Hi All,
For my next retro party I'd love to have some 4 player "Power Tetris" action going on my 2 CPC 464's, however this means I need to get hold of 2 VirtualNet96 adaptors and a cable (or a cable with the required components built into each end) that is long enough to reach between 2 CPC 464's side by side (About 1.5m I guess woudl be long enough with some flexability)
Does anyone want to help me out on this. If so please let me know and tell me how much you woudl want to produce the this and I'll pay you the cash via Paypal witha "ti" for a few beers on me.
In case you do not know what is required here is the specification of the adaptors. http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Virtual_Net_96
Many thanks
Craig.
Super easy to make them self. I remember the FutureOS release meeting where we had 6 or 8 CPCs networked and played that adventure. It always was "kill xxx with yyy". "xxx is dead". Oh well... ;D
Of course it's good to use the same pin distance for all the cards, this way you can use universal cables for all cards. :) I still got two in the box, but they are for the Plus IIRC.
Quote from: GUNHED on 21:36, 18 November 18
Super easy to make them self. I remember the FutureOS release meeting where we had 6 or 8 CPCs networked and played that adventure. It always was "kill xxx with yyy". "xxx is dead". Oh well... ;D
Of course it's good to use the same pin distance for all the cards, this way you can use universal cables for all cards. :) I still got two in the box, but they are for the Plus IIRC.
Plus would work too if you are willing to sell them. I have both a 464plus and 6128plus here.
Regards
Craig
Well, I do use them, so I can't sell 'em, but I made some pictures. They got two pins for cables coming from one CPC/Plus and two pins to connect to the next computer. They do also have a switch to take one computer out of the network (or activate it). The VN69 homepage is here:
http://www.oocities.org/siliconvalley/park/6129/engmain.htm
Here some pictures of my setup:
I could make you up a few of them if you're interested. When would you need them?
Bryce.
Would you mind to make some (two) more?
Let me check first if I have the parts here.
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 16:32, 19 November 18
I could make you up a few of them if you're interested. When would you need them?
Bryce.
Bryce, you are a legend!
Can I be really cheeky as ask is you could make me 2 cpc (edge connector) and 2 plus (d-sub)
No real rush, sometime in January would be epic!
Many thanks
Craig.
I doubt I have any 34way edge connectors, but I'll take a look.
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 11:12, 20 November 18
I doubt I have any 34way edge connectors, but I'll take a look.
Bryce.
I'll keep my fingers crossed anyway!
Quote from: Bryce on 11:12, 20 November 18
I doubt I have any 34way edge connectors, but I'll take a look.
Bryce.
If you have to order some just add the extra onto the bill 🤣
All you need is one transistor, one resistor, the plug to the printer port and four pins to connect the wires. But please keep in mind to have two pairs of that pins. Each pair has 1 cm distance. If not, you won't be compatible on a VN96 meeting party. ;)
That would be a great project for a newbie that wants to learn about PCB design.
It should be fairly easy to put a PCB together for that with KiCAD (maybe I'll do that one day).
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:Virtual_net_2.JPG (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:Virtual_net_2.JPG)
The PCB layout effort should pay off quite quickly - before you have made 3 pairs or so by hand, the PCB is already done.
Maybe Bryce would like to do a PCB for us (of course, he is overqualified for that, but it would be cool...)? ;D
Quote from: GUNHED on 18:43, 20 November 18
All you need is one transistor, one resistor, the plug to the printer port and four pins to connect the wires. But please keep in mind to have two pairs of that pins. Each pair has 1 cm distance. If not, you won't be compatible on a VN96 meeting party. ;)
Yes, I definitely have all those components. It was the connectors that I'm not sure I have. Why the 1cm distance? Have they a standard connector they used to connect the computers?
Regarding doing a proper layout, there are two issues:
1 - For 4 to 6 devices it's hardly worth it.
2 - There are two versions, edge and Sud-d, which have different footprints, so two layouts would be required.
Bryce.
It's all told in the link I posted before.
Eh, no. there is no mention of the 1cm spacing anywhere that I can find and no electronic reason why this would be needed.
Bryce.
Well, then trust my experience.
Eh, no. I'm not going to build something in a particular way without knowing the reason why it needs to be like that (especially when I know it doesn't need to be like that).
Bryce.
Well, as explained before, the reason is that the device has a standard. This was defined by the WizCats in 96 and it should kept that way. There is no reason to make it different.
Furthermore if you keep things like they are the cables of other devices can be easily used.
Why is it always such a needles discussion?
More important: I still have these pins and connectors for the cables here, I can send you 20 for free if you want. And before you ask: I mean the pins shown on the pictures I posted.
Ok, accepted and thanks for the explanation, but like all standards, they can and need to be improved over time. For example: It's possible to connect the cables the wrong way around, something I wouldn't be happy selling as it has the potential to damage the CPC. It also means that the "connector" is two seperate terminals which can touch each other by accident, again potential CPC damage possible. Also, I found some 25pin sub-d connectors last night with backing cases, so I'd like to build the device inside the case and 1cm distances just wouldn't fit. So sorry to have to disappoint the original developers, but I will probably be using a single keyed connector for the input/output. I also think it would be better to connect the computers via a coax cable for signal integrity reasons, especially for longer runs.
Thanks, for the offer of the terminals though. I probably have a bag of them here already though as they are standard test-point headers.
Bryce.
Thanks for the english words "terminals" and "headers", that's how they are called :-)
Well, if you have a first one please post a picture. :)
No, I haven't built it yet and it will also be on a simple homemade PCB, so it probably won't be pretty either, but I'll post a picture when it's made.
Bryce.
The connectors finally arrived last night, so I'll try to get the cards made at the weekend. Need to fix two Coleco Adam's first though.
Is the switch really necessary? Were there reasons that you needed to disable the card regularly, or is it just a gimmick?
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 08:34, 30 November 18
The connectors finally arrived last night, so I'll try to get the cards made at the weekend. Need to fix two Coleco Adam's first though.
Good luck with that, is that even possible? :laugh:
AFAIK that thing was so flawed that, according to Wikipedia, even the bug free version would erase your floppy disk if left anywhere *near* the drive inadvertently if turned on, from EMP 8)
Quote from: Bryce on 08:34, 30 November 18
Is the switch really necessary? Were there reasons that you needed to disable the card regularly, or is it just a gimmick?
Of course! Just imagine if you switch off one of the computers in the network, this would block the whole network. So, we have a switch to take one CPC out of the network and we don't need to unplug the whole network adapter. :)
One more thing: The picture in the cpc wiki is crap, it only has one connector, so you can only connect two CPCs. Of course the network adapter needs two connector pairs to be able the connect to more than one CPCs. :)
So I took a short break from the Coloeco Adam's (no they still don't work) and made some Net96 cards. This is what mine look like. The jumper (not yet installed) in the centre disables the card. The input/output ports are 3pin connectors with GND on both outer pins and signal in the middle. This means that using a 3 pin connector, it can be connected either way around and will still have the correct polarity (and avoid shorting things inside your CPC). They are standard 2.54 header pins, so almost any compatible connector can be used, such as those used to connect the LEDs/switches inside a PC. These are very easy and cheap to find. I used 90 degree headers to avoid getting them broke, in case (like me) you tend to throw things into a box of random expansions when not in use.
Bryce.
Looks good. :) Which pins of the printer port are connected in your case? (I'm asking especially for GND)
On the Sub-d version pin 21, on the edge version pin 23. Chosen just because it suited the easiest routing.
Bryce.
Excellent. :) Some designs use Pin 9 for GND, which is a bad idea, since some patches (and 6128 Plus) use pin 9 for bit 8 of the printer port. I just thought recently about that, don'r remember how the WizCats did it. :)
Hi Bryce, I finally had the time to attach the VN96 adapter cards you made and the first test was succesfull. My fault was choosing the wrong SUB-D connector (female). I should have choosen instead a male one, so I was able to attach it to a regular and cheap printer cable (Centronics to SUB-D). But I bought adapters. Look at the pictures.The first tests with the simple terminal program out of the VNet96 bundle shows a parallel input / output on both computer. The distance between both computers is roughly 3 meters.
That's fun!
Cool. Are the wrong type of connectors on the NET96 card then? Or is it just because the computer cable is in between?
Bryce.
Yes, on the card should be a male SUB-D connector. The best thing would be a centronics adapter to plug it directly to the CPC but with a regular printer cable you are also able to extend it.
But, but... You specifically asked for Sub-d, so I thought you were using them on a Plus machine. If you'd wanted Centronics, I even had the correct connectors here to make them. ::)
Bryce.
Yes, I asked for it, you are right and it's ok. Now I can use them for the normal CPC and the Plus Range. And they Works Great. Thanks again. :)
Quote from: HAL 6128 on 21:25, 17 December 18
Yes, I asked for it, you are right and it's ok. Now I can use them for the normal CPC and the Plus Range. And they Works Great. Thanks again. :)
If you want a tidier solution, you could get some of these: https://www.ebay.de/itm/D25-Buchse-auf-36-Centronics-Buchse-Adapter-Konverter/401609996401
Bryce.
Also nice solution, indeed. Thanks!