Mini 32K RAM expansion hides in your cartridge port.

[adam.klotblixt]

It makes me very happy to see that someone has done something with the info I once posted! Nice to see a proper implementation, good work.
The reason I made my expansion internal was to be able to rip cartridges and never have to remove the expansion.

[adam.klotblixt]

I just realised it is 20 years since I did that expansion. A long time ago. It is still working properly in the same Vic20, but 2 years ago it found a better home.

[eslapion]

Sometimes good ideas can last a very long time.

Seven years ago, I created the Behr-Bonz multicart. Only 3 months ago, two guys came to me begging me to make a new batch and here they are again!

[k3ys]

It makes me very happy to see that someone has done something with the info I once posted! Nice to see a proper implementation, good work.
The reason I made my expansion internal was to be able to rip cartridges and never have to remove the expansion.

Thanks Adam! I must say... using the priority decoder like that to get the address bits is pretty clever indeed. I was impressed.

And thanks for the support everyone.

The new listing has a small tweak to it. I added a couple AND gates and enabled 3K mode. It's shared with BLK5 memory and enabled with the 7th DIP switch.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331616632403

Cheers!

K3ys

[Bluebook]

I bought one just recently and it's fantastic! Thank you

[majikeyric]

I ordered a couple 6 days ago, received today (in France) ! no import charges
Great product !!!!

[k3ys]

Thanks everyone! I'm glad you are enjoying the boards. The new batch came in tonight and I've soldered them up and tested them.

Here's the new listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/331629073207

Cheers!

Keys

[Misfit]

Looks nice! maybe I have to buy this for my next VIC project

[RobertBe]

We gave the Mini 32K RAM expander the acid test at last Sunday's FCUG meeting. Inserting its small chassis into a couple of VIC-20's took some concentration, but removing it was easy because of its "hand-holds". One club member approved of its compact size, but a couple of us had our doubts on the reset switch, feeling that with much use, the reset switch might come loose due to the fact that you have to push the switch sideways (straining the solder connections) instead of pushing a switch downward (where the force would be absorbed by the expander's board). The dipswitches were great... no more having to bring various RAM expanders with your VIC... just bring the Mini and select 3K, 8K, 16K, 24K, or 32K. Very convenient! That makes life easier when you have to run VIC programs which have different memory needs.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[k3ys]

Thanks for the review, Robert!

I chose the right-angle reset button so when you press it, it pushes the cart against the back of the cartridge connector instead of down possibly shorting the soldered pins connections on the bottom of the board with the inside of the VIC.

I'm curious. Do you or anyone else have a chance to test it with a multi-cart adapter? I have someone asking me a question if it plays well with other boards. I'm pretty sure it does because of the way the priority decoder tristates the RAM chip but it would be great to get a Yes/No from someone who has tried.

Cheers!

Keys

[RobertBe]

I chose the right-angle reset button so when you press it, it pushes the cart against the back of the cartridge connector instead of down possibly shorting the soldered pins connections on the bottom of the board with the inside of the VIC.

Ah, I see.

Do you or anyone else have a chance to test it with a multi-cart adapter? I have someone asking me a question if it plays well with other boards. I'm pretty sure it does because of the way the priority decoder tristates the RAM chip but it would be great to get a Yes/No from someone who has tried.

Oh, in the next day or two, I can dig out a multi-cart adapter board and try the Mini with it.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[Misfit]

It arrived today and works great! Thanks!!

[retromodder]

I picked up one of these expanders. Just.. HOW do I use it correctly?

How do i load from a cartridge and then play from RAM? Do i load a game on a cartridge, then put in the expander or?

Sorry, im a total newby at this. But at least im willing and wanting to learn about these cool machines.

[tokra]

Not sure what you mean by "How do i load from a cartridge and then play from RAM?"? However, NEVER, repeat NEVER pull something out or put in the expansion port while the VIC-20 is powered on!

If you want to play cartridges, you can download the cart-images from the Zimmers-archive. You will also need some way to load these into the VIC-20 like a SD2IEC drive for example. There are several options out there ready to buy. The RAM-expansion "only" provides the basics since normally the VIC does not have RAM in the memory space where the cartridges run.

Then when you finally got the cart-images loaded into the VIC it may be needed to flip the Read/Write switch on the RAM-expansion, since some old copy-protection checks if you try to run from RAM instead of ROM.

[Boray]

Then when you finally got the cart-images loaded into the VIC it may be needed to flip the Read/Write switch on the RAM-expansion, since some old copy-protection checks if you try to run from RAM instead of ROM.

In most cases this is not necessary. Most cart images on zimmers does not have this copy protection check or are hacked to bypass it.