U46837@UICVM.uic.edu (02/22/91)
First, Allan Petersen's article on ram cards is great and should be read by all
interested in 48 ram and rom hardware. I wish I had read his article before I
puchased my S-C ram card, since my ram card stunk. >:^( <-mean face
When I first got my S-C ram card, it worked fine. After about an hour of use,
the card failed to work and I got BAD CARD DATA messages. I tried using a new
3volt battery on the card and several sets of fresh AAA batteries on the 48.
The card still failed to work.
Today I hooked up my 48 to an external 4.5volt-300mA power supply and the 48
and the card worked together perfectly. On the other hand, when I switched the
supply to the 4.5volt-100mA setting, the card failed to operate. In both cases,
the 4.5 volt level was maintained. I therefore find that my S-C card was more
of a current hog than anything. I don't find my card bad in any way, it's
simply not suited for a battery operated calculator. Remember, it was intended
for use in a Typewriter/Word Processor.
Since I like my 48 to be portable, I did away with the external power supply
and the S-C card. I busted open the card and it looks really cool that way.
You can see where the one surface mount ram (32K) die is, three empty spaces
(with all the connection lines present) where other ram dies could be placed,
the "impressive" (:-o) GATE ARRAY LOGIC, and other surface mount devices.
I wonder if the difference between a 32K and a 128K EPSON card is a dollar
worth of components and many more dollars out of the end user's pocket.
It's pretty lousy that the US has to depend on the JAPS to supply us with
the memory devices that we use! That's my 2.
As far as all these calls for a new mail list, I say dump those dinky psions,
casios, and sharps and buy a HP48! :-) :-)
As far as the trashing of returned HP48s, supply them all with TETRIS and give
them to the Iraqi generals. That will corrupt their central command really
well.
Sincerely, EUG <u46837@uicvm>fledley@condor.mbir.bcm.tmc.edu (Fred Ledley) (02/22/91)
From my (amateur) standpoint, the pinouts from the HP48 memory cards
seem similar to those on the Atari Portfolio memory cards. In fact,
except for the HP sliding gate over the pins, the form-factor is quite
similar.
Does anybody out there have any idea if they are interchangable? What
I would like to be able to do is go to Wallmart and buy a 32K card
for my Portfolio for under 30 bucks. (Yipeee!)
Thanks 10^6
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___ | R. Mark Adams |
/ / | Baylor College of Medicine |
/ /_____ ______ | Department of Cell Biology |
/ __ / / __ / | | { disclaimer }
/ / / / / /_/ / | fledley@mbir.bcm.tmc.edu | {under construction}
/__/ /__/ / ___/ | |
/ / | "Molecular Biologist in |
/__/ | Training..." |
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