Chuck(G)
25k Member
I've been working on-and-off on my Pertec interface tape controller project. At this point, the device can read and write tapes to/form SIMH .TAP files stored on a microSD card and transfer them via USB serial to another system (you could also pop the SD card out and use a reader). The project is stand-alone, needing only a USB connection for a text console interface. My design was for streaming drives and I've tested it with a Fujitsu M2444AC and a Qualstar 1260. Both appear to work.
The initial PCB run only required a few bodge wires to change one of the FFs to edge-triggered from level. Otherwise, pretty slick so far with lots and lots of program memory left over. I piggyback an inexpensive STM32F407 MCU board to save folks from the agony of fine-pitch SMT.
So now, I'm looking at a final respin of the PCB and I'm open for suggestions.
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One final issue is that I'm using Ymodem for transfers and it's not nearly as fast as a transfer could be. I'm thinking about changing the USB interface from a CDCACM to a composite CDCACM+MSD one.
Thoughts?
The initial PCB run only required a few bodge wires to change one of the FFs to edge-triggered from level. Otherwise, pretty slick so far with lots and lots of program memory left over. I piggyback an inexpensive STM32F407 MCU board to save folks from the agony of fine-pitch SMT.
So now, I'm looking at a final respin of the PCB and I'm open for suggestions.
-----------------------
One final issue is that I'm using Ymodem for transfers and it's not nearly as fast as a transfer could be. I'm thinking about changing the USB interface from a CDCACM to a composite CDCACM+MSD one.
Thoughts?