What is this hardware?

[nocash]

Hi, I've found some unclear items on the http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Peripherals page:

Code Select Expand


Wireless mouse (DIY)               added 19 August 2006 by CPCLER
Cirkit HX-RX1 Rom Expansion Card   added 3 September 2006 by Torn (also listed on retroisle)
Amstrad DMP2100 printer            added 3 July 2006 by Kangaroo (also listed on VINTROPEDIA)
Silicon Systems MIDI Interface     added 3 September 2006 by Torn (also listed on retroisle)
64 Kb Printer Buffer (DIY)         added 19 August 2006 by CPCLER
FO-Dos card                        added 11 Auf 2006 by PulkoMandy
HDCPC                              added 21 August 2006 by 85.218.166.50
Dk'tronics Utopia OS               added 4th July 2006 by Gryzor


Some more info would be nice!
Adverts, Reviews, Manufacturer Names, Magazine Names, Downloads, Manuals, Photos, etc.

PS. HDCPC is also mentioned on the http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Dobbertin_Harddisc page (29 August 2006 by CPCLER), according to that page it would be a IDE interface?

EDIT: Utopia is solved, it was meant to be Arnor's Utopia, not dk'tronics.

[PulkoMandy]

Hello,
The FO-Dos card is a simple extension replacing the Basic ROM with the 1.1 version on the 464, so you can run some more basic programs designed for the 6128.

Info in french :
http://cpcrulez.free.fr/hardware_carte_fo-dos.htm

[nocash]

Great, thanks! With that hint, I even found a photo in the cpcrulez forum.
Info that I've collected so far --> http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/FO-DOS
Btw. what exactly is "Duchet Computers"? Did they just re-distribute hw/sw, or did they also rebadge them as "Duchet" products (like in software copyright messages, or on box/plaques)?

[nocash]

More info from Gryzor, about the dk'tronics utopia: "Well... I'm pretty sure I did have one, and it was marketed by dk'. Also, I'm 99% sure it had the same appearance as their other products - same CPC grey with the grilles and all..."

Did somebody else see that thing (or adverts for it), too - the Arnor Utopia marketed by Dk'tronics?

---

More info from cpcler:
o Robot (Complete with interface card)
o Wireless mouse
o PPI
o Eprom burner
o etc.
Mostly DIY projects.. About to scan complete descriptions etc.
Hope he'll get around scanning them soon, the Robot is something else than the ambug/fischertechnik ones.

---

The DMP2100 printer... Ygdrazil said that it did exist (in the http://cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php/topic,1252.0.html forum), but when I nailed him down ("swear by your life") he became unsure and hastily changed to "Maybe its the DMP2160 I remember!!" :-)

Unlike as for the other DMP's, there seem to be no photos/manuals/anything in the internet (aside from some toner/ribbon distributors that simply seem to list all model numbers that come into their mind). So I guess the Amstrad DMP2100 doesn't exist - and I'll remove it from cpcwiki - say something if you know for a fact that it DOES exist!

---

I think the "HDCPC" should be removed, too. It could mean everything and nothing. Might even refer to a well known thing like IDE8255 harddisk. Or it was meant to be a High-Desity floppy drive adaptor, did such a thing exist for CPC? Well, without further details, it could mean anything.

[arnoldemu]

.... but when I nailed him down ("swear by your life") he became unsure .....

shit. I'm not going to say anymore "I think i remember this" in the forum anymore, because nocash will send his heavies or put pressure on me. I'll then crack .....   then there will be silence from me ... and in a few years I will come back after intensive therapy 

[steve]

Utopia is/was a ROM that had to be installed in a rombox.

[arnoldemu]

Utopia is/was a ROM that had to be installed in a rombox.

At one point I did have a MAXAM rom that came on it's own pcb. It didn't plug into the 6128 well, so I assumed it must have been for 464. So this Dk'tronics utopia could be a similar thing.

(Oh shit, now nocash is going to try and get me to proove this and I can't)

[nocash]

Nay, I was joking, and didn't told him to swear by his life.
Just didn't wanted to delete info without asking.

> At one point I did have a MAXAM rom that came on it's own pcb.
> Oh shit, now nocash is going to try and get me to proove this and I can't
What do you mean "try"? If somebody can't proove - I will get him, there's no escape.
But you get away with it (this time), I found the Arnor Maxam Cartridge (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/AD1_ROM_Cartridge) while searching for Arnor Utopia Cartridges (which might exist, too, though I didn't found one in a dk'tronics case).

[arnoldemu]

Nay, I was joking, and didn't told him to swear by his life.
Just didn't wanted to delete info without asking.

> At one point I did have a MAXAM rom that came on it's own pcb.
> Oh shit, now nocash is going to try and get me to proove this and I can't
What do you mean "try"? If somebody can't proove - I will get him, there's no escape.
But you get away with it (this time), I found the Arnor Maxam Cartridge (http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/AD1_ROM_Cartridge) while searching for Arnor Utopia Cartridges (which might exist, too, though I didn't found one in a dk'tronics case).

Phew! Yes that is the one I had. I remember it just didn't fit well into the 6128. Part of the pcb was stuck between the edge connector and the bottom of the case. It was just too short.

In a 464. it probably fits ok.

[nocash]

> I remember it just didn't fit well into the 6128
Got you :-) can you please proove THAT statement... before sunset!

[arnoldemu]

> I remember it just didn't fit well into the 6128
Got you :-) can you please proove THAT statement... before sunset!

nope.

I am a dead man now.

[Gryzor]

I stand corrected, Steve "I won't register" Guest* is probably right. I got an instant mental image of a ROM chip with a handwritten label on it... I must have confused it with Silicon disk, I think!


*

[steve]

I stand corrected, Steve "I won't register" Guest* is probably right. I got an instant mental image of a ROM chip with a handwritten label on it... I must have confused it with Silicon disk, I think!


*

If that statement referred to me, I have registered, and this is my 20th post since registering.

[Gryzor]

If that statement referred to me, I have registered, and this is my 20th post since registering.

Um... apologies, it must have been the shock from my return to work. I'm pretty sure I saw your post as unregistered, that's why I said that... ok, better get some more caffeine in me maybe!

[fgbrain]

Well, I dont want to start a new topic and since I cant find anything related...
I want to ask here.

Does anyone know more info on this hardware??




Only thing I know is that it was photographed at a Greek auto-repair garage, then posted at a greek forum..

[MacDeath]

I think we already talked about it.

It's a device allowing to do some various electronic check-up on Cars, probably through a RS232 cable/serial interface ?

Or probably a custom connection.



I see you uploaded this picture in the wiki.

I added the [Category:Robotic] to it, because I don't like such awesome pictures being unused or uncategorized...

http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Category:Robotic


I know it is not really "Robotic" but in this category I also put most industrial application/use for CPC...

[redbox]

Pretty sure it tests the emissions from a car to see if there are any problems with the engine.


Bryce knows about cars and CPCs, so he's probably your best bet...

[TFM]

I think we already talked about it.

It's a device allowing to do some various electronic check-up on Cars, probably through a RS232 cable/serial interface ?

Or probably a custom connection.

So..... are you just guessing of do you know something? Urban legend or hard facts?

[Badstarr]

Looks like it basically checks fuel air mix and cylinder compression direct from the manifold/carb/cylinder? Might just be a load of stuff fed through the expansion port maybe? and compares with a database of values loaded from disc? Quite clever, useful if you have an engine with no diagnostic system! I'll take one!   

[Bryce]

Well I'm sure you don't want to hear "It's a CPC6128 with some other old stuff around it"

The other stuff are pretty old equipment for testing/tuning a car, the stuff on the left is for testing and setting the distributer "points", which cars don't have any more and setting the valve gaps (ie: tuning the engine). The bit in the middle (with the red buttons) looks like a HT tester, for testing for voltage leakage on the high-voltage parts/cables to the spark-plugs. Not sure what the top right gauges are, but the bottom right (with red and green LED) is indeed an emissions tester. The bits below the CPC looks like a vacuum tester. All completely useless for a modern car.

I don't know this particular equipment, but as MacDeath suggested, most of this stuff had RS232 or RS485 outputs, so the CPC was probably being used as a data-logger (most likely for the Motorscope on the top left).

By the way, Autocraft is a small English company, who used to be quite involved in motorsport (as far as I know). Are you sure the picture was taken in Greece?

Bryce.

[fgbrain]

Yes. By luck I found this pic in my hd which I saved in 2007. But I cant remember where I found the posting... 


BTW,  I think we have to add a "strange uses of CPC" section  to the Wiki !!

[MacDeath]

Urban legend or hard facts?

Urban facts are hard legends...

I was just trying to remember the discussion we already had (or is my brain that screwed in fantasy ?)





also, I want to promote the "new" 3D isometric page...

Please I need your opinions, there is even a topic I opened...



http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Isometric_3D

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/index.php?topic=2793.msg31709#new

[fgbrain]

Well!! I managed to find the initial post here:

http://www.retromaniax.gr/vb/showthread.php?2698-Automatic-Car-Inspection-System

[MacDeath]

Sorry my greek is defficient.

[Gryzor]

Ah, you beat me to it, I was certain it was on Retromaniax

The Greek thread doesn't offer much; the guy who shot it (and who's a new member here, btw!) said the mechanist said he used it for old cars, '80s to early '90s. It never gave any problems (yeah!). Another guy said there was a second repair shop in Salonica using a CPC for diagnostics...

PS and a third said he knows NASA is using a Spectrum, because so many planets are mustard-coloured.