[Coco] cartridge prototype board

[Kip Koon]

Hi Guys!
Would we want some type of minimum Address Bus decoding on the Cartridge
Protyping PCB or leave it totally covered with solderable holes and no
circuit whatsoever.  How about buffer chips on all the signal lines in case
the user makes a mistake.  That way the Coco would not be harmed.  Only the
socketed buffer chips would need replacing.  
There are 32-bytes in the space allotted for the electronics in cartridge
paks, but not every product would need them all.  Besides by now certain
addresses have become known to be used for certain functions like those used
by floppy and IDE hard drive controllers, serial port controllers, and
multifunction paks like the IR-Tech pak, the Disto paks and much more.  I
would be interested in a copy of a document detailing absolutely all the
uses of the addresses in the $FFxx I/O block if anyone has the addresses
collected together in one place.  I have seen some documentation detailing
the entire $FFxx area in the past which looked absolutely full but it had
"todos" here there and yonder for explanations of things not included yet.
There was no memory address unused at some point or other.  How is the $FExx
block used?  I remember someone mentioning about needing to write something
in the $FE00 area to get something to work in the Coco 3, but I don't
remember what that was talking about.  
I have also been thinking of designing a cartridge prototyping PCB, but I
didn't know whether or not to go ahead and put decoding glue logic on it or
not.  Maybe some type of configurable circuit to place the users project
anywhere in the $FFxx block, and not just in the $FF40 - $FF5F 32 byte
block.  I'll keep thinking on this and see what happens.  Take care my
friends.

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

-----Original Message-----
From: Coco [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On Behalf Of didier derny
Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2014 4:24 PM
To: 'CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts'
Subject: Re: [Coco] cartridge prototype board

If some were produce I could but buy between 7..15 depending on the price

--
Didier


-----Message d'origine-----
De : Coco [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] De la part de Carlos
Santiago Envoyé : dimanche 28 septembre 2014 21:53 À : CoCoList for Color
Computer Enthusiasts Objet : Re: [Coco] cartridge prototype board

Hello,

If there is an interest in a prototype board for the CoCo. I would be
interested in designing one for sale. I just need to know what the level of
interest is. 

My Company is called Electronics Is Fun. I am the founder  and I do all the
engineering. My main focus is on helping people learn about electronics and
build projects. I am a distributor for Arduino and I also have a Parallax
propeller board called the propeller charlie for this of you that have
interest in these types of boards.

I am a long time Coco enthusiast and I own a Coco1, Coco2, Coco3 and a Micro
Color computer.

I am also considering some type of VGA output for the Coco in cartridge form
to allow my Coco’s to be used with a VGA monitor.

If these Ideas interest you, please contact me and we can discuss them
further. 

I can  be reached directly at ElectronicsIsFun at Gmail.com or here on the
CocoList.

Thank You,
Carlos Santiago A.K.A GuruSantiago
ElectronicsIsFun at Gmail.com

 
On Sep 28, 2014, at 1:57 PM, RETRO Innovations <go4retro at go4retro.com>
wrote:

> On 9/28/2014 1:54 PM, Zippster wrote:
>> Should be pretty easy to draw up in Eagle and have made by OshPark or 
>> the
like.
>> 
>> What size / features do you guys think would be best?
> My thoughts exactly.  I was planning to build one to do some
CPLD/prototyping work, and I'd be happy to buy them in bulk (100) to get the
price more reasonable.
> 
> 
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco


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