Hey Guys,
Sorry for the delayed input to this thread ... been busy getting ready for
my China trip on Friday.
If we were going to do another run of NADSBoxes (and possibly REX) via
"group funding", I would want to set it up as an official project with a
schedule, milestones, etc. Particularly expectations on
return-on-investment for anyone contributing to the fund. When it was just
me spening my own money (and even more than that, time), it didn't matter
when or even if I ever got it done. But that changes considerably when
other start to have real money involved.
When I did the original run of NADSBox, I was effectively single with no
kids (they had moved to a different state). So I had an abundance of time
on my hands. Now I am re-married with two kids ages 5 and 3 and I have a
building full of ASIC engineers who report to me. To me, my time has become
more valuable than money (never thought I would say somthing like that! :)
Deveoping the original NADSBox took 2,200 hours. A second run wouldn't be
*nearly* as much time, but it would take on the order of 300-400 hours.
This is because I no longer have a PADS PCB license and must re-do the
layout in Cadence Allegro. A project schedule would look something like:
1. Check for parts availablity (I know the PIC is obsolete but still
available).
2. Select a new SD card socket
3. Redo the PCB layout (this would be identical layout, just in a new CAD
package). When I tried to import to Allegro, it sorta got there, but all of
the net names were lost and it shows thousands of design rule check (DRC)
errors. DRC count should be zero.
4. Do a small test run of 5-6 PCBs to validate the "new" layout.
5. Program and test the new boards. Validate they fit in the existing
NADSBox enclosure.
6. Make any necnessary changes to the PCB if it doesn't work.
7. If needed, do a second run of 5-6 PCBs to validate the potential changes
from #6
8. Make any necessary changes to the enclosure diagrams and have new
enclosures built. These were done by Serpack in the LA area and have a 3-4
week lead-time. This is largest expense of the project in terms of cash.
The setup fee for pad printing and machining is on the order of $2,500
alone. That doesn't include actual price of the enclosures or the per-unit
cost of performing the machining (these two together probably add up to
$23). The setup fee is amortized over the number of enclosures you
purchase.
9. Generate instructions, software and tools so a PCB house can perform
programming and testing of the boards.
10. Get a PCB house to manufacture, assemble, program, test the PCBs
11. Provide enclosures to PCB house along with mounting screws, etc. and
get them to assemble the final units.
With a bit of Steve's assistance I could manage getting the board house to
do assembly and programming of REX also. We would probably want to change
the Gerbers such that the PCB edges are true castellated edges instead of
needing to be hand grinded. There are PCB houses that can do these cleanly
with the proper copper clearance from the edge of the PCB and liquid solder
mask rules.
Ken
On 7/30/17 12:13 AM, Gary Weber wrote:
With a Woolly, the REX would be obsolete, no? But if there's indeed a need
for all three products, then indeed I would stand beside you on the sharing
of all three.
On Sat, Jul 29, 2017 at 11:42 PM, ray gordon <ray...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi Gary;
I'd be happy to have someone share putting up the money for everything. If
you don't think rex is as an attractive an idea, I'm willing to bear that
burden alone, and we could split nads and woolly costs between us.
Glad to have you aboard!
ray
________________________________
From: M100 <m100-boun...@lists.bitchin100.com> on behalf of Gary Weber
<m100l...@gweber.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2017 3:41 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] Model T upgrades
Ray,
If you feel compelled to contribute to another production run effort, I
guarantee you that you are not the only one interested in sharing in that
contribution.
Here's my take on things:
NADSBox -- I think there probably is quite a bit of interest in this
product even today. I'm willing to bet there would be at least 10-15
immediate pending sales on this given the interest I've seen on this list
alone.
REX -- This might be interesting as well, however it sounds like WOOLLY
would likely be a better place to put engineering effort & dollars.
WOOLLY -- I'm betting the majority of folks on this list would likely want
one of these. If I had to pick only one product alone to focus on and bring
to market, I'd pick this one! REX functionality, RAM expansion (for CP/M),
and WiFi capability. All of that would be amazing to have in one piece of
hardware that can fit into an Option ROM socket. We're talking about a
potential replacement for all of the ReMem and REX variations that existed
previously, and then some.
I'm willing to contribute significantly to the effort to bring any and all
of these products to life (for the second time for REX & NADSBox of course).
And when I say contribute, I don't just mean encouragement & testing &
labor. I'm talking about financial. :) Probably the areas I can best help
in would be fronting a good chunk of the costs for sourcing of parts &
production, and then also on the eventual fulfillment. (Either hosted on
Club100.org or on Web8201.net or some other central hub, doesn't matter. I
can definitely assist on the eCommerce end.)
Gary
On Sat, Jul 29, 2017 at 3:26 PM, ray gordon <ray...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi Ken,
That's all fine by me. I would have to get a cashier's check and mail it
to you, because I can't pay that much by paypal all at once. Maybe I could
paypal it to you over the course of a week.
Let me know when you're all set to move.
ray
________________________________
From: M100 <m100-boun...@lists.bitchin100.com> on behalf of Ken Pettit
<petti...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2017 8:50 PM
To: m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] Model T upgrades
Hi Ray,
When I did the first run of NADSBoxes in 2008 / 2009 timeframe, my
up-front cash expenditure was $13K for 240 NADSBoxes. This is when I was
having them built and assembled in China. I probably still could have them
built and assembled there, though it is a bit more challenging since I no
longer live there.
Turns out I am traveling to China next week and will be visiting Shenzhen
for 5 days! YEA!!! Maybe I could visit my old haunts while there (in fact
I am looking forward to it).
One of the concerns with NADSBox is that I need to update the layout a
bit to select a different SD card socket ... the socket used in the last
round of NADSBoxes was acquired from a Chinese source with no real part
number or way to track it. So the footprint is specific to that part which
is no longer available.
I am working actively on Woolly which would replace REX and in a way,
NADSBox, via TPDD access to a host via WiFi. But this is still a big
development effort, both in terms of hardware and software.
If you still wanted to put up the cash after reading this, we probably
wouldn't need to build 240 NADSBoxes as demand isn't what it was in 2009,
but it would still be in the $8K - $9K range I would guess for NADSBox
alone. I don't know for REX.
Ken
On 7/28/17 7:05 PM, ray gordon wrote:
I'm willing to put up the cash necessary if Ken & Stephen would be
willing to do another run of NADS & REX.
Ray g
________________________________
From: M100 <m100-boun...@lists.bitchin100.com> on behalf of Gregory
McGill <arcadeshop...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2017 11:50 AM
To: m...@bitchin100.com
Subject: Re: [M100] Model T upgrades
nope.. it seems we go through this weekly, rex is open source, you are
welcome to make your own if you are up to it,. i have two i am meaning to
build but surface mount is not my thing so they keep getting put off..
boards are on oshpark and the instructions are googlable nadsbox is not
available.. you can use a pc and laddiealpha or other tools there's one for
android too with a togo cable
Greg
On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 11:06 AM, Robert Prather
<robert.s.prat...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi All,
Just got a Model 100 off of eBay. If I'd known of the Club 100 site, I'd
have purchased one there. There's some yellow on this one, but the memory
appears maxed out (installed internally), so wasn't a bad find overall.
I've used a color computer 2 for years, and love it, and decided to try
out the Model 100. Love it so far.
From the Club 100 site, I saw that there used to be NADSBox's available
as well as REX modules.
I'm emailing to find out if it's still possible to purchase these? I'm
also trying to track down the little legs that can prop up the Model 100.
I'd really appreciate any help anyone can provide. I didn't want to try
ordering from the Club 100 site, because I wanted a confirmation before I
did.
thanks,
Robert
