[Coco] Introduction, cartridge slot proto boards, J&M controllers, and EDTASM pak.

[Kip Koon]

Hi Mark!
Welcome to the Coco List!  I have been reading all your responses.  I'm glad
to see someone else is interested in prototyping 6809 & 6309 projects!  :)
Since you ARE an Electronics Engineer and I'm mostly self-taught, I'm very
interested in the projects you will be coming up with.  :)  I've placed my
Introduction, Coco and 6809/6309 projects interest on my web page at
http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Kip_Koon
which has a detailed narrative of my revisitations of my computer roots.  I
have been having a whole lot of fun! I'll be updating my web page soon with
another project I'm doing to connect a PS/2 keyboard to my Cocos.  It's not
my design, so I expect it to go together in a pretty straight forward
fashion.  I have been wanting to work with Motorola microprocessors and
microcontrollers for decades, I just never took the time.  As you will find
out, I ended up with a lot of time on my hands, so I delved into new and new
again experiments and adventures!  I'm loving this stuff!  
Since you are an Electronics Engineer and your interests sound similar to
mine just with a much better background than mine, would you kindly look at
my write-up for my KIPPER COMPUTER?  I really would like you professional
opinion from a Computer Electronics Design point of view.  I eventually want
to make a truly multi-microprocessor based multitasking computer running a
version of NitrOS-9.  I would appreciate it very much.  Thanks a bunch and
again welcome to the Coco List!
Kip

-----Original Message-----
From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On
Behalf Of Mark J. Blair
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 10:42 PM
To: CoCoList
Subject: [Coco] Introduction, cartridge slot proto boards, J&M controllers,
and EDTASM pak.

Hi there. Let me introduce myself first, because this is my first post to
this list. My first computer was an original silver CoCo, back around 8th
grade or so. I think it started off with 16k, but my Dad upgraded it to 64k
as I recall. I got by with just a cassette recorder for quite a while, until
my Dad bought a J&M floppy system. I started learning how to program by
teaching myself from the Color Basic and Extended Color Basic books that
came with the CoCo. One thing led to another, and now I'm an electrical
engineer.

I quit using the old CoCo around 1986 when I got an Amiga 1000 before I
headed off to college, but I've felt nostalgic lately and have decided to
play with some computers from my youth again. My original CoCo is long gone
(Dad says it finally went to the electronics recycling center a couple years
or so ago), but I've been filling the gap with a surge of eBay activity.

So, I recently picked up a CoCo 2. Actually, I believe it's a KoKo 2B with
the improved graphic chip, and I may do the minor mod to enable lower case
display. I also picked up a 128k CoCo 3 along with a CM-8 monitor,
single-drive floppy systems for both of them, and a pile of other assorted
cartridges and accessories. I even just got an MPI (the larger one, with
white plastic) which I'll probably mod to work with the CoCo3. I also picked
up an Apple IIe (I loved playing Wizardry on a friend's II+ back then), but
that's a story for another mailing list.

Anyway, I'm really happy to see that there's still plenty of CoCo activity
all these decades later!

I seem to recall that back in the day, Radio Shack carried a bare PCB with
card edge fingers at both ends which match the CoCo's cartridge slot, and it
could be used as-is or cut in half for CoCo hardware projects. Is any
similar sort of proto board still available? Vector still makes their
expensive plugboards with 44 pin edge fingers, but I don't recall whether
they have the right pitch. I can check when I get home from work this
evening. If there is not an off-the-shelf solution, then I guess I'll just
need to lay out my own and have it made!

Also, I'd be interested in getting my hands on a J&M controller. I think
that I had a JFD-COCO originally, but the JFD-CP looks more interesting to
me now. I'll use one of the Radio Shack systems I got on eBay for the CoCo
2, but it'd be nice to use a fancier controller on the CoCo 3 with DSDD
drives. I don't suppose anybody has an extra JFD-CP that's looking for a new
home?

Last but not least, would any of y'all have an EDTASM program pak to dispose
of?

-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/


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