QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

[XorA]

Just a thought - this device might not only be useful for just QLs but for PCs as well. If you want to make a trip down memory lane and connect oldskool DOS FidoNet/BBS systems that can only handle AT-style modem commands to Internet you have only a few options - DosBox (which doesn't work well on file transfers) or NetSerial, which costs you at least $90. So this is a much cheaper solution. I only hope that CTS/RTS handshake is properly implemented and maybe also DCD (Carrier Detect). In any case, this saves me from having to write a serial-to-TCP/IP driver .
So please count me in...

https://github.com/fozztexx/tcpser + a Pi is cheaper than $90

[Peter]

Also, the peak power demand of the card is slightly more than the Q68 could be assured of supplying so it uses a USB power supply.

The Q68 can supply enough. You just need to get it at different places than the SER handshake lines (PS/2, power plug) or reduce the resistor values in the handshake lines.

[Dave]

Since we have no way of knowing what extensions may be added in future, it just seems conservative to spend the 50 cents to provide separate regulation for them. I don't know if the Q68 has one or two LM1117-3.3's but even with two, and a heavy consuming keyboard and mouse that could leave as little as 600mA available for every extension. It also isolates the Q68 from possibly badly behaved extensions.

I'm talking about an extension bus/I2C/QLnet expander here, not the Q68 dongle.

[Peter]

Since we have no way of knowing what extensions may be added in future, it just seems conservative to spend the 50 cents to provide separate regulation for them. I don't know if the Q68 has one or two LM1117-3.3's but even with two, and a heavy consuming keyboard and mouse that could leave as little as 600mA available for every extension.

Let's be more precise. You were talking about power from SER handshake lines at first. This is 5V not 3.3V, just the protection resistors are too large for your application.

Keyboard and mouse are also powered with 5V! They do not take away from the limited 3.3V.

There are two 3.3V regulators, but one is reserved for video, to ensure highest picture quality.

That said, I don't find a separate power supply a bad idea, that makes your devide more universal. Does ist it still include the option to draw 5V power from serial handshake lines?

[Peter]

Does the software on this device support the SLIP protocol? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_Li ... t_Protocol

QLwIP already supports SLIP, this could open some possibilities even before ethernet driver support is ready.

I wonder about the software to support this device. You seem to say it is already finished on the device itself, but how about the QL side? How could we, for example, attach a webserver/browser or email program?

[Dave]

It does not support SLIP.

[Dave]

Today's hardware announcement.

The Q68 dongle will have a BBQL version. It will be available March 14th. Speed is limited to 9,600 baud for practical purposes.

More and photos when the PCBs come in. I will combine both versions onto a single PCB. The QL version will be the Q68 plus a QL to PC-style serial cable. It will cost about £5 more.

[RWAP]

Today's hardware announcement.

The Q68 dongle will have a BBQL version. It will be available March 14th. Speed is limited to 9,600 baud for practical purposes.

More and photos when the PCBs come in. I will combine both versions onto a single PCB. The QL version will be the Q68 plus a QL to PC-style serial cable. It will cost about £5 more.

That is great news - although would it not be worth having a jumper to allow the user to use a higher baud rate if they have it connected to the SuperHermes high speed serial port (460,800)

[martyn_hill]

That is great news - although would it not be worth having a jumper to allow the user to use a higher baud rate if they have it connected to the SuperHermes high speed serial port (460,800)

I second that - even the humble Hermes that I use can reliably handle 19200 - though I haven't tried without HW handshake as yet. Thus having an option to crank-up the baud if higher rates are realistic for a given platform would be welcome!

May I state my intention now to purchase one unit once available? To also include one Minerva MkI (with Min v1.98) and one QBuck regulator?

M.

[Dave]

There's no need for a jumper. You can reconfigure the connection speed through the connection. However, if the connection fails and you hit the reset button, it will reset to 9,600 instead of 115k