Due to some changes in the PCB houses my assembler uses, and cost issues with the DIN6 connector for the uIEC/SD daughtercard, it’s actually cheaper to create a new PCB design than to use the old one. To that end, I have slightly modified the design to include a power supply connector and a switch to disable the RESET line (in case you wanted the device to stay in a subdirectory across reboots of the computer). To stay on delivery targets, I need to send this off to the assembly house this week, but I am interested in comments on the changes and any others that might be possible. Before people ask, I attempted to add a second IEC connector, but then the IEC connectors must be positions to face the side, and the board ends up larger than the uIEC/SD itself.
ZoomFloppy response has been overwhelming, and we became swamped with orders. We needed help to push through the last shipments, but I don’t want to pay a lot for staff. After considering various options, I found these two underage workers who seemed interested in product fulfillment opportunities. I think I can pay them less than minimum wage and skip FICA and withholding. I’ll take care of their medical benefits and investments, though.
Seriously, those who are getting the final batch of boards might notice the stickers on the packages are a bit mis-aligned, those were lovingly packed by Belle2. All units were programmed and tested for functionality by Brent1. Staff member Brent programming and testing ZF units
Also shown is the temporary worldwide headquarters for RETRO Innovations. Advanced Technology in Action!
Though not immediately useful, to help with the development of IEEE drive support for ZoomFloppy, I acquired a small batch of IEEE connectors for the store.
I’m continuing to looks for a cheaper source of connectors, but they aren’t in huge demand, so the options might be limited.
Thought not everyone spends time on the prevalent social network, it’s clearly a valuable way to stay in touch with consumers. As well, it gives satisfied customers another way to promote our products with a minimum of effort.
However, I’ll admit that’s not why I signed up for a business account. I did so for two reasons:
There are times when I want to share a minor update with others about the company, but it’s not worthy of a blog post.
Many satisfied customers are interesting in “friending” my personal Facebook account. I’m flattered, but I feel like my life is the intersection of two social graphs. I sincerely doubt my college roommates care about business updates, and I can’t imaging customers want to know about family issues and triumphs.
Thus, RETRO Innovations has joined Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/go4retro. I will continue to post worthwhile items to the web site, and will post incremental updates or interesting project information to Facebook.
As soon as the Facebook Developer site is fixed (I’m getting errors today, and I’m not alone), I will finish the integration between this site and FB. That should allow the FB items to display on the site as well.
The first 25 ZF units arrived on January 12, and the remaining units arrived January 20th. At present, 66 orders have been sent out, and 20 more will go out this weekend. Shown at left is a record 41 orders shipped out this morning.
We appreciate the interest and orders. It’s become obvious a new order is in order.
To help with questions about driver installation and/or usage,we’ve listed some resources on the product information page at http://www.go4retro.com/projects/zoomfloppy/. In addition to a FAQ, there is a Google Group for questions and discussion. Please consider joining and learning more about this product.
Ingo Korb has released a minor update to sd2iec (used in uIEC, among other solutions). Users are encouraged to update to this release. Fixes/Features include:
U1/2, B-R/W commands now work without a trailing CR character (reported by Draco)
UI now always reports the dos version no matter what characters are following unless it’s a + or -. Previously anything but ±/nothing would result in a SYNTAX ERROR which doesn’t match what a 1541 would do. (reported by skoe)
JiffyDOS timing optimized, now loads a massive 1.8% faster!
Although parts were delayed due to a Blizzard in the Midwest this past weekend, I was able to construct ZoomFloppy #1 Monday night. Though one hopes for first attempt success, that is not often the case. It was indeed not the case for this construction.
When I designed the board, I knew the 0402-sized surface mount components were small, 1/4 the size of the 0804-sized components I normally utilize for SMT designs. Still, it’s a bit academic until one actually tries to solder the parts. At a size that is seems near my eye’s minimum ability to resolve details, the components truly tested my soldering abilities. For comparison, my finest iron tip is 1/32″, and the parts were about the same size as the tip. Still, I was able to place each component on the board.
When first powering up the unit, it did register as a USB device, and I was quickly able to load the required firmware. However, upon re-insertion, the unit registered as “xum1541 (ZOOMFLOPPY)” and demanded USB drivers I did not have. Since it was late, I left the project at that point and solicited help from Nate (the project designer) and others.
Tuesday night, I had learned what version of OpenCBM to load on the PC, the correct USB drivers had been sent to me in a ZIP file, and progress was made. The correct drivers were loaded, and OpenCBM commands were issues to the device.
Sadly, initial tests failed. Before assuming the worst, I checked all solder joints, and measured impedences, on the assumption I had soldered a component incorrectly. During the inspection, I noticed two resistors attached to the IEC lines were shorted to each other, thus effectively shorting the IEC lines together. After resolving that issue, the unit successfully passed the tests by transferring data from the drive ROM to the PC.
With no need to spin a new PCB, I released the 98 first batch units to production and ordered the required parts for assembly. The plan is to quickly assemble 25 units and potentially ship before end of year, with the rest coming quickly in January. Since the 2×8 header X3 was nominal in cost, I ordered it for inclusion in assembly.
Sale price target is $35.00, and I will add a pre-order option in the store shortly. Given the ease of installation and configuration, I predict significant sales. This device eliminates the need to fiddle with parallel port settings, trying to remember a myriad of differently lettered adapters, and a need to maintain older systems with legacy ports for disk access purposes.
PCBs for ZoomFloppy are finished and the first 2 are enroute to the US for manual assembly and testing. Those following the blog for a while or having chatted with me at shows know the sequence for a new product:
Initial prototyping
Unit and system testing
Schematic capture
PCB CAD design
PCB manufacturing
Limited run hand assembly
Final testing
Automated Assembly
Key commitment points include step step 5 and step 8. Before step 5, little expense is involved, and truly, many projects cease before that step. Step #5 has become much more economical, so much so that initial production board runs approximate the cost for limited quantity prototype manufacturing. Thus, I don’t often run a true prototype phase. At worst, the design has an issue and I need to run another batch of boards, which costs no more than a prototype run + production PCB run. At best, the first revision works fine, and the money saved can be used elsewhere.
Step #8 is a larger commitment. Whereas a board run of 100 boards might cost a couple hundred dollars, parts acquisition alone for step #8 can easily cost 1 to 2 thousand, more if the design is a higher end product. Thus, it makes sense to, in the absence of a prototype PCB phase, hand assemble a few production boards to check final placement, fit, and function.
One the design passes testing, it becomes a waiting game for final assembled boards to arrive for sales. As in all things, there are 3 criteria: speed, quality, and price. You can select 2 of the 3 for your project. I select quality and price, so I typically wait a bit longer for assembly. In perspective, some assembly houses can do 100 units in 5-10 days, while I typically figure 15-20 days.
Still, things should progress smoothly and quickly once the final testing is done.
QuadPortIEC boards arrived today from the manufacturer. They look very clean, though the design didn’t exactly push the envelope. At $100.00 for 100 sq inches of PCB (shipping included), they were not cheap, but I saw much less competitive offerings in the marketplace. Test fitment in the Hammond case looks good, though I need to order a few DIN sockets to test for sure.
While true innovation might be lacking in this project design, it serves a valuable need. Many months ago, I helped a forum reader with a design for a multi-port IEC hub that allowed individual ports to be “disabled” to disconnecting the ATN line for that IEC port. Months later, Jim Peters, another enthusiast, started conversing with me about a vanilla multi-port IEC hub project he was attempting to design. I brushed off the earlier design, showed Jim the results, and solicited feedback. After revamping the design to fit in a standard Hammond Black 1591XXCSBK or Translucent Blue 1591XXCTBU case, I submitted the design for prototype production this evening. Though I’m happy with my current board manufacturer, there’s not as economical on prototype runs, and I thought I’d try a new company. The finished units should arrive in 2 weeks. I’m only ordering 10 units, but if there is sufficient interest, I’ll consider a production run.
