Jupiter ACE (again)

General Chit Chat about Sinclair Computers and their Clones
Retrogadgets
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by Retrogadgets »

Hi.Claudius. Could you share the Gerber's. I want to order a couple in case I need this one up soldering. I shouldn't though. But me eye sight not as great as when I was younger.
McKlaud
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by McKlaud »

Hi @Retrogadgets,

This job is done and time is to move to new tasks. Regarding your question, I am so sorry, but my answer is: NO. I am not going to share Gerbers for this replica and I am not going to re-order any other batch of PCBs.

On a few websites there are image files that could be printed for self making PCBs. Some them are good, others have some errors.
Claudius
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anightin
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by anightin »

msch wrote: Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:41 pm For replica owners: I have some heatsinks (and rom labels) left, please drop me a message :-)
Hi Mathias

I'm in the process of building a Jupiter Ace replica but can't PM you as I've just joined the forum.

I'd like to get a heatsink and ROM labels if still available?

Kind Regards

Andy
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msch
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by msch »

Hi Andy,
Welcome to the forums!
I have to look first. I've sent you a PM.
Best regards
Mathias
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Crayon21
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by Crayon21 »

Programming in forth is an...interesting experience. The ace is forth 79 compliant yet most examples on the net are either hard to implement or not working outright. The manual is of some help, but i was hoping someone could enlighten me as to some of the better options out there for an aspiring Forth programmer. I want to make primarily text adventures, primarily a Forth remake of the Hobbit :D
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Moggy
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by Moggy »

Sadly Forth suffers from the same disease that BASIC on home computers suffered from in the 80's.

Too many dialects each one slightly more incompatible than the rest.
I have read all the so called authoritative works on the subject,Leo Brodie's works being just one example and found that anything meaningful is almost impossible to implement in your own chosen Forth version without resorting to the built in assembler that most Forth packages posses which somewhat negates the point of Forth.
Exotic missing words I can accept but not essential primitives that you somehow end up having to cobble together using the aforementioned assembler.

So You are left with the "HELLO WORLD" shtick that seems to be the default representation of being a good example of the art.

My own experience with the language has brought me to the conclusion that you should pick one dialect learn it fully and stick with it and apart from learning the basics don't bother with book examples which tend to be too frustrating to foster encouragement, rather like cheap whisky for a first time drinker can put one off spirit drinking for life!

Personally speaking I use H4th for the ZX81 exclusively as it is well documented,hardware based so reasonably fast and has a good editor and thanks to one of our German brothers now has at least one bug correction implemented.

As for writing an adventure I would think Forth is not really suitable for games,adventure writing etc being in the main a more scientific language than say compiled BASIC or,at a stretch,true assembler and before anyone mentions all the Jupiter Ace games converted for Toddy Forth take a look at the listings and compare the ratio of Forth to assembler used to make them work, trying to convert them as written for your dialect of Forth would next to impossible I should think.

Finding high factorials to thousands of digits is fairly easy to implement in Forth even on a ZX81,whereas guiding Bilbo Baggins through the wild woods might prove to be a bit of a stretch.
McKlaud
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by McKlaud »

Working from home these days and sorting out unfinished project in mean time. Sticker to my Jupiter ACE replica's keyboard finally done.
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J_ACE_3D_kbr_03.jpg
Claudius
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anightin
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by anightin »

McKlaud wrote: Mon Mar 23, 2020 5:55 pm Working from home these days and sorting out unfinished project in mean time. Sticker to my Jupiter ACE replica's keyboard finally done.
Nice work.

I've nearly finished assembling an Ace myself and need to sort a keyboard. I have sent you a PM regarding keyboard template etc.

Best wishes

Andy
IMG_7507.jpeg
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anightin
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by anightin »

More work on the Ace today.

First two bugs were my poor choice of transistors, one on the composite video board and one amplifying the signal into the CPU. Once those were fixed the the CPU is now getting a good clock and it seems to be coming out of reset and it's outputting a PAL composite video image, and there seems to be ROM character data scrolling through video memory and at least.


Now to work out why it's not quite getting up and running correctly ...
IMG_7533.jpeg
Any suggestions gratefully received :)
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1024MAK
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Re: Jupiter ACE (again)

Post by 1024MAK »

Hi Andy

You say that it seems to be coming out of reset okay, have you tested any of the Z80s signals (e.g. /MREQ etc...)?

And have you done a visual check, it’s very easy to miss a solder joint on these boards because of the large number of joints required.

The transistor used for the master clock oscillator and for the clock signal to the Z80 have to operate at just the right point in their linear region. Otherwise either the oscillator will not oscillate (or will not be stable) or the transistor for the Z80 clock will not turn off fast enough (due to stored charge in it’s base junction). The result being the clock signal on pin 6 of the Z80 being continuously low.

Mark
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