Elf99 - rebirth of a classic

From: Allison J Parent <allisonp_at_world.std.com>
Date: Mon Nov 9 15:59:53 1998

< I have been in discussion with some folks about 1802's and the possibili
< of producing a modern PCB for the Popular Electronicss Elf design. Han
< Franke seems to think that there would be some interest in Germany for
< a few units, enough to make me consider burning a board. I would be
< curious to hear what other list members though about price, features, et
< The good news is that Harris still makes the 1802 for less than $10, an
< the TIL311 displays that the Elf calls for are available for less than $
< each, used.

I'd be interested depending on version.

< How authentic should a modern Elf be? Try to use 1822/2101 RAM or use

If your building an elf then 2101, if your doing superElf go for 32k
62256.

< UART? Add an I/O port? Add nothing to the Quest PCB layout? Remove
< nothing? (There was a socket for a 16-pin PROM and room for onboard 780
< regulator as well as optional memory battery backup).

The quest layout was the bare minimum elf. No expandability. I have one
and expanding it is not appealing. An expandable elf would be of interest
to me as I still have one (20 year old) 1802 doing not much.

< How much would anyone pay for such a thing? The PCB would probably com
< as a double-sided, plated thru-hole fiberglass board to the same dimensi
< as the Quest board (I have one to compare it to). It would be in the
< neighborhood of $40-$50, depending on how many extras and the order size

For the quest board that is expensive for the bare board.

< Another question, perhaps more on topic - would this count as a classic
< It could be authentic as far as operation is concerned (toggle switches
< and 256 bytes of accessible RAM), but it would still be on a modern
< board, made recently. In short, does form or function denote "classic"

I'd go with replica.

< Yes, anyone who wants can still breadboard an 1802 together. It's a
< pain. I never would have finished my Elf if I hadn't had the PCB
< to stuff. The Elf99 would be a echo of the former classic, but a
< fully working one.

The base ELF was pretty trivial to build as the parts count was nothing.

< Classic clones, anyone?

Replicas of classics.

Allison
Received on Mon Nov 09 1998 - 15:59:53 GMT