On 29 Mar 2018 at 14:19, Marcel Kilgus via Ql-Users wrote: > > I remember how proud I felt when Stuart Honeyball lent me an ear > > about the 68020 processor, while I was still a QL nodbody. At that > > time, he was reluctant about an upgrade to the GoldCard, because > > (coming from the 68000 and the QXL's 68040) Stuart was not aware the > > 68020 had dynamic databus sizing. I talked with him about my working > > '020 wirewrap board, and how I patched QDOS so most of it worked > > with the '020. In the end, I could convince him, and it felt like I > > had given the SuperGoldCard a kick-off :) > > Interesting story. I'm still a huge fan of the SGC, but could never > afford it at the time.
I had the luck to buy my SGC after the price fell, but before it became interesting for collectors. I find the SGC a masterpiece, the best thing that ever plugged into an original QL mainboard! I still have the mentioned wirewrap 68020 board. In it's first revision, it worked even before I got hands on the GoldCard. It was plugged into the QL's 68008 socket via IDC cable. Lacking own RAM, speed came only from cache, higher clock and faster CPU. Of course, GoldCard was faster, which made me start to to add RAM. That revision was never finished, because the SGC came, and later on rumors of Goldfire made me think of 68040 upward ;-) > > That's what inspired me, and what I later did my own way, with the > > Q40, Q60 and Q68. Now I somehow feel like "the only one left". > > Stuart was no longer active... but still... > > Well, there's Nasta, I've got the impression he knows the QL better > than its original designers, though he seems to be impaired by his own > perfectionism. Also let's not forget that living in Eastern or Western Europe made a big difference at the time Nasta announced his GoldFire. But mentioning "announced designs" versus "materialized designs" takes my thoughts right back to Stuart Honeyball. I remember a funny moment, when there was chat about the QL Graphics Card that Stuart had announced, but kept delaying. Someone said, right in his presence: "Was there ever an *announced* design of Stuart which *materialized*?" Stuart grew very silent... I don't know about Stuart Honeyball's early hardware, but indeed it seems that he hardly talked about his large projects until they were practically finished. (By the way, I wish Stuart had finished his QL Graphics Card, because all the video converters I tried with my QLs suck.) Peter _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List
