Emax

Are there any memory upgrades I can install in my 2mb Emax 2 keyboard?

--- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "thenewyorkcowboy" <thenewyorkcowboy@...> wrote:
>
> "Several"??  Hey guys we found the hoarder!  LOL.
> 
> Yes, I picked up my 2mb for I think $152 if I remember, but wow, getting an 8mb rack for $50?
> 
> The irony of all this then is that there is a Yahoo Group dedicated to a $50 piece of equipment, just like all the groups out there for C64s which can be picked up usually for $20....
> 
> --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "tristanupton" <tu@> wrote:
> >
> > Actually, in the last few years I have picked up several 8MB Emax II racks for around $50 each plus shipping. You just have to keep watching Ebay etc. Often they come up at silly prices, but week after week they come down to something reasonable. Quite often they sell in the $100-$200 range. Mostly the sellers don't understand what they have or make wildly inaccurate claims in the descriptions, so its not easy to be sure what you are getting. But any Emax II expanded beyond 1MB or 2MB will have the memory expansion board.
> > 
> > Reverse engineering and building a replacement memory expansion board for the Emax II would not be extremely difficult. Anyone with a logic analyzer and sufficient knowledge of digital electronics should be able to do it. The main issue is the amount of work involved. Someone could take it on as a labour of love, but its hard to justify when you can buy an Emax II for the price of a few hours of an engineer's time...
> > 
> > /Tristan 
> > 
> > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "thenewyorkcowboy" <thenewyorkcowboy@> wrote:
> > >
> > > True, but how many 8mb units have you seen for sale in the past two years, for example?  
> > > 
> > > I have another keyboard from the same era, a 1986 Korg Poly-800 that now has a new 'kit' out for $100 (about the price of the unit itself) that greatly increases its functionality, etc. the Hawk-800 mod.
> > > 
> > > I am just trying to exhaust all the DIY angles.  Even the Commodore 64 has new USB to PC adapters for $39 because someone just kept at it.  Maybe someday all the 'codes' will be broken and we can be playing with 32mb EmaxIIs with all new software, etc.  It just takes collaboration, not resignation, and right now it is a question of money.  This guy in France is a great testament to that fact.
> > > 
> > > http://matthieu.benoit.free.fr/parts_for_Exchange.htm
> > > 
> > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "dwv1957" <dwv1957@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > That translates to approximately $200 US, then add another $100 (minimum) for the ram, so your looking at a minimum of $300 + associated shipping costs to upgrade your Emax 2.
> > > > A fully populated 8 meg Emax 2 is only worth around $250-300 in working condition, my question is, How many people would be willing to pay $300+ for the upgrade, when you can buy another machine for the same, or less, and have a bunch of other spare parts to boot?
> > > > 
> > > > Dave 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, "jammie" <jammie.emma@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > If someone is willing to donate their board, then duplicating it is not a problem, x ray scanning the board and using the scan in eagle is possible, as we have done it for asr10 sp3 scsi interface which is a 4 layer board, and the production costs for resale worked out at £120 which is cheap as the original was £300 from ensoniq
> > > > > 
> > > > > It can be done and you can use a logic scanner for the functions of the pals, its not impossible, and that's how manufacturers upgrade there boards with new tech for old industrial computers.
> > > > > 
> > > > > It would be nice if we could get the bin files for the pals, we would have to ask rob if he could find out if the bin files are still available. 
> > > > >   ----- Original Message ----- 
> > > > >   From: dwv1957 
> > > > >   To: emax@yahoogroups.com 
> > > > >   Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 4:38 AM
> > > > >   Subject: [emax] Re: Memory Upgrades
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > >     
> > > > >   You are exactly right Ted, the expansion board has 4 PALs on it plus some 74HCxxx chips on it, it is also a 4 layer board, so the amount of work it would take to duplicate it is just not worth it.
> > > > >   As for "stacking" chips on the motherboard's 18 pin sockets, not a hope in hell of that working (sorry).
> > > > >   The only way to upgrade the Emax2, is to have the original upgrade board, as long as you have that, you can upgrade it to anything you want.
> > > > > 
> > > > >   Dave
> > > > > 
> > > > >   --- In emax@yahoogroups.com, Ted Summers <djtbs1@> wrote:
> > > > >   >
> > > > >   > My understanding is that the RAM expansion board has PALs that go with it.
> > > > >   > Getting the PAL binaries for the SCSI update wasn't easy for Rob at Emulator
> > > > >   > Archive.
> > > > >   > Even if you duplicated the PCB, you would have to be able to make the PALs
> > > > >   > that allow the access to the extra memory.
> > > > >   > You would need the original PAL binaries for that.....
> > > > >   > 
> > > > >   > Otherwise the Emax wouldn't be able to address the additional memory....
> > > > >   > even if it was physically installed.
> > > > >   > 
> > > > >   > Someone correct me if I am wrong in my understanding of what was discussed
> > > > >   > previous on the thread.
> > > > >   > 
> > > > >   > Regards,
> > > > >   > Ted
> > > > >   > 
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> > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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