DIY cart questions

[elspuddy]

hi
i want to have a go at building my own diy cart but i have a few questions.

1) how big is the pcb ? i cant see to find any info on this
2) acid chip, where can i get one from ? , i dont realy think i can butcher a cart for one

[Bryce]

Well the exact dimensions and layout are here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/DIY_Cartridge
The ACID is another issue. The easiest place is to butcher an original.

On the other hand, if you're going to go to the bother of making a cartridge, then the Multi-Cart might be a better choice, because it offers more than a clone of the original cartridges: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Multi_Cartridge

Bryce.

[elspuddy]

exelent, thanks

[arnoldemu]

Well the exact dimensions and layout are here: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/DIY_Cartridge
The ACID is another issue. The easiest place is to butcher an original.

On the other hand, if you're going to go to the bother of making a cartridge, then the Multi-Cart might be a better choice, because it offers more than a clone of the original cartridges: http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Multi_Cartridge

Bryce.

@Bryce: On pushnpop, Pulko talks about a cart pcb, with a cpld for the acid. Is this a feasible solution and would it be fairly easy to make a design with a cpld socket, rom socket, and the software for the cpld? This may be the next best solution for making "production" cartridges.

@Others: Concerning carts, I don't think anyone found a solution for the case?

[Bryce]

Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. If someone can give me the circuit diagram of their CPLD solution I can do a layout for it. Unfortunately I don't own a programmer for CPLDs, so I couldn't program it, but I could do the rest. The only doubt I would have is: What does the CPLD cost? I've heard it works, but is it an economic solution? Did they just use any CPLD  - something they had lying around on a development kit? Or did they choose the smallest/cheapest CPLD they could find? I would prefer to wait until the design had been optimised to the max before making any.

As far as cases are concerned, I haven't heard of any solutions yet either.

Bryce.