Date : Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:11:13 +0100
From : stuart@... (stuart)
Subject: making replica acorn cards
> IMHO, if you are going to do that you may as well update the design,
> for example with the 32K RAM card to use a single 32K SRAM.
The whole idea of making a replica is that it is as close to the
original as possible. If somebody has a system with a faulty card then
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.
> I'm not really one for slavishly copying the past when a logical
> clone makes much more sense. This is one of the reasons that my Atom
> upgrades used more modern components, I can do in 3 chips what the
> original design does in about 15.
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?
In fact why bother with chips when a modern PC can emulate the whole
machine.
These are different things than having an original system that has a
faulty part than can be replaced.
> In some cases the chips are harder to find / more power hungry than
> more modern replacements.
Yeah, but the old PSUs should have been built to cope with the demands
asked of them.
> As for copyright/patent/trademark then possibly posibly not and if
> they are still covered, finding out who actually owns the rights
> could be somewhat challenging.
And that sounds to me like I would be better off waiting till somebody
comes out the woodwork as demands some money.
> Cirtainly no one has come after me for the AtomClone, though there
> was an uncomfortable moment when Steve Fuber asked me about
> copyright, but his oppinion seemed to be that it should be available.
> Dunno about Sophie Wilson, I wasn't actually there when she was
> looking at the clone, but other reports are that she was somewhat
> perplexed that people still wanted to play with this stuff....
I can understand that. Both of them have moved on, but it appears that
some of use choose not too.
> Possibly, I did wonder about building a System clone, main problem
> seems to be getting a eurocard backplane for a sensible price.....
They do seem to be funny money for what is only a long PCB.
Not sure how to get around that one as I have no idea how much such a
PCB would be if made to order today.
> Also choose your PCB package wisely.....my personal preference is
> Eagle but others may have different opinions on this....
I have used Eagle for many years (both at work and at home) so would
probably do the designs in that. Other good reasons are that Eagle is
available on most modern platforms and newer version will open older
designs, not always the case with commercial packages!
--
Stuart
Microsoft - products from convicted criminals