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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Maximite. Anyone in NZ need one Today?
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donmck Guru  Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Hi all, Is there someone in New Zealand that wants to purchase a Maximite kit today? I can help you, but I need you to help me overcome a small problem. Email direct to: support2011 AT dontronics.com BTW, been in business since 1964, it you are unsure of me or my motives. :-) http://www.dontronics-shop.com/dontronics-company-informatio n.html Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Hi Don You need to explain what you mean "overcome a small problem". Your an Australian business trying to sell a Maximite in NZ? I assume its a order thats gone adrift or something. Please understand I get a lot of spam from new members trying to sell something bogus, so I ask anyone who wants to sell a product to provide more information so my members can be sure they are a safe person/company to deal with. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Hi Glenn, After I wrote the short message, I realized that it could easily be misinterpreted. No I'm not selling something, I am actually trying to buy a Maximite, as I am missing out on all the fun. I know where there are kits available in NZ, I rang them this morning, but they won't ship them to OZ because of security, whatever that means in today's world. So I am after a New Zealander that wants to buy a kit from a local merchant, and can help me out also with the shipping problem. Hope that clears it up Glenn, sorry for the confusion. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Hi Don Thats makes perfect sense 
Good luck finding one, I bet Altronics are kicking themselves for not predicting the interest in the little beastie. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Thanks Glenn, I am kicking myself for not predicting the interest in the little beastie when I read all three articles in SC. I am one of the old 1978 TRS-80 groupies, and this thing is not only a re-incarnation of that, it kicks butt in today's world. I don't know why I hesitated. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Yeah Don I had a look around your web site and saw the early TRS80 projects you got up to. I remember using the TRS80's at high school, but when I started my apprenticeship with Telecom the Microbee's were out so I bought one of those. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
It appears that I will have something next week anyway, so there is no point in me following the NZ lead. This company has 3 in stock, for any interested NZ Maximiter: http://www.globalpc.co.nz/Electronics/Kits-Altronics/Compute r/Product-Specification-K9550.aspx I think you will have to be quick. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1343 |
Hello Don, Mate first it's great to get to meet you on a forum  Now that your interested in the maximite and it does have 20 in/outs. I was just thinking this would be purfect for the old simmstick. If guys want to make their own circuits to add on then the 30 pin buss style from the simmstick would be a good way to go. Ok so only 20 pins can be used but a motherboard with the ribbon cable socket along with those 30 pin buss connectors would provide an easy way to interface external circuits.
For example one want to make a datalogger circuit say to go measure a wind genny remotely then simply plugging the simmstick into the buss will make for a useful and easy task. The list of projects would be endless and that board I suggested would make it easy for new comers to the maximite and the experienced. Regards Bryan |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
G'day Brian, thanks. Newbies used to ask me "what is the best way of getting into micros?" And depending on the current situation, and cost of compilers, I would usually directed them towards PICs or AVRs and up until recently, I was able to supply them with a full kit that included a range of my SimmStick gear, then sell them a Basic or C compiler on top of that. However, SimmStick is now old hat, and I am selling bare boards for $1 to $2 each, just to get rid of them. Mind you, most are based on Serial and Parallel interfacing, and today the world is USB. SimmStick Reference See: http://www.dontronics-shop.com/simmstick-fifteen-years-on.ht ml Yes, you could interface SimmStick Relays, LEDs and switch boards, etc., to the 20 pin bus with a little bit of work. Certainly cheap. Last time someone asked me about getting into micros, I had to say, "Buy a Maximite". And I didn't have anything to sell him. It is the quickest, and cheapest way of getting started today. You don't even need to buy a Basic Compiler. An old VGA screen, who hasn't got one of those, or can get one free or cheap, and a PS2 keyboard. I'll bet you can get one posted from honkers for $10 including post, if you don't have one. Sure I will have something soon I hope, and I will help to develop I/O boards for Maximite. To be very honest, I see an $8 micro being used in place of what a $4 to $12 micros were doing in the past. There will always be room for a 20 cent to $2 micro for mini applications, and ARM for specific larger apps. Geoff's Maximite Computer will be filling a lot of gaps, and new developments will junk a lot of 8 and 16 bit micros. His new mini Maximite that Geoff will be working on in a few months time, will be a very good companion for the larger version. Anyway, just my opinion. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| greybeard Senior Member  Joined: 04/01/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 161 |
Hiya Don, I've still got a pile of simmsticks and sockets in the shed. They seem to have past their use by date unfortunately. 
cheers Rod ( Perth ) |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Hi Rod, Yesterday I thought I better check a few profiles on the board and see if I knew other users, and I noticed "greybeard's" profile and knew we would be chatting soon. Way past their used by date, it was 15 years ago when I launched them, and I am dumping them at $1 to $2 now. I am running out of some, such as the last of the DT111s sold this morning to the US, a whole $7 plus postage. And others I could have 1000 in stock. So they may end up as freebies. Certainly some of them such as the Relay boards, and the LEDs and switches could be hacked to the 20 pin Maximite header, at a very cheap cost. My friend and business associate Richard (http://emx.net.au) will be working on I/O boards. He is on this forum also. What we have to decide is what users want most in the way of I/O boards, and produce them. Perhaps we should ask in a new thread. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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jman Guru Joined: 12/06/2011 Location: New ZealandPosts: 711 |
Thanks for the tip Went into their Christchurch store today and collected one. She is built and running. Don you must remember NewDos on the TRS80 that brings back memory's we even had one booting off a 5MB (yip 5MB) hard disk. Regards John |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
G'day John, Glad I pointed you in the right direction on that one. NewDos, hell yes. A big improvement over Trash DOS, as we called it. And I'll imagine that the 5Mb drive in those days cost about $2299AUD. I remember buying the TRS-80 Z80 Editor Assembler on audio tape that was a 13K file length, and took 8 minutes to load via a standard Radio Shack audio deck. Then I got a stringy floppy tape that loaded the same thing in about 8 seconds. Maximite would do the same thing from SD card in the micro to milli-second range, I would think. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| jman Guru Joined: 12/06/2011 Location: New ZealandPosts: 711 |
Well as we are going down memory lane You must remember these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Genie I had a one of these dont you just love the built in 4track :) John |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
They had a volume meter on some units, and you had to crank a knob to get it to read. I chased the circuits for all variants of the Sys-80, video-genie, etc. TRS-80 also had Japanese variants. I did a 32 character mod for the System-80, V-G types. Printed in Micro-80 Adelaide if you remember the mag. My friend Mick had a System-80, and he had trouble getting the lid on because of the piggy backed chips and wiring. He had it permanently set up on the kitchen table. Drove his mother mad. Cheers Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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