🚀 go-pugleaf

In Info-Atari16 Digest V89 #344, Larry Rimal writes:
>As a side note, hardware hackers love the ST.  Easy to modify, tough
>as nails, and quite versatile, it is a joy to play around with.  All that
>is missing are slots!
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I definitely second that. In fact, I sent a mail to John Townsend at Atari
about the possibility of Atari making an expansion box for the Mega ST. Such
a box would have a slot plugged in the Mega internal connector and reproduce
the connector (say, 4 to 6 slots) in a Mega-like box.
John answered briefly:
>It has been suggested before.. however, I think it is harder than it 
>sounds..
>
>-- John

The following is my detailed answer to J.T. explaining why I think it's
not complicated at all. Please feel free to flame me if you think what
I say is wrong. If you agree with this expansion box suggestion, please
make sure some people at Atari know it (for example,  E-mail to JT at
portal!atari!towns@uunet.UU.NET). Ken Badertscher and Allan Pratt seem
to be more software oriented, I am not sure that this should be sent
to them.

I think that such a peripheral is now needed by ST users and that Atari
could sell it and make money while responding to users' wishes. I know that
Atari wants us to upgrade to the TT and buy VME boards when it becomes
available, but I don't want to trash my ST for a new toy, even a nice one.

I welcome any feedback.
----------------------------
>To: portal!atari!towns@uunet.UU.NET
>Subject: Re: A little suggestion
Thank you very much for your answer about my suggestion of a bus extension
box for the Mega ST.
You write:
>It has been suggested before.. however, I think it is harder than it 
>sounds..
>
>-- John

Certainly, I agree. 

First, the box would have to include a power supply (say, 65W. Costs $39
in retail PC-compatible shops). Careful connection of the 2 grounds (the Mega's
and the box's) is required. That can be done, at least by dealers.

Second, we are talking about plugging a connector into the internal Mega slot
and sending the signals on a backplane. This requires buffering the
68000 bus and shielding the box. The designers would probably need to alternate
each signal with a grounded trace on the printed circuit board for better
noise immunity. Also, mechanical shielding problems may appear and need
to be addressed carefully because of the FCC standards. I don't think that
this is a major problem. It's more a mechanical design problem than an
electrical engineering problem.

Thus, it seems to me that this extension box could be designed and marketed
without major troubles. After all, no software revision or hard architecture
change is considered. Maybe there is a major problem that I do not see here.
Please feel free to flame me if I forget an important technical detail.

And as more and more cartridges or boards are competing
for the cartridge slot of the ST or the internal connector of the Mega,
the customers will increasingly feel the need for this bus extension box.
It would give ST owners a reason to upgrade to the Mega ("Tired of 
plugging/unplugging your Spectre, sound digitizer and video digitizer
cartridges? Here is the solution," the ads would say) that they don't
really have now (they make good RAM extension boards for the ST, why
should I get a Mega just for more RAM?).

Also, don't forget that the European market already offers two uncompatible
"standards" for this kind of extension boxes. I can send you the ads 
in the German "ST-Magazin" and the French "ST-Magazine" if you want a proof.
This actualy hurts the ST, like all incompatibility problems. It's about time
Atari Corp. pushes its official standard, the Mega bus board format, and
support it with such an official extension box. Developpers would feel
much more confident.

Than you for your consideration.


Regards,

     Frederic Mora                              GEnie:
     The College of William and Mary            F.MORA
     Dept. of Computer Science                  INTERNET:
     Williamsburg, VA. 23185                    fjmora@cs.wm.edu
     USA                                        

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