Date   : Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:02:42 -0800
From   : conrad.russo@... (Conrad Russo)
Subject: Fwd: Re: Not Exactly a BBC Question But...

Yeah, what I'll try to do is to send some of the 40 bit serial code from
the userport of my master to the FM77 at the proper rate and see if it
recognizes it as keypresses. If that works, I'll move on from there. I
might go another route though because both my beebs are in a room that is
completely inaccessible right now due to renovations :(. I have two awesome
beebs (and an Archie) that I haven't been able to use for a while now, it's
upsetting! But back on topic, I have asked around on two keyboard forums to
see if anyone can help out a bit with the practical side of things. There
are so many people out there who have an FM77AV machine without a keyboard,
a uC/Arduino/(C)PLD based solution could really help some people. I thought
maybe of an Arduino Mini (the ones in a DIP formfactor) inserted into a
small board with the appropriate connectors. I know lots of boardmaking
houses offer a really good deal on small boards of a set size.

On Thu, Jan 5, 2012@... PM, Rick Murray <rick@...> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Sorry, mental hiccup, forget the PS/2 stuff. You want *something* that the
> FM77 thinks is a keyboard. You could try bit bashing on the user port (re.
> my previous message, just read FM77 where I wrote PS/2...).
>
> Thing is to connect *anything* to the Japanese box is likely to require
> programming (the Arduino needs to know what to do, right?). If you can get
> the Beeb keyboard working, you're halfway there. If you can read a PS/2
> keyboard and output FM77 on the Beeb, you'll have all the code ready to
> port over to the not-quite-C++ language the Arduino platform uses.
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Rick
>
> (*sent from my mobile*)
>
>
> -----Original message-----
>
> *From: *Conrad Russo <conrad.russo@...>*
> To: *Rick Murray <rick@...>*
> Sent: *Fri, 06 Jan 2012, 07:36:42 CET*
> Subject: *Re: [BBC-Micro] Fwd: Re: Not Exactly a BBC Question But...
>
> I think you misunderstood what I want to do, I want to hook up a PS/2
>> keyboard to an FM77AV, not the other way around. Forgive me if you already
>> knew that, it's just that the way you described it (keyboard to
>> microcontroller, microcontroller to PS/2 lead) sounds like you think I want
>> to hook up a foreign keyboard to a PS/2 port. I think such things as PS/2
>> keyboard debouncing are well known. So all that would have to be done is
>> read the PS/2 keyboard, convert PS/2 codes to 40-bit FM77 serial stream,
>> send to FM77. I think it's a little bit simpler then the other way around.
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 5, 2012@... PM, Rick Murray <rick@...> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Arduino looks kinda cool. I might get myself one to play with (Farnell
>> lists the Uno for ?20, but the spec is quite low, there is an ARM Olimex
>> for ?24, or a Cortex-M3 with LCD, four buttons, serial, plus a fine spec
>> for ?35. Not a RPi, but not a bad little mcu dev board.).
>>
>>
>> But note, you still have to fiddle with hardware (keyboard to
>> microcontroller, microcontroller to PS/2 lead) and software (scan keys,
>> debounce, convert to PS/2, bitbash PS/2...) so for a quick fix you might as
>> well wirea PS/2 plug to the User Port and try that first. If you can't get
>> that going, give up on using a microcontroller, it won't be as easy to poke
>> as BASIC!
>>
>> As for the keys and the Beeb's lack of them, there is always Ctrl key
>> options.
>>
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Rick
>>
>> (*sent from my mobile*)
>>
>>
>> -----Original message-----
>>
>> *From: *Conrad Russo <conrad.russo@...>*
>> To: *"bbc-micro@..." <bbc-micro@...>*
>> Sent: *Fri, 06 Jan 2012, 00:03:01 CET*
>> Subject: *[BBC-Micro] Fwd: Re: Not Exactly a BBC Question But...
>>
>>
>