Date   : Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:25:30 +0200
From   : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: making replica acorn cards

On 19/04/2011 14:11, stuart wrote:

> The whole idea of making a replica is that it is as close to the
> original as possible.

I think it depends upon your outlook. There are some who want 
authenticity, while others would prefer something that is fundamentally 
the same in spirit, if not in exact hardware.


> being able to obtain a replica of that card might allow them to keep
> the system as they want it, and to the untrained/unknowing eye it would
> seem still in mint condition.

Um...


> Why stop there. Almost any 80's computer can be done in an FPGA these
> days so why bother with more than one chip for any clone?

Because a reasonably skilled person could consider putting together a 
memory board. If you're skilled and patient, you might pull off a wire-wrap.

FPGA? We're looking at a form of programming. Not to mention enhanced 
complexity in verifying the design. If you miss an address line in a 
memory card, this could be traced down manually. Inside an FPGA?

While replacing difficult older components with more modern replacements 
is not necessarily a bad thing, to consider switching to programmable 
logic is - in my opinion - overcomplicating a simple problem.


I've recently gotten ahold of a FlashROM that is almost (not quite) a 
drop-in replacement for an EPROM. I could never have afforded a ROM 
board when I was young. Now technology is offering an option where I can 
insert a chip with special wiring to the extra pins, write some software 
to program it, and now I can get the functionality of a ROM board 
without the hardware, but with the flexibility of being able to 
reprogram the device. It'll be a fat chip in a ROM slot. From the 
outside? It'll look like a Beeb with more EPROMs than usual...


> And that sounds to me like I would be better off waiting till somebody
> comes out the woodwork as demands some money.

Indeed. Anybody could come and *claim* IPR, but how many could *prove* it?

That said, if a hobbyist makes a clone of a >20 year old design pretty 
much at cost, there is no doubt that any whiff of a legal fee will far 
outweigh anything likely to be recouped. I'd love to read a report 
trying to justify material losses for such an event...


Best wishes,

Rick.

-- 
Rick Murray, eeePC901 & ADSL WiFI'd into it, all ETLAs!
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...