28 Nov
2007
28 Nov
'07
2:15 p.m.
On Tuesday 27 November 2007 17:23, Jim Brain wrote:
> 1764?
?
(Snip)
But, the near max draw of the 64 (they re-used the VIC
PS design and specs
for the 64, as I recall), coupled with the plethora of expansion options for
the 64, overburdened the struggling supply.
To be fair, it's entirely possible the PS was fine and would live a
reasonable life attached to a bone stock 64. No one actually owned a
bone stock 64 for very long, though. Once you had overloaded them, it
seemed only a matter of time before they would fail.
I don't think that most of the folks we saw had all that much plugged into
them. A modem, usually, was about the extent of it, though there were a
few who went further.
To try to add some new information, the VIC/64
joysticks should not be
overlooked for small IO projects for kids. DE9 female sockets are easy
to find, and there's Vcc, GND, 5 pins of IO and 2 pins of 8 bit ADC
available for the taking per port. In fact, using both ports with a bit
of ML and a nice BASIC program, you could make a nice electronics
trainer for possibly multiple machines (It looks like the Atari variants
had true joystick IO ports, but I know very little about the Apple and
TI units. Google says Atari created such a trainer for their 400/800
units, so the idea held some merit.
Quite honestly, that is a neat idea, and one that would be easy to
implement. If there's some interest, let me know.
I recall "repairing" some joysticks of the type that were used with those
machines, maybe c=, maybe atari 2600-type, and at one point we had bought
some of the small boards that contained the actual switches (membrane-type?)
and also some spare cords, since those were a common problem. I may very
well have some of those stashed away in a box somewhere, if anyone's
interested, still in their original retail packaging. Feel free to contact
me offlist if you want 'em and I'll do some digging at that point.
--
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James
M Dakin