New Tandy 1000 EX/HX 3-in-1 Upgrade boards. 640KB, Compactflash, RS232 Serial

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rkrenicki

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Reposting with proof that I actually own the cards that I make.

I am announcing that my Tandy 1000 EX/HX 3-in-1 Upgrade Board as complete, and I am currently assembling boards for my production run. These boards are an all-in-one upgrade solution for people who just want to play XT/Tandy era games, and it provides the following upgrades:



640kb System RAM
96kb of Upper Memory for DOS and Drivers
9-pin RS232 Serial Port for a mouse or communications
XT-CF-Lite Interface for storage




My price is $95 plus shipping and I offer some options, such as a preconfigured CF card and floppies with the UMB drivers.


As of 2020-03-02, I currently have 17 boards fully assembled, tested, and ready to ship.


If you would like to buy a pre-assembled board, please fill out the order form here: https://forms.gle/diCKK9neMXMyBziD9
If you would like to buy a bare PCB with the custom connectors and CF adapter, please fill out the order form here: https://forms.gle/qpK9ENFvUWP2UTJr7




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FAQ:


Q: Does this have DMA?
A: This board does not add a DMA controller, which was only included on the Tandy board to handle DRAM refresh. My use of SRAM here means that it does not need external circuitry to handle refresh. It is a common misconception that DMA "speeds up" an EX/HX system, when the speed up is actually from having more memory. The on board IO does not take advantage of the "Direct Access" portion of DMA, so it will always run at PIO speeds.


Q: How much memory does this give me?
A: With the memory map of the Tandy 1000 EX/HX it expands the system to the maximum of 624k Conventional RAM, and also adds 96k of Upper Memory Blocks. With the supplied drivers, loading DOS 5.0 high and the Mouse Driver high, it gives you 610kb of free Conventional RAM.


Q: Can you include a Network Card/Adlib/5 Serial Ports/VGA/3D Accelerator/486 upgrade?
A: My goal was always to make a single board to bring a stock Tandy 1000 EX or HX computer to be able to play as many of the of the Tandy Graphics and Sound video games as it can. I feel that the system is not fast enough to properly handle things like Ethernet Networking, and VGA and AdLib would take away from my goal of Tandy Graphics and Sound games.


Q: Why does this not have an ISA Slot/Passthrough connector?
A: I intended the board to be the only expansion card in the system.

Q: Isn't this board "upside down"?
A: As compared to official Tandy PLUS cards, this indeed "upside down", but the CF adapter will not fit in the space below the first slot. This is part of the reason why this was designed to be the only board in the machine.


Q: Didn't I see this board on YouTube/Facebook/some other place?
A: Indeed, you probably have! Adrian Black reviewed one of my later prototype boards, and I have been selling them on Facebook for the last few months.


Q: Where can I see Adrian Blacks Review?
A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yESy...igitalBasement


Q: I think your board is crap, and I only want everything you listed you would never put on there.
A: Please feel free to take my design and add on the functions that you wish. My design is fully open source, and I encourage you to modify it to your hearts desire.
 
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Looks neat! In theory, I own a 1000HX but I have yet to see it. Someday, when I can travel across the border to Canada, I will retrieve my purchase and see what's inside it. Hope you're still selling these when that day arrives!
 
I am now sold out of my "production" boards, and I will not be making any more. I do have a handful of my "prototype" boards, which do work but may have silkscreen errors or a slightly different layout. They all are electrically identical to my final version, and are tested and working. I am selling them at a discount just to clear some room off of my shelves.
 
sorry for not having responded earlier. I bought it for you on ebay. I have it at the post office. I'll go pick it up on Monday.
 
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