24 Nov
2004
24 Nov
'04
11:26 a.m.
In message <200411250057.QAA03125(a)clulw009.amd.com>
"Dwight K. Elvey" <dwight.elvey(a)amd.com> wrote:
Still can't imagine a SYM-1 being worth $900.
From $75 to maybe
$150 someplace is more like it. It has little to be note worthy
of that I know of.
Aside from being a "better KIM"? ISTR it was basically a KIM with a few
extras (oscilloscope output, a la the Poptronics Scopewriter) added. I don't
think it used the mask-programmed RIOT chips either, unlike the KIM, which
makes it (slightly) easier to fix if something goes wrong.
I'd be tempted to add a bus-buffer board between the SBC and any off-board
hardware. I'd rather blow up a handful of 74LS244s than a pair of 6532s (or,
worse, an entire board).
Still, for one rounding out their 6502 collection,
the SYM-1
is a nice item to have.
I agree. I've got a homebrew 6502 computer here - a backplane, a CPU card, an
RS232 interface card... and an SP0256 speech synthesizer. That was fun to
play with :)
Only problem is, with the backplane filled, the timing got screwed up pretty
badly. At 2MHz it's fine, but if you go above that, it fails to boot ("03 RAM
CHECK"). I think I need to rebuild the backplane and add some bus-buffer
chips this time...
Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
philpem(a)philpem.me.uk | ViewFinder, 10BaseT Ethernet, 2-slice,
http://www.philpem.me.uk/ | 48xCD, ARCINv6c IDE, SCSI
... Reactance: your imaginary friend.