[Coco] CoCo Ethernet for $25-$30...

[Allen Huffman]

On Apr 8, 2013, at 5:51 AM, Frank Pittel <fwp at deepthought.com> wrote:
> I've seen the wiznet chips and they are nice. They seem like they're intended
> to work with microcontrollers but it wouldn't take a lot of massaging to get
> one to work with a coco.

They are basically Ethernet to Serial devices, talking through an SPI interface. I bet a very low cost CoCo cartridge could be made, and then the CoCo would just need to do the SPI-bus communications. But that would be beyond my capabilities.

Thus, the RS232 to Ethernet board they make. I found it for $22, even, but I expect I'll order from Sparkfun at $30+$3 shipping, since the other places seem to charge way more for shipping and I have not dealt with them in the past.

> I understand that Mark M. has been looking at and/or working with the wiznet chips
> to provide ethernet for the coco. I thought I heard him mention it briefly at a fest
> a few years ago and know nothing of the progress or status.

Very cool. He's the one that got me looking at the iChip back around 2001, which I still think would be the better way to go since it handles the app protocols, but... I can't find a low cost interface using it.

		-- Allen