18 Jan
2022
18 Jan
'22
10:54 a.m.
I have quite a few Motorola Microsystems Exorciser boards including this
6800 single board computer for which I am lacking any documentation.
I've seen a brochure in Al's collection on Bitsavers but haven't found
any details that might discuss jumper settings or even better,
a schematic.
Wondering if anyone would have a user manual or other detailed docs for
this board?
M68MM01A2 -- has 6800 CPU, 6875 1.0 MHz clock generator, 6850 ACIA and
MC14411 baud rate clock, (4) EPROM/ROM sockets and (2) 6821 PIA sockets
with the 86-pin Exorciser edge connector.
I'm interested in seeing if I can minimally modify it to have a similar
memory map to the Altair 680 so that the Altair's PROM monitor could
run on it.
Thanks!
Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
18 Jan
18 Jan
11:09 a.m.
Not exactly a match but I do have this, if it helps:
https://www.vintagecomputer.net/motorola/mek6800d2/MEK6800D2.pdf
Bill
On Tue, Jan 18, 2022 at 1:54 PM Chris Elmquist via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
I have quite a few Motorola Microsystems Exorciser boards including this
6800 single board computer for which I am lacking any documentation.
I've seen a brochure in Al's collection on Bitsavers but haven't found
any details that might discuss jumper settings or even better,
a schematic.
Wondering if anyone would have a user manual or other detailed docs for
this board?
M68MM01A2 -- has 6800 CPU, 6875 1.0 MHz clock generator, 6850 ACIA and
MC14411 baud rate clock, (4) EPROM/ROM sockets and (2) 6821 PIA sockets
with the 86-pin Exorciser edge connector.
I'm interested in seeing if I can minimally modify it to have a similar
memory map to the Altair 680 so that the Altair's PROM monitor could
run on it.
Thanks!
Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
11:12 a.m.
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 02:09PM -0500), Bill Degnan wrote:
Not exactly a match but I do have this, if it helps:
https://www.vintagecomputer.net/motorola/mek6800d2/MEK6800D2.pdf
Thanks Bill. I have that too and in fact a couple D2 boards so
I am set there.
This is a specific detail so that I can make mods to the board without
having to reverse engineer it first. But I suspect it will come to that.
Thanks anyway!
Chris
On Tue, Jan 18, 2022 at 1:54 PM Chris Elmquist via
cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> I have quite a few Motorola Microsystems Exorciser boards including this
> 6800 single board computer for which I am lacking any documentation.
>
> I've seen a brochure in Al's collection on Bitsavers but haven't found
> any details that might discuss jumper settings or even better,
> a schematic.
>
> Wondering if anyone would have a user manual or other detailed docs for
> this board?
>
> M68MM01A2 -- has 6800 CPU, 6875 1.0 MHz clock generator, 6850 ACIA and
> MC14411 baud rate clock, (4) EPROM/ROM sockets and (2) 6821 PIA sockets
> with the 86-pin Exorciser edge connector.
>
> I'm interested in seeing if I can minimally modify it to have a similar
> memory map to the Altair 680 so that the Altair's PROM monitor could
> run on it.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Chris
> --
> Chris Elmquist
>
>
--
Chris Elmquist
12:01 p.m.
I think it might be easier to modify the 680 prom for the I/O addresses
of the board rather than modify the board to match the ROM.
Especially if the address decoding for the I/O is done in PAL (10L8 for
example).
Some 6800 address decoding was done with 74LS138s.? This had the
potential to be inefficient in terms of memory usage or if the '138s
were cascaded then propagation delay could become an issue.
On 1/18/2022 12:54 PM, Chris Elmquist via cctalk wrote:
I have quite a few Motorola Microsystems Exorciser
boards including this
6800 single board computer for which I am lacking any documentation.
I've seen a brochure in Al's collection on Bitsavers but haven't found
any details that might discuss jumper settings or even better,
a schematic.
Wondering if anyone would have a user manual or other detailed docs for
this board?
M68MM01A2 -- has 6800 CPU, 6875 1.0 MHz clock generator, 6850 ACIA and
MC14411 baud rate clock, (4) EPROM/ROM sockets and (2) 6821 PIA sockets
with the 86-pin Exorciser edge connector.
I'm interested in seeing if I can minimally modify it to have a similar
memory map to the Altair 680 so that the Altair's PROM monitor could
run on it.
Thanks!
Chris
12:14 p.m.
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 02:01PM -0600), Mike Katz wrote:
I think it might be easier to modify the 680 prom for
the I/O addresses of
the board rather than modify the board to match the ROM.
Agreed-- except the goal, which I failed to elaborate on, is to come
up with an Altair 680 development environment so that someone can port
some code to the platform without having the real thing. I wanted to
make that environment as close to real as possible (without having front
panel switches and LEDs)-- which means having the I/O in the same place
as the original as well as the authentic PROM code running.
Especially if the address decoding for the I/O is done
in PAL (10L8 for
example).
No PALs on the board but there is a bipolar PROM (82S129). I'm not
adverse to making a new one of those or bodging something that drops
into that socket to modify the decoding if neccessary. I was just hoping
to not have to butcher the board itself too much.
Some 6800 address decoding was done with 74LS138s.?
This had the potential
to be inefficient in terms of memory usage or if the '138s were cascaded
then propagation delay could become an issue.
Yes. This seems to be a limited function CPU board and I suspect it takes
that approach just to get the four PROMs and I/O decoded very coarsely.
Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
1:37 p.m.
If the software is using ROM routines then the address doesn't matter
for the applications.? If not, you can create an abstraction layer (set
of drivers for the ACIA, 6875 Timer and PIA) and if all of the code is
written to the abstraction layer then all you need to do is link in the
appropriate binary for the abstraction layer. This will work for both C
and machine language.
On 1/18/2022 2:14 PM, Chris Elmquist wrote:
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 02:01PM -0600), Mike Katz
wrote:
I think it might be easier to modify the 680 prom
for the I/O addresses of
the board rather than modify the board to match the ROM.
Agreed-- except the goal,
which I failed to elaborate on, is to come
up with an Altair 680 development environment so that someone can port
some code to the platform without having the real thing. I wanted to
make that environment as close to real as possible (without having front
panel switches and LEDs)-- which means having the I/O in the same place
as the original as well as the authentic PROM code running.
Especially if the address decoding for the I/O is
done in PAL (10L8 for
example).
No PALs on the board but there is a bipolar PROM (82S129). I'm not
adverse to making a new one of those or bodging something that drops
into that socket to modify the decoding if neccessary. I was just hoping
to not have to butcher the board itself too much.
Some 6800 address decoding was done with
74LS138s.? This had the potential
to be inefficient in terms of memory usage or if the '138s were cascaded
then propagation delay could become an issue.
Yes. This seems to be a limited
function CPU board and I suspect it takes
that approach just to get the four PROMs and I/O decoded very coarsely.
Chris
1:45 p.m.
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 03:37PM -0600), Mike Katz wrote:
If the software is using ROM routines then the address
doesn't matter for
the applications.? If not, you can create an abstraction layer (set of
drivers for the ACIA, 6875 Timer and PIA) and if all of the code is written
to the abstraction layer then all you need to do is link in the appropriate
binary for the abstraction layer. This will work for both C and machine
language.
Understood but I don't want to force the developer to make different code
for this machine than for the real 680. This is an attempt to get him
something that he can use to make code for the real 680 without having
a real 680.
I have a real 680 myself but I'm not up to shipping it around, loaning
it out, etc. yet still want to help the effort. But since I am not the
one actually doing the effort, I wanted to help by providing something
that was usable without having to change his approach.
Thanks for the suggestions though.
Chris
On 1/18/2022 2:14 PM, Chris Elmquist wrote:
> On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 02:01PM -0600), Mike Katz wrote:
> > I think it might be easier to modify the 680 prom for the I/O addresses of
> > the board rather than modify the board to match the ROM.
> Agreed-- except the goal, which I failed to elaborate on, is to come
> up with an Altair 680 development environment so that someone can port
> some code to the platform without having the real thing. I wanted to
> make that environment as close to real as possible (without having front
> panel switches and LEDs)-- which means having the I/O in the same place
> as the original as well as the authentic PROM code running.
>
> > Especially if the address decoding for the I/O is done in PAL (10L8 for
> > example).
> No PALs on the board but there is a bipolar PROM (82S129). I'm not
> adverse to making a new one of those or bodging something that drops
> into that socket to modify the decoding if neccessary. I was just hoping
> to not have to butcher the board itself too much.
>
> > Some 6800 address decoding was done with 74LS138s.? This had the potential
> > to be inefficient in terms of memory usage or if the '138s were cascaded
> > then propagation delay could become an issue.
> Yes. This seems to be a limited function CPU board and I suspect it takes
> that approach just to get the four PROMs and I/O decoded very coarsely.
>
> Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
3:35 p.m.
How's about a Glitchbus board set that's compatible? I was planning on doing it
anyway.
Thanks,
Jonathan
??????? Original Message ???????
On Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 16:45, Chris Elmquist via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 03:37PM -0600), Mike Katz
wrote:
If the software is using ROM routines then the
address doesn't matter for
the applications. If not, you can create an abstraction layer (set of
drivers for the ACIA, 6875 Timer and PIA) and if all of the code is written
to the abstraction layer then all you need to do is link in the appropriate
binary for the abstraction layer. This will work for both C and machine
language.
Understood but I don't want to force the developer to make different code
for this machine than for the real 680. This is an attempt to get him
something that he can use to make code for the real 680 without having
a real 680.
I have a real 680 myself but I'm not up to shipping it around, loaning
it out, etc. yet still want to help the effort. But since I am not the
one actually doing the effort, I wanted to help by providing something
that was usable without having to change his approach.
Thanks for the suggestions though.
Chris
On 1/18/2022 2:14 PM, Chris Elmquist wrote:
> On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 02:01PM -0600), Mike Katz wrote:
>
> > I think it might be easier to modify the 680 prom for the I/O addresses of
> >
> > the board rather than modify the board to match the ROM.
> >
> > Agreed-- except the goal, which I failed to elaborate on, is to come
> >
> > up with an Altair 680 development environment so that someone can port
> >
> > some code to the platform without having the real thing. I wanted to
> >
> > make that environment as close to real as possible (without having front
> >
> > panel switches and LEDs)-- which means having the I/O in the same place
> >
> > as the original as well as the authentic PROM code running.
>
> > Especially if the address decoding for the I/O is done in PAL (10L8 for
> >
> > example).
> >
> > No PALs on the board but there is a bipolar PROM (82S129). I'm not
> >
> > adverse to making a new one of those or bodging something that drops
> >
> > into that socket to modify the decoding if neccessary. I was just hoping
> >
> > to not have to butcher the board itself too much.
>
> > Some 6800 address decoding was done with 74LS138s. This had the potential
> >
> > to be inefficient in terms of memory usage or if the '138s were cascaded
> >
> > then propagation delay could become an issue.
> >
> > Yes. This seems to be a limited function CPU board and I suspect it takes
> >
> > that approach just to get the four PROMs and I/O decoded very coarsely.
>
> Chris
Chris Elmquist
4:22 p.m.
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 11:35PM +0000), Jonathan Chapman wrote:
How's about a Glitchbus board set that's
compatible? I was planning on doing it anyway.
That would be very cool. Something along those lines was my plan B and
I even dug out a tube of 6802's for the effort. I think I could wire
up a prototype over a weekend. MC6802 is a nice "cheat" as you don't
have to mess with the two-phase clock stuff.
What would be really slick is an SBC that has everything on it to be
either an Altair 680 or an SWTPC 6800 just by changing some jumpers,
switches, etc. and putting the correct ROM monitor on the board.
If there was a PROM, a 32K SRAM, an ACIA and a bonus PIA socket, along
with a small amount of glue logic, I think we could run the ROM monitor
for either system and a bunch of legacy code in 32K of RAM-- which would
have been a big system in the day. The PIA would provide a fun GPIO
capability just for toggling bits to and from the real world.
The ACIA was the serial console device on the Altair and the later
MP-S on the SWTPC and so you would run SWTBUG on the SWTPC personality
to use that. I don't see a need for MIKBUG compatibility here, since
that requires the bit-banged console via another PIA and odd external
timer chip. Baud rate generator that can do 16x for 110, 300, 1200 and
9600 would be ideal. I'd want 110 for a real Teletype, 300 for Kansas
City Standard tapes, 1200 for a DecWriter and 9600 so that I don't fall
asleep ;-)
When can I order one! :-)
Thanks Jonathan,
Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
7:26 p.m.
If you include the 6875 Timer chip, follow the data sheet carefully,
it's a little tricky in its discretes (I don't remember from 40 years
ago what exactly it is).
The biggest disadvantage to the 6850 ACIA and 14411 Baud rate generator
is the baud rate is NOT software selectable.
SWTBUG was much better than MIKBUG and GMXBUG was even better.
If you want to emulate both the SWTPC and Motorola board addresses I
would strongly recommend some kind of programmable logic to handle the
very different addressing schemes.
The SS-30 I/O Bus had the address decoding on the motherboard. Each slot
was allocated 4 address (the later MC6809 version upped this to 16
address.)? Where as the Motorola system addressed differently.
On 1/18/2022 6:22 PM, Chris Elmquist via cctalk wrote:
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 11:35PM +0000), Jonathan
Chapman wrote:
How's about a Glitchbus board set that's
compatible? I was planning on doing it anyway.
That would be very cool. Something
along those lines was my plan B and
I even dug out a tube of 6802's for the effort. I think I could wire
up a prototype over a weekend. MC6802 is a nice "cheat" as you don't
have to mess with the two-phase clock stuff.
What would be really slick is an SBC that has everything on it to be
either an Altair 680 or an SWTPC 6800 just by changing some jumpers,
switches, etc. and putting the correct ROM monitor on the board.
If there was a PROM, a 32K SRAM, an ACIA and a bonus PIA socket, along
with a small amount of glue logic, I think we could run the ROM monitor
for either system and a bunch of legacy code in 32K of RAM-- which would
have been a big system in the day. The PIA would provide a fun GPIO
capability just for toggling bits to and from the real world.
The ACIA was the serial console device on the Altair and the later
MP-S on the SWTPC and so you would run SWTBUG on the SWTPC personality
to use that. I don't see a need for MIKBUG compatibility here, since
that requires the bit-banged console via another PIA and odd external
timer chip. Baud rate generator that can do 16x for 110, 300, 1200 and
9600 would be ideal. I'd want 110 for a real Teletype, 300 for Kansas
City Standard tapes, 1200 for a DecWriter and 9600 so that I don't fall
asleep ;-)
When can I order one! :-)
Thanks Jonathan,
Chris 
19 Jan
19 Jan
1:08 a.m.
On 19.01.22 01:22, Chris Elmquist via cctalk wrote:
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 11:35PM +0000), Jonathan
Chapman wrote:
Something around these lines ?
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/tektronix-board-bucket-6800.54128…
Yes, it runs, I still have some PCB's left.
Works with both 6800 or 6802, memory map is defined with a GAL.
Jos
How's about a Glitchbus board set that's
compatible? I was planning on doing it anyway.
That would be very cool. Something
along those lines was my plan B and
I even dug out a tube of 6802's for the effort. I think I could wire
up a prototype over a weekend. MC6802 is a nice "cheat" as you don't
have to mess with the two-phase clock stuff.
What would be really slick is an SBC that has everything on it to be
either an Altair 680 or an SWTPC 6800 just by changing some jumpers,
switches, etc. and putting the correct ROM monitor on the board.
4:15 a.m.
That's a neat board! Where can I/we order one?
Thanks,
Jonathan
??????? Original Message ???????
On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 04:08, jos via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
On 19.01.22 01:22, Chris Elmquist via cctalk wrote:
On Tuesday (01/18/2022 at 11:35PM +0000),
Jonathan Chapman wrote:
Something around these lines ?
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/tektronix-board-bucket-6800.54128…
Yes, it runs, I still have some PCB's left.
Works with both 6800 or 6802, memory map is defined with a GAL.
Jos How's about a Glitchbus board set that's
compatible? I was planning on doing it anyway.
That would be very cool. Something along those lines was my plan B and
I even dug out a tube of 6802's for the effort. I think I could wire
up a prototype over a weekend. MC6802 is a nice "cheat" as you don't
have to mess with the two-phase clock stuff.
What would be really slick is an SBC that has everything on it to be
either an Altair 680 or an SWTPC 6800 just by changing some jumpers,
switches, etc. and putting the correct ROM monitor on the board.
6:35 a.m.
On 19.01.22 13:15, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
That's a neat board! Where can I/we order one?
With me...
20 Eur for the set of 2 + shipping.
If you are in the US it is probably cheaper to order new ones locally.
Note that I never completed the documentation or wrote the code for the hex keyboard.
But it does run the Tektronix board-bucket BASIC via serial port !
Find more on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/TEK_BB
Jos
7:24 a.m.
On Wednesday (01/19/2022 at 03:35PM +0100), Jos Dreesen via cctalk wrote:
On 19.01.22 13:15, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
ah ha! that's what I was looking for. Will check it out in detail.
I think I am "forum challenged" as all I could see at the original link
were renderings of the board.
Thanks Jos. Maybe this will be the ticket...
Chris
--
Chris Elmquist
That's a neat board! Where can I/we order
one?
With me...
20 Eur for the set of 2 + shipping.
If you are in the US it is probably cheaper to order new ones locally.
Note that I never completed the documentation or wrote the code for the hex keyboard.
But it does run the Tektronix board-bucket BASIC via serial port !
Find more on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/TEK_BB
7:49 a.m.
Chris,
I'm probably going to order some of these on my next circuit board order (this week or
next), do you want a set of them? Seems they are of course "hacking required,"
which is fine by me :P
Thanks,
Jonathan
??????? Original Message ???????
On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 10:24, Chris Elmquist via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Wednesday (01/19/2022 at 03:35PM +0100), Jos
Dreesen via cctalk wrote:
On 19.01.22 13:15, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk
wrote:
ah ha! that's what I was looking for. Will check it out in detail.
I think I am "forum challenged" as all I could see at the original link
were renderings of the board.
Thanks Jos. Maybe this will be the ticket...
Chris
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Elmquist That's a neat board! Where can I/we order
one?
With me...
20 Eur for the set of 2 + shipping.
If you are in the US it is probably cheaper to order new ones locally.
Note that I never completed the documentation or wrote the code for the hex keyboard.
But it does run the Tektronix board-bucket BASIC via serial port !
Find more on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/TEK_BB
9:05 a.m.
Johnathan,
I saw you will be ordering boards pretty soon.
I need to order some boards for my PDP-8/E but I've never ordered boards
before.
What board house do you use?? Have you ever specified gold fingers before?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
?????????? Mike
??? ??? ??? +1 (773) 414-1044
On 1/19/2022 9:49 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
Chris,
I'm probably going to order some of these on my next circuit board order (this week
or next), do you want a set of them? Seems they are of course "hacking
required," which is fine by me :P
Thanks,
Jonathan
??????? Original Message ???????
On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 10:24, Chris Elmquist via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
> On Wednesday (01/19/2022 at 03:35PM +0100), Jos Dreesen via cctalk wrote:
>
>> On 19.01.22 13:15, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
>>
>>> That's a neat board! Where can I/we order one?
>> With me...
>>
>> 20 Eur for the set of 2 + shipping.
>>
>> If you are in the US it is probably cheaper to order new ones locally.
>>
>> Note that I never completed the documentation or wrote the code for the hex
keyboard.
>>
>> But it does run the Tektronix board-bucket BASIC via serial port !
>>
>> Find more on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/TEK_BB
> ah ha! that's what I was looking for. Will check it out in detail.
>
> I think I am "forum challenged" as all I could see at the original link
>
> were renderings of the board.
>
> Thanks Jos. Maybe this will be the ticket...
>
> Chris
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Chris Elmquist
10:14 a.m.
Mike,
We use PCB Cart for boards with hard gold edge contacts, like our DEC prototyping board,
Apple II protoboard, XT-IDE, etc. They are the same Chinese board house used by
s100computers.com and N8VEM/RetroBrew Computers. Results are pretty good for the price.
Expect to order 25 to make hard gold edge plating worthwhile. It'll pretty much double
the price of the board, but PCB Cart does proper selective hard gold, not "heavy
ENIG" (not a thing) or some other nonsense. A lot of the cheaper places will only
plate "hard gold" over ENIG, which I assume means they don't actually have a
selective process at all.
Make sure to specify an edge chamfer if it's a typical card edge connector, otherwise
it'll be routed square and a little difficult to insert/you'll have to dress it
down with a file.
If practical for the board, remove unused contacts from the edge connector. They charge
per-contact as a way to guesstimate their gold costs.
Thanks,
Jonathan
??????? Original Message ???????
On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 12:05, Mike Katz via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
Johnathan,
I saw you will be ordering boards pretty soon.
I need to order some boards for my PDP-8/E but I've never ordered boards
before.
What board house do you use? Have you ever specified gold fingers before?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike
+1 (773) 414-1044
On 1/19/2022 9:49 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
> Chris,
>
> I'm probably going to order some of these on my next circuit board order (this
week or next), do you want a set of them? Seems they are of course "hacking
required," which is fine by me :P
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jonathan
>
> ??????? Original Message ???????
>
> On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 10:24, Chris Elmquist via cctalk cctalk at
classiccmp.org wrote:
>
> > On Wednesday (01/19/2022 at 03:35PM +0100), Jos Dreesen via cctalk wrote:
> >
> > > On 19.01.22 13:15, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
> > >
> > > > That's a neat board! Where can I/we order one?
> > > >
> > > > With me...
> > >
> > > 20 Eur for the set of 2 + shipping.
> > >
> > > If you are in the US it is probably cheaper to order new ones locally.
> > >
> > > Note that I never completed the documentation or wrote the code for the
hex keyboard.
> > >
> > > But it does run the Tektronix board-bucket BASIC via serial port !
> > >
> > > Find more on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/TEK_BB
> > >
> > > ah ha! that's what I was looking for. Will check it out in detail.
> >
> > I think I am "forum challenged" as all I could see at the original
link
> >
> > were renderings of the board.
> >
> > Thanks Jos. Maybe this will be the ticket...
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > Chris Elmquist
10:25 a.m.
Excellent information Jonathan!
I generally carry the s100computers and many RetroBrew board and have
ordered over 5000 boards from PCBCart.com
I'm not a board designer but if people have any questions about PCB Cart
and the board ordering process, feel free to contact me privately.
Todd
On 1/19/2022 1:14 PM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
Mike,
We use PCB Cart for boards with hard gold edge contacts, like our DEC prototyping board,
Apple II protoboard, XT-IDE, etc. They are the same Chinese board house used by
s100computers.com and N8VEM/RetroBrew Computers. Results are pretty good for the price.
Expect to order 25 to make hard gold edge plating worthwhile. It'll pretty much
double the price of the board, but PCB Cart does proper selective hard gold, not
"heavy ENIG" (not a thing) or some other nonsense. A lot of the cheaper places
will only plate "hard gold" over ENIG, which I assume means they don't
actually have a selective process at all.
Make sure to specify an edge chamfer if it's a typical card edge connector, otherwise
it'll be routed square and a little difficult to insert/you'll have to dress it
down with a file.
If practical for the board, remove unused contacts from the edge connector. They charge
per-contact as a way to guesstimate their gold costs.
Thanks,
Jonathan
??????? Original Message ???????
On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 12:05, Mike Katz via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
> Johnathan,
>
> I saw you will be ordering boards pretty soon.
>
> I need to order some boards for my PDP-8/E but I've never ordered boards
>
> before.
>
> What board house do you use? Have you ever specified gold fingers before?
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike
>
> +1 (773) 414-1044
>
> On 1/19/2022 9:49 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
>
>> Chris,
>>
>> I'm probably going to order some of these on my next circuit board order
(this week or next), do you want a set of them? Seems they are of course "hacking
required," which is fine by me :P
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>> ??????? Original Message ???????
>>
>> On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 10:24, Chris Elmquist via cctalk cctalk at
classiccmp.org wrote:
>>
>>> On Wednesday (01/19/2022 at 03:35PM +0100), Jos Dreesen via cctalk wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 19.01.22 13:15, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> That's a neat board! Where can I/we order one?
>>>>>
>>>>> With me...
>>>> 20 Eur for the set of 2 + shipping.
>>>>
>>>> If you are in the US it is probably cheaper to order new ones locally.
>>>>
>>>> Note that I never completed the documentation or wrote the code for the
hex keyboard.
>>>>
>>>> But it does run the Tektronix board-bucket BASIC via serial port !
>>>>
>>>> Find more on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/TEK_BB
>>>>
>>>> ah ha! that's what I was looking for. Will check it out in detail.
>>> I think I am "forum challenged" as all I could see at the original
link
>>>
>>> were renderings of the board.
>>>
>>> Thanks Jos. Maybe this will be the ticket...
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>
>>> Chris Elmquist
11:15 a.m.
And just to close the loop on the original documentation request--
someone has come forward with the exact manual for the M68MM01A2 board
and I very much appreciate that.
He has a lot of Exorciser boards and manuals to scan so I will let him
step forward when he's ready for that. But I do greatly appreciate
getting this manual.
I think Jos' TEK_BB SBC will be the winning solution and thanks to Jos
for sharing it and Jonathan for running with it. This way many people can
run Altair 680 or SWTPC 6800 code on a small footprint development board.
Chris
On Wednesday (01/19/2022 at 01:25PM -0500), Todd Goodman via cctalk wrote:
Excellent information Jonathan!
I generally carry the s100computers and many RetroBrew board and have
ordered over 5000 boards from PCBCart.com
I'm not a board designer but if people have any questions about PCB Cart and
the board ordering process, feel free to contact me privately.
Todd
On 1/19/2022 1:14 PM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
> Mike,
>
> We use PCB Cart for boards with hard gold edge contacts, like our DEC prototyping
board, Apple II protoboard, XT-IDE, etc. They are the same Chinese board house used by
s100computers.com and N8VEM/RetroBrew Computers. Results are pretty good for the price.
>
> Expect to order 25 to make hard gold edge plating worthwhile. It'll pretty much
double the price of the board, but PCB Cart does proper selective hard gold, not
"heavy ENIG" (not a thing) or some other nonsense. A lot of the cheaper places
will only plate "hard gold" over ENIG, which I assume means they don't
actually have a selective process at all.
>
> Make sure to specify an edge chamfer if it's a typical card edge connector,
otherwise it'll be routed square and a little difficult to insert/you'll have to
dress it down with a file.
>
> If practical for the board, remove unused contacts from the edge connector. They
charge per-contact as a way to guesstimate their gold costs.
>
> Thanks,
> Jonathan
>
> ??????? Original Message ???????
>
> On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 12:05, Mike Katz via cctalk <cctalk at
classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> > Johnathan,
> >
> > I saw you will be ordering boards pretty soon.
> >
> > I need to order some boards for my PDP-8/E but I've never ordered boards
> >
> > before.
> >
> > What board house do you use? Have you ever specified gold fingers before?
> >
> > Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > +1 (773) 414-1044
> >
> > On 1/19/2022 9:49 AM, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
> >
> > > Chris,
> > >
> > > I'm probably going to order some of these on my next circuit board
order (this week or next), do you want a set of them? Seems they are of course
"hacking required," which is fine by me :P
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Jonathan
> > >
> > > ??????? Original Message ???????
> > >
> > > On Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 at 10:24, Chris Elmquist via cctalk
cctalk at classiccmp.org wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Wednesday (01/19/2022 at 03:35PM +0100), Jos Dreesen via cctalk
wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > On 19.01.22 13:15, Jonathan Chapman via cctalk wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > That's a neat board! Where can I/we order one?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > With me...
> > > > > 20 Eur for the set of 2 + shipping.
> > > > >
> > > > > If you are in the US it is probably cheaper to order new ones
locally.
> > > > >
> > > > > Note that I never completed the documentation or wrote the code
for the hex keyboard.
> > > > >
> > > > > But it does run the Tektronix board-bucket BASIC via serial port
!
> > > > >
> > > > > Find more on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/TEK_BB
> > > > >
> > > > > ah ha! that's what I was looking for. Will check it out in
detail.
> > > > I think I am "forum challenged" as all I could see at the
original link
> > > >
> > > > were renderings of the board.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks Jos. Maybe this will be the ticket...
> > > >
> > > > Chris
> > > >
> > > > Chris Elmquist
--
Chris Elmquist
3:32 p.m.
He has a lot of Exorciser boards and manuals to scan
so I will let him
step forward when he's ready for that. But I do greatly appreciate
getting this manual.
Nice! Looking forward to that manual dump when it does happen. I haven't done a ton
with EXORbus due to the lack of documentation...it keeps me from buying more stuff I'd
otherwise have to reverse engineer.
I think Jos' TEK_BB SBC will be the winning
solution and thanks to Jos
for sharing it and Jonathan for running with it. This way many people can
run Altair 680 or SWTPC 6800 code on a small footprint development board.
It does look like just the thing for a right-now easy solution! I'll probably still
move forward on especially the compatible Glitchbus board set, but not as urgently :P
Thanks,
Jonathan
3:29 p.m.
Excellent information Jonathan!
Glad to share! I get the impression that people often think I'm on some ideological
soapbox when I tell them not to use $flybynite_pcb but really there are big differences in
quality.
I generally carry the s100computers and many RetroBrew
board
Thank *you* for helping keep cool projects stocked and available! I know I've ordered
a few things from you after the N8VEM->RetroBrew change.
Thanks,
Jonathan
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participants (6)
-
billdegnan＠gmail.com -
bitwiz＠12bitsbest.com -
chrise＠pobox.com -
jos.dreesen＠greenmail.ch -
lists＠glitchwrks.com -
tsg＠bonedaddy.net