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Frotz

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Posts posted by Frotz

  1. Posted

    Uh oh. I assumed there would be mounting holes in the corners. I think I see some places where I could drill my own. My intention was to epoxy or bolt some threaded standoffs to the inside of the chassis.

    I was going to supply double sided sticky tape foam stuff like I did for the V1 kits :D

     

    Ah... :ponder: I should have thought of that. Could you add holes to the artwork for the next time you send out for boards?

  2. Posted

    Uh oh. I assumed there would be mounting holes in the corners. I think I see some places where I could drill my own. My intention was to epoxy or bolt some threaded standoffs to the inside of the chassis.

  6. Posted

    Anyone with more knowledge of the inner secrets of the 7800 would like to share?

     

    edit// I guess one way for the mod to know is to figure out how to read when the 7800 kicks the bios screen into gear.

     

    I'd start looking at the little cartridge connectors to the sides of the main one. I'd wager that at least one of those is pulled high or low when a 7800 cart is inserted. Look at 7800 cart guts.

  11. Posted

    Your mod looks great, I do have some questions about the fms6400 though...

     

    The datasheet says you need to tie Asel high or low, and in your schematic it looks like you have it floating. Is that on purpose, or am I missing something?

     

    I'm not up on doing impedance matching so this question relates to the application note in the datasheet. In it they show an optional AC coupling of the output signals. I would think that would be somewhat more desirable than DC coupling the outputs or does it not really matter and omitting the 220uF caps is more of an easy way to keep the part count down?

     

    I haven't poked at your PCB file yet, but from the photo you posted, you might want to consider going surface mount for your next rev/update. You can probably shrink the board a bit more which would make it a more intermediate project. I'd suggest an SOIC package for your CD4050 (provided that they are available) and either 1206 or 2010 form factor resistors. If you want to get daring, you can swap out your caps that are 1uF or smaller for 0805 package caps. I know you can get electrolytic SMT parts, but honestly I think they are more work than they are worth to get on a board. I personally wouldn't bother with an SMD 2n3904 / 1n914 either.

     

    A little late perhaps -- my 0.02 cents...

     

    Hex.

    [ Is intrigued by this and yet doesn't have time to do all those other things I need to get done... :( ]

     

    Good questions. The chip defaults to high when the output is not connected to ground. It operates fine with it disconnected and I haven't seem any adverse affects from all the TVs and hours I have tested the board.

     

    The chip can be both AC or DC coupled outputs. It has to have AC coupled inputs. From what I have seen having AC coupling does nothing in terms of video quality. 220uF caps are fairly large in size and took up 25% of the space on the board before removing them.

     

    The big reason to stay with through hole is the Unassembled Kits and Bare PCBs. Plus I really dislike soldering SMD parts. ;)

     

    If it's not too late, do you think you could tie that wire high for completeness and just in case it turns out that something starts oscillating that shouldn't?

  12. Posted

    BTW how are you keeping the price so low - are you building them yourself ?

    Every single part has been carefully chosen to give the best bang for the buck. I'm not planning to make a profit on this and yes, I plan on building them myself on a hotplate.

    How much is your time and sanity worth? I would never have been able to hand-mount the 200+ QFPs it would have taken for the run of P112 boards I did. You could sell one or two hundred Chimeras very easily. For quantities like that, it's well-worth springing for machine-mounting. I doubt you'd be interested in soldering all those boards yourself.

  14. Posted

    I'm finding more video games to liquidate, so I decided to finally go ahead and list a couple Atari Lynx games on Chase the Chuckwagon rather than Ebay. Overall, the interface feels nicer than Ebay. The latter has an unpleasant habit of trying to do too much and forgetting about simplicity. There are a few warts though.

     

    1) After you push the button to start an auction, you're asked if you want to list something similar. After this, there is no apparent way to access this functionality.

    2) Site doesn't do local timezone correction.

    3) The button to push to go to the next step in listing something seems to jump around. First it's at the bottom looking like a button, then it's in the middle looking like an ordinary link...

    4) No way to change the ending time of an auction after it has started.

    5) When selecting a category in which to list an item, it would be much easier if a hierarchy of spin boxes was used instead of one big spin box listing all categories.

    6) Something listed simply under the category "games" is unhelpful. It should not be possible to do that.

    7) It would be nice to see who the seller is before clicking on the auction.

    8) There ought to be an explicit "save for later" sort of button at the bottom of the fourth step of creating a listing.

    9) Those "LOOK!" arrows are annoying.

     

    Now for some things that Chase the Chuckwagon gets right that Ebay does wrong.

     

    1) Creating an auction goes much faster.

    2) It's hard to get a complete and clear picture of what the fees are on Ebay. Not so with CtC. All the fees are listed on ONE page, are very agreeable, and simple to understand.

    3) It seems impossible, or at least very hard, to create an annoying mess of an auction page. Too many sellers on Ebay do this and I wonder how they manage to sell stuff... Or do they?

     

    These are my initial feelings on things. I'll have more to say when I see some bids, the auctions end, and when I deal with the after-the-sale stuff.

     

    Hey Frotz-

     

    First off, are you the one responsible for Frotz in the IPhone/Touch applications? I am guessing so, nice job if that's the case :)

     

    To address some of your issues:

     

    1) Not sure about this one? When you start an auction it will ask you if you want to sell a similar item. Then there is a pretty prominent gray box you click on to take you to a fresh auction page that is already filled in the way it was on the previous auction. Also, keep in mind that you can fill in default shipping/payment instructions so you don't need to do it within the auction listing every time. To do this simple click on Seller Tools in your members area, then along the right side of the page you will see some Preferences. Click the Default Shipping/Payment link to set that. Also in this tool area you can set your paypal payment address to it will then imbed a paypal button into the invoices you send your buyers. Also, there is a clever seller promotional tool in the bottom left corner of the screen titles "Lists for Promotions". This creates a sweet, clickable list of your auctions you can post in the forums you frequent to advertise your auctions. I hope this clears this one up regarding the "sell similar" function. Please try it again and see if you missed it :)

     

    2) That is correct. Eastern Time is our official time.

     

    3) After you list a few items you will get used to this. Essentially, once you add your photos, then the link is in the middle of the page. From there on, however, I believe it's at the lower portion of the page. The only reason is that after your photos get attached, you really don't need to scroll down. Just click the link that appears in the middle of the page right after your photos load and you will be briskly taken to the next page. It actually will seem more normal the more you list :)

     

    4) That is correct. Once you start the auction you can't change ending time. Since you are generally not charged to list it, you could end it and then relist and adjust your ending time then. Keep in mind that you have nice freedom in choosing your ending time and date up to 10-days to run your auctions.

     

    5) True, but nothing I can do with that now that it's all in place. Again, it gets a bit easier after a few listings are under your belt. Doesn't take to much time to cycle through the categories.

     

    6) Unsure about this one? It is kind of there to catch something that may not have a specific category. Kind of like Ebay uses "Vintage Games". But I see what you are saying there.

     

    7) Agreed. I will see if there is a way to implement that change in a future upgrade.

     

    8) All unfinished listings will automatically get saved in your "Pending Listings" area under My Listings in your member page - you don't need to save it as it will do this automatically. Try it and see how it works. You will like it.

     

    9) They are a way to promote ones auctions. Kind of like a highlighted listing for Ebay.

     

    I hope some of these address your concerns and appreciate your input. Please feel free to join us over on the Chuckwagon forums as well. We have a specific area to discuss site suggestions and improvements.

     

    Welcome aboard the Chuckwagon :)

     

    I'm the one responsible for the Frotz core and the Unix and Dumb ports. I moved its webpage to Sourceforge to allow for more people to participate in its development. I have varying input on other ports, mostly limited to random questions. Until someone asked me if I did the iPhone port, I had no knowledge of it. I don't even have an iPhone or iPod touch.

     

    1) I know about the system asking me if I want to sell something similar when I start an auction. What I'm missing is the ability to sometime after I've started an auction, then closed my browser, to click on one of my running auctions and sell something similar to that.

     

    2) Hmm... No chance of doing time localization?

     

    3) I still don't like it.

     

    4) Now that I think about it, it's probably makes sense to not allow this. I can see some kinds of tomfoolery

    that can be done with monkeying with ending times.

     

    5) Is there any particular reason why this cannot be changed?

     

    6) Under "games" there's a category for "other games" which seems to be the appropriate place for games that don't fit elsewhere. You reminded me of something else that doesn't seem to make sense. All video games are under "games": Do you really need a top-level category "vintage games"?

     

    7) <shrug>

     

    8) Could you do highlighting then instead?

  15. Posted

    I've used Krazy Glue in the past. It's messy and soaks right through the labels, which is great for rare games.

    For better results, try Elmer's school glue sticks. The glue is purple until it dries, then it's clear. You can see where you've got excess glue and wipe it off before it dries.

     

    Krazy Glue or any other cyanoacrylate is exactly the wrong thing to use for bonding paper. 3M 77 spray adhesive is the best I've found. Lay the label face down on a sheet of cardboard and make a quick pass of the spray. Carefully align one edge, then smooth down the rest of it.

  18. Posted · Edited by Frotz

    I'm finding more video games to liquidate, so I decided to finally go ahead and list a couple Atari Lynx games on Chase the Chuckwagon rather than Ebay. Overall, the interface feels nicer than Ebay. The latter has an unpleasant habit of trying to do too much and forgetting about simplicity. There are a few warts though.

     

    1) After you push the button to start an auction, you're asked if you want to list something similar. After this, there is no apparent way to access this functionality.

    2) Site doesn't do local timezone correction.

    3) The button to push to go to the next step in listing something seems to jump around. First it's at the bottom looking like a button, then it's in the middle looking like an ordinary link...

    4) No way to change the ending time of an auction after it has started.

    5) When selecting a category in which to list an item, it would be much easier if a hierarchy of spin boxes was used instead of one big spin box listing all categories.

    6) Something listed simply under the category "games" is unhelpful. It should not be possible to do that.

    7) It would be nice to see who the seller is before clicking on the auction.

    8) There ought to be an explicit "save for later" sort of button at the bottom of the fourth step of creating a listing.

    9) Those "LOOK!" arrows are annoying.

     

    Now for some things that Chase the Chuckwagon gets right that Ebay does wrong.

     

    1) Creating an auction goes much faster.

    2) It's hard to get a complete and clear picture of what the fees are on Ebay. Not so with CtC. All the fees are listed on ONE page, are very agreeable, and simple to understand.

    3) It seems impossible, or at least very hard, to create an annoying mess of an auction page. Too many sellers on Ebay do this and I wonder how they manage to sell stuff... Or do they?

     

    These are my initial feelings on things. I'll have more to say when I see some bids, the auctions end, and when I deal with the after-the-sale stuff.

  20. Posted · Edited by Frotz

    Does anyone know anything about replacing cords on joysticks and paddles? I find a lot of them have their connector ends have been chewed up by forcing them into their sockets upside down or right side up but slightly off. Still others have been chewed up by babies, animals, or vacuum cleaners. Making a cord with a female D9 on the end is no problem, but I can't seem to find those nifty black molded plugs.

  24. Posted

    For those who want to examine the idea of digitally inserting someone else's face into a movie, say Stallone in the title role of "Ben Hur", look at the book "Remake" by Connie Willis (isbn 0553574418).

     

    In the Hollywood of the future there's no need for actors since any star can be digitally recreated and inserted into any movie. Yet young Alis wants to dance on the silver screen. Tom tries to dissuade her, but he fears she will pursue her dream--and likely fall victim to Hollywood's seamy underside, which is all to eager to swallow up naive actresses. Then Tom begins to find Alis in the old musicals he remakes, and he has to ask himself just where the line stands between reality and the movies.

     

    It's out of print, but easily available from the usual places.

  25. Posted

    Another problem I recently became aware of are cranks who conceal their feedback ratings. Ebay suggests you don't do this and forbids doing it if you want to sell. So a couple weeks ago I sold a ceramic figurine on consignment. It was just fine except for dust. The customer complained that it had severe crazing. Unfortunately I cannot put an automatic block on bidders who conceal their reputations. Then again, because buyers are exempt from getting bad feedback, does it matter anymore?

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