[Coco] Educate me about Y-Cables

[David Ladd]

On Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 3:31 PM, Nick Marentes <nickma2 at optusnet.com.au>
wrote:

Maybe a buffer cartridge with a ribbon cable to a seperate box placed back
> a bit from the CoCo to eliminate the "flux-capacitor" monstrosity glued to
> the side of the CoCo  (the Tandy Multipac with an assortment of varying
> size cartridges and cables standing up in the air looking like a science
> project experiment).
>
> The "new" multi-pac design then wouldn't need the buffering and can house
> the power supply while the CoCo keeps it's sexy slim lines.
>

​Actually the buffering would still be needed as the TTL Chips in the CoCo
can only supply so much current per line.  That's why ribbon cables with 3
connections were the max that people would go.

I have seen first hand what happens when you try to go beyond those
tolerances.  You let the smoke out :O

Other than that I think the vertical design of the MPI was to allow the
carts to dissipate heat better as a horizontal placement of the carts would
mean the top most cards would get heat from the lower ones.  Or at least
that was my understanding for the design.​



>
> Nick
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