Rapidus Board for the 1088XEL

[DavidMil]

I just bought a Rapidus Board from the Brewing Acadamy.  It arrived without any documentation, and I was wondering what all the connectors

are for.  There are four connectors labeled con3 through con6 and one 10 pin box connector without and designator.  I've looked through the

Brewing Acadamy and Lotharek's sites but cannot find any info on the connectors.  Can someone point me in the right direction please?

 

Thank you!

DavidMil

[flashjazzcat]

You should consult Lotharek's site for installation instructions (on the 'Files' tab), although the last time I looked, the location of the ground pin on the 3-pin header was apparently left as an exercise for the reader to guess. In any case, only that 3-pin header requires additional connections.

 

Since the target machine is a 1088XEL, @ebiguy created a rather nice after-market XEL-CF daughterboard specifically designed for Rapidus installations. I have no idea whether he made the design publicly available, though.

 

However, before you do anything at all, you might want to read this (given that U1MB is a mandatory component of the 1088XEL):

 

http://drac030.krap.pl/Rapidus_known_issues.pdf

 

I think this document should be conspicuously linked on every Rapidus vendor's page, since it is hardly much use when you have already paid for the hardware. In any case, I offer my experience since I previously installed Rapidus in my own 1088XEL (using one of Eric's XEL-CF boards), and it exhibited the same issues it exhibited when previously installed in other U1MB-equipped machines. Since one solution offered to stability issues is to 'remove either board', and you cannot remove the U1MB without losing most of the functionality of the 1088XEL, the implied solution to Rapidus issues in a 1088XEL would be to take the Rapidus board out of it. Your mileage may vary, however, as the expression goes.

Edited January 16, 2022 by flashjazzcat

[DavidMil]

Thank you for the know issues sheet.  I will also be sending an email to Lotharek.

 

Thank you again!

David

[+mytek]

On 1/16/2022 at 4:04 AM, flashjazzcat said:

Since the target machine is a 1088XEL, @ebiguy created a rather nice after-market XEL-CF daughterboard specifically designed for Rapidus installations. I have no idea whether he made the design publicly available, though.

He did and let me host it: https://ataribits.weebly.com/xel-cf3-rapidus-variant.html

 

[DavidMil]

On 1/17/2022 at 12:39 PM, mytek said:

He did and let me host it: https://ataribits.weebly.com/xel-cf3-rapidus-variant.html

 

I actually ordered that board from OSHpark (well, three actually since you can't order just one).  I've been using it for

some time now in my 1088.  It seemed to me that some of the games played a little bit slower, so I thought I'd try the

Rapidus to see if I could get any speed improvement.  Sadly, the world doesn't pay any attention to one's wishes, so

I haven't even had a chance to turn on my 1088 (or any Atari computer) in over a month.

 

David 

[_The Doctor__]

Games playing more slowly? Is that a clock or oscillator issue? If so, would that affect sync with a CRT?