puppetmark

July 31, 2022

Thanks for the subforum! I think it's a great idea. The Portfolio is a remarkable little machine.

March 26, 2019

I would like to get one Lynx II Multi-Card. Please add me to the list

Thank you!

November 17, 2015

Hi,

I fixed several issues and created new Contiki disk images.

I'm not in control over Contiki versioning - and even if I were I'd likely not bump the version for every code drop. So in order to allow you to understand what Contiki code base was used to create the disk images the ZIP files from now on contain a ZIP comment. It's a link to the Contiki GitHub page showing the last commits (incl. their date) that are part of the code base. For the ZIP file attached that link is https://github.com/contiki-os/contiki/commits/a161dc2

Regards,

Oliver

Thanks Oliver!

I added this information and the new build to the Project website. http://www.atari8ethernet.com/

September 29, 2015

Last year or so, I backed a One Robot Per Child Kickstarter. Maybe you can put your Make into a similar 3-D printed body.

Interesting idea. My first thought is to put the board onto something like the 5" robot chassis that Pololu sells. It would make it much easier for others to build one if they wanted too:

https://www.pololu.com/product/1500

But It would really be cool to give him the "Axlon" or "androbot" Look.

September 29, 2015

Nice work!

This is really cool. Nice job.

Thanks. I always wanted an Axlon Andy ever since I saw it in an Antic magazine back in '85. I wasn't able to get one then, and now when I see them on e-bay they go too high a price for me, so I decided to build my own. I knew from my initial research that the electronics were pretty simple. The electronic and mechanical parts are probably under $50.00.

I know Andy's functionality is pretty limited, but I think he is fun and there is real potential as educational tool to get kids excited about robots and programming.

September 29, 2015

Sure:

Semiconductors:

---------------------------

CD4069 Hex inverter

CD4013 D type Flip Flop

CD4028 BCD to Decimal Decoder

SN754410 Motor Driver

3 each - 2n3904 Transistor

8 each - IN914 or IN4148 Diodes

Resistors - all 1/4 watt

----------------------------

9.1M

1M

51K

2 each - 3K

22K

6.8K

5 each - 10K

4 each - 1K

100 ohm

10K Pot

2 each - Red LED 3mm or 5mm

Capacitors

------------------

7 each - .1uf ceramic (three for the circuit and four to be soldered to motor cases to suppress motor noise)

Sensors & Motors

---------------------------

1 Electret mic element 1-2.2K impedance such as digikey 102-1720-ND

1 CDS photocell - looking for something like 10-20K dark, to 1-3K light such as digikey PDV-P8001-ND (the one I have on hand wasn't quite right so I added a 10k potentiometer to add some resistance)

8 ohm Speaker

NC push button switch for the bump detector.

2 each - 6v Brush type DC gear motors. The SN754410 can handle 2A for a short while if the motors stall, and continuously 1A, so choose motors carefully.

Other

-------------------

9 pin cable to connect to Atari - need all 9 pins, so a Joystick cable will not work. It has to be fully wired such as an extension cable

September 28, 2015

I took some time and hooked up the Axlon Andy Circuit on a breadboard. I used the schematic, data sheets, and a lot of trial and error, but I got it working, so I thought I would share the results. It was really a thrill to hear and see him come alive! It's really an ingenious design. 3 CMOS gates, three transistors, and a 10 transistor motor driver. Very inexpensive parts.

The circuit I build is exactly from the schematic except for a couple of resistor values I had to change to get the sensors working. I have no idea what values were used in the original Andy (I do not own one) so I had to adjust for what I had available. The sound sensor is still actually a bit too sensitive, but I am still working on that. Also, I replaced the motor driver section with a SN754410 motor driver chip which saved me ten transistors! It will also allow a smaller and more efficient Andy to be build.

Here are some pics of the circuit:

Here's the video of Andy in action:

[media=320x240]

[/media]

September 28, 2015

And here is the 2xxx manual.

Axlon Andy Manual 2xxx.pdf

September 28, 2015

I have been doing some work with the Axlon Andy interface circuit so I converted the scans that Bob posted. Here is the 1xxx manual converted to PDF

Axlon Andy Manual 1xxx.pdf

September 28, 2015

Thanks. was this mod intended for a Ntsc machine ?, since there are some differences in the Pal and Ntsc machines. I see my previous post may be confusing, hehe so what i meant was. in Pal land the screens rarely supports s-video. But composite is common, and 60hz is common. some screen support the Ntsc Composite 60hz, (i have some of those screens),therefore composite 60hz Ntsc is usable but S-video is more rare....

yea, Let me know if you need help or have any questions if you use my mod. It should work on PAL video, the impedances are pretty close, but you might need to experiment with R55. maybe 10K? None of the values are critical, and as long as they are close, you should be fine. The performance of most video mods varies depending on the end device. I tested this mod on about 10 different monitors / TVs, including LCD and LED, and the values seem to be a pretty good compromise.

August 21, 2015

Installing other people's upgrades is problematic. If you do your own, you have two sources of error - the upgrade provider or your hardware. Add in a third party installer just makes it so messy.

Bob

I second this! I have been working on Atari hardware for over 20 years, and installing mods for people can get frustrating when the hardware fails. With that said, I am in eastern PA, so right in the middle of the east coast, more or less. I would be happy to help repair hardware, but I prefer to do it to original working order by following the service manuals. If there is one of the common RAM or video upgrade present, that's not a huge deal, but a computer with 4 or 5 mods can be a nightmare to work on.

August 19, 2015

I have seen a lot of 1050s with power supply issues. That is the first thing I would check. You can check the regulator outputs with a multimeter if you have one and have the skill. IMHO, capacitors and the voltage regulators are aging past their expected life in a lot of Atari hardware.

August 18, 2015

Hi,

As starter of this thread I feel entitled to add some words from my perspective...

First of all: Without you donating a Dragon Cart both to Chris and me the current Contiki wouldn't exist - thanks :-)

Regarding the (CS8900A-based) Dragon Cart vs. a potential W5100-based cart:

- The Dragon Cart has been - at least to my knowledge - the first Ethernet solution for the 8-bit Atari. Whatever should follow, that's still a fact !

- Even if there should be no more Dragon Carts built it's already virtually immortal through Altirra's Dragon Cart emulation:-)

- Even if there should be at some point a W5100-based cart that doesn't mean for me to drop Dragon Cart support. Remember that on the C64 there is no momentum for a (directly 65xx-accessible) W5100-based solution because of all the existing CS8900A-based software. That means to me that for all cross-machine projects (like Contiki) a 6502 TCP/IP stack with two Ethernet drivers (for the CS8900A and the W5100-Raw-Mode) will stay state-of-the-art. Not even talking about not just leaving the numerous customers of CS8900A-based solutions on the C64 and Apple II behind.

And finally: I would be very unhappy if my babbling about a W5100-based cart would be the reason for you to not realize your idea of a module-less CS8900A-based "Dragon Cart II" - without any alternative actually existing for Atari users interested in Ethernet connectivity !

Just my two cents,

Oliver

Thank you for the kind words Oliver. I am very proud of the work we have done. After lookig into the W500, I just think that might have more potential than the Dragon Cart, but it only had a small part in my decision to put the next hardware production oh hold. You make a great point though, It is the only Ethernet solution for the Atari 8-bit at the moment, so I will certainly keep supporting it. I still might do a run of single board Dragon Carts, just not right now. All the information is on the project site if anyone else wants to design and do a run of circuit boards and / or carts. I actually have a couple other Atari projects would like to work on as well, and I would to put some time and effort into those. In the mean time, I will continue to support the Dragon Cart hardware that is out there, keep the website up to date, and I will make sure I put some time aside to test any new software that comes along. I am looking forward to being more active on the forums again as well.

Also, I mentioned on the project website, I am going to try out a new type of circuit board prototyping device that might make it very feasable to make short runs of circuit boards like Atari Cartridges, but I am not expecting the device until winter. The other issue I didn't mention in the availability of parts. The CS8900a seems to still be pretty available, but the 10baseT transformer is getting REALLY hard to find. Even the substitutes are getting rare. I will look into getting parts from China, so I have some to build or share, I will have to see if that will be cost effective.

I am really impressed at the software that has been done and how well it works on the Dragon Cart. The fact that much of the work already done can be applied to the W5100 is amazing too. I think Dan is right, these are new realms for the Atari, and it is exciting to see where it goes!

August 17, 2015

Sorry for the bump, I fogot to put in the website URL in case anyone is unfamiliar:

http://www.atari8ethernet.com/index.html

August 17, 2015

For anyone interested, I just updated the project website with some new info, link fixes, the new contiki software and project status.

http://www.atari8ethernet.com/index.html

August 17, 2015

Hey everyone,

I just wanted everyone to know I have updated the Atari Ethernet website with the latest Contiki, some website fixes and the current status of the hardware. I have been enjoying and monitoring this thread as well as the one on the WIZNET W5100.

I know have been pretty quiet on the forums over that last couple of years, and I am not going ot talk about that here, but sometimes life gets a little crazy. Anyway, I just ddidn't want the project to just be "hanging out there" without any movement for so long, and Olivers great work on Contiki prompted me to update the project Status. The bottom line is that I will continue to support the Dragon Cartridge, but I agree that the W5100 would be the better solution moving forward. I will let the hardware up so someone else, but I will certainly help out if anyone needs anything from the project and I will continue post updates on the website. I don't think at this point I am going to do another run of cartridges, but if anyone else would liike to give it a try, I also posted a schematic for the single board cartridge that would not require the now discontinued IP dragon breakout board. It should also fit just fine in a standard cart shell if layed out carefully.

March 7, 2015

Very interesting thread. Much of this is beyond my programming knowledge, however, on the hardware side of things I can tell you that the XE machines sometimes have interrupt timing issues due to unsteady phi2 signals. I wonder if the same thing would happen on a XL.

February 18, 2014

Sorry for the double post.

I went on cirrus logic's website (cirrus.com) and It looks like the original CS8900a has been discontinued, but the CS8900a-cqz, cs8900a-cq3z are still current parts, so we should be ok.

If you go to this link: http://www.cirrus.com/en/products/cs8900a.html and click "Purchase now" you can see the stock of the suppliers. Avnet Express looks like they have the best price but they are on order, and I have never ordered anything from them. At any rate, I will keep an eye on the supply.

February 18, 2014

Mark - should I buy up some cs8900's? Where were you sourcing them from?

I was thinking about that too. The two most logical places to get them from are digikey.com and / or mouser.com. We need the 5 volt part which is the CS8900A-CQZ. Both places have lots of the 3 volt version but not so many of the 5 volt. Mouser says they have 250 on order and due in March. Digikey is only showing 7. I will check, but I think cirrus logic has the chip at end of life. I think we will be able to find enough, but the clock might be ticking.

I will also do a search and see if I can source them somewhere else.

February 17, 2014

heh, any chance to new series of Dragon Cart?

I know I haven't been real active on the forums lately, I haven't had a lot of free time lately.

I would still like to get another run of Dragon carts going. I have the schematic complete and the parts selected for a single board cart. In fact, I found a very low profile RJ45 that should allow the board to fit in a standard cart shell (the kind Steve Tucker uses) with only the top of the cartridge needing a notch. There was also some discussion of having a top connector and a side connector option, but that would require two different board layouts.

So, to get another run going, what I need to do is layout the board and find a manufacturer. I just don't know when I will have time to do that. I would like to find some help with that so if anyone is interested, or knows anyone that can do that, please let me know. It's very time consuming and the low profile RJ45 has a very precise footprint, so I need someone with some circuit board / CAD experience to do the work. I would like to get more carts made before the supply of cs8900s dry up.

January 17, 2014

An 800XL just appeared on the Colbert Report (suggested for avoiding NSA surveillance).

That's really cool!

It's the January 16th episode.

http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/thu-january-16-2014-naquasia-legrand

About 3 min into the program.

December 3, 2013

Thanks for adding Dragon Cart support to Altirra! Very much appreciated. I think that will help get some more development under way. At least, it might peak some curiosity in trying to see what the cart is capable of. I see that the implementation is pretty rough at the moment, but if I can help somehow, just let me know. I have all the technical data literature for the CS8900A and I can test / compare the emulator to the real cart if that helps.

Thanks again!

April 22, 2013

Also, I should mention that an atari version of Contiki runs well on the cartridge, and I believe that the developer is working on further atari relases of the Contiki system.

yep! You can browse the web, send simple email messages and use IRC and even twitter. And as soon as the next release is done and tested I will put up a download page for it..

April 22, 2013

This question comes up, every now and then, and sometimes an enterprising hardware engineer decides to tackle this problem.

The first approach often taken, is to directly wire an ethernet transceiver and supporting glue hardware directly to, say, the parallel bus interface, and to drive the ethernet device directly. Then said engineer figures out _very_ quickly, that a 1.77/79MHz 6502 is a wee bit slow even for 10 megabit/s ethernet. There are people who PERSIST on this path, insisting that the proposed solution must be a "pure" one, and that everything must be done by the Atari...Ok, great, now you've implemented this chunk of hardware, and are using ALL of your CPU power JUST to keep up with ethernet packets being slammed to your ethernet port. You haven't even implemented a TCP/IP stack, yet! oh crap, we only have a cunt hair's amount of memory in which to realistically DO this....shit.... it is often at this point that the engineer fades into obscurity, toiling away at it, promising that the ethernet device will be available "any day now" ....

Well, I guess I need to weigh in on this. I can tell you that so far, we have accomplished much more than most thought was even possible with a parallel bus Ethernet interface. We also produced over 100 cartridges so far. ( a cartridge actually) We have a very small, efficient, and useful stack running with room left for apps. This has nothing to do with being a "purest" After looking at all available possibilities, it just seemed to be the best option for cost, reproduction, and flexibility with software. Feel free to read about al about it at www.atari8ethernet.com

I am not going to get into a debate or argument here, I hate seeing such things fill up a forum. I just wanted to let everyone know the facts about our project.

March 23, 2013

I have recently been in contact with one of the Contiki developers. He has been great to talk with and very generous. We are going to work together to actively support Contiki for the Atari computers and the Dragon Ethernet cartridge. He deserves a lot of thanks for what he has done for us so far. He compiled Contiki 2.5 without having a Dragon Cart or even an Atari computer! anyway, all That is the good news. The bad news is that the latest cc65 compiler is too old to compile the new Contiki sources (version 2.6). As soon as there is a fix or a new cc65, I will compile, test, and put up a download page on the Atari Ethernet project website.

There will be more information about this as well as the progress on the next version of the cartride posted on the website within the next few days.

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