Designs (was Re: OT: how big would it be?)

-----Original Message----- From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, October 20, 1999 3:13 PM Subject: Re: Designs (was Re: OT: how big would it be?) You bring up a good point. If a board can be designed with TWO connections to the simm socket (one on top, and one on the bottom) so that you would flip the board for one operation and flip it the other way for another operation then prob. two different types of boards could be used for the whole CPU: ie: BOARD 1 side 1: 4 FF, 2 Inverters, 2 nand/nor side 2: 2 xor, 2 and/nor, ??? BOARD 2 side 1: one shot, pulse amp, etc.. side 2: more gates and inverters. limiting the CPU to two boards means I can ship it over to a manufacturer in Taiwan I have used before. 2 boards in 500 quantities/ea with just transistors and diodes(+ res + cap) is quite cheap. Maybe they would charge $2/ea. I designed a Frequency synthesized data transmitter (FM) with synth, risc chip, and many support transistors for a product. I could not keep up the production with my guys at the time so we shipped it off to Tiawan and they knocked them out in Qtys of 500 for $8 ea (PCB, parts, built and tested). I could not even buy the parts in qtys of 5000 for $8 here. Anyway, it seems this CAN be done quickly and cheaply if two boards can be standardized with a series of gates and flip flops. Should be serial, smaller and more fun! john fine.