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BobDevries

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Joined: 08/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 266

Posted: 04:12pm 25 Jun 2014

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Hello MM-ers.

Does anyone know whether the ASCII Video Terminal will be sold as a complete kit, and if so which company (and price if known)?

Living in regional QLD, makes it difficult to build something when I'm forced to buy components from multiple suppliers.

Regards, Bob Devries
Dalby, QLD, Australia

Bob Devries
Dalby, QLD, Australia

Geoffg

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Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 3308

Posted: 06:37pm 25 Jun 2014

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I have not heard from the usual suspects (Altronics/Jaycar) so I am not sure about them - it might be worth sending them an email asking about a kit.

I think that Phil (http://micromite.org/) was going to offer something but I am not sure exactly what.

Geoff

Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net

halldave

Senior Member

Joined: 04/05/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 121

Posted: 06:51pm 25 Jun 2014

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I tried to source most things from my local Jaycar, they were only to supply 1 part out of the list that I needed and it was the 4pin connector. They has no 15pin right angle VGA, no component right angle in stock and wouldn't be able to get it in by July, or no PS2 right angle on their catalog, no suitable 28pin DIP IC socket, could not supply the correct voltage regulator or any of the 100nF Monolithic or 10μF 16V Tantalum capacitors.

I resorted to ordering on ebay and am building up 8 at the moment as the stock arrives,

Will have around 5-6 to spare within the next week or so, ebay delivery dependent

PM if your interested and I can send in various states of build or final build - it depends on how fast you want to play with one

regards

David

vk2amv
Newbie

Joined: 03/06/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 3

Posted: 11:39pm 25 Jun 2014

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I received my latest Silicon Chip mag in the mail today with the article on the ASCII Video Terminal.

I am planning to make a couple, and just have a quick question regarding getting PCB's made.

I have never ordered PCB's before so just not sure what to do.

Based on Geoff's recommendation in his article I am planning to order from iMall.
http://imall.iteadstudio.com/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping.html

Opening the Gerber's for the ASCII Terminal and doing some quick measuring the board seems to measure 89mm by 51mm.

Now I would have thought that being that close to 10cm x 5cm Geoff would have designed it for a 10cm x 5cm PCB order instead of the extra expense of 10x10cm

Should I order 10cm x 5cm or will I have to order 10cm x 10cm for that extra 1mm the board seems to be?

Secondly there is 3 options of thickness, 1mm, 1.2mm, and 1.6mm.
Should I just go 1.6mm or one of the others?

Thanks for any help
Edited by vk2amv 2014-06-27

halldave

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Joined: 04/05/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 121

Posted: 12:59am 26 Jun 2014

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board is 5.1cm x 8.9cm, so unfortunately you need to order 10cm x 10cm

If you only want two I can spare a couple to save you the drama, although if you want to order the company geoff used I gave a try and I was impressed by the board

This is what I ordered cost me $19.90 for 10 plus $8.98 delivery, took about two and a half weeks

2Layer Green PCB 10cm x 10cm Max
PCB Thickness 1.0mm
Surface Finish HASL
E-test None e-test
Copper Thickness 1oz

Edited by halldave 2014-06-27

vk2amv
Newbie

Joined: 03/06/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 3

Posted: 01:12am 26 Jun 2014

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Thanks for that.

Danm annoying that the board is just 1mm too big.
Especially when there is room to squeeze everything back that 1mm.

Anyway no matter.

I would like to take you up on your offer of two boards.

How much would you want for them plus postage to Central NSW?

Thanks

paceman
Guru

Joined: 07/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1329

Posted: 04:16am 26 Jun 2014

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Edit: post should have been PM'd.
GregEdited by paceman 2014-06-27

halldave

Senior Member

Joined: 04/05/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 121

Posted: 04:22am 26 Jun 2014

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Haa Haa - paceman ..post also PM'ed
Edited by halldave 2014-06-27

WhiteWizzard
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Joined: 05/04/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2959

Posted: 09:05am 26 Jun 2014

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Regarding parts for the ASCII Terminal, I will be selling component kits hopefully within the next week (waiting volume of parts from various global suppliers). This will include everything APART from the PCB. The reason for this is . . .

I am about to release the TermMite-VT100 which is a more compact version than that published in Part 3 of the excellent Silicon Chip series. The TermMite-VT100 is housed in a nice little ABS enclosure, and measures just 68mm x 68mm x 28mm.

I have not yet finalised the PCB layout and I have a couple of nice extras up my sleeve (ZIF socket for a 28-pin MicroMite). For a quick look at an early prototype please take a look at the following photos. These photos are of an early prototype but it should give you a rough idea of what the final product will look like.

Any questions then please contact me . . . .

WW

viscomjim
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Joined: 08/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 925

Posted: 09:38am 26 Jun 2014

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WW, very cool indeed. I need to play with this!!!!

Grogster

Admin Group

Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9753

Posted: 01:02pm 26 Jun 2014

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Agreed - very sexy little unit there, WW.

Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!

VK2MCT
Senior Member

Joined: 30/03/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 120

Posted: 01:28pm 26 Jun 2014

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Dear WW,
TermMite-VT100.
I'm still laughing & smiling.
Thank you,
John B

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 04:15pm 26 Jun 2014

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Well, if not in rush about making Geoff's terminal, anyone might have a look at my option as well (due for release soon). I have been working on this since the late 2013 but didn't get to finish it earlier.
The little black thingy in the ZIF socket is my low cost A/V controller - a 16-pin DIP hybrid chip-module.

For anyone interested in the schematics of these (these are the final release revisions):

DTX1-1740P
DEB1-AV

I will have the full documentation of DTX1-1740P ready for the release...

http://rittle.org

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halldave

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Joined: 04/05/2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 121

Posted: 04:21pm 26 Jun 2014

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Do you have approximate pricing and release date?

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 04:27pm 26 Jun 2014

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DTX1-1740P (audio in/out, VGA) - $17
DEB1-AV is basically a devboard only. I have not calculated the price for that one yet (expect something around $20)

release: probably in about a monthEdited by kiiid 2014-06-28

http://rittle.org

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muddy0409

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Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 125

Posted: 04:46pm 29 Jun 2014

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Is there any news about these things being available assembled and working?

Don't poo poo conspiracy theories.
Remember that everything ever discovered started somewhere as a theory.

Zonker

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Joined: 18/08/2012
Location: United States
Posts: 772

Posted: 06:42pm 29 Jun 2014

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Wow..!! Nice Design...
So, you would control the subsystem with SPI commands... Is the SWD connector on the prototype board made for programing new firmware onto the device..? Any info on the control protocol..? Sound input and output... nice... Graphics...?

kiiid

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Joined: 11/05/2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 671

Posted: 10:53pm 30 Jun 2014

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Thanks Zonker.

I am still working on the documentation, but in most general overview - yes, it is controlled by SPI (in fact mSPI, which is simply addressable SPI). From user's point of view it looks just like a memory array in which you write or read from. Pretty simple to control. This will be in the first release. In future there might be some 'commands' to perform some higher level functions. I am always open for input from other users.

The SWD on the dev board is for programming and debug the firmware.

The input - by initial idea it is for handling an analogue keypad so the input filter has low cutoff frequency in the prototypes. In future I might relax it a bit so it will take sound input as well.

The graphics is native EGA - 640x350 in 16 colours. To this model I have a few important extras in store which I won't discuss just yet.

Availability for the first samples - sometime in late July/early August.

Kon

http://rittle.org

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retepsnikrep

Senior Member

Joined: 31/12/2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 134

Posted: 04:36am 02 Aug 2018

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Holy thread resurrection Batman..

Are the original Geoff design pcb's available in UK anywhere?

WW any more details or your miniature version?

Can you use a usb keyboard with this? I suspect not.. Ps2 only?

Gen1 Honda Insights.

CaptainBoing

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Joined: 07/09/2016
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2171

Posted: 07:32am 02 Aug 2018

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if no joy, this is fairly easy to do yourself with these two modules (with some compromise on resolution).

USB keyboard to serial
http://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/usb-host-keyboard

Serial to Composite video (38x25)
http://www.batsocks.co.uk/products/Other/TellyMate.htm

dead simple setup - should be running in 5 minsEdited by CaptainBoing 2018-08-03

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