[OT: Opinions on the Vectrex]

........for anyone that's interested, this is what the VecVoice speech sounds like -

 

www.vectrex.biz/VV-Demo.wav

 

(from Verserk)

[OT: Opinions on the Vectrex]

As popular as Protector was (He made 100, but they sold fast), I would hope he'd consider another run, or maybe let GoodDealgames (I think that's them) produce just the cart. That way more people can enjoy that great game!!!  

 

 

Keep posted to RGV - cause Alex is releasing Protector and YASI (with VV speech) on one glorious cart (produced by Mark Shaker).

 

And it's gonna happen VERY soon (me and some guys are beta testing the cart right now)

[New Vectrex Game: Protector now available!]

Do you think it might be possible to wire an adapter for a x-arcade joystick? I've been thinking about ordering one for a while and this would just give me another reason  .

 

 

Yes, it's very easy - you just need to wire in resistors on the switches.

 

Rob, what's the values to use ?

[New Vectrex Game: Protector now available!]

There will be a limited number made: www.vectrex.biz

 

 

Rob, that's my page and I don't make controllers

 

You want Brett's site -

 

http://www.jitterring.com/playvectrex/

 

 

Although, I think he's put production of Vectorcades on hold for a while.

 

 

BTW I have one and they are REALLY good - probably THE best homebrew controller ever made.

[New Vectrex Game: Protector now available!]

Can you guys here vouch for the author, Alex?

 

 

Yeah, I can vouch for him - but if you don't believe me, check out rec.games.vectrex - you'll get loads of good references there.

[New Vectrex Game: Protector now available!]

That screenshot of "YASI" looks incredible too, though I gotta believe he took a long-exposure photograph to conceal what must be seizure-inducing flicker!

 

 

Believe it or not there's NO flicker - it's just like playing on a B/W TV with scanlines.

 

It's a very cool effect

[2600 flashcart simple version?]

Ha!!!! Well If I didn't live in California, I might have tried them out  I can't order boards from overseas  I want to release soon

 

Whoops ! - I'd completely forgot they're based in Ireland

 

 

and we all no a cartridge board is far from rectangular

 

What would be great is if someone starting making dev cart PCB's.

 

Like the one in the Atariage store but with a large protyping area tacked on the end.

 

I'm sure it'd encourage more hardware developers.

 

 

BTW What did you use to write your flash-cart downloader software ?

 

 

Richard H.

[2600 flashcart simple version?]

You are correct... EEPROM's have a maximum amount of times they can be written to... usually about 100,000 times. This makes it fine for ordinary use, like writing games to the memory

 

 

I've been playing around with EEPROM recently and found that they can't be written to at speed like SRAM

 

NVRAM is more pricy than EEPROM memory.

 

Have you seen those Dallas smart sockets ? - they're very nice to use when prototyping.

 

each revision I make is another $150 proto I have to order

 

Have you tried using www.pcbpool.com ?

 

 

They always give me a good price

 

 

 

Richard H.

[CD4050 video mod......... *sighs*]

So, my question is regarding the CD4050 hack - does it correct any of these issues? If so, put me on the list for buying one when and *if* they are sold here at AA!!!  

 

Rob sent me the circuit (he has it installed) a while ago and suggested it'd make a good PCB.

 

I haven't yet tried it myself, but he says it gives a good picture + sound.

 

The boards will definitely be made - I suggested to Rob it'd probably be cheaper + more convenient to have them made in the US (I live in the UK).

 

 

 

Richard H.

[CD4050 video mod......... *sighs*]

Here's a pic of the proto mod PCB - it's got soldermask and component-id print to make assembly easier.

 

The board size is 42mm x 56mm.

 

 

 

 

Richard H.

[32k Flash Cart Rev. 2]

Will I be able to get a serial port version? ..... please?  

 

 

Rob, I can make you a 2K/4K Atari adaptor to use on the VecRAM for the time being, if you want ?

 

 

 

 

Richard H.

[32k Flash Cart Rev. 2]

I don't think PICs are fast enough to do Atari bankswitching. They run at only 5MHz max, which leaves less than 5 instructions per Atari clock cycle. Given that a jump command takes 2 instruction cycles on a PIC, that means that your loop could only have three instructions and still execute every 2600 cycle. The PIC is 8 bit, so you need to compare the inputs on two ports to detect a bankswitch address. Just reading both ports is two cycles minimum. Uh oh....  

 

Ahh.....yes...that would explain the glitches I've been experiencing.

 

SH*T ! - I did suspect it was that

 

Looks like I'm out of the race untill I find something more powerful

 

 

How does your RAM cart work... how do you program it???

 

The SRAM is fully connected to the MC's ports. A byte received by the PIC from the PC and placed on the SR's data port. It's then written by controlling the WE, and the Addr port incremented ready for next byte etc - it's very simple in practice.

 

It's also got a rock solid verify, as the SR is read after the write, and sent back to the PC.

 

How much memory is on it?

 

64K (32K on VecRAM) + on a 877 there's plenty of free ports to go much higher.

 

Is it nonvolatile?

 

It uses SRAM, but could use FLASH / EEPROM just as easily.

 

What bankswitching schemes do you plan to use

 

I was planning on putting them all in, but it's turning out to be more complicated than I had at first imagined

 

 

 

Hey ! - the fun part is the experimenting bit right ?

 

 

 

Richard H.

[32k Flash Cart Rev. 2]

I am curious, looking at the picture I see a crystal and 2 caps, that leads me to believe that the big chip is a PIC16F877. Is that correct ?

 

Yes, you are correct.

 

It's being used for the bank-switching + also to download data serially from a PC to the SRAM.

 

The download bit is tried and tested and works great (see VecRAM)

 

The bankswitch bit on the otherhand is not working correctly.

 

I'm really hoping it's just the address read glitch, and not something serious like the PIC not being fast enough.

 

I did have it sort of working on a 2 bank-switching game the other day, but the display was continually rolling for some reason.

 

I've left it alone for quite a while to concentrate on Vec hardware. But recently I've gone back to tinkering with it, as Rob suggested there might be some interest in a Cuttle cart type device.

[32k Flash Cart Rev. 2]

Here's a pic of my 2600 RAM-cart proto. The EPROM is in place of the SRAM for bank-switch testing purposes.

 

 

 

 

Richard H.