"chaz_heritage.WGC1RX"@XEROX.COM (03/01/88)
Does anybody know the CORRECT specification of extra RAM chips for the ST?
I tried to sort this out with a UK supplier who is doing RAM expansion boards
for a (relatively) sensible sum - they quote 120 UK pounds for the board (and
they say it ought to be more, but their boss made a mistake with the dollar
exchange rate) and sundry astronomical sums for the chips.
When I called them in the morning the chips were 256K DRAMs ("sorry, don't know
what sort") and they were 18 UK pounds each. This was both technically and
financially incorrect. In the afternoon they were 1M DRAMs ("sorry, still don't
know what sort") and they were 28 UK pounds each. This means, for 4M worth (what
I wanted) a total of over 1K UK pounds the lot. The guy claimed that this was
because there was an earthquake in Japan and the ground opened up and swallowed
the chip factory, the uninsured loss of which was being passed on to the
customer.
I don't know if there's any truth in this, but I'm quite certain
advantage of the mistake on the board price I can get the DRAMs somewhere else
for more sensible money (hell, for 1K pounds I could nearly get an ST4 anyway).
The only 1M DRAM I could find in the dreaded RS Components catalogue were
Toshiba TC511000P-10. These are 100ns devices, and I understand that I don't
need any faster than 150ns. Anyway, these things cost about 25 UK pounds from RS
(but that's inevitable with them). The board people couldn't tell me the device
organisation but I guess it's 1M x 1bit.
Can anybody sort this out for me? What I'd like to know is:
1 Device spec (part number, manufacturer, access time, organisation, number of
pins, even...). I've heard that certain manufacturers devices, such as Samsung,
won't work at all.
2 Is it true that the factory is now on its way to California by the scenic
route? If so, why are we expected to pay for it? Or is someone out there sitting
on a huge pile of these things, spreading rumour and profiteering?
3 What about the power supply? My 520STFM sits there quietly smouldering as it
is - the left-hand side of the vent slots gets nicely warm. All those RAMs are
going to want some power - can the internal supply handle an extra 2A max. (64mA
refresh) or will it finally brew up? Calculations based on Toshiba devices as
above.
4 The guy I spoke to seemed to think that the price ought to go down, rather
than up ("we're not making anything on this, you know..."). How much do you
folks Stateside pay for this sort of device? Just how badly am I going to get
burned? It might be worth asking someone visiting the US to buy them for me
there - any East Coast people have a suggested supplier?
5 Is this really worth doing at all, or should I just stop jerking off and get
an ST4? I can't really afford it, but I'd consider this course rather than
drastically marginalising the design of the 520STFM.
Hope somebody actually reads this far.
Regards,
Chaz
"I got a bad feeling about this."
"You do, huh?"Harold_Hank_Hagquist@cup.portal.com (03/06/88)
You can use 256K chips to go up to 1Meg of total memory. If you want to go any
higher you need to go to 1Meg chips. This is because to ST can only access
4 banks of chips. If you want an up grade board, I can get you one. To upgrade
to 1Meg (using 256K chips) the board is $250.00. If you want to go to a higher
upgrade (2 to 4 Meg.) the bare board is $200.00 plus each chip is $20.00.
This means if you want to get the board with 2Meg of memory it will cost you
$520.00. This is the price at this time as chip prices are very shakey. The
ST power supply will handle the extra chips. The above prices are all US dollar
You would also need to pay shipping prices above this.
For more info write me at:
Diamond Electronics
P.O. Box 1270
Niles, MI 49120
My phone # (616) 683-0700hase@netmbx.UUCP (Hartmut Semken) (03/09/88)
In article <3675@cup.portal.com> Harold_Hank_Hagquist@cup.portal.com writes: >You can use 256K chips to go up to 1Meg of total memory. If you want to go any >higher you need to go to 1Meg chips. This is because to ST can only access >4 banks of chips. If you want an up grade board, I can get you one. To upgrade Wrong. If you get a good soldering iron someone who can handle it one of each HC00, HC139, HC573 lots of wire and the german magazine ST Special you can make an upgrade to 2.5 M with 41256-12 chips (48 of them). It works. A friend of mine is working on a board for the chips so you don't need to build stacks of 4 chips.. hase -- Hartmut Semken, Berlin (West) (*east of West-Germany :-) hase@netmbx.UUCP I think, you may be right in what I think you're thinking. (Douglas Adams)