Great Hierophant
Veteran Member
1. Tandy 1000 Keyboard Converter
The original 1000 keyboard is not the worst keyboard, but if you do not have one or one of the keyboards that can be made to work with it, then your Tandy 1000/SX/TX is a large paperweight. A converter would allow XT and AT keyboards to work with the Tandy 1000s with an 8-pin DIN keyboard interface. Recently the official Tandy solution was revealed, but it has its limitations
2. Digital Joystick Adapter
Analog joysticks are not necessary for many PC games, which work just fine with a Gravis Gamepad or similar controller that can simulate an analog controller without the hassle of trimmers. Unfortunately, they do not work with Tandy 1000 joystick interface, so another kind of adapter is required. Recently one was proposed, but the original poster seems to have vanished.
3. DA-15 to 6-pin DIN Tandy Joystick Adapter
A professionally done adapter would allow easy plugging in of any PC gameport joystick to the Tandy ports with ease, but the joystick will still require a trivial modification.
4. Memory and DMA Upgrade Board for Tandy 1000
The Tandy 1000 only came with 128KB, the rest had to be added by an upgrade card. Additionally, it did not include DMA. The 1000 only came with three upgrade slots, and the original solution required two of them to obtain 640KB and DMA. A later undoubtedly more rare solution had the extra RAM, DMA functionality and even a PLUS-style riser to add a serial or modem card without taking up the second slot.
5. Memory and DMA Upgrade Board for Tandy for Tandy 1000EX/HX
This board adds DMA and provides the remainder of RAM needed to get to 640KB for the EX and HX, but uses the Tandy Plus card form factor. The EX and HX are really not working at their full potential without this device, which also allows you to add two more cards above it. You would think these were sold at nearly a 1:1 ratio with the machines, but you would be very much mistaken.
6. Serial Port Adapter for Tandy 1000EX/HX
Mouse support is useful for any PC, but unless you want to use a mouse via a gameport, you must look to this. The original card adds a serial port for the EX and HX, but a modern version should be able to add two ports with ease.
7. XT-IDE Adapter for Tandy 1000EX/HX
The XT-IDE adapters are small enough to fit in the PLUS form factor, so someone should make one, preferably with a CF slot, so that these machines can enjoy proper large hard drive support.
8. Parallel Port Ethernet Adapter for the Card Edge Parallel Port
The Tandy parallel port is missing a signal that is vital to the common Xircom PE3 parallel ethernet adapters. A new design may be required, preferably one which can handle the birdirectional function of the Tandy 1000 parallel ports This is especially important for computers like the 1000 RL, which has a DB-25 but the signal is still missing and it only has one expansion slot. Not required for the TL/3, RLX or RSX.
9. 8-bit XTA Adapter
For the TL/2, RL and RLX, these systems contain an 8-bit ATA interface supporting 20 and 40MB drives. Even though modern CF cards have an 8-bit mode, they have to be told to use it. The adapter would essentially initialize the CF card. Moreover, they may need to have their geometry translated to look like a 20 or 40MB drive. These machines suffer from a lack of slots, so this would be very useful for them.
10. V30 Upgrade for 1000RL
The RL uses a 44-pin PLCC-packaged 8086 which is surface mounted. The NEC V30 (μPD70116) is extremely difficult to find in that packaging. DIP V30s (40-pin) are much easier to find. This would involve fitting a PLCC socket to the board and then using a PLCC riser to a DIP socket adapter for a DIP V30. Because of the complexity, this would be more of a service than a product.
The original 1000 keyboard is not the worst keyboard, but if you do not have one or one of the keyboards that can be made to work with it, then your Tandy 1000/SX/TX is a large paperweight. A converter would allow XT and AT keyboards to work with the Tandy 1000s with an 8-pin DIN keyboard interface. Recently the official Tandy solution was revealed, but it has its limitations
2. Digital Joystick Adapter
Analog joysticks are not necessary for many PC games, which work just fine with a Gravis Gamepad or similar controller that can simulate an analog controller without the hassle of trimmers. Unfortunately, they do not work with Tandy 1000 joystick interface, so another kind of adapter is required. Recently one was proposed, but the original poster seems to have vanished.
3. DA-15 to 6-pin DIN Tandy Joystick Adapter
A professionally done adapter would allow easy plugging in of any PC gameport joystick to the Tandy ports with ease, but the joystick will still require a trivial modification.
4. Memory and DMA Upgrade Board for Tandy 1000
The Tandy 1000 only came with 128KB, the rest had to be added by an upgrade card. Additionally, it did not include DMA. The 1000 only came with three upgrade slots, and the original solution required two of them to obtain 640KB and DMA. A later undoubtedly more rare solution had the extra RAM, DMA functionality and even a PLUS-style riser to add a serial or modem card without taking up the second slot.
5. Memory and DMA Upgrade Board for Tandy for Tandy 1000EX/HX
This board adds DMA and provides the remainder of RAM needed to get to 640KB for the EX and HX, but uses the Tandy Plus card form factor. The EX and HX are really not working at their full potential without this device, which also allows you to add two more cards above it. You would think these were sold at nearly a 1:1 ratio with the machines, but you would be very much mistaken.
6. Serial Port Adapter for Tandy 1000EX/HX
Mouse support is useful for any PC, but unless you want to use a mouse via a gameport, you must look to this. The original card adds a serial port for the EX and HX, but a modern version should be able to add two ports with ease.
7. XT-IDE Adapter for Tandy 1000EX/HX
The XT-IDE adapters are small enough to fit in the PLUS form factor, so someone should make one, preferably with a CF slot, so that these machines can enjoy proper large hard drive support.
8. Parallel Port Ethernet Adapter for the Card Edge Parallel Port
The Tandy parallel port is missing a signal that is vital to the common Xircom PE3 parallel ethernet adapters. A new design may be required, preferably one which can handle the birdirectional function of the Tandy 1000 parallel ports This is especially important for computers like the 1000 RL, which has a DB-25 but the signal is still missing and it only has one expansion slot. Not required for the TL/3, RLX or RSX.
9. 8-bit XTA Adapter
For the TL/2, RL and RLX, these systems contain an 8-bit ATA interface supporting 20 and 40MB drives. Even though modern CF cards have an 8-bit mode, they have to be told to use it. The adapter would essentially initialize the CF card. Moreover, they may need to have their geometry translated to look like a 20 or 40MB drive. These machines suffer from a lack of slots, so this would be very useful for them.
10. V30 Upgrade for 1000RL
The RL uses a 44-pin PLCC-packaged 8086 which is surface mounted. The NEC V30 (μPD70116) is extremely difficult to find in that packaging. DIP V30s (40-pin) are much easier to find. This would involve fitting a PLCC socket to the board and then using a PLCC riser to a DIP socket adapter for a DIP V30. Because of the complexity, this would be more of a service than a product.