Sam Revival issue 15 out now...
Hi folks, Issue 15 of Sam Revival magazine is now out, well, just about as it's getting printed off just now, but subscribers copies will be sent out early next week. This issue features all the latest on the Mayhem Accelerator, going through the final steps of development and all the ups and downs there has been along the way. The Sam Scene Roundup takes a first look at the new arcade emulator in the works by Simon Owen - an emulator for Space Invaders. There's news on the PSP port of SimCoupe and forthcoming shows. A feature article takes a look at the Kaleidoscope interface released by SamCo in 1992 as both a stand alone interface and as part of the Hardware Development Kit. And there's more readers letters too in the Coupe Correspondence pages. The coverdisk with this issue features the full Sam game 'Legend of Eshan' by John Eyre. This issue of Sam Revival costs £3.99 for the UK, or £4.79 for EU (including Airmail postage). You can also subscribe for three issues at the discounted price of £10.99 (UK) or £13.49 (EU). Ordering Issue 15 = For your convience there are several ways you can order Sam Revival. Back issues are also available, see the Sam Revival page at www.samcoupe.com for the contents of each issue. PayPal -- Click on the PayPal payment button by the news article on the Quazar website at www.samcoupe.com , or send payment directly via Paypal to [EMAIL PROTECTED] NoChex -- I can take UK payments by Credit / Debit card securely through NoChex without you having to register or sign-up for their service. Click on the 'NoChex' button on the navigation bar at the Quazar website at www.samcoupe.com Cheque / Postal Order - Drop me an email directly if you require my postal address for sending a cheque or Postal Order Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Coupe April 1995-2006 - Celebrating 11 Years of developing for the Sam Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
Forthcoming Shows...
A quick reminder I will be at the UK Pinball Show in Birmingham next weekend (Saturday 22nd) showing off the Mayhem Accelerator. Show website: http://www.ukpinballshow.co.uk After that, the next show I will be attending will be the 'Retro Fusion - Weekend of Gaming' on Saturday 30th Sept and Sunday 1st October in Kenilworth, near Coventry. Details soon! Colin = Quazar : Hardware, Software, Spares and Repairs for the Sam Coupe April 1995-2006 - Celebrating 11 Years of developing for the Sam Coupe Website: http://www.samcoupe.com/
Mayhem Accelerator Update
( This is a cut down version of the article taken from the news in issue 15 of Sam Revival... ) Mayhem Accelerator Update - Fantastic news because the long awaited prototype of the Mayhem Accelerator is now complete! Of course there have been ups and downs along the way, including something going 'pop' while I was testing the last piece of circuitry that I mentioned in the last issue! Yes, I had blown the prototype, not sure how and it wasn't a fault I could easily trace, it's not the first major fault during it's long development, but when so close to completion it was a disappointment. The prototype was already in a pretty fragile state as a lot of it was held together by thin wires for quickness as more and more modules had been added over time and dismantling parts to investigate the problem often resulted in repairing broken links. Not to be put off, I decided to rebuild a new prototype from scratch instead of wasting time trying to trace what I had blown. Over the next few days at the end of May I have a new prototype built up and working at near enough the level I was at before. Luckily I still had some unused PCBs for the main sections which I had etched back in 2004, and rebuilt all the other sections on stripboard as before. Even though, I was building this up at lightning pace I was doing so much more robustly with neater layouts, shorter links, more secure wiring etc. It also gave me the opportunity to build up some of the modules with several design revisions implemented and new features, something I hadn't planned to do until I was preparing the final PCB layouts for the production version. One of the new additions I've added into the design of the Mayhem is that it now features a 6MHz 'legacy' mode, so you can run it at the normal 6MHz speed with contended memory to save you having to unplug the interface to use the Sam at it's original speed. The other speed options remain at 10MHz, 16MHz and 20MHz, with a push button to cycle through the frequencies, with the current selection indicated by a coloured LED on the Mayhem itself, and also on the Sam's startup screen. On the 9th of June I was able to declare the prototype of the Mayhem Accelerator complete, with the design 100% complete and operational. It's beena long journey and it was great to be able to finally say that! With the design complete, here are the final benchmarks for the Mayhem Accelerator... Fractal Explorer (generating the default Mandlebrot image) Normal Sam: 21.30 seconds Mayhem @ 10MHz: 10.56 seconds (202% speedup) Mayhem @ 16MHz: 7.20 seconds (296% speedup) Mayhem @ 20MHz: 6.06 seconds (352% speedup) BogoMIPS Normal Sam: 0.360 BogoMIPS M @ 10MHz: 0.748 BogoMIPS (208% speedup) M @ 16MHz: 1.208 BogoMIPS (336% speedup) M @ 20MHz: 1.513 BogoMIPS (420% speedup) Pushing the Sam beyond it's 6MHz speed is all uncharted territory for how software reacts, but i've been having a great time using it over the last few months in particular with old games! As well as running old software faster, one great aspect of the Mayhem Accelerator is for new software, just think what can now be achieved with a faster Sam Coupé, stay tuned to Sam Revival magazine for details of software written with the Mayhem Accelerator in mind from both myself and other programmers. So, what's left. I'm in the process of designing the PCBs for the production version of the Mayhem Accelerator, and hope to have the first set etched for testing by the end of July. Once I have a Mayhem built up on the final PCBs, i'll be going through the whole testing procedure again. Then once tested I'll be ordering a full batch of PCBs and building up the first lot of Mayhem Accelerators, with the aim to have them out as soon as possible. The question I've been asked most is what is the price going to be? Pricing can always be controversial in some peoples' eyes and it is something that I do occasionally receive undue criticism over. Right from the start when I first released the Quazar Surround soundcard in 1995 I received letters saying the price at the time was too high, and how I must sell it to them for a cheaper amount despite them not realising just how much it actually cost to build, or what it had cost to develop and release. Unfortunately, unless you are actually involved in hardware development, it's not easy to explain to people about how quickly costs can escalate. But they can! So I'm being open with regards to what it's personally cost me to develop the Mayhem Accelerator. It is safe to say that this has been my biggest Sam Coupé project to date over the 11 years that i've been working on the Sam - with it's development spanning two and a half years on and off. Doing some quick sums it adds up to an estimated £3350 development cost by the time the first production units are ready if everything such as parts, test equipment and design software is included in the bill. The oscilloscope mentioned in the
RE: Mayhem Accelerator Update
Personally Id like to see big cheers for Colin and his continued support for the Sam :)Im just itching to get mine plugged in :D Adrian -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Colin Piggot Sent: 14 July 2006 10:31 To: Adrian Subject: Mayhem Accelerator Update ( This is a cut down version of the article taken from the news in issue 15 of Sam Revival... ) Mayhem Accelerator Update - Fantastic news because the long awaited prototype of the Mayhem Accelerator is now complete! Of course there have been ups and downs along the way, including something going 'pop' while I was testing the last piece of circuitry that I mentioned in the last issue! Yes, I had blown the prototype, not sure how and it wasn't a fault I could easily trace, it's not the first major fault during it's long development, but when so close to completion it was a disappointment. The prototype was already in a pretty fragile state as a lot of it was held together by thin wires for quickness as more and more modules had been added over time and dismantling parts to investigate the problem often resulted in repairing broken links. Not to be put off, I decided to rebuild a new prototype from scratch instead of wasting time trying to trace what I had blown. Over the next few days at the end of May I have a new prototype built up and working at near enough the level I was at before. Luckily I still had some unused PCBs for the main sections which I had etched back in 2004, and rebuilt all the other sections on stripboard as before. Even though, I was building this up at lightning pace I was doing so much more robustly with neater layouts, shorter links, more secure wiring etc. It also gave me the opportunity to build up some of the modules with several design revisions implemented and new features, something I hadn't planned to do until I was preparing the final PCB layouts for the production version. One of the new additions I've added into the design of the Mayhem is that it now features a 6MHz 'legacy' mode, so you can run it at the normal 6MHz speed with contended memory to save you having to unplug the interface to use the Sam at it's original speed. The other speed options remain at 10MHz, 16MHz and 20MHz, with a push button to cycle through the frequencies, with the current selection indicated by a coloured LED on the Mayhem itself, and also on the Sam's startup screen. On the 9th of June I was able to declare the prototype of the Mayhem Accelerator complete, with the design 100% complete and operational. It's beena long journey and it was great to be able to finally say that! With the design complete, here are the final benchmarks for the Mayhem Accelerator... Fractal Explorer (generating the default Mandlebrot image) Normal Sam: 21.30 seconds Mayhem @ 10MHz: 10.56 seconds (202% speedup) Mayhem @ 16MHz: 7.20 seconds (296% speedup) Mayhem @ 20MHz: 6.06 seconds (352% speedup) BogoMIPS Normal Sam: 0.360 BogoMIPS M @ 10MHz: 0.748 BogoMIPS (208% speedup) M @ 16MHz: 1.208 BogoMIPS (336% speedup) M @ 20MHz: 1.513 BogoMIPS (420% speedup) Pushing the Sam beyond it's 6MHz speed is all uncharted territory for how software reacts, but i've been having a great time using it over the last few months in particular with old games! As well as running old software faster, one great aspect of the Mayhem Accelerator is for new software, just think what can now be achieved with a faster Sam Coupé, stay tuned to Sam Revival magazine for details of software written with the Mayhem Accelerator in mind from both myself and other programmers. So, what's left. I'm in the process of designing the PCBs for the production version of the Mayhem Accelerator, and hope to have the first set etched for testing by the end of July. Once I have a Mayhem built up on the final PCBs, i'll be going through the whole testing procedure again. Then once tested I'll be ordering a full batch of PCBs and building up the first lot of Mayhem Accelerators, with the aim to have them out as soon as possible. The question I've been asked most is what is the price going to be? Pricing can always be controversial in some peoples' eyes and it is something that I do occasionally receive undue criticism over. Right from the start when I first released the Quazar Surround soundcard in 1995 I received letters saying the price at the time was too high, and how I must sell it to them for a cheaper amount despite them not realising just how much it actually cost to build, or what it had cost to develop and release. Unfortunately, unless you are actually involved in hardware development, it's not easy to explain to people about how quickly costs can escalate. But they can! So I'm being open with regards to what it's personally cost me to develop the Mayhem Accelerator. It is safe to say that this has been my biggest Sam Coupé project to date over the 11 years that i've been working on the
RE: Mayhem Accelerator Update
--- Adrian Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Personally Id like to see big cheers for Colin and his continued support for the Sam :)Im just itching to get mine plugged in :D Adrian Hear hear! I've been saving up for a while for mine... heck, after paying about 60 quid for the wonderful (ahem!) Blue Alpha Sampler... (No offence if you're reading Adrian! :)) paying this price for something useful is a blessing! :)
Sam or SAM or ...?
Someone recently asked whether it should be written as Sam or SAM, and I had to admit I didn't really know! Is there a correct/official version or are they completely interchangeable? Does one refer to the machine and another the robot, or is that mix and match too? Or is the machine simply the Coupé? I tend to think of Sam being the robot and SAM being the machine, so I generally write SAM. Or is Some Amazing Machine a backronym? Si
Re: Sam or SAM or ...?
I always thought it was "Son of Alan Miles" -- or is that an urban legend? - Original Message From: Simon Owen [EMAIL PROTECTED]To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.noSent: Friday, 14 July, 2006 12:16:24 PMSubject: Sam or SAM or ...? Someone recently asked whether it should be written as "Sam" or "SAM", and Ihad to admit I didn't really know!Is there a correct/official version or are they completely interchangeable?Does one refer to the machine and another the robot, or is that mix andmatch too?Or is the machine simply the Coupé?I tend to think of Sam being the robot and SAM being the machine, so Igenerally write SAM.Or is "Some Amazing Machine" a backronym?Si
Re: Sam or SAM or ...?
The real name is SAM Coupe - there was supposed to be machines to follow the original so you'd have a range of SAM machines (and no, I don't count the elite!) I think they're kind of interchangeable now though. I tend to still write SAM as it looks right to me. I know that Colin P uses Sam as his preference. On Friday, July 14, 2006, at 12:41PM, Simon Owen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Someone recently asked whether it should be written as Sam or SAM, and I had to admit I didn't really know! Is there a correct/official version or are they completely interchangeable? Does one refer to the machine and another the robot, or is that mix and match too? Or is the machine simply the Coupé? I tend to think of Sam being the robot and SAM being the machine, so I generally write SAM. Or is Some Amazing Machine a backronym? Si
Re: Sam or SAM or ...?
SAMas Sam seems a bit wimpish !spt.
Re: Sam or SAM or ...?
Perhaps we had better set up a 'butch' user group for all those who use 'SAM' rather than "Sam' :-) - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 2:50 PM Subject: Re: Sam or SAM or ...? SAMas Sam seems a bit wimpish !spt.
Re: Sam or SAM or ...?
SAM - Some Amazing Micro (As explained by Alan Miles in the interview I conducted with him in ZAT :))
Re: Sam or SAM or ...?
--- Matt Craven [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I always thought it was Son of Alan Miles -- or is that an urban legend? Alan Mile's son is called Edwin :)
