27 Jun
2006
27 Jun
'06
10 p.m.
If you want a
PC-incompatible that has a
7220 as the graphics
controller, get a Rainbow :-) [Yes, I know there are
custom chips in the
'bow, but IIRC, they're also used in the VT100, so
they're not that rare]
Just one of the more common hi-res crtc's that came
to mind. The NEC APC has them, 2 in fact (methinks). I
do have a Rainbow, but it doesn't have the color
option (or color graphics option?). The 7220 IS a worthy candidate for an FPGA recreation IMHO.
> Juat be glad it's not an HP150-II. That thing has 5
> gate arrays in it,
> and IIRC thate's not that much documentation on them
> in the technical
> manual (which I do have). Come to think of it, the
> plain HP150 uses some
> SMC chip for the video, I can look up to see which
> it is if you like.
OK, I've found the techref...
Fro the original HP150 (9" CRT). the text (alpha) video system uses an
SMC9007 + quite a bit of logic including a character generator ROM and a
HAL16L6. The bitmapped graphics system uses a custom chip, 1820-3091, and
yet more logic.
For the HP150-II (12" CRT), the gate arrays are :
ELMER (real time clock, baud rate generator, handshake ports, etc)
PAMELA (address decoder, DRAM timing/control)
KAZE (garphics RAM control)
PACIFIC (video controller)
Some early machines (including mine) have a daughterboard in place of the
ELMER chip. That contains only standard parts, and can be traced out...
Actually, I
would like one, but Tandy 2000s are not
at all common in the
UK, and I can't afford the shipping on one from the
States.
yeah, and I want an RM Nimbus. If you don't have one,
I really need to ask why not? As cool as the 2000, and