Abatape: My contribution to tape lovers

[caver99]

That sound really good!

I guess it is quite CPC oriented, but could it be possible to support other machines?

The firmware is based on Maxduino, so theoretically it supports all machines and tape formats Maxduino does:

• Spectrum: TAP y TZX
• Amstrad CPC: CDT
• MSX: CAS y TSX
• ZX80: O
• ZX81: P
• Acorn Atom y Electron: UEF (sin comprimir) y TSX
• Dragon 32/64 / Tandy CoCo: CAS y TSX
• SVI Spectravideo: TSX
• Oric 1 y Oric Atmos: No soporta los TAP de oric, pero sí TAP convertidos a TSX

I don't know if there is room in the chip to add C64 support, I need to investigate that

put me on the list for one, just read this thread and i have a lot of machines and some even have built in tapde decks, amstrad, spectrum and this will be great

[tjjq44]

You can also put me on the list 

[abalore]

Does anyone know how many people are in the Spectrum, MSX and C64 communities?

I'm planning to do the tape enclosure in plastic injection, but it requires a very big initial investment so I'm planning to create a Kickstarter project to fund it.

[St-BeidE(DE/GB)]

Does anyone know how many people are in the Spectrum, MSX and C64 communities?  ...

In Forum64, a german C64 forum, a lot... They clean up
the member statistic every year, so almost no file corpse.
However, that does not nessecearily means a demand for
your great idea.
As for the other home computer, there are already some
solutions for filetransfer via tape emulation.
I must admit however, that "emulation inside a tape", even an all in one solution for different 'homies' is a big deal.
Stefan You cannot view this attachment.

[dodogildo]

To estimate the potential, I'd check the other 8 bit projects on crowdfunding websites. ZX and C64 fans are generally big in numbers and quite supportive of such projects.

[abalore]

Does anyone know how many people are in the Spectrum, MSX and C64 communities?  ...

In Forum64, a german C64 forum, a lot... They clean up
the member statistic every year, so almost no file corpse.
However, that does not nessecearily means a demand for
your great idea.
As for the other home computer, there are already some
solutions for filetransfer via tape emulation.
I must admit however, that "emulation inside a tape", even an all in one solution for different 'homies' is a big deal.
Stefan You cannot view this attachment.

The specific advantage of my device is that it detects the wheel movement to stop and resume automatically in multi-load games (or just games that stop for a while to generate loading screens, like my beloved Amsoft games . Apart from that, it has a 700 mAh battery (others have 110mAh) and low consumption design for 24h continuous operation with a single charge. Also it doesn't have a single cable inside, all is done with custom PCBs and custom enclosures.


I'm showing a video of the assembly in next post.

[abalore]

[tjjq44]

A recording feature could be possible in the future?

[abalore]

A recording feature could be possible in the future?

Could you give me more context about that? What kind of recording?

[tjjq44]

Possibility to create a new file on the device and save your basic programs for example directly via the 464 tape recorder

[abalore]

Possibility to create a new file on the device and save your basic programs for example directly via the 464 tape recorder

Ok I see. I'll investigate the possibility.

[SerErris]

Yes, that would nail it. Just be able to use it as a full tape replacement - save load ...

You would need to create a new tape (user action in the UI of the tape itself)
You would then need to "press record and play"
Then you would do the CPC save"filename" routine.

It could create new cdt files with temporary names and numbers, which you can pull of later if you want or rename.

That brings me to the following question: I know it will have a screen, but how do I change the .cdt file if the tape is  inserted? Will that require eject - like a real tape change would do? I am fine with that just would love to understand how you would change the .cdt file.

[tjjq44]

And to push on the limits, a sensor just over the erasing head which (when pressing record on the 464) automatically tells the device to create a new file and automatically close/save it when pressing stop (but not pause) on the 464 since the signal will be cut on the sensor