[Coco] RS232 Schematics, was DriveWire survey

Sun May 11 22:35:36 EDT 2014

Kip Koon
computerdoc at sc.rr.com
http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Kip_Koon
http://computerpcdoc.com/

Hi Guys!
I have been busy lately trying to get my laptop to boot off my primary hard
drive so I haven't had a chance to announce it yet, but I have finished my
Coco Slot Extension Hardware Development Adapter aka the Coco Dev Kit or
Coco Extender Kit.  It has two PCBs connected together by a 40 conductor 3"
ribbon cable exactly like the old typical hard drive IDE cables from old
PCs, but just quite a bit shorter.  The Coco Slot Extension Hardware
Development Adapter connects the Coco Expansion Slot to a solderless
breadboard and has a 28-pin socket for an 8KB or 16KB HDB-DOS eprom so you
can use it without a Multipak Interface and still have access to all your
files!  I'm glad development is taking place for a 16KB enhanced HDB-DOS
eprom image.  There is also an autostart jumper on it so it can be used to
house and run a completely custom program that is capable of taking over the
Coco on power up if needs dictate.  There is no buffering of any signals so
obviously that is the next thing to include in the product.  All 40 pins are
connected to the solderless breadboard so it will work on all Cocos.  It
comes with an HDB-DOS eprom installed on the assembled version and is
included in with the bare PCBs kit or unassembled parts kit if needed so I
will need to know in the orders if it will be used in/with a Coco 1, 2 or 3
for your hardware development.  This current version fits in the game
cartridge pak and since the game cartridges have a slot in the bottom big
enough for a 40 conductor ribbon cable no new holes nor slots will need to
be created.  The sliding door and spring must be removed though to allow the
grounding tabs to be inserted into the Coco slot.  I'll take a picture of it
tonight and post it on my wiki page.  Of course I'm willing to sell them
assembled or as bare PCBs or even kits if you like.  I'll announce the
prices in a day or so for all three versions.  
Bill Pierce, thank you for lighting a fire under my butt on this product.
:)  I really appreciate it.  I get so involved in one task that sometimes I
forget all the others that need attention too.  I do have one prototype
already working in Australia.  He ordered bare PCBs to keep shipping costs
down, so yes I'm very willing to ship any of my products internationally.
It turned out it was not hard at all to ship anywhere in the world.  It's
fun getting the international addresses to fit the form though.  I'm not
sure what he is up to with it yet, but it will be interesting to see what
people end up creating with this new product.  I built one for myself so I
can develop a more complicated product that has been rolling around in my
head for a while now so that means I have one more prototype left to build
and sell if any one wants one right now.  Otherwise, I'd like to find out
how many of you hardware hobbiest's or professional hardware designers out
there in Coco / Dragon land would like one.  There is some space left in the
game cartridge for an add-on PCB of some type, but I have not made any
add-on PCBs yet, so we'll have to see how this plays out.  Maybe full
buffering will fit.  Hummm...  If you all have any ideas for this project,
please just drop me a line.  Now that I have done several projects, I'm more
confident than I was before when I first started making PCBs so let the
ideas flow.  I'd like to see some more devices interfaced to our beloved
Coco.  I need to correct a minor error with this first version which will
just take a few minutes then I can order a production run.  That's what
prototypes are for anyway, to find all the flaws.  :)  Take care my friends.
Kip

-----Original Message-----
From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On
Behalf Of CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2014 11:40 AM
To: coco at maltedmedia.com
Subject: Re: [Coco] RS232 Schematics, was DriveWire survey

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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