ABBUC hardware contest entry: Pokeymax

[foft]

I gather the 7800 uses pokey chips in cartridges so thought some people here might be interested in my entry to the abbuc hardware competition:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/282166-abbuc-hardware-contest-entry-pokeymax/page-1

 

Im not sure itll make sense from a price perspective (yet) but thought it may be of interest anyway!

[+slx]

For the 7800 a reduced ‚audio only‘ unit would probably be enough.

 

 

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[gambler172]

Hi

if you can make one for me,i would buy one.

 

greetings Walter

[Shawn]

With all the labour to build it plus a ~$20 BOM it's not a very feasible alternative yet to a real pokey chip.

Until you can get the price point and build below $10 assembled it's not worth the cost or time. This is a promising start though.

[+SmittyB]

Seeing as people buy Ballblazer cartridges just for the POKEY and the demand has been driving up their prices I'd say it's worth the cost.

[Shawn]

Seeing as people buy Ballblazer cartridges just for the POKEY and the demand has been driving up their prices I'd say it's worth the cost.

 

Soldering all this and paying out $20 in parts? I'd never do it and I'm sure most folks I know who are into the hardware side of things would not either. You would have to be on the silly drugs to do all that SMD solder work and pay out $20 in parts on top of that for one pokey chip. Nevermind intending to do so over and over again. It's my sincere hope that these are being machine produced for the most part. Even if the labour was free, which it isn't, $20 each is too much for a pokey. Nobody is gonna put these together for free, surely not in quantity. You have to think about this logically. The labour and price just isn't there with this current set up. I really, really wish it was but it's not.

 

[+mytek]

With NOS Pokeys going for $20 from Best Electronics, where this makes sense is to use it with the stereo core. I'm not a 7800 user, but I kinda doubt stereo Pokeys have made much if any impact in the scene. However on the 8-Bit this would be a cost saver for sure, since minimally you'd have to buy a 2nd Pokey, Stereo Board, and a U-Switch if you want simple logic switching from stereo to mono. Altogether that'll set you back $45 not including shipping.

[CPUWIZ]

 

Soldering all this and paying out $20 in parts? I'd never do it and I'm sure most folks I know who are into the hardware side of things would not either. You would have to be on the silly drugs to do all that SMD solder work and pay out $20 in parts on top of that for one pokey chip. Nevermind intending to do so over and over again. It's my sincere hope that these are being machine produced for the most part. Even if the labour was free, which it isn't, $20 each is too much for a pokey. Nobody is gonna put these together for free, surely not in quantity. You have to think about this logically. The labour and price just isn't there with this current set up. I really, really wish it was but it's not.

 

 

These days, for stuff like this, you can just order the boards with the BOM, they use pick and place machines in China, all is automated, no human involved, until the QA. And since he exposed the JTAG, he wouldn't even need to give the code to the manufacturer.

[+DrVenkman]

 

These days, for stuff like this, you can just order the boards with the BOM, they use pick and place machines in China, all is automated, no human involved, until the QA. And since he exposed the JTAG, he wouldn't even need to give the code to the manufacturer.

 

So Al's calculus for the Store, or anyone else who wants to use these for a 7800-compatible cartridge design, has to include BOM + assembly + shipping costs per lot of what? 50? 100? units at a time, plus the value of his own time to flash the POKEY core of each one as he builds carts. Unless all that works out to about $10 - $15 each, the math won't work. If the math works out to $5 each, it's a no-brainer.

[Shawn]

 

These days, for stuff like this, you can just order the boards with the BOM, they use pick and place machines in China, all is automated, no human involved, until the QA. And since he exposed the JTAG, he wouldn't even need to give the code to the manufacturer.

 

If the whole thing was done by the machine? Than yes this thing at $20 (preferably $10 or less) could make sense as more of the original pokey's dry up.

 

EDIT: I wouldn't want to give them the code for it either so the JTAG is a must or they will clone and sell it themselves. But that could be good

too if it makes a pokey readily available for $5. After the original designer\programmer gets his just due for it that is.

Edited September 2, 2018 by Shawn

[RevEng]

Great job, foft! Agreed it may not make sense for us from a price perspective, but certainly of great interest.

 

@all on the price breakdown, do keep in mind this does dual pokey. Not that important for the 7800, but a better value for the A8.

[Shawn]

Great job, foft! Agreed it may not make sense for us from a price perspective, but certainly of great interest.

 

@all on the price breakdown, do keep in mind this does dual pokey. Not that important for the 7800, but a better value for the A8.

 

Yes, for implimentation that uses pokey a greater manor it would make more sense quicker than current state of use on the 7800. That and it's not without notice that this is a hell of a feat making this in the first place.

[Keatah]

These FPGA/CPLD/Microcontroller chips are likely to the be the future when replacement parts are needed. It's the closest thing to custom-fabbing today. You will either spend time and money searching for and acquiring an original Pokey, or you will purchase one of these. Or do without.

 

If entire systems can be written for FPGA consoles, individual high-accuracy chips aren't that far-fetched as we're beginning to see. If my personal & sentimental vintage machine that I had as a kid went down and I needed a certain replacement part, cost wouldn't really matter, $10, $25, $30, if it restores functionality.

[+DrVenkman]

If my personal & sentimental vintage machine that I had as a kid went down and I needed a certain replacement part, cost wouldn't really matter, $10, $25, $30, if it restores functionality.

 

Sure, of course. But for the purposes of the 7800, and in the absence of an available XM unit or some kind of "XM-lite"-type of POKEY pass-thru sound board, the issue is ALWAYS cost. Al can't really justify charging an extra $30 or more per 7800 homebrew cart sold. But he could easily charge $5 - $10 or less, eventually, if the cost of the tech drops enough.