do both X-modem & Y-modem protocols. So, you can say the Coco was
> well used for telecommunictions :-)
>
>
> Bill Pierce
> "Today is a good day... I woke up" - Ritchie Havens
>
>
> My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
> https://sites.google.com/site/dabarnstudio/
> Co-Webmaster of The TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
> http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/
> Co-Contributor, Co-Editor for CocoPedia
> http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
> E-Mail: ooogalapasooo at aol.com
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Sun, May 11, 2014 11:01 am
> Subject: Re: [Coco] RS232 Schematics, was DriveWire survey
>
>
> On 5/11/2014 9:31 AM, CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts wrote:
> > I ran across this RS232 doc in my archives.
> dloaded.  Thanks.
>
> A few more ?s
>
>   * Is there a list of what uses what registers for various
>     peripherals?  (Wondering if there is a spot for raw Wifi registers
>     that does not conflict with other stuff)
>   * Does anyone sell a hobbyist perfboard with a Coco edge connector on
>     it?  I can fab and run some, but it'd probably be faster to just buy
>     one or two from someone
>   * Was there much SW for the RS232 or modem paks?
>   * Does anyone sell molded cart cases for the Coco? (aka, if I need to
>     create a perfboard, it'd be best to make it fit a std case.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
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