31 replies to this topic

[jaybird3rd]

As anyone who owns an Aquarius knows, its built-in 4K of RAM is woefully inadequate for many applications, including the cassette-based releases which require 16K of RAM. Unfortunately, the original 4K and 16K RAM modules that Mattel produced are getting to be difficult to find, and the 32K module was only produced in very limited quantities.

I recently designed and tested a simple 32K RAM module of my own, functionally identical to Mattel's original. I'd like to know how many Aquarius owners would be interested in buying one if it were made available at a $20 price point (shipping would be extra). This would be for the RAM board itself, which can be installed inside any empty Aquarius cartridge shell (or used on its own if necessary), plus a set of color labels for the front and the top of the cartridge. I'd love to be able to offer a completely assembled module, but unfortunately there aren't enough Aquarius cartridge shells available.

This project would require the design of a new cartridge board, so I would need about twenty positive responses for it to be cost-effective. If there is sufficient interest, I'll start working on it as soon as the Aquaricart project is complete.

Thanks for your feedback!

[GroovyBee]

Is it possible to do it as an internal mod?

[cmart604]

Jay, I'm not even 100% sure what I'll be doing with it, but you know I'm in!

[Jay Silverheels]

I'd love a new 32k RAM cart.


I'd pay double or more for a "magic" (as in Jay's sophisticated engineering) ram cart that can somehow dip into the 16k ROM address space, as well.

A 52K Ram Aquarius (with trickery) would be the supreme ultimate Aquarius Ram cart.

Of course, as an appreciative realist, I would happily live with new 32k carts.

Edited by Jay Silverheels, Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:49 PM.

[jaybird3rd]

GroovyBee, on Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:08 PM, said:

Is it possible to do it as an internal mod?

I've thought along similar lines, and in fact, I actually toyed with the idea of making an internal version of the Aquarius Mini Expander: a 32K SRAM and an AY-3-8910 sound chip (or some equivalent), mounted on a daughterboard. The biggest problem is that either of these ideas would make for a much more challenging installation than external modules.

Here is a picture (from Martin v.d. Steenoven's website) of an Aquarius motherboard with the RF shield removed:


Most (if not all) of the chips in a stock Aquarius are soldered, and the RF shield (which doesn't leave much clearance inside) is also soldered in place. There are several places where I could probably squeeze a 32K SRAM and the address decoding logic, but I suspect that getting the machine open and piggybacking the chips and running wires--or even socketing one of the old chips and plugging in a daughterboard--would be more trouble than most Aquarius owners will want to be bothered with, especially when they have the option of using an external RAM cartridge.

At some point, I will be designing another internal daughterboard for upgraded video, which will include reprogrammable character graphics and composite video output (this is the "SuperFont" idea that I first floated last spring). This board will be installed in place of the character ROM, the 24-pin IC closest to the bottom, which I will replace with a socket. That will have to be an internal upgrade, and I will probably be performing the installations myself for any Aquarius owners who don't want to open their own machines. Perhaps I could squeeze a 32K SRAM onto that board, but I'd like to keep the upgrades I design as orthogonal as possible, so I'd rather not try to make it do too many things at once.

[jaybird3rd]

cmart604, on Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:15 PM, said:

Jay, I'm not even 100% sure what I'll be doing with it, but you know I'm in!

Well, if I end up making an "Aquaricart Volume 2", hopefully you'll be using it to play super-fast-loading 16K cassette games and other programs that have been converted to cartridge format!

Beyond the cassette titles that require expanded memory, this 32K module would be useful mainly for extra program space in Extended BASIC or Logo, for anyone who's interested in programming on the Aquarius in those languages. None of the cartridge games would make use of it, but this may change with future homebrew releases.

[cmart604]

jaybird3rd, on Sat Jun 11, 2011 5:33 PM, said:

cmart604, on Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:15 PM, said:

Jay, I'm not even 100% sure what I'll be doing with it, but you know I'm in!

Well, if I end up making an "Aquaricart Volume 2", hopefully you'll be using it to play super-fast-loading 16K cassette games and other programs that have been converted to cartridge format!

That's what I assumed, but you say it so much more eloquently!

[the-topdog]

It goes without saying that I am in like Flynn...

[psquare75]

Want, and will pre order if needed. (I'm still around, just been really busy in real life).

[ghsqb]

I'll take one also and prepay if needed.

[theloon]

For me purchasing the flash cart comes first. I wouldn't buy this without first having the flash cart, I mean. And having Jaybird himself pimp out my Aquarius with a reprogrammable character set?!?!? That would be crazy cool! Hopefully my wallet can afford the expertise and parts involved!

[Jay Silverheels]

This Ebay link is provided for information purposes only (I have no affiliation). I just found the timing interesting.

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 400224505861

They call it a "3rd party" 32k expansion, but it was made/released by the true 1st party in the Aquarius world, Radofin.

If only we could get a hold of the extended Aquarius cart mold, or some empty spares, they would make great Aquarius project cases (Although Jaybird's 32k cart fits into a standard cart size).

[jaybird3rd]

Wow, that is interesting. I'll have to keep my eye on that one. It's a PAL Aquarius, which doesn't turn up very often, and I'd love to have one because I'm seeing a lot of interest from Aquarius users in the UK in particular. It would be great to be able to test my cartridges on a PAL system.

I'd love to see the inside of one of the original 32K modules, too, just for fun. I suspect that it's an extension of the 16K module design: a load of surface-mounted 2K SRAMs, sandwiched together on two boards with a bunch of address decoding and chip select logic. There's probably at least twenty ICs inside that thing, which is why it had to be so large. Nowadays, of course, you can do it with a single 32K SRAM and one other chip for address decoding, which is much cheaper and much more efficient (and small enough to fit inside a standard cartridge shell).

Regarding the new 32K modules: with the feedback I've seen here and on Yahoo! Groups, I think there is enough interest to make this project feasible, so I'll get started on it once the Aquaricart is finished. It shouldn't take very long at all to design the board, so once I get to it, I should have my first prototypes within a few weeks.

[the-topdog]

Jay Silverheels, on Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:38 AM, said:

If only we could get a hold of the extended Aquarius cart mold, or some empty spares, they would make great Aquarius project cases

It looks to be the same cartridge body as the modem.

[Jay Silverheels]

the-topdog, on Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:30 AM, said:

Jay Silverheels, on Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:38 AM, said:

If only we could get a hold of the extended Aquarius cart mold, or some empty spares, they would make great Aquarius project cases

It looks to be the same cartridge body as the modem.

Yes, it is almost identical. My 32k cart does not have a hole on the side, like the modem does (for the phone jack). Perhaps during manufacture, the hole was cut out after the mold, or the mold could've been "plugged" at the hole for making non-modem cases. (Speaking without real knowledge of the processes involved.)

Since I have several modems, one day I plan to use one of the modem shells to encase my 1541 board.

[Jay Silverheels]

jaybird3rd, on Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:52 AM, said:

Wow, that is interesting. I'll have to keep my eye on that one. It's a PAL Aquarius, which doesn't turn up very often, and I'd love to have one because I'm seeing a lot of interest from Aquarius users in the UK in particular. It would be great to be able to test my cartridges on a PAL system.

I'd love to see the inside of one of the original 32K modules, too, just for fun.

If the bulk of my collection wasn't in storage boxes, I'd happily pass along a Pal system to you. I believe I do have easy access to my 32k cart. If the proposed Videotex character rom dump comes to fruition, I could send the 32k cart along with it for your viewing pleasure.

[Aquaman]

jaybird3rd, on Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:52 AM, said:

Wow, that is interesting. I'll have to keep my eye on that one. It's a PAL Aquarius, which doesn't turn up very often, and I'd love to have one because I'm seeing a lot of interest from Aquarius users in the UK in particular. It would be great to be able to test my cartridges on a PAL system.

I'd love to see the inside of one of the original 32K modules, too, just for fun. I suspect that it's an extension of the 16K module design: a load of surface-mounted 2K SRAMs, sandwiched together on two boards with a bunch of address decoding and chip select logic. There's probably at least twenty ICs inside that thing, which is why it had to be so large. Nowadays, of course, you can do it with a single 32K SRAM and one other chip for address decoding, which is much cheaper and much more efficient (and small enough to fit inside a standard cartridge shell).

Regarding the new 32K modules: with the feedback I've seen here and on Yahoo! Groups, I think there is enough interest to make this project feasible, so I'll get started on it once the Aquaricart is finished. It shouldn't take very long at all to design the board, so once I get to it, I should have my first prototypes within a few weeks.

Hi Jay, do you expect any problems for the cartridges on a PAL system then? I certainly hope not, as I am using a PAL version here in the Netherlands.

[bennybingo]

Count me in for a 32K expander cart!

[jaybird3rd]

Aquaman, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:55 PM, said:

Hi Jay, do you expect any problems for the cartridges on a PAL system then? I certainly hope not, as I am using a PAL version here in the Netherlands.

With the Aquaricart, there shouldn't be any issues. The original cartridges released by Mattel were the same for both PAL and NTSC, and the new Aquaricart software is relatively simple and should work on both types of systems. Just the same, I'll be shipping some of the first pre-release cartridges to PAL users, including one in the Netherlands. I'll find out from them if I need to make any changes before I go into a general release. The RAM modules should be compatible with both PAL and NTSC systems also.

[lucifershalo]

I can make some tests too if needed
I have a french pal scart AQUARIUS

[jaybird3rd]

lucifershalo, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:26 PM, said:

I can make some tests too if needed
I have a french pal scart AQUARIUS

Thanks very much, I'd greatly appreciate that. I've got about nine different NTSC systems that I'm testing both the Aquaricart and the 32K modules with, but no PAL systems, and I want to make sure that PAL users are getting a reliable product, too. In fact, based on the feedback I've received so far, I suspect that PAL users will be in the majority.

[Aquaman]

jaybird3rd, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:17 PM, said:

Aquaman, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:55 PM, said:

Hi Jay, do you expect any problems for the cartridges on a PAL system then? I certainly hope not, as I am using a PAL version here in the Netherlands.

With the Aquaricart, there shouldn't be any issues. The original cartridges released by Mattel were the same for both PAL and NTSC, and the new Aquaricart software is relatively simple and should work on both types of systems. Just the same, I'll be shipping some of the first pre-release cartridges to PAL users, including one in the Netherlands. I'll find out from them if I need to make any changes before I go into a general release.

Luckily, now I can sleep again! Could you please also make sure that all your other projects are being tested on PAL systems, I would hate to miss out on your other projects like the Superfont one!

[jaybird3rd]

Aquaman, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:37 PM, said:

Luckily, now I can sleep again! Could you please also make sure that all your other projects are being tested on PAL systems, I would hate to miss out on your other projects like the Superfont one!

Absolutely. I'm fortunate to have so many PAL users who are willing to give me their feedback, but I don't want to rely on them to do all of my PAL testing for me. That's why I want to get a PAL system in-house for my future projects. I'm getting interest from as many PAL users as NTSC users, if not more, so it's important to me to be able to serve both markets.

[Aquaman]

jaybird3rd, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:42 PM, said:

Aquaman, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:37 PM, said:

Luckily, now I can sleep again! Could you please also make sure that all your other projects are being tested on PAL systems, I would hate to miss out on your other projects like the Superfont one!

Absolutely. I'm fortunate to have so many PAL users who are willing to give me their feedback, but I don't want to rely on them to do all of my PAL testing for me. That's why I want to get a PAL system in-house for my future projects. I'm getting interest from as many PAL users as NTSC users, if not more, so it's important to me to be able to serve both markets.

At the time I only have my original PAL system from the eighties, but maybe I can try to get hold of another PAL version to send you. The only problem is that those shipping prices to the US seem to be so high!

[jaybird3rd]

Aquaman, on Thu Jun 23, 2011 2:47 PM, said:

At the time I only have my original PAL system from the eighties, but maybe I can try to get hold of another PAL version to send you. The only problem is that those shipping prices to the US seem to be so high!

That would be wonderful, thank you. If you do find an extra PAL system, I'd certainly be willing to cover shipping to the US.