[Coco] Multipak redesign/replacement

[RETRO Innovations]

On 2/23/2015 11:24 PM, Gene Heskett wrote:
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> If the cable is used, then height above the desk is up to the box maker.  If
> thats built so the pcb is, say 5/8" above the desk, you could lower the tops
> of the carts sticking out by close to 3/4" from what it is now.  Exactness in
> that case is very nearly a moot point.
True, but I'll probably design the PCB so that the cable is an optional 
thing (by having the board house make the PCBs as one combined PCB (they 
charge per design) with a way to snap the PCB if needed.  I've done 
similar on a few designs.
> Which as I said before could be exceedingly useful if we can generate a signal
> going back into the coco to disable its internal CS in the right places. But
> I don't know if thats possible.  If not, we''l have to cobble up a teeny
> board with additional decoding on it, and cut it into the coco's own decoding
> logic.  Doing this will free up 7 additional 4 byte wide i/o ports between
> $FF04 and $FF1F, and for another 7 from $FF24 to $FF3F.  Even just one of
> those 7 port wide additions to the /CS decoding would solve a huge number of
> our address conflicts we have now.
Well, I think I have a solution for that, that requires no additional 
logic.  Can you elaborate on the address conflicts folks see now?
> Fine if there is room. In my midden heap theres about  a foot of paper mixed
> with old 3.5" drives and what have you piled up against the right side of
> mine.  I think I have mentioned it once or twice that I am a packrat, married
> to a packrat (which ought to be illegal) .  ;-)
Well, I can bring the horiz connector out to the back, if that's of 
interest.  Question is whether a 1x8 or 2x4 arrangement is preferred.  
The schematic won't care, but the PCB will...