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Old 2nd Mar 2021, 9:58 am   #17
Timbucus
Octode
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK.
Posts: 1,362
Default Re: The Transam Triton Personal Computer

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
But I still have my Intel MCS8i (early 1970s, paper tape based with a lights-and-switches panel) and MDS800 (early 1980s? 8" floppy based) development systems and all the manuals. And an Intel data book covering the 4004 up to the 8085 on the shelf.
Nice systems - you always seem to have the best ones

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
I also have a device that can read (and program, according to the manual) the 2708. I used it to read out the EPROM in my Softy, so it seems to work. To be honest if I was making a copy of the Triton now I'd put the firmware into more common and cheap devices like the 2764, even if I wasted 7/8th's of each chip, and make little adapter boards for them.

Thinking about the keyboard, ...
Ian's board does put them mostly on the expansion card (as BASIC and TRAP need 8 EPROMS each!), as did Gerald's it seems so you only need two on the board - see note later on this post.

Sounds similar to the adaption I made to the Sirius PI Programmer project on another thread (which uses opto isolators - does your arduino solution?

Seriously though as Mark has spotted; the Triton owner Ian I mentioned, had put a lot of hours into the design of a keyboard PCB which he has had made, but at the time the specialist decoder chip was unavailable. I had spent a long time learning how to program PIC's by studying Karen's code in order to adapt a Dragon32 keyboard for my Triton. So we pooled our resources and made a ready to go replacement that looks more authentic and has a few tricks up its sleeve - more news soon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GeraldSommariva View Post
Been in the loft and found these four Independent user group booklets each around 45 pages of A5 put out on Nov 1992 Feb 1983 May 1993 and Aug 1993.

Booklet number three has the list for subscribers to this group including my uncle Terry its Approx. 150+ people from all over the UK and includes people from Switzerland, West Germany, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Canada, and Finland. so looks like the good old Triton got around a bit in the 80's
Lovely - I don't think the ones from the 1990's are in the Nat Museum collection - either way they do not make the contents public so a scan to Archive.com would be a great way to preserve these.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GeraldSommariva View Post
With regard's to getting my Triton going I think the first approach will be to see if I can read the eproms. I did have a eprom programer which plugged into the Triton via my added I/O port (blue connector left hand front) but that would require a working Triton and the SW to drive it. Have not found my eprom programer so far but did find my intel 8080 book.

So looking for a eprom reader / programmer , I also remember the 2708 had a strange program sequence were you have to cycle n times depending on the program pulse width and you needed a high program pulse voltage too (+25V).
As Tony mentioned he has a way to read 2708 at a push so I am sure he would help out if we asked nicely. It is likely the two with the arrows for MON are just variations of the ones we already have - perhaps even just some hooks for your floppy drive and a changed serial port speed. In that case securing the two 8K TRAP/BASIC ones off the board along with the two in the middle FastVDU and the BASIC (no CS but extension perhaps?) leaves you with enough to boot and use the machine at much lower risk.

The 8K ones could be read in any cheap modern programmer like the TL866 widely available - one of them may be useful to you to get the Triton running and then use your old programmer for any 2708 work...

Tony also mentions the keyboard and yours looks impressive - would like to find out more about that...
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