flip@osu-cgrg.UUCP (Flip Phillips) (04/18/86)
*** REPLACE THIS t-disk WITH YOUR microforge, maybe ***
I have had the honor of posessing a Tecmar T-Card and T-Disk for
the past month and I felt compelled to tell the whole world about it...
We are under a development project here so our Amigas get used
heavily as in 20 hrs a day, mostly as terminals on our Sun development
system. (Terminal programs are another story... "... when I run at 9600
baud its like I'm only running at 3-400 baud ...")
I was told by my dealer that "..we were some of the only people in
the states that had this stuff..". Problem is is that I was in LA a week
before I got my stuff and wandered into a little hole in the wall computer
store that had BOTH Tecmar and MicroForge stuff. We have since switched
dealers.
First, the T-Card. We have 1 meg cards here. They are equipped
with this big power supply that powers both the card and the disk drive.
The card is SUPPOSED to 'snap' into the amiga at the bus opening. However,
I have had 6 machines / cards and none of them ever snap on, they seem to
dangle. If you bump the machine, zoppo, Guru Med. I have put styrofoam
under the unit so it makes some contact with the desk...
Also I have had great problems getting the cover off of the T-Card
in order to check the dip switches / memory. Managed to bend the mouse /
stick ports all to hell.
Once you get it on your machine in some fasion, it is time to
install the software. That part goes OK but you have to remember to
install the T-Disk software, THEN run T-Preferences and enable the memory.
If you dont you get either a Drive and no memory or memory and no drive.
The configuration script is saved in ascii in sys:devs/t-config.script .
It can be edited if your installation software goes to hell on it.
Annother fun toy is the little steel-type things that are supplied
with the card to "Tape on your mouse cable to meet FCC requirements on rf
interference." Boy, what an aesteticly pleasing thing, a 1 inch cube of
black-taped mass on your mouse cord. But Be carefull! If you dont put it
on there there will be an FCC Detector Van outside your door soon! [-)
A big proble to me is there is no more bus after it goes into the
card, that is you cant connect anuthing else to the bus (as in the Zorro,
or Developers Smokestack). Since there is no buss-out on the T-Card.
This sux since you are nailed with having a one and only T-Card and
nothing else.
The T-Disk is annother horror story all together. It is in an box
a little larger than the external disk drive and is connected to the
T-Card, (I guess there is a way to connect it if you don't have the t-card
too ). The first drive I had came with a Huge Interconnect cable, ~ 1 inch
in diameter, poorly built. It is about 10 inches effective legnth and has
to be twisted in order to attach it to the drive. Upon twisting it the
cable came out of the headshell, since it is sooo short.
The newer drives come with a smaller cable, but still it has to be
twisted and I'm sure that can't be too good for it physically.
It draws its power from the same power supply as the T-Card. It
has its own power switch... (oh boy...) which powers up the drive only.
It also has lights to tell you about read / write and power status.
However the read and write lights seem to be a bit to dim so unless the
lights are off in the room you can't tell what is going on.
And now to my favorite part about the drive, the fan. Internal
cooling is made possible through a small fan, about the size of a half-roll
of 50 cent pieces. This is all good and well excepth that the fan makes
more noise than a Hoover Upright Vacum Cleaner! This is no joke. The db
level is deafening. Add the disk to a nice big wood desk to resonate the
sound and you get the most obnoxious roar you have ever heard. I
approximate that it is louder than our Eagle on the suns. Other, newer
drives we have gotten have provided us with the same noise. There are 4 in
one room and the noise is incredible. ( Note that by the end of april there
will be 15 of them in there! Just think, 15 Hoover Uprights... )
In so far as failures, my T-Disk failed on me over the weekend.
Guess what went? The fan!!! I walked into my office and was taken by how
quiet it was. The disk was no that hot though...
Also while installing the software today on annother system the
t-config software rebooted the machine whenever it tried to access the
t-disk. It only hapened on one machine so I am assuming a faulty t-card or
t-disk. Hi ho...
So, my suggestion, try to stay away from this stuff. It has been a
minimal amount of fun and while it performs OK, (note, not 'GREAT!!!') I
would rather settle for some stuff that doesnt break down or is a bit more
proven. I havn't gotten a GOOD look ath the microforge stuff yet but you
can bet that when we buy the remaining 9 hard disk sub-systems we will not
be buying Tecmar...
Flip
**** disclaimer *****
I am in no way connected with any of the above mentioned companies.
The opinions stated above reflect my own personal thoughts and do not
necessarily represent the views of:
The Ohio State University,
The Ohio State University-Computer Graphics Research Group
The Ohio State University-IRCC
or any other firm I am associated with
blah, blah, blah, bleh, blah...
--
Flip Phillips {ucbvax,decvax}!cbosg!osu-cgrg!flip
Computer Graphics Research Group, The Ohio State University