Cat Box

Hey All,

        So, I've actually started to get this CAT Box replacement
project on the road, because I'm convinced that I could use one
now.....

        I estimate that I'm like 2/3 of the way done with coding
the PLD. Here's what would be needed to build a CAT Box:

        1 CAT Box replacement PLD (It looks like this will only
fit on a MACH 435 or MACH 465 part and Newark lists MACH 435s
for like $65 a piece.)

        1 6502
        1 6532
        1 Keypad
        1 6 7-segment LCD readout
        1 "Switch Matrix" of some type
        1 Switching Power Supply
        "Stuff" to put it all together

        I intend to make the CAT Box connect up to a standard PC
switching power supply with a HDD power cable. Any other
suggestions? I think it's pretty pointless for me to create a
power-supply that is self-contained in the CAT Box (like the
original) when PC switching supplies are so readily available (I
use one as my bench power supply anyways)

        It's the switch matrix that is the biggfest variable in
all of this. If someone would design a software interface, that
would be really cool. Else, I will just design something that
gets the job done.

        Any input would be appreciated. I've re-read the thread
from a few months back about PC interfaces, etc. If someone's
willing to do this type of thing, I'm all ears, and will do whatever
to accomodate this with the CAT Box hardware.

Joe

BTW: I'm sure some of you are wondering about the Cine. Exorcisors.
The PCBs work fine. Making the cables such that everything works
is a little more difficult. I think I have everything done right
now, but I just want to test it out. Crimping DIP headers onto
two ends of 16-pin ribbon cable will NOT work for the cables, because
the crosstalk messes up the signals. I've actually observed this
happening.

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Joseph J. Welser jwelser@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
Design Engineer -- Crystal Semiconductor Corporation
Ph.D. Student in E.E. -- University of Texas at Austin
Work: jwelser_at_crystal.cirrus.com http://www.crystal.com
P.O. Box 17847; Austin, TX 78760
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Received on Sat Jul 18 19:14:11 1998