The Sinclair QL Forum

I have talked with George about it. If I implement it in hardware and more than a couple of people have a use for it, he seems inclined to make any changes that might be needed to optimize it for the platform.

I would love to see some native support for it spooned into Minerva 2.00

And I forgot to mention, it will have a socket for a 68882, so floating point on it would be blindingly fast, if support is compiled in.

Here's where I'm at: 68EC020: 24MHz or 8MHz switchable. Could as easily use a 68020 if more address lines were desired (more memory) Re-uses all QL custom logic - supports superHermes Video RGB output QL on-board serial and joystick ports replicated IDE via on-board QubIDE with SMD logic Sandy SQB p...

Green means working/solved. Red means no way for me to do. Grey means it's coming. Faster processor Expanded memory - to Gold Card/Super Gold Card level at least. Parallel port Serial ports Joystick ports Ethernet (assuming Petri ever finished his card) IDE interface for hard disk and/or compact fla...

I'm quite sure only a minority of earlier microdrives have felt pads. The majority of later ones have a closed cell foam pad which is darker, and which after 20-30 years tends to liquify, getting sticky. Looking at mine enlarged, they're definitely bubbles in a plastic and not wool fibres.

I started the pastime (it's just a hobby project) in part because I only have a half dozen microdrive cartridges that haven't utterly failed. Of the four US QLs I recently received (the most evolved Samsung ones) only one had two working microdrives. It's fair to say microdrives are now an amusing h...

So, Nasta, here's what I've done: Designed a crude "replacement" QL board that just retains everything the same as now, but SMD. I ignored the on-board RAM, microdrive and power circuitry. That cuts it down to 100x160mm. There are two 8Mx16 SRAMs, two 32kx16 flash chips holding the Minerva...

I have been using a GAL for address decoding in my little project. Aside from simple address decoding, it also generates the two bus width inputs for the 68EC020. My older EPROM programmer has a neat function: I can place an existing PAL or GAL in it and it will sequentially go through and work out ...

This has been a problem for me also. I recently sold my best microdrive cartridges, which were noticeably better than the ones I have left. I have found that the small pad detaching is not a problem in itself. It is that the pad gets drawn into the microdrive plastic enclosure and stops the tape mov...

Those are the four ground areas, yep....but geeze, it looks like someone went at this thing with a shovel bit, a half gallon of solder and two gallons of flux! After learning from Nasta's recent enlightening posts, I now understand what is wrong with this SGC. After a period of use, video corruption...