WIP: X PANDER ViC

[brain]

https://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bu ... 12&start=3

As I remember Jim made 100 of these, but noticed the dip-switches were to close to the cartridge slots, so you could not plug in a standard cartrdige fully. You can still buy this for $22 a piece and I got one some years ago:

https://store.go4retro.com/non-functional-goodies/

See the notes at the bottom. If you re-locate the dip-switches (or just use the cartridges without shells) and cut some traces they work fine:

Yeah, I apologize to the community for not continuing with the project at the time, but spending all that money and then realizing I should have made a prototype was a very expensive mistake. I tried to see if the PCBA vendor could desolder and fix the switches, but they said it would cost quite a bit, new switches would be needed, and it would not fix all the issues (the two additional lines would still be connected. At that point, I just shut down.

I need to redeem myself for the two issues (fitment and IO lines), so I did modify the design a bit to address the issue and I am willing to make a new run, but I probably need someone I can send a prototype to that can run it through the paces.

As well, I need to determine the minimal spacing of the slots. Before, I just laid it out with the switches being in a row dictating the distance, but I think I have a better idea now on how to manage switches and now I can squeeze the design to be shorter. But, I don't want to be too short.

For instance, i think my min distance should be the height of the VIC-MIDI connectors, but maybe there are other carts that need more than normal spacing. I assume some space is needed to get your fingers in to pull or push a cart.

Thoughts welcome.

(mod: thread continuation of WTB: Cardco Cardboard 6)

[doug_in_nc]

I wouldn't attempt to fit the largest available cartridges in it because of the extra cost involved - I have an 80 column cart that is about 2x the thickness of a standard one. People can always sacrifice one slot for something big like that. As long as the spacing is large enough to accommodate cartridges the size of the cartridge slot in the VIC 20 case, that should be sufficient I think.

[brain]

I wouldn't attempt to fit the largest available cartridges in it because of the extra cost involved - I have an 80 column cart that is about 2x the thickness of a standard one. People can always sacrifice one slot for something big like that. As long as the spacing is large enough to accommodate cartridges the size of the cartridge slot in the VIC 20 case, that should be sufficient I think.

Fair enough, but what is a good distance, given normal cart size, need to potentially grab on the top/bottom to pull the cart in, etc.?

The VIC-20 cart port is .777" tall, so I think that's the minimum distance.

Jim

[doug_in_nc]

I wouldn't think much more, maybe another 0.1". Enough to get a bit of fresh air between them and not rub or scratch the labels when they are pushed in or taken out. I just measured the gap between cartridge slots on a Cardboard 6 at 0.4" and the pitch at 0.77".

[Orangeman96]

I wouldn't think much more, maybe another 0.1". Enough to get a bit of fresh air between them and not rub or scratch the labels when they are pushed in or taken out. I just measured the gap between cartridge slots on a Cardboard 6 at 0.4" and the pitch at 0.77".

Essentially 0.5" and 0.9" then, doug_in_nc? It still wouldn't make it as "long" as a VIC-1010, I would think. (0.1" is about 2.7mm, and 0.9" is almost 23.0 mm, BTW.) -OGM

[doug_in_nc]

0.1" is 2.54mm in metric

[brain]

If I use 1" as the pitch, the total length ends up 9.9" for 6 slots:

[Orangeman96]

0.1" is 2.54mm in metric

Yeah, I used my calipers to estimate. (BTW: 0.16mm is roughly the size of a sharpened pencil point.) -OGM

[Orangeman96]

If I use 1" as the pitch, the total length ends up 9.9" for 6 slots:

VERY nice! Shaping up to be a beauty! -OGM

[Orangeman96]

Jim,

Perhaps a "four-plus-one" configuration could reduce the length a bit, if desirable (i.e., omit the 'X5' and 'X6' slots). Just a thought...

OGM

[brain]

I planned to do a 3+1, like the 64 version, which would shorten the design by 3 inches.

Basically, I just need to know if there's more that needs to be considered before I run a proto.

Jim

[Orangeman96]

JIm,

I sincerely hope you are having better weather than we have had the past few days out here in the greater Omaha metro...

Here's my "artist's rendering" of a "four-plus-one" configuration.
.

.
My rationale is that it would support a full array of genuine Commodore memory expansions for the VIC-20; namely: a 3K RAM cart covering $400-$9FF; a 16K RAM cart covering $2000-$5FFF; an 8K RAM cart covering $6000-$7FFF; and another 8K RAM cart covering $A000-$BFFF. The fifth slot could be that "something" else, noting that one or more cartridges might have to be disabled for the fifth slot to function properly (e.g., the 8K RAM cart covering $A000-$BFFF). (This configuration should, however, alleviate the need to regularly and swap 40-year-old Commodore VIC-20 RAM carts in and out!)

Thanks much for this, and for all you have done for Commodore retro computing thus far!

OGM

P.S. I am willing and ready to be a prototype tester.

[brain]

To do the prototype, I ordered the 6 slot, which can be chopped to make anything less.

It is here:

[Orangeman96]

To do the prototype, I ordered the 6 slot, which can be chopped to make anything less.

It is here:

Holy smokes, Jim; it looks great!

(Having redone my math, six slots -- a "five-plus-one" -- make better sense because it accommodates: one 3K cart covering memory locations $0400-$0FFF, three 8K carts covering memory locations $2000 through $7FFF, and one 8K cart covering memory locations $A000 through $BFFF, leaving an open slot to rotate a sixth cartridge through.)

I hope all is well...

OGM

[akator]

Wow, that *does* look great!