Kim / Commie keypads

From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Sun Apr 15 09:55:35 2001

Yes, they made quite a number of KIM-4's as well as some of the KIM-2 and KIM-3
boards, of which I have one of each now, if I didn't, in a moment of madness,
toss them while having an "easter-egg" hunt in the basement. I don't remember
much about the KIM-1, never having owned one myself, but I did build a prototype
DRAM board (32K) for the thing for a friend at one time. I even had a 32K DRAM
board with the DRAM (4027) array on it built up with a wirewrap area on the
remainder of the board. That was when 4116's were still expensive but everybody
was replacing their 4027's with them. It happened that the friend for whom I
built up the memory circuit was the guy who ran the PCB house that made my
prototypes, so he could make up whatever he felt like doing. IIRC, the memory
map was divide in half, with RAM in the bottom and ROM and I/O in the top half.
That allowed for some expansion.

The KIM-3 and KIM-2 boards used 21L02's and were made here in the Denver area by
Monolithic Systems. They clearly bore the MOS-Technology Logo, and had the
on-board regulators that were required for the KIM BUS. The fact they designed
this stuff and had it made up suggests they had other plans for the KIM-1 than
merely a DEMO board. However, the shape of these boards suggests that their
design team was somewhat lacking in grey matter. The bus connectors on the
KIM-2 and KIM-3 boards were centered in their nominally 8" x 10" size, and would
certainly NOT line up conveniently with the connectors on the KIM-1 for any sort
of well-, or even badly,- thought-out packaging arrangement. I've never looked
at a KIM-4 to see what its configuration suggests. I think all this suggests
that there were oppposing forces at work at Commodore, and you know what they
say about "too many cooks" ...

Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ross Archer" <dogbert_at_mindless.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2001 5:18 AM
Subject: Re: Kim / Commie keypads


>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
> To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 3:18 PM
> Subject: Re: Kim / Commie keypads
>
> [snip]
> > Incidentally, has the chap with the Kim tried taking the old keypad
> > apart. Somethimes they can be mended -- broken contacts resoldered or
> > replaced, for example.
>
> Some of the keys are actually caved in, and others feel like
> something major is missing underneath. I suspect it's a
> goner, given it has been literally used until it wore out.
>
> -- Ross
>
> >
> > -tony
> >
>
>
Received on Sun Apr 15 2001 - 09:55:35 BST