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WLLFRTH.ARK
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2006-10-19
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The TI PE Box Prototype Board
Since the BB is broke again, I thought I'd put up a
description of the PEB prototype card. The card is a full
size expansion box card, and is designed to facilitate the
construction of a wide variety of PEB box devices.
Those who have attempted construction of a home-brew PEB card
from a plug board will appreciate this prototype card. It's
designed especially for the PEB and takes much of the work
out of a PEB project.
It has a gold plated edgecard connector. All necessary
traces are in place for the standard 74LS244's drivers for
address and control lines and the bi-directional 74LS245 for
the data bus -- you just drop in sockets and solder. The
same is true for the RBDENA line -- a 74LS125 or 74LS368
location is available with a trace running to RBDENA.
Toward the front of the card there is space for an array of
eight 28 pin IC's -- e.g., the 6264 (8K) or 62256 (32K).
Address and data line traces are provided in two 4-chip
groups as are holes for bypass capacitors, but as would be
expected with a prototype card, the user connects the address
and data lines to the appropriate pads from the address and
data bus drivers. With 32K IC's, one could put 256K in a
single layer. At the bottom of the 28 pin IC array, there
are locations for three 16 pin IC's.
Toward the back of the memory array there is space for five
columns of IC's of the 16 pin width -- about sixteen such
IC's could be accomodated. This area consists of columns of
plated through holes with power and ground buses available,
and it would also be used to mount discrete components.
Sticking out the back end of the card is a mounting area for
external connectors similar to that found on the RS232 and
Disk Controller cards.
Some very careful planning has obviously gone into the design
of this card. I understand that input was even solicited
from the TI employee who designed all of the expansion box
cards. I would say that it comes as close as anyone might
want to an ideal universal prototype card for the PEB.
The first 100 cards will be available in four to six weeks
and orders are being taken now. The price (as jj indicated
in a BB message) is $35. When 10 or more are purchased the
price is $25 per board. Of course if you buy one of these,
you're not just buying a prototype board -- you're investing
a little bit in future 4A hardware development. This project
is being undertaken by John Willforth and a friend of his
basically for the fun of it and to support the TI. Your
purchse will help to offset the _substantial_ cost they are
incurring for set-up and the initial production run. (And
that doesn't even begin to take into account the hundreds of
hours of their time spend in developing the artwork.) For
whatever it's worth, I've ordered three.
So if you think you might be interested you place an order
with John Willforth, RD #1, Box 73A, Jeannette, PA 15644. If
you have any further questions, John said you can call him at
(412) 527-6656.
Yours truly,
Hans
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