[Coco] CoCo Ethernet for $25-$30...

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 8:23 PM, Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com> wrote:
> But, a $22 adapter that could get my CoCo online is a much more affordable and portable option. And that's where the magic is. I bought DriveWire and the cable when it was first sold at a CoCoFEST! but in all these years I never hooked it up. I eventually did get a USB RS232 adapter (for programming BASIC Stamps) and such, but I never had my CoCo close enough to my primary computer desk to make it practical.
>

I think we are on the edge of everything coming together to make a
cheap, small, awesome Ethernet/internet/etc device for the CoCo.

General purpose computers are getting tiny and cheap.. the Raspberry
Pi will fit inside a rompak just fine and won't break the bank.  But
it is only an early example.. in a few more years I believe we will
see smaller, cheaper gp computers that may be even more suitable.

At the same time, embedded devices are getting more and more
powerful... the Wiznet TCP/IP chip is just a small computer too, more
specialized but not really so different.
We also have Propeller and Audrino boards getting more powerful,
cheaper, smaller etc.

Things are looking very good and I think it is inevitable that this
will become possible in the near future.  To commit strongly to any
one solution today is probably a mistake... I believe "the best is yet
to come" in terms of small cheap computing devices.

And now to my point... (I bet you thought I didn't have one! :)

We need to think seriously about a "modern" interface between CoCo and
(something) where (something) is any of the above, ideally.  A
standard way to connect a Pi, audrino, propeller,  the next big thing,
and so on.

I am no expert in these things, but I have been gathering info from
those who know more than I for quite some time.  One approach is a
parallel port or similar, as most of these small devices can do
parallel I/O on GPIO pins.  This is the approach Boisy's cocodrino
project takes and I forget the exact numbers but it vastly outperforms
bitbanger serial.
Another possibility is "SPI", as it seems all the boards support it.
SPI is interesting also because it's what SD cards use and seems to be
a really common way to make things talk to each other.   Probably more
complex to make a coco->spi interface than a coco->parallel, but
possibly worth it?

I would love to gain more insight on these or other ways to improve
communication between coco and all of these new interesting things we
can connect to.

-Aaron


>
> Wondrous times for a dead computer!

As someone else already said... how dare you!  ;)

>
> -
> Allen Huffman - PO Box 22031 - Clive IA 50325 - 515-999-0227 (vmail/TXT only)
> Sent from my MacBook.
>
> 22nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! April 27-28, 2013. Lombard, IL. http://www.glensideccc.com - And check out the CoCo-X project: http://kck.st/16fAwkf
>
>
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