brianr@tekig4.UUCP (Brian Rhodefer) (07/22/86)
-- You can't eat me, I'm a Gingerbread Line! -- Recent articles in this newsgroup have given me the impression that net.micro.amiga is read by commercial hardware developers working on products for the Amiga. If this is so, I'd like to use some of these graciously donated resources to suggest my idea of the "Perfect Amiga Expansion Box": 1) Sits on TOP of the Amiga, not beside it, and obscures none of the Amiga's connectors except the expansion connector 2) Has its own line-operated power supply 3) Has a lot of memory, of course. 1Meg minimum. If the memory had hardware error detection/correction, (parity bit(s)), it might make folks more comfortable. 4) Has non-volatile timekeeper (e.g. battery-operated CMOS clock/calendar) 5) (optional) Has enough battery-backed RAM to hold the c: directory contents All pretty ho-hum so far; in fact, I've heard rumors of products with (more or less) these features already in the works. Now for the feature whose unavailability astounds me: 6) SCSInterface!! Why are the pitifully few hardware suppliers for the Amiga squandering their resources (USENET translation: they're resource's) on efforts to paste one or two specific hard-disk drives onto the side of an Amiga, when a SCSI port would instantly make a larger selection of disk drives available at high-volume costs, and take far less engineering effort? Well, maybe disk drives with integral SCSI controllers are a tad expensive NOW, but which kind of disk drive is more likely to come down in price, a Tandon Platinum Pygmy (I was going to put the price and features of Tandon's drive here, but these statistics were SO bad I only remember my hoots of derision), usable ONLY on an Amiga computer, or "Mr. Data" SCSI hard-disk peripherals, usable on any machine that has a SCSI port? In addition to offering the larger choice of hard-disk drive storage capacities and speeds, a SCSI port would enables one to augment one's storage capacity in the future by simply plugging on more generic modules. (e.g. CD-ROM??) And, you can hook other equipment besides disk drives up to a SCSI bus! It seems likely to me that more innovative products can be sold (read: will come into existence) that "Plug onto any SCSI bus", than ones that "Plug onto the MC68000 data and control bus which appears on the 1986-vintage Amiga(tm) computer, as long as that bus hasn't been made unavailable by addition of a non-self-powered memory expansion unit X or by hard-disk drive Y". Is the Amiga a machine for the future, or what? Wishfully, Brian Rhodefer ...good_luck!tektronix!tekig4/brianr
stever@videovax.UUCP (Steven E. Rice) (07/24/86)
In article <815@tekig4.UUCP>, Brian Rhodefer (brianr@tekig4.UUCP) makes several suggestions for an Amiga expansion box. I would like to second his suggestion for an SCSI interface and suggest a very nice implementation of another suggestion: > 4) Has non-volatile timekeeper > (e.g. battery-operated CMOS clock/calendar) There is an extremely nice clock/calendar chip available from GE/Intersil -- I believe the part number is ICL 7170 (I'm typing on my Amiga at home, so I don't have the data sheet handy!). It has two features that make it a real winner: 1. It requires no external power-switching logic. The circuitry to switch from battery to the +5 volt supply is built in. All that is needed is a battery and a current-limiting resistor (1K to 10K or so). Not only does this save money, it significantly improves the chances that the chip will not be reset or otherwise disabled by ragged power or switching the power off and on too fast. 2. It draws extremely small amounts of power, even when running with a 1+ MHz crystal. (There are three or four possible crystal frequencies -- 32.768 kHz, 1.048576 MHz, possibly 2.097152 MHz, and 4.194304 MHz -- I can't remember if the 2+ MHz frequency is there.) All 32.768 kHz crystals have a significant problem -- temperature stability (or lack thereof). Even the poorest 1+ MHz crystal should have better frequency stability with temperature. If this part is combined with a Seiko 1.045876 MHz DS-MGQ crystal, which has an extremely low temperature coefficient, the clock should keep very good time. How about it, guys? Let's see a really good clock in there. . . Steve Rice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- {decvax | hplabs | ihnp4 | uw-beaver}!tektronix!videovax!stever No, I don't work for GE/Intersil or Seiko. However, I am using those parts in a product that will NOT connect to an Amiga expansion bus. Trademarks are duly noted. . .
richr@pogo.UUCP (Rich Rodgers) (08/01/86)
In article <815@tekig4.UUCP> brianr@tekig4.UUCP (Brian Rhodefer) writes: >Recent articles in this newsgroup have given me the >impression that net.micro.amiga is read by commercial >hardware developers working on products for the Amiga. Yes, this is a correct assumption. > >If this is so, I'd like to use some of these graciously >donated resources to suggest my idea of the "Perfect >Amiga Expansion Box": > ... Describes his ideal expansion box The following are descriptions of products that my company has designed for C Ltd. (Was CardCo). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An expansion box that sits on top of the Amiga approximately 4 inches high. It does not cover *any* of the ports except the expansion bus, which it graciously passes forward in the same manner as the aMEGA board. It contains 6 slots, 5 of which are accessible to the Amiga DMA. It has it's own voltage sensing power supply (thus no power switch). The box was designed with ergonomics in mind and should be a real winner. There are no "Extras" with this box. What you get is a card cage and a power supply. This was done to minimize costs, and give the shopper the opportunity to spend as little as need be to get <JUST> the features that <HE> needs. Name: aMEGA Box Price: $499 Available: August (Read LATE August) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 1 to 2 megabyte memory plug in card for any Amiga expansion box that follows the Amiga Hardware Specifications. This memory card runs at no wait states, and should satisfy even the most discriminating memory critic. Name: aMEGA Board II Price: $299 bare board $499 1 megabyte (user expandable to 2 meg) $699 2 megabyte Available: August ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 20 megabyte DMA Hard Disk. This was OEMed from a company much larger than we are. I have seen this disk in action and it is **FAST**. Name: ? Price: $799 Available: August ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >... Now for the feature whose unavailability >astounds me: > >6) SCSInterface!! > >Why are the pitifully few hardware suppliers for the Amiga squandering >... >Is the Amiga a machine for the future, or what? > This brings me to our final product. A multi-function card that will have at least the following items: SCSInterface (Optional DMA Chip) Battery Backed-up Clock 2 Serial ports (One 25 pin DIN, the other a 9 pin AppleTalk Hardware compatible DIN connecter) It may also have a parallel port... Price: $499 (Although I think this is preliminary and will go down.) Available: September (Read October or November) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even though I do not do the actual manufacturing of these products I do get royalties and this may be deemed as a commercial oriented posting. I regret if anybody has taken offense from this particular posting, but I feel the information is of general interest to the net and posted it in spite of my reservations. The products listed are all working (even if in prototype form) and should be available as soon as C Ltd. get its' manufacturing to the level of supporting a thriving Amiga market. I hope that this information has been of some help. Richard N. Rodgers, President Creative Microsystems Inc. 9140 SW Locust Street Tigard, OR 97223 -- Rich Rodgers richr@pogo