F18A MK2

[TheMole]

14 hours ago, matthew180 said:

To that end, for the MK2, I have started working on porting my HDL to a different FPGA (Efenix Trion FPGAs) which are currently available and cost a lot less (at least half of the cost of the Spartan-6).  This is a large effort because, unfortunately, my HDL did not "just work" during my first attempts to get it ported to the Trion.

 

 

That's the same FPGA the guy working on the VIC-II Kawari (basically the C64 equivalent of the F18A) has chosen to migrate to. Perhaps there's some learnings to take from his porting process?

Edited December 5, 2022 by TheMole

[+dhe]

1 hour ago, TheMole said:

That's the same FPGA the guy working on the VIC-II Kawari (basically the C64 equivalent of the F18A) has chosen to migrate to. Perhaps there's some learnings to take from his porting process?

@TheMole

     Where does 'the guy' post his 'leanings'?

[Archimedes5000]

GitHub - randyrossi/vicii-kawari: Commodore 64 VIC-II 6567/6569 Replacement Project

VIC-II Kawari (accentual.com)

 

Greetings Axel

[Pheonix]

So, unless there is a major breakthrough, we're looking a middle to late 2023 at the earliest (I would guess.)

 

Thank you

 

[djones60]

Glad you are doing another run of the F18A board.  I would be happy with just that

 

 

[djones60]

Posted twice by mistake

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by djones60

[+acadiel]

It was great seeing this at VCF.  @matthew180 showed it to me and it's so thin!  Can't wait for it!

 

[JasonE]

I'd be in for another original board.  

[matthew180]

@JasonE See my last post on pg. 34 of this thread (can't specify the number of the post any more).  I'm working on a mitigation since the MK2 is suffering heavy setbacks due to FPGA availability and probably having to change to a completely new FPGA.

 

[JasonE]

On 12/19/2022 at 2:41 PM, matthew180 said:

@JasonE See my last post on pg. 34 of this thread (can't specify the number of the post any more).  I'm working on a mitigation since the MK2 is suffering heavy setbacks due to FPGA availability and probably having to change to a completely new FPGA.

 

Thanks!  Hope to see them available soon.

[Archimedes5000]

When a prototype is ready I'm happy to buy a third TI99 to support testing.

[iiwii]

On 12/4/2022 at 1:18 PM, matthew180 said:

Spartan-6 FPGAs are still unobtanium.  Xilinx published a letter to their customers (whoever they are) that outlined their product availability over the next year, plus cost changes.  The MK2 uses the Spartan-6 FPGA, and the status is that the current conditions (i.e. unavailable to mere mortals) for the Spartan-6 will continue through 2023.  To add insult to injury, the cost of the Spartan-6 is going UP by 25%.

 

It seems Xilinx is really trying to kill their lower-end FPGA lines and squeeze people out of their older FPGAs, and I think they might be successful here.  I don't want to wait for them, and I'm sure no one else does either, then have to pay 25% more for a part that is already the most expensive on the board.

 

To that end, for the MK2, I have started working on porting my HDL to a different FPGA (Efenix Trion FPGAs) which are currently available and cost a lot less (at least half of the cost of the Spartan-6).  This is a large effort because, unfortunately, my HDL did not "just work" during my first attempts to get it ported to the Trion.  This thwarts my "fast track" idea to getting the MK2 out the door, with updates later to enabled more features.  It seems I have to do all the work now.

 

However, to also try and ease the situation of there not being any F18As out there, I'm working on trying to get a bulk run of an updated F18A board (I'm back-naming it the "MK1").  However, just like people making the original F18A in small batches, we are all struggling to find even the older Spartan-3E FPGA that the F18A uses.  If I can secure enough non-counterfeit parts, I hope to have some MK1 boards available in... depends.  Late January at the earliest I suspect.  I'll make a new thread when I feel the board is ready for a proper announcement, I really don't like to talk about hardware before it is ready (like the mistake I made with the MK2).

 

...

 

New here but been lurking and reading for awhile.  Would be interested in an F18A "MK1" for my 99/4A.  Maybe move it to the Colecovision later on when the MK2 comes out, understanding the pin height difference.  Are you doing any kind of pre order or do we just need to keep an eye out for a new thread?  I have your website bookmarked as well.

[+OLD CS1]

1 minute ago, iiwii said:

 

New here but been lurking and reading for awhile.  Would be interested in an F18A "MK1" for my 99/4A.  Maybe move it to the Colecovision later on when the MK2 comes out, understanding the pin height difference.  Are you doing any kind of pre order or do we just need to keep an eye out for a new thread?  I have your website bookmarked as well.

 

 

[+arcadeshopper]

3 hours ago, iiwii said:

 

New here but been lurking and reading for awhile.  Would be interested in an F18A "MK1" for my 99/4A.  Maybe move it to the Colecovision later on when the MK2 comes out, understanding the pin height difference.  Are you doing any kind of pre order or do we just need to keep an eye out for a new thread?  I have your website bookmarked as well.

I'll have them in my store when they are ready.  (mk1 and mk2)  the original design f18a are in my store sporadically AND shift838 is making a batch.. 

[iiwii]

11 hours ago, arcadeshopper said:

I'll have them in my store when they are ready.  (mk1 and mk2)  the original design f18a are in my store sporadically AND shift838 is making a batch.. 

Thanks for the reply.  I've got your store bookmarked.  Looks like a good source.  I'm doing the preorder with shift838 for the F18A. 

[matthew180]

On 1/15/2023 at 8:34 PM, iiwii said:

Are you doing any kind of pre order or do we just need to keep an eye out for a new thread?

 

I'm not going to do any pre-orders right now because the parts market is too volatile and I don't want to be sitting on people's money for months.  I have been putting as much effort as I can into a MK2-stop-gap solution, which should be happening very soon.  But, until I have working and tested boards in-hand, I am not making any announcements.

 

The email waiting list has become unmaintainable (I think everyone is on it by now), so AtariAge is the best place to watch for announcements.  I'm sure the info will travel quickly to other platforms.

 

[+OLD CS1]

Of interest.

 

[matthew180]

My understanding is that the HDL port is not 100%, so your compatibility may vary.  The MK1 is available if anyone is looking for original F18A capability.

[RickyDean]

@matthew180, can you point me to version 1.3 of the f18a BOM. I have a bare board and a 8 pin bios chip, need to order the rest of the parts for it. If you have a mouser bom or digikey bom those will work too. Thanks

[matthew180]

I never officially released the F18A BOM.  If you are making one for yourself, send me a PM.  However, the Spartan-3E-250 (XC3S250E-4VQG100) FPGA alone is still over $50 from Digikey and Mouser.  The FPGA was about $18 pre-pandemic.  I hope you did not pay much for the board...  Making it yourself is not going to really save you any money, if that is a goal.  Part cost and availability were main reasons it took so long to get the MK1 available.

[RickyDean]

18 minutes ago, matthew180 said:

I never officially released the F18A BOM.  If you are making one for yourself, send me a PM.  However, the Spartan-3E-250 (XC3S250E-4VQG100) FPGA alone is still over $50 from Digikey and Mouser.  The FPGA was about $18 pre-pandemic.  I hope you did not pay much for the board...  Making it yourself is not going to really save you any money, if that is a goal.  Part cost and availability were main reasons it took so long to get the MK1 available.

Understood on the price of the Spartan, I was given the board free by one of our astute members here on Atariage, so the price was right. I don't want it to go to waste, though I know that there are cheaper alternatives now. And I might just happen on a Spartan for cheaper by doing some searching, who knows.  Alibaba seems to have some good prices, of course the chips may be junk? https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/xc3s250e--4vq100i.html. Thanks and be expecting a PM.

Edited September 25, 2023 by RickyDean

[Boschloo]

How do I purchase an F18A MK2? Is it still made?

[RickyDean]

1 hour ago, Boschloo said:

How do I purchase an F18A MK2? Is it still made?

As far as I know, the F18A MK2 has not been completed yet and placed into any kind of production. You are probably thinking of the F18A? That has been produced by the designer as well as a couple of other enterprising people, and you may find one that still has some parts to produce one. search here on this forum or maybe one will chime in. There is a thread here on Atariage and posted up a few posts above this of a F18 Alternative: 

I'm waiting for some Tang units to show up from China, should be here soon, as they've made it to the states, to create some  V9938 and V9958 compatible units.

[djones60]

13 hours ago, RickyDean said:

As far as I know, the F18A MK2 has not been completed yet and placed into any kind of production. You are probably thinking of the F18A? That has been produced by the designer as well as a couple of other enterprising people, and you may find one that still has some parts to produce one. search here on this forum or maybe one will chime in. There is a thread here on Atariage and posted up a few posts above this of a F18 Alternative: 

I'm waiting for some Tang units to show up from China, should be here soon, as they've made it to the states, to create some  V9938 and V9958 compatible units.

I've made a couple of the Tang alternatives.  They worked well for me.  One is in a Nabu and the other is in a TI-99a.  The TI needs the "fat" version of the PCB.  But you need to be handy with a soldering iron and build your own.  Also, they have VGA output. 

[matthew180]

On 10/27/2023 at 9:13 AM, Boschloo said:

How do I purchase an F18A MK2? Is it still made?

 

The MK2 is still in flux.  I'm having to replace the FPGA with a completely different part by a different manufacturer due to availability and cost.  This is not a small change.

 

The MK1 has been available for most of the year, but part availability dictates when I can get more made, so as of Oct 2023 I'm trying to get another batch organized.  When they are available, you can get them from the ArcadeShopper web-store.