edintv Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 Maybe is nott the rigth place, but In ebay uk there´s several Aquarius tapes for auction, check here: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=10&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&icep_uq=aquarius&icep_sellerId=seriously.serious&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Maybe is nott the rigth place, but In ebay uk there´s several Aquarius tapes for auction, check here: http://rover.ebay.co...&mtid=824&kw=lg but they are all 47.00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psquare75 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 On a tangent, are all the roms (wav files?) available for cassette programs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 On a tangent, are all the roms (wav files?) available for cassette programs? A great many of them are available at the Mattel Aquarius Discussion Group. They are generally archived in .CAQ format, which is more space-efficient than .WAV files. Several cassette images (and cartridge binaries) are also bundled with the Virtual Aquarius emulator, which also includes tools to convert them back to .WAV files in case you'd like to use them with a real Aquarius. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 On a tangent, are all the roms (wav files?) available for cassette programs? A great many of them are available at the Mattel Aquarius Discussion Group. They are generally archived in .CAQ format, which is more space-efficient than .WAV files. Several cassette images (and cartridge binaries) are also bundled with the Virtual Aquarius emulator, which also includes tools to convert them back to .WAV files in case you'd like to use them with a real Aquarius. I had no idea there was a yahoo group, I just joined Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcfrick2112 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I had no idea there was a yahoo group, I just joined Me either... I just joined as well.. Isn't it a little strange to have active Aquarius development in 2010? Yes, it is, and it's also wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-topdog Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 I have posted a status update on the reproduction overlays that we will offer bundled with a few of the multicarts, over on the Project OverAqu thread I'm hoping that they can help to make the super-awesome multicart just a tine bit awesome-er 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I had no idea there was a yahoo group, I just joined Me either... I just joined as well.. Isn't it a little strange to have active Aquarius development in 2010? Yes, it is, and it's also wonderful. i think it is all due to having this subforum on one of the best/most busy retro gaming site/forum. AA gets alot of traffic,maybe the most out of all of them? I never knew about the yahoo group either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 i think it is all due to having this subforum on one of the best/most busy retro gaming site/forum. AA gets alot of traffic,maybe the most out of all of them? I never knew about the yahoo group either! Yes, that's a big part of it. The Yahoo! group is a treasure trove of Aquarius information, and it's a great way to keep in touch with other Aquarius enthusiasts; I think there are a lot more of them over there than there are over here. However, the AtariAge community as a whole is much larger, with a diverse range of individuals who may not be Aquarius users but who are looking for opportunities to contribute their talents to various homebrew/hobbyist projects. It makes for a very fertile environment for projects like this one, because there are so many different kinds of resources to draw upon. Just to give you one example (and this is as good a time as any to say this), one of the most important reasons why the hardware portion of this project worked out as well as it has is because GroovyBee was here and was willing to contribute his expertise. It was he who first planted the thought in my head of implementing a software-based bankswitching solution (as opposed to the very limiting switch-based idea I started with) way back in late April, and everybody should know that he was very generous with his assistance over the months that followed, on everything from the circuit design to the board layout. I'm sure that my newbie questions became annoying to him at times, but his input was critical to the success of the project, and I don't know how I could have finished the new cartridge board without his help. Speaking of the boards, I finally managed to get past the last few annoying problems, and the final boards are now IN PRODUCTION! If all goes well, I should be receiving them in about a week and a half, shiny gold fingers and all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Just to give you one example (and this is as good a time as any to say this), one of the most important reasons why the hardware portion of this project worked out as well as it has is because GroovyBee was here to contribute his expertise. Awwww shucks! Glad to help Jay. It was a close call way back when between a Speccy and an Aquarius. The Speccy won on price and the fact that other friends had one too. Its good to see a completed project . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-topdog Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 GroovyBee was here and was willing to contribute his expertise. That's because GroovyBee rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Hey, no worries ... that's not nearly as bad as suggesting that we aren't a viable community or anything of that sort! [derail] It probably isn't a big deal, but I feel I should address this: When I posted in that thread, I hadn't really been on AA much for a while (not enough to read entire threads), and I wasn't aware that a certain someone had been irritating people for some time by mocking the Aquarius and its users. It is true that I did that also, but I did it as an Aquarius player with a lighthearted "if you can't laugh at yourself..." mentality. But again, I was unaware that maybe a little too much laughing was going on at Aquarius users' expense. Regardless, it was never my intent to marginalize or belittle anyone. So, I apologize for any bad vibes or hard feelings. [/derail] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-topdog Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 [derail] It probably isn't a big deal, but I feel I should address this: When I posted in that thread, I hadn't really been on AA much for a while (not enough to read entire threads), and I wasn't aware that a certain someone had been irritating people for some time by mocking the Aquarius and its users. It is true that I did that also, but I did it as an Aquarius player with a lighthearted "if you can't laugh at yourself..." mentality. But again, I was unaware that maybe a little too much laughing was going on at Aquarius users' expense. Regardless, it was never my intent to marginalize or belittle anyone. So, I apologize for any bad vibes or hard feelings. [/derail] No worries, it's all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I apologize for any bad vibes or hard feelings. No need to apologize at all; my comment wasn't directed at you, but at the person who wrote the post I linked to. There is a kind of good-natured ribbing that comes from affection, and then there's ridicule that is meant to be sarcastic and provocative. I saw the other person's "non-viable community" comments as being of the latter kind, and that's all I had an issue with. Anything you said was harmless fun, and you should never have to apologize for that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Okay, I'm LONG overdue for an update here, and I have to apologize for that. I've been sick for most of the last week and a half, and I'm still struggling to catch up with everything, including the Aquaricart project. But now that I'm mostly recovered, I'm getting back into it, and I've made quite a bit of progress since my last update. First of all, look at what finally arrived at my doorstep last week: These are the final production boards that will be used for the Aquaricart, and hopefully for many other products yet to come! In keeping with the blue/white/black color scheme of the Aquarius, I decided to go with a blue solder mask and white silkscreen graphics. I'm very pleased (and more than a little relieved!) that they turned out so nicely: this being the first batch of these boards to be manufactured, there are at least a dozen different things that could have gone wrong with them, any one of which would have left me with two hundred pretty little blue coasters. And, because I have them all handy, here is the new board alongside some of its "ancestors" (the original Mattel/Radofin cartridge boards and some of my earlier prototypes): I combined several ideas from each one of these older boards into my design for the new SuperCart I, and so far, the new boards have tested perfectly. Getting the board design completed the way I wanted it was at least 80% of the work involved in this project, and it's very gratifying to finally have it finished. It's especially nice to know that, when more boards are needed for future Aquarius homebrew cartridges, I'll already have a tried and true design to use, thanks to this project; all I'll need to do is order more pieces. Next, here are some more screenshots to tease you with, this time running on the real hardware (which, despite my best efforts with my camera, really looks much nicer than it does in these grainy pictures): There are a few bugs that I'm still weeding out of the software, but for the most part, the programming phase of the project is nearly finished. The remaining work will mostly involve converting and formatting the manuals and other "extra" content, and I'm still making last-minute additions and changes. I'm actually finding myself waking up at night with ideas, and scribbling them down on a pad that I keep near my bed so I don't forget them. It's a sure sign that I need to get this thing finished and out of my head so I can take a break! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Great news Jay, looks fanatastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Wow. Those look great from any point of view. Definitely a great job!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MattelAquarius Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 The boards look great! I demand clear cart cases be commissioned to show these off! I must force myself to act my age, but this is exciting stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 The boards look great! I demand clear cart cases be commissioned to show these off! That's a great idea! I wish I had thought of it earlier; I would have added a footprint to the board for an LED. Actually, I think I'd settle for hot pink cartridge shells at this point, just as long as they work with my boards. There are so few Aquarius donors of any kind out there that a source for new shells would be extremely desirable, even more so than in "Atari-land" (where there are still truckloads of loose donor carts readily available for just about every variety of shell ever made). That would be my next project if the tooling costs weren't so prohibitive, but alas ... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MattelAquarius Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 That would be my next project if the tooling costs weren't so prohibitive, but alas ... Thanks Jay, but I knew I was just dreaming. Just to complete the train of thought, would a simple rectangular box-shaped cart be cheaper? Or is a mold a mold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D. Head Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Ok, so I was perusing Ebay looking for a donor cart and then I realized I really am OK without a case for the board because the filler cover that came with the Aquarius should fit right over the board, hiding it and protecting it from direct damage. No reason it would not fit inside that cover, right?? Morgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-topdog Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 I was checking into making reproduction shells when I started working on reproduction overlays, but the cost of the injection molds was staggering. The molds would run around $1.5-2 thousand, but then each shell would be like $0.10 each. The other two process I found that were intriguing were CNC cutting and 3D printing... but both would have made shells at an average of $5-7 a shell. The setup fees for each of these was right around $300-500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psquare75 Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 I was going to suggest 3d printing like Makerbot or Figureprints. Assuming you sold all 200 multi carts, that drops the price down to $10 a shell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Ok, so I was perusing Ebay looking for a donor cart and then I realized I really am OK without a case for the board because the filler cover that came with the Aquarius should fit right over the board, hiding it and protecting it from direct damage. No reason it would not fit inside that cover, right?? Morgan I haven't tried it myself, but yes, it should fit inside that cover just fine. That will get you by if you're using it without a Mini-Expander and don't have a donor shell for it. Using the bare board with a Mini-Expander is a bit more problematic because of the metal cartridge doors, but it can be done; you'll just have to insert some slabs of cardboard or thick paper on either side of the board to keep the doors from closing onto it. It's a lot like using a Multiplexer cartridge in an Atari 600XL or 800XL: that too is a bare cartridge board that has to be protected from metal cartridge doors, so at least I won't be the first one to have to ask my users to do that. Speaking of donor cartridges, I've also been collecting more of them for anyone who wants a shell with their Aquaricart, and I've now got about sixty of them: These will probably have to be a bit more expensive ($12 each instead of $10), but I think that's still cheaper than most of the ones on eBay when you factor in shipping. Considering their (relative) scarcity, it's really too bad that I'm having to open so many new Aquarius cartridges to get the shells, but as I said earlier, there really isn't any other alternative given how expensive it would be to make more of them. Besides, I think the Aquaricart is worth it, and since you're getting Night Stalker with it along with all the other games and applications, nothing is being lost. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-topdog Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 Sweet! Would you look at all of those E.T. cartridges! ummm... I mean Nightstalker... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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