c0nsumer

Well, that's it! Complete SDrive NUXXs are sold out. There are still nine kits left, but the assembled devices have been pulled from the ordering page. Thanks for the orders, everyone!

Fortunately the cable on an XM301 is a good 3ft long anyway, so I found myself using those (the cables which ship with the SIO2SD are usually 1-1.5 ft long). No-one wanted a short cable hard-wired to the device. Two molex sockets are definitely more aesthetically pleasing, but it's physically impossible to fit two of them plus an SIO2SD PCB, LCD, button rack, and RS232 socket in an XM301 case. I think my choice on the SIO2SD thing will come down to how many will sell. If it'll do pretty well, I can't see a reason not to make it. If I'll only be able to sell 20-30 of them, then it won't really be worth it. It'll probably be ~100 hours of work to do a nicely integrated design. Looks like my Eagle license (Standard) will do the PacTec KEU-7 recommended PCB size, presuming that enclosure will work. It'd need two PCBs, and two Metalphoto panels. I'd guess base cost on PCBs would be up near $20 and around the same for end panels. Assembled devices like these could inch up to $250/ea.

That seems like an okay way to do it. I can understand the reason for it, especially for one-off stuff, but there's something that I just really don't like about it. Maybe it's because I've frequently found myself wanting longer or shorter cables... hmm. I do know that I do not like terminating cables to PCBs. And I'd imagine assembly would be much harder. With a cable you have to keep track of each of the wires. With a socket, they are just in the right place. That's basically why I don't like it. Or the better way is to have a pin header on the board and a connector on the cable. Then the cable can be swapped easily. After that the cable needs to be mechanically fastened to the case or PCB so that tugging on it doesn't rip it out of the board. It's not so bad if it's a ribbon cable, but doing a bunch of ones with just discrete wires on a jacket gets to be a hassle.

That seems like an okay way to do it. I can understand the reason for it, especially for one-off stuff, but there's something that I just really don't like about it. Maybe it's because I've frequently found myself wanting longer or shorter cables... hmm. I do know that I do not like terminating cables to PCBs.

I have, but to be honest I think it's sloppy and another potential point of failure / difficulty. Also, that would require me to get (and terminate and provide strain relief for...) a bunch of good-quality SIO cables. Connectors are not that hard to source and easier to work with.

Indeed so. More peripherals should be cased up, or at least have the option of being purchased in a case, and should be designed with a casing in mind. I end up making cases for everything anyway, eventually, although it usually involves extra fuss and expense, regardless of how handy one is with a dremel. I completely agree with this. I think it makes the device more accessible, nicer to work with, and also much longer lasting. It's that bit of polish that turns a device like the SDrive (or SIO2SD) from a hobbiest device that looks a bit scary to something usable (and desirable) by those who may be more interested in simply using the device. And after all, isn't all of this, at its core, about using old computers? Hacking on them is great, but not the majority use. At the end of the day most of us just want to use things for fun stuff. If you design the PCB with an enclosure in mind; it's easy! Just set up the dimensions and mounting holes to fit, arrange the controls / connectors along the end panels in a sane way, then lay out the rest of your board. For what it's worth, this is how the SDrive NUXX was done. Measured everything out, figured out what case it would fit in, placed the switches/connectors/LEDs, locked them in place, *then* did everything inside.

Yeah, they do look really nice, but yes, that one-off-ness is just part of such custom work. For some reason I like doing repeatable production-type stuff and releasing the design documents (but NOT documentation) as openly as possible. If I am to do another I'll probably stick to that generic Atari-ish-ness found in the SDrive NUXX, since as you say I think it works out well. It's similar to equipment that would have been found in that era, but done so cost effectively. Looking at the PacTec enclosures they are roughly the same cost as the Hammond ones from the SDrive NUXX, but the end panels would probably be a fair bit more expensive. There'd also need to be a second PCB and a ribbon cable. I'm starting to think this is doable, but now I need to decide if it's reasonable to do and worth my effort. First thoughts are that two SIO connectors would probably fit, and I could probably stack the SD and USB connectors by mounting one on each side of the board using SMT parts. I'm not sure if my CAD software license will let me do the appropriate size PCB, though, which could be a pretty costly problem if I need to upgrade the license. It's also a bit difficult without the SIO2SD having open-source firmware, but perhaps that could be worked out... Maybe I'll order up a PacTec enclosure and give this some thought...

This would be the biggest problem for me. I can't see this selling more than 50-100 units, and I can't see even a semi-custom run of cases for that being very cheap. PacTec has some nice looking stuff that could be semi-customized, but I think it'd require two PCBs and two larger end panels, which wouldn't be cheap. Full-on Atari-styled housing would be terribly expensive requiring custom molds, but well-chosen off the shelf stuff (such as this) could do it... UPDATE: USB SIO2PC + SIO2SD wouldn't be too difficult to do, I don't think. Biggest limiting factor would (again) be SIO connectors and the need for a few SMT parts (FTDI USB controller, SD slot). I'm thinking if the SD slot went on the back of the enclosure along with the SIO connector(s) and USB port the front panel could simply house controls, LEDs, LCD, etc.

This happens only to old SIO2SDs with fuse bits set uncorrectly. Ahh, okay. I apologize then, I thought it was due to the device needing to regularly write to the EEPROM and having a write interrupted or something like that. Clearly I need to read up on the project more before tackling it.

I had originally planned on doing two SIO connectors, but there wouldn't have been enough room in the enclosure to do two and the DIP switches and the RESET button without using a grossly different case. Hammond Mfg didn't make a wide enough case that could fit two SIO connectors while still being short and compact. there also would have been a bunch of wasted front panel space. So, I figured that it'd be okay to have just one connector. I figured that it'd work out fine for most people, and for those that want to include it in a chain of other SIO devices it could simply go at the end. And yes, the SIO2SD PCB can't really go in an enclosure as it is. I've been playing with ideas for how to mount the LCD on the same plane as the buttons but have room for the rest of the PCB and the SIO connectors, and unfortunately I think the most elegant solutions would be overcomplicated, like a previous project MIDIbox SID-NUXX (my implementation of a MIDIbox SID). This had two PCBs, cables between the two for buttons/LEDs and display, etc. Costs on this were extremely high. It'd be a lot cheaper to do the SIO2SD with SMT parts and have most assembly contracted out, but that cuts off the DIY/kit/hobbiest folks. I also don't like it's propensity to corrupt itself if unplugged while running, which would mean I'd need to include an easy reprogramming system for when they go wrong. I really don't like the idea of selling a device which can get into a pretty bad failure state just because the user powers off or unplugs it at the wrong time. This is a bad end user experience. I've also got vaguely odd thoughts about an 8-bit Atari specific Arduino shield...

You're welcome. And thank you for buying one. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. This is exactly why I wanted to build them all before accepting any orders; it's just a lot easier to be able to take orders and ship right away.

Woo! Glad to hear it made it so quickly. If you happen to get photos I'd love to see them.

Sure thing! I'm glad to hear they are arriving. After the one I just packed up to drop off at the post office tomorrow morning there's only two assembled units left.

I've actually contemplated it, but didn't take the thoughts that far. Not for any real reason, I just got particularly busy at work and with biking and pushed the thought aside. My next project is some stuff with fitting an SSD in my iMac, then a bike race to run, but after that (Autumn) I might have some time to give it some thought. The biggest hurdle will be the enclosure. I particularly like doing high quality enclosures at a reasonable cost, so if I could do something like that I'll consider it. Unfortunately, the LCD and SD card tend towards some sort of custom enclosure. I'll give it some thought, though...

Woo! Glad to hear it arrived quickly. You're welcome, and thanks for buying one!

All outstanding international orders have been dropped off at the post office the morning of 08-Aug-2011.

That right there is all that remains of my SDrive NUXX stock. That's four (4) assembled units and ten (10) kits. I suspect that the rest will sell rather quickly once the first shipment arrives and people post about them. If you want to get one click here for the order page.

All currently outstanding international orders are packed and labeled; they will be dropped off at the post office on Monday morning. The image above shows all that remains of SDrive NUXX stock. That's ten (10) kits and four (4) assembled units. If you're wanting to get either now is a good time to order, as I imagine there will be a slight rush once the first shipment arrives and people post about them.

I'll PM you about this.

For what it's worth, the same BOM from before is still valid. All parts are still available, prices just increased a bit.

I just received an email to that effect. Thanks for the super-fast shipment. I can't wait. tjb Sure thing. I really wanted to turn the orders around as quickly as possible. I really, really don't like the obligated feeling of accepting money and not completing my end of a sale ASAP. This is one of my main reasons for not doing the standard preorder-build-ship process and instead doing a more traditional offering. Oh, and for what it's worth, there are now 10 kits and 5 assembled units left. Things are selling quickly.

As noted here all domestic (US) SDrive NUXX orders have shipped. International orders will be packed tomorrow and will be sent out on Monday morning.

A bit sooner than planned, all domestic (US) SDrive NUXX orders as of this post's date and time have shipped. All packages are now sitting in the post office's drop box and Delivery Confirmation numbers have sent out via Google Checkout. International orders will be packaged tomorrow and dropped off at the post office on Monday. Thanks again for your orders!

I don't know the specifics (please consult the SDrive manual here for that) but as far as I'm aware it should, as there is a device selection. However, I personally haven't tested this since my 1050 is in very iffy shape.

Actually, it was $15+ in shipping from Mouser, but that wasn't terrible. The box was rather large and fairly heavy. And yes, I forgot about the ordering and not living in the States. Hmm.