nemike Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 (edited) I have spent the last day or so going over the schematics and other peoples work to gather prom data etc and believe I can reproduce the ATR8000. I plan to use 4164 ram and eliminate the linear power supply and use a switching power supply instead. My goal is to be able to use it as I originally used it, by connecting several 8" floppy drives etc to my Atari. Would anyone else be interested in a (probably) one time run of a few boards? Since this is not a for profit project I would charge much more than it costs me to get the components and pcb etc, I don't know at this time any cost but I'm also not interested in taking any money until I'm got the board designed. At that time I should have an idea of costs. The board will not be exactly the same as the ATR8000's original board, this will be a 4-layer and will be designed for use in a 3d printed case. Let me know if your interested. Mike Edited October 27, 2020 by nemike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+videofx Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 (edited) I would definitely be interested in buying one Is all the software still available? Edited October 27, 2020 by videofx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlight_mile Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Count me in. Would it be a drop in replacement for the original board or will you be producing the metal case too? Either or count me in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemike Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 I edited the original post to include that the board will not be the same as the original in size and will be designed for use in a 3d printed case. As for the software, I would imagine we can find the data to reproduce the floppies or get them transferred via some means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlight_mile Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Were you able to figure out what those other rom chips did? I think it is the chip in U46. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemike Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 U46 is a 82S123 BiPolar prom, according to this thread: It has 16 bytes stored in it. We could verify that if someone would be willing to read their prom, or send me the prom as I have a Data I/O 29B with unipak 2b which can read/write those proms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebiguy Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Also interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spancho Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Count me in for one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarland Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Great! Possibly interested, yes. Depends on the cost and finances when the time comes. Can't make any promises. Either way it would be exciting to see these made again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I'd be in for one as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Hello Mike No sure what the differences are, but have you considered reproducing the ATR8500? Sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemike Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 30 minutes ago, Mathy said: Hello Mike No sure what the differences are, but have you considered reproducing the ATR8500? Sincerely Mathy No but reading a little about what it is, most of the changes I'm making to the reproduction ATR8000 kinda meets the ATR8500, I will be making it smaller, it will use a switching power supply, but it will be an ATR8000 so no CP/M without the Atari I guess.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemike Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 I can't be sure, but price maybe doable around $120, that would not include cable, floppies or case. I will design a 3d printed case and might offer them at an extra cost. And shipping will not be included. I will also say this may take a little while to happen. I will post updates as I design the pcb. And again it would be helpful if anyone could actually read the U46 prom, or verify the stated content of U46 was obtained via a prom reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 2 hours ago, nemike said: I have spent the last day or so going over the schematics and other peoples work to gather prom data etc and believe I can reproduce the ATR8000. I plan to use 4164 ram and eliminate the linear power supply and use a switching power supply instead. My goal is to be able to use it as I originally used it, by connecting several 8" floppy drives etc to my Atari. Would anyone else be interested in a (probably) one time run of a few boards? Since this is not a for profit project I would charge much more than it costs me to get the components and pcb etc, I don't know at this time any cost but I'm also not interested in taking any money until I'm got the board designed. At that time I should have an idea of costs. The board will not be exactly the same as the ATR8000's original board, this will be a 4-layer and will be designed for use in a 3d printed case. Let me know if your interested. Mike This is quite a project, you might want to contact @MEtalGuy66 about the issues he had reproducing the MIO. Why stay with 4164 DRAM, most modern upgrades/devices have switched to static RAM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 20 minutes ago, BillC said: Why stay with 4164 DRAM, most modern upgrades/devices have switched to static RAM? Yes, this. 64K SRAMs are cheap and incredibly reliable, and in a single DIP-32 narrow form factor, quite compact. @mytek has used them in all three of his modern A8 implementations (1088XEL, 1088XLD and 576NUC+). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 30 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: Yes, this. 64K SRAMs are cheap and incredibly reliable, and in a single DIP-32 narrow form factor, quite compact. @mytek has used them in all three of his modern A8 implementations (1088XEL, 1088XLD and 576NUC+). It's very simple to interface needing only one NAND gate, and it'll let you get rid of a lot of other stuff (DRAMS, Delay Line, and misc. glue logic). 64K SRAM Circuit 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britishcar Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Would also be interested depending on the final specs, cost etc. but this might be a fun item to own. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemike Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 1 hour ago, DrVenkman said: Yes, this. 64K SRAMs are cheap and incredibly reliable, and in a single DIP-32 narrow form factor, quite compact. @mytek has used them in all three of his modern A8 implementations (1088XEL, 1088XLD and 576NUC+). My intention was to reproduce the ATR8000 not re-implement it. I'm not opposed to the idea of changing the memory as I have changed the power but my plan was to use all the same DIP through hole components. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuf Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Interested. I've got one, but it's always nice to have a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vazquezrick Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I’m interested Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I've had several originals (none currently), so I am reasonably familiar with the hardware. I'm interested, but have several concerns. First, the original is HUGE. The pcb alone would be very costly. Is yours going to be smaller? Second, what about the copyrights? Third, the original was only capable of 1X SIO, and probably cannot be made faster with its original hardware design. Fourth, what about the obsolete parts? There was a really good article in Antic or Analog magazine about producing the ATR8000. I'll try to locate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 8 hours ago, nemike said: My intention was to reproduce the ATR8000 not re-implement it. I'm not opposed to the idea of changing the memory as I have changed the power but my plan was to use all the same DIP through hole components. Mike The 64K SRAM I mentioned above is a DIP through hole component. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemike Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 52 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: The 64K SRAM I mentioned above is a DIP through hole component. Hehehe, yes I realize Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemike Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 5 hours ago, Larry said: I've had several originals (none currently), so I am reasonably familiar with the hardware. I'm interested, but have several concerns. First, the original is HUGE. The pcb alone would be very costly. Is yours going to be smaller? Second, what about the copyrights? Third, the original was only capable of 1X SIO, and probably cannot be made faster with its original hardware design. Fourth, what about the obsolete parts? There was a really good article in Antic or Analog magazine about producing the ATR8000. I'll try to locate it. As I said in my first post I do plan to reduce the size of the pcb but I am planning to reproduce it exactly, so all its flaws will be reproduced. All the parts that make up the ATR8000 are still available, not to mass produce it no, but to make a number of them yes. Please keep in mind, I want to reproduce it because they are hard to find and I’ve wanted to use one again as I did so many years ago. I’m not looking at this as a project to flood the market with a ton of these in a new form but instead to reproduce a few. A labor of love.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZuluGula Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I'm trying to visualize how you want to place the connectors on a smaller pcb and how you want to make the case? I personally would like to see a case that looks exactly like the original. At least it could serve as a monitor stand. Couple of years ago I was thinking about copying the PCB and I got a quote for new metal cases from a friend who is running sheet metal shop in Chicago. The case in size of ATR8000 would run about $20 for bare metal. Than I would have to cut openings and paint it. I have to get current quote, but I guess that finished case could cost around $50 plus shipping. He did a small run of enclosures for another hobbyist for his hifi audio amplifiers that were sold for around $2k, so I guess he has some experience doing it. I have one ATR8000 so I will try to measure it and get a prototype done by him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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