[Coco] Coco flash cartridge

[Mark McDougall]

Benoit Bleau wrote:

> Wow, this looks good.   I gather that the 29F040 will be a SMT, not DIP or
> PLCC?

Yes, TSOP32.

> Will you be offering kits with parts included? I'm not sure I could easily
> track that wide SMT format for the flash.
> Maybe kits with the flash already soldered on?  Reflow work isn't something
> I can do :)

Actually, it isn't that difficult once you get the hang of it, though it is 
a little easier with the right soldering iron tip. Not that I've done much - 
just a handful of devices - some 100+ pins!

Not sure at this point - not even sure how many we're making - or indeed if 
the initial prototypes will have gold-plating on the edge-connector - it 
_doubles_ the price of the boards!

I don't really have a feel for demand, there hasn't been too much interest 
in it yet, though I suspect it may be because it's "vapour-ware" atm! ;) 
Once we get the PCBs back and I post pictures of them assembled and working, 
I'll try to gauge interest and see if it's worth doing a larger run.

If it ever gets that far, I'll probably offer several options - bare PCBs, 
minimal ROM kits, and fully-populated FLASH kits.

Regards,

-- 
|              Mark McDougall                | "Electrical Engineers do it
|  <http://members.iinet.net.au/~msmcdoug>   |   with less resistance!"