Looking forward to it; dice box??
On Fri, Dec 22, 2023 at 10:25 AM Steve Baker <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello again! > > Ah — an interesting experiment, for sure! Bummer that it didn’t work. :-( > > If you’re interested in the goldcard system itself, stay tuned… over the > holidays I will prepare a “mega sale” of sorts with many T102s and at least > one T200 and T600, along with a variety of gadgets (gold box, Rex/Rex#, > TPPD1, serial-WiFi adapters, spare chargers, cables, caps, batteries, > manuals, and the like). > > When the list of items is ready — probably early January — I will post the > it along with photos, with the intent of bundling as many of them together > as possible. I wouldd rather not sell each item separately, yet I’m open to > spot offers for something in particular. eBay would be a last resort if > there’s no interest here. > > My love for the Model T ecosystem emerged as a pleasant distraction and > way to focus on something positive while caring for my wife who battled a > rare, incurable form of cancer for over six years. After she passed I > haven’t touched any of these. I will keep a few T102s and some accessories > for down the road. > > But with so many of them in boxes, I’d rather offer them to this vibrant > community so they can be (repaired as needed and) enjoyed for years to > come. I loved writing that Model T Dice Box utility and will occasionally > still journal on my Tandy WP-2. But it’s time to release the bulk of them > into other caring hands. > > Happy holidays, > Steve > > > -- > Greetings from Steve Baker (he/him/his) > “Gravity brings me down…” > > > > > On Dec 22, 2023, at 10:06 AM, Brian K. White <[email protected]> wrote: > > ...and the reason I noticed was I was hoping maybe the goldcard worked the > same as the node rampac (not physically but the interface & api, and so > maybe the rom could work on minindp. > No and no :) > > > On 12/22/23 05:51, Steve Baker wrote: > > Seasons Greetings! > Good catch, thanks! I’ll update my directory with the file you posted. :-) > Again, thanks, > Steve > — > Greetings from Steve Baker > Gravity brings me down... > > On Dec 22, 2023, at 12:24 AM, Brian K. White <[email protected]> wrote: > > Steve, I just noticed that the GoldCard 7.1 rom image is wrong in your > Club100 directory. It's a copy of the DISK+ 3.1 rom. > > However, the hex file is correct. I converted it to a binary and here is a > copy of that: http://tandy.wiki/File:GoldCard_7.1.bin > > -- > bkw > > > On 1/11/21 19:40, Steve Baker wrote: > Greetings again Brian and everyone, > > I would never ask to break something. > > If it has screws or obvious snaps, and you're comfy then fine, otherwise > don't think one second about it. > > My sincere apologies! I didn’t for a moment think that you were asking me > to break anything; my post was simply me lamenting my emerging but nascent > skills! The case appears to be quite well stuck together, and I was hoping > that I might’ve been able to crack it open without needing to hot glue it > back together (ugh, my glue gun chops are awful!). > But… I did take a peek at the 256Kb IC cards and sure enough, there’s not > only a battery compartment that easily unscrewed, but also an on/off > switch! Pretty cool stuff, so I took some more photos and added two slides > into the PDF (pages 12 and 13, in particular). This also shows the other > 32Kb IC card I have (sure enough, it initialized and works!). > This should be a direct link to the updated PDF with the additional > photos, for convenience (if this doesn’t work, the link to the folder is in > the thread, below): > http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?action=downloadfile&filename=Gold > < > http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?action=downloadfile&filename=Gold> > Card 7.10 Photos and 1988 Review.pdf&directory=Steve Baker& > Next for me with the Goldmine (clearly, I like giving things nicknames) is > in the software; I'd like to figure out more about the ROM Eliminator > feature chronicled in the article (slide 17). Might they have a precursor > to REX? While mine is probably not the industrial interface ($100 option) > perhaps the ability to save and restore Option ROMs is available? > Onward we go, > SB > -- > Greetings from Steve Baker > “Gravity brings me down…” > > On Jan 11, 2021, at 6:54 PM, Brian White <[email protected] <mailto: > [email protected]>> wrote: > > > I would never ask to break something. > > If it has screws or obvious snaps, and you're comfy then fine, otherwise > don't think one second about it. > > Thanks for dumping the rom and the pics. > > On Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 5:07 PM Steve Baker <[email protected] <mailto: > [email protected]>> wrote: > > > From Brian K. White: > > Could you look a little more at the cards? > Do they come apart to see the board inside? > Is the battery permanent or a removable coin cell? > > Does the main unit with the sockets come apart to see that board? > > > Good questions and thoughts @Brian thanks for your follow-up with > this! In the next day or two I’ll poke around a little bit. I’m a > bit squeamish to crack open stuff, not for fear of discovery but > for fear of naively breaking brittle rare stuff! I’ll do my best > to do what I can (if I see something I can open and/and detach, I > certainly will!). > > Whatever I’m able to learn on the hardware side, I’ll take > additional pictures and update the PDF (and post here letting you > and others know). I also happen to have a Tarjeta IC Card > MF3132-003T originally for Noritsu machines that I wanted to use > in my Tandy WP-2 (sadly, it doesn’t work) so I’ll see if it works > in this fella at all. > > I love how thin the unit is. > > > Yes, the black plastic case is incredibly thin and I could see how > convenient it would be to have it affixed under the Model T > (especially if the user has two of those groovy little legs > installed as kick-stands of sorts). I’ll probably replace the > battery and caps on this particular T102, retr0brite the case, and > nickname it Goldmine. ;-) > > Cheers, > SB > > -- > Greetings from Steve Baker > “Gravity brings me down…” > > > > On Jan 11, 2021, at 1:17 PM, Brian K. White <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > This is very cool. > > Could you look a little more at the cards? > Do they come apart to see the board inside? > Is the battery permanent or a removable coin cell? > > Does the main unit with the sockets come apart to see that board? > > I love how thin the unit is. > > -- bkw > > > On 1/10/21 5:25 PM, Steve Baker wrote: > > Thanks! Yep, it’s very well-built and I’m looking forward to > digging into it once I (finally) put together my MVT100 kit that > you sent me months ago! (I’m perhaps too cautious…) > By chance, is Mo still associated with King Computer Services > (that’s one of the companies mentioned in the credits screen)? I > sent an email to them and attached the PDF too. > https://www.kingcomputerservices.com/contact.htm > <https://www.kingcomputerservices.com/contact.htm> > <https://www.kingcomputerservices.com/contact.htm > <https://www.kingcomputerservices.com/contact.htm>> > It’d be great to learn more about the history of this project, > how long it was on the market, if the manuals are available > somewhere, etc. (looks like I’ve found my next windmill). > Cheers and again, thanks, > SB > -- > Greetings from Steve Baker > “Gravity brings me down…” > > On Jan 10, 2021, at 5:10 PM, Stephen Adolph > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote: > > very interesting! Never seen that before. > Well Mo Budlong wrote some very good software, I'm sure it is > really a good device. > thanks for putting that together! > Steve > > On Sun, Jan 10, 2021 at 4:06 PM Steve Baker > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > <mailto:[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote: > > Quick update on my (previously mysterious) Gold 7.10 chip. I > dusted off the corresponding hardware (an interesting case with > two 256Kb IC cards that plugs into the system bus) and was > able to > get it working. It offers two banks of 256Kb storage plus some > utilities to format and test IC cards, copy cards, transfer > files > to/from RAM, and so on. > > Today I made a quick PDF that has (a) photos of the software > running on a Tandy 102, the chip itself, and the IC case and > cards; and (b) a two-part article written by Mike Nugget in the > Oct/Nov 1988 issues of Portable 100. Thought it might be > interesting to read a more robust hands-on review, as I’m just > starting to figure out what this does. > > The PDF is stored here in my Club100 folder: > > > http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?direction=0&order=&directory=Steve%20Baker&; > < > http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?direction=0&order=&directory=Steve > Baker&> > < > http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?direction=0&order=&directory=Steve%20Baker&; > < > http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?direction=0&order=&directory=Steve%20Baker&; > >> > > … along with the HEX and BX files of the chip itself. Now I’m > totally curious about what I have… given the chip has a > hand-written label, is this a pre-production version? Or > were all > of them shipped like this, thereby asserting a relatively low > volume (the 512k set had a list price of $550 back in ’88)? > Well, > it’ll be fun to see what I can do with it. > > Cheers and here’s to a good week, > SB > > > — > Greetings from Steve Baker > “Gravity brings me down…” > > > > > > -- bkw > > > > -- > bkw > > > -- > bkw > > >
