Subject: Re: PG controller board

From: Lance Norskog <[email-masked]>
Date: 22 Oct 91 17:09:19 PDT (Tue)

Handshaking.

	There's no built-in hardware handshake from the PC parallel port
	side.  The only dumb thing is that the parallel port has no
	5V output.  You have to assign an output line as the 5V reference 
	and leave it up all the time, and hope it doesn't source much
	current.

What else can you do with the outboard CPU box?

	If you leave the power glove control code to the dumbest possible,
	there may be enough RAM left over for the cpu could to control a 
	chord (one-handed) keyboard.  This is just a pet project of mine.

	The PC joystick interface is really crummy: it forces you to
	poll the hardware card.  But the hardware is real potentiometers.
	So being able to put a bunch of pots on the analog inputs of
	the 6811 would also be handy.

	Also, a plug for regular Nintendo joysticks would be nice.  
	(Where you buy these plugs I don't know).  There are some
	ergonomic ones appearing in the toy stores.  There was even
	a chest-mounted one (controlled by your chin or something)
	announced by Nintendo two years ago and never sold.

Lance Norskog

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From: Francis Taylor <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 91 13:41:57 -0700

Regarding getting +5 from signal lines on the printer port: you really
don't want to drag on the output lines in this way, unless you're
going to consume close-to-zero current. Look at the high-level current
output ratings for an LS244 and you'll see what I mean.

My favorite hack is to connect to a disk drive power supply connector
(the 4 pin white plastic guys).  You get lots of regulated +5 and +12.
It's usually pretty easy to snake an extra floppy cable out through a
hole in the back of the machine.

If you don't have an extra power connector, you can get a Y-adapter at
any half-decent computer store.

If you can't et to a floppy power cable, then you can use a plug-mount
power supply, and put the floppy power connector on the end of it, so
the interface can run from either.