PCjr display and presentation

[Trixter]

My display went off without a hitch at VCFMW this past weekend. Here's details and pictures, including a link to my presentation slides so you can see what I talked about for an hour: http://trixter.oldskool.org/2013/10/03/ ... arter-kit/

[Vorticon]

Very nice setup. I really like how you presented different configurations for different types of users.
Since you mentioned using the Racore keyboard adapter on your hobbyist model, I was wondering if anyone here has a schematic of it. It would be neat if I could replicate it given that they are practically impossible to find... While I have the KB5151 keyboard, it's incredibly mushy and not fun to use at all, not to mention its huge size. An XT keyboard would be so much better.

[Trixter]

Thanks for the kind words. I was fairly happy with it myself, even if the stock system's floppy drive wasn't 100% functional.

The Racore keyboard adapter and jrIDE are things I've been waiting a 15 years for so that I could actually program directly on the hardware easily, so as soon as I got them that's when I had a brief period of pumping out PCjr software. I achieved a world-first PCjr demo, and discovered two new video modes, so that's good enough for me and I've calmed down a bit. As a result, I'd be willing to loan my adapter to anyone who wants to try to document or clone it. If you have hardware knowledge and are willing, drop me a line (via email, preferably).

[Tempest]

I meant to ask you about that xircom PE3 adapter, but I got sidetracked by Kings Quest and Lotus 1-2-3. So what are the limitations on using the adapter? What can you actually do with it?

[Brutman]

If you want Ethernet on a machine without using a slot, the Xircom PE-3 is the way to do it.

http://www.brutman.com/Dos_Networking/xircom_pe3.html

Jeff Ingber (Axatax) from the previous PCjr forum (micro-zone) discovered these gems almost 10 years ago. They work on nearly every PC with a standard serial port - there is one odd-ball Olivetti out there missing a signalling pin that it does not work on.

With Ethernet you have networking applications ...

http://www.brutman.com/mTCP


Mike

[Vorticon]

Thanks for the kind words. I was fairly happy with it myself, even if the stock system's floppy drive wasn't 100% functional.

The Racore keyboard adapter and jrIDE are things I've been waiting a 15 years for so that I could actually program directly on the hardware easily, so as soon as I got them that's when I had a brief period of pumping out PCjr software. I achieved a world-first PCjr demo, and discovered two new video modes, so that's good enough for me and I've calmed down a bit. As a result, I'd be willing to loan my adapter to anyone who wants to try to document or clone it. If you have hardware knowledge and are willing, drop me a line (via email, preferably).

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not experienced enough to take a chance at damaging this rare adapter. If I had a schematic, then I could take a stab at recreating it without endangering anyone's hardware but mine

[Trixter]

there is one odd-ball Olivetti out there missing a signalling pin that it does not work on.

Sadly, that odd-ball PC is my first love, the AT&T PC 6300 (also known as the Olivetti M24). The 6300 also has a weird bus where word transfers arrive at the CPU hibyte/lobyte swapped, so I have to ensure any cards and drivers perform byte transfers.