Need help determining best portable+CGA+808x for modern air travel

[gslick]

$450, not 45K... still a crazy price for a IIe, easily four times the upper limit I'd even consider with the crappy little IIc monitor.

Well, it was $45,000. Maybe that was an honest typo and they did intend $450 from the beginning and they realized that mistake and revised it at 22:41:38 PDT last night. Still high, but not crazy enough to stand out on eBay at that point.

 

[fsession12]

I would like to attempt my palm at some fireworks, what is the way to get these pictures without a remote control shutter release? Can One take advantage of the self clock? I won't be able to take multiple bursts right, by using the self timer? If I can use the self timer, should I use the 2 sec or 10 sec? I feel the two sec seems a lot more logical... but want to listen to your opinions. Many thanks for your help in move forward!

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[Trixter]

Use a small PSU - either the NanoPSU mentioned above, or just a compact +5V/+12V/-12V power supply (SB might need -5V... use LM7905?!) Attach a small cheap composite TFT display (7" or 9" one normally marketed for cars).

The NanoPSU, if I'm reading correctly, only provides ATX 20- or 24- pin -- is there an adapter to something a 5160 motherboard could use? (I still need to solve the how-do-I-transport-a-motherboard-without-breaking-it problem, but it does cut down on the size and weight drastically.)

As for a monitor, I've improvised in the past by using my laptop and cheap usb video-capture dongle with my laptop screen.

 

[Trixter]

But they're small, and you can put whatever cards you want/need in them.

Those are indeed very nice, but I don't see how I'd be able to get composite CGA out of them (unless, like the Portable III, their internal card can be switched to MDA, allowing me to add a typical CGA card).

Well, close to the Sinclair PC-200, you can also take a look at the Schneider Euro PC. It's a pretty good machine that fits perfectly your description. A bit easier to find than the Sinclair; but also hard tho.

Looking at the back of the unit from the pictures, it doesn't appear to have composite CGA output which I need to connect it to a projector. It also doesn't appear that I can add a sound card to such a system, which is also a requirement. (Still, neat form factor and I'll likely look for one.)

 

[vwestlife]

Those are indeed very nice, but I don't see how I'd be able to get composite CGA out of them (unless, like the Portable III, their internal card can be switched to MDA, allowing me to add a typical CGA card).

Doesn't VGA default to emulating MDA if it co-exists with CGA? So if you could find a "lunchbox" luggable with internal VGA, you'd be all set.

Looking at the back of the unit from the pictures, it doesn't appear to have composite CGA output which I need to connect it to a projector. It also doesn't appear that I can add a sound card to such a system, which is also a requirement. (Still, neat form factor and I'll likely look for one.)

The Euro PC does have one ISA slot (appears to be half-length). And I wonder if the Commodore 65 was inspired by its styling!

 

[barythrin]

Are you trying not to have it as VGA on purpose? I thought most projectors had VGA ports on them these days also.

 

[Trixter]

Yes, not VGA on purpose. The demonstration will be using CGA and future demonstrations may use CGA in very interesting ways that can only be shown through the composite port.

 

[eeguru]

The NanoPSU, if I'm reading correctly, only provides ATX 20- or 24- pin -- is there an adapter to something a 5160 motherboard could use? (I still need to solve the how-do-I-transport-a-motherboard-without-breaking-it problem, but it does cut down on the size and weight drastically.)

Sergey's back-plane accepts ATX power. That + a PicoPSU or NanoPSU + CPU, video, sound, and storage card. All could collapse into a small box with some ESD foam and padding.

 

[JohnElliott]

That is perfect! I will start looking for one (although it is not strictly needed for my upcoming June demo).

Update: Looks like the Amstrad model doesn't have composite output. It also appears at the Sinclair model was on the market for a grand total of 3 months which would make it exceedingly rare to find, especially for someone in the USA. Oh well.

It's possible to disable the onboard video and put a real CGA card in one of the ISA slots. That would work on the Sinclair or Amstrad models.

The PC200's builtin CGA output isn't composite, by the way -- it's RF. The built-in CGA chipset also has a thing where attempts to write to the CGA registers trigger a NMI so the BIOS can adjust the values written depending whether it's outputting to a monitor or the RF socket.

 

[deathshadow]

Those are indeed very nice, but I don't see how I'd be able to get composite CGA out of them (unless, like the Portable III, their internal card can be switched to MDA, allowing me to add a typical CGA card).

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The original early ones were CGA... using a CGA card... only difference between it and a normal CGA card was a breakout next to the external connector to run to the LCD decoder. They had both the 9 pin and composite out connectors as they were just ... CGA.

I've not seen one in a long time though. They are out there and do crop up from time to time.

 

[vwestlife]

the Sinclair model was on the market for a grand total of 3 months which would make it exceedingly rare to find, especially for someone in the USA. Oh well.

There happens to be a Sinclair PC200 on eBay right now... the sticker on the bottom says it has a PAL RF output, so I wonder if they found some way to convert CGA to PAL color, or if it's just NTSC jury-rigged to be modulated on a European TV channel allocation...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400686245895

 

[Trixter]

Saw that, thanks. I'll pass for now, now that GH has offered to help me out the day of the event. I'll bring my cards; he'll bring the system unit.