28 Mar
2003
28 Mar
'03
10:15 a.m.
On Fri, 28 Mar 2003 12:58:47 -0600, you wrote:
Pic is of the DF32x4 on the workbench. I'll send you a copy
direct.
-Charles
A) What rev M706 card do you have?
Rev. K. That's one reason it took me a while to find, since the
only schematics available seem to be the first revision (A?)
B) Would you write up where you attached your pullups?
Check the schematic, it was on the preset lines to the 7474
containing stop bit 1 and stop bit 2...
Are you using a microprocessor on your DF32x4? FPGAs?
PALs? TTL?
Plain old 74LS and a Dallas Semi DS1258 128kx16 NVRAM.
How are you handling the cabling issue?
Cables :)
(I also laid out a PCB to plug in the backplane and accept a
standard 40 pin IDC header connector). Had five fabricated and
made 3 foot ribbon cables.
Do you have a way to load
the emulated disk devices "out of band"? (i.e., can you get data into
it in any way other than the databreak interface to the -8?)
No, I took the DF32 manual and copied the specs as closely as
possible. The 8/L should "think" it has a real DF32 and three
expansion DS32's attached.
[demime 1.01a removed an attachment of type
image/jpeg which had a name
of mvc-457e.jpg]
What's the picture of?
-ethan 
28 Mar
28 Mar
10:40 a.m.
New subject: DF32x4 (was Re: 8/L repairs)
--- Charles <charlesmorris(a)direcway.com> wrote:
That's good enough to find it. Thanks.
Interesting. Can't wait to see the plans.
:-) indeed.
Well... that's easy to build, anyway. I suppose it would be easy enough
to make a parallel-port NVRAM programmer...
Thanks,
-ethan
B) Would you
write up where you attached your pullups?
Check the schematic, it was on the preset lines to the 7474
containing stop bit 1 and stop bit 2... Are you using a
microprocessor on your DF32x4? FPGAs? PALs? TTL?
Plain old 74LS and a Dallas Semi DS1258 128kx16 NVRAM. How are you
handling the cabling issue?
Cables :) (I also laid out a PCB to plug in the backplane and
accept a
standard 40 pin IDC header connector). Had five fabricated and
made 3 foot ribbon cables.
Sounds great. If several folks wanted to get into a bulk-buy, we
could probably get a stack of those cheap. I was getting 12" long
boards with inches of gold fingers (GG2 Bus+ - 100-pin Zorro plus
16-bit ISA) for well under $20 each, q 100., with silk screen and
solder mask. Panelled out, something like this could be as cheap
as a few bucks each in sufficient quantity.
No matter what the device (external memory, external disk, etc.),
I'd *love* to have a stack of inexpensive paddle cards to interconnect
a variety of devices I have. Another bonus is that the modern
end of the cable does *not* have to resort to hard-to-find DEC-style
slots and fingers. 40-pin IDC stuff is about as cheap as it gets.
Also, it might be interesting to experiment with them as a base for
simple prototype modules (I keep kicking around an idea for a
crystal-controlled M452 replacement for higher-than-110-baud use
on an M706/M707 set) - just attach the "device" to the 40-pin
spot and go.
I could probably put dozens of these to use in the first few months,
all by myself. I would probably even be willing to act as a point-of
contact on a group order. The more the merrier.
Do you have a
way to load
the emulated disk devices "out of band"? (i.e., can you get data into
it in any way other than the databreak interface to the -8?)
No, I took the DF32 manual and copied the specs as closely as
possible. The 8/L should "think" it has a real DF32 and three
expansion DS32's attached. What's the
picture of?
Pic is of the DF32x4 on the workbench. I'll send you a copy
direct. 
31 Mar
31 Mar
2:32 p.m.
New subject: DF32x4 (was Re: 8/L repairs)
How are you handling the cabling issue?
Cables :) (I also laid out a PCB to plug in the backplane
and accept a
standard 40 pin IDC header connector). Had five fabricated and
made 3 foot ribbon cables.
Sounds great. If several folks wanted to get into a bulk-buy, we
could probably get a stack of those cheap. I was getting 12" long
boards with inches of gold fingers (GG2 Bus+ - 100-pin Zorro plus
16-bit ISA) for well under $20 each, q 100., with silk screen and
solder mask. Panelled out, something like this could be as cheap
as a few bucks each in sufficient quantity.
No matter what the device (external memory, external disk, etc.),
I'd *love* to have a stack of inexpensive paddle cards to interconnect
a variety of devices I have. Another bonus is that the modern
end of the cable does *not* have to resort to hard-to-find DEC-style
slots and fingers. 40-pin IDC stuff is about as cheap as it gets.
Also, it might be interesting to experiment with them as a base for
simple prototype modules (I keep kicking around an idea for a
crystal-controlled M452 replacement for higher-than-110-baud use
on an M706/M707 set) - just attach the "device" to the 40-pin
spot and go.
I could probably put dozens of these to use in the first few months,
all by myself. I would probably even be willing to act as a point-of
contact on a group order. The more the merrier.
7784
days inactive
7787
days old
2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
-
charlesmorris＠direcway.com -
erd_6502＠yahoo.com -
lemay＠cs.umn.edu