29 Nov
2022
29 Nov
'22
11:55 p.m.
Hello Chuck and Jay,
I took this off list because I'm not sure people would be interested.
I made a simple board with level shifters to allow me to use a PJRC
Teensy 4.1 (https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy41.html) with a Pertec
interface. I called it a "Pertexus".
The Teensy is really nice because it's actually available, relatively
cheap, and has Ethernet.
The firmware I wrote creates a simple USB "serial" command line
interface which allows me to read tapes to files on the SD card, write
tape images from the SD card, and do a bunch of hairy diagnostic
things. I've only tested it with my Qualstar 1052 drive.
In theory the setup could be used to emulate a drive, but I haven't
actually tried that.
Is this interesting to you?
Thanks.
--Bjoren
On 11/29/2022 6:21 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
> On 11/29/22 13:31, Jay Jaeger via cctalk wrote:
>
>> I very much care; indeed I had thoughts of maybe doing something
>> similar, using a BeagleBone, but this sounds a lot easier.
>>
>> Would like to know exactly what board you chose, so I can acquire one. I
>> have a cipher drive and an HP 88780A that would be good candidates to
>> use with this / use this to test. I also have a DG drive that might
>> well have a Pertec interface (haven't looked in a while).
> Hi Jay,
>
> The board I'm using is the STM32F4VE, described here:
>
> https://stm32-base.org/boards/STM32F407VET6-STM32-F4VE-V2.0
>
> Cheap and available; generally about $14-15 from Aliexpress.
>
> I've toyed with the STM32H750 board (very similar, but runs at 400Mhz;
> the added cost didn't contribute anything toward functionality.
>
> Your DG might well be Pertec-interface, but you can check that out with
> Bruce Ray.
>
> Oh, a word of caution is in order... With the chip shortage, a lot of
> Chinese vendors are re-labeling GDS32F407 and CKS32F407 chips with the
> ST logo and markings. I've run into a few, but generally, they perform
> as well as--and in some cases, better than, the real thing.
>
> I'll put you on my mailing list...
>
> All the best,
> Chuck
>
>
>