Sources for 8b TTL keyboards (Keytronics)

[Tony Duell]

> 
> > The p[roblem is that (a) I can't afford it, (b) I can't afford to
> > maintain it, and (c) if/when it stops working, I haven't a clue how to
> > fix it.
> 
>     You can have a windows PC with windows for free, just look around :) And 
> I'm not talking about pirated software :)

All I can say is that I've never seen one.


> 
>     Why you would need that with windows? Everything I use just works, why 
> would that stop work?

I haev yet to find any electrical or mechanical device which doesn't fail 
sometime. And when it does, I need to repair it.

OK, asusming thr hardware doesn't fail, the software should carry on 
behaving the same way. I say 'should' because my experience of Windows is 
that it is not predicaable. It does not do the same thing for the same 
inputs every time. But if I get a result other than the one I am 
expecting, how do I track down what the problem really is? Given 
schemaitcs and OS source it's at least possible (I have used both to 
track down problems in computers in the past). Without them it would seem 
to e alomsot inpossible,

> 
> > For me a tool has to work, and it has to be pleasant to use. If it isn't,
> > I use something else. And the few times I've used Windows, I've found it
> > to be extremely unreliable.
> 
>     That is something I find to be VERY funny.
> 
>     I think I'm one of the only people in universe that has a stable 
> windows. My windows installation NEVER breaks. I have no trouble with that. 
> Period. But:

I think you're extremely lucky.

>     - I don't instal dubious programs (e.g.: I know what I'm running)

How d you know if a program is 'dubious'? 

>     Tony, trust me. I have a WORKABLE and PLEASURE TO USE copy of windows 

I as much as any GUI can be a 'pleasure to use' :-)

> XP. Of course I have now a sizeable machine (Core 2 quad, 4GB RAM, Geforce 
> 8600, 22" LCD) but it worked just as well with my old athlon 1800/512 ram. 
> It is a matter of KNOWING what you do with your windows.

And this is the sort of machine I am going to get for free?

> 
> > I also have an aversion to using things I can't fix when they go wrong.
> > Becuase they tend to go wrong at the most inconenient moment.
> 
>     Make it work well and it will never go wrong. Trust me.

Hmmm. What, no capacitors to dry up? No EPROMs or flash memories to 
develop bit-rot? No hard disks to have head crashes? No monitor backlight 
cold-cathode tubes to fail? No dry joints? etc, etc, etc. You amaze me.


> 
> > Well, at one time manufactuers of programmable chips were very bad about
> > providing full documentation on how to program them. I have yet to find a
> > completely 'open' FPGA or CPLD -- meaning a device where I can get,
> > without signing an NDA or similar, full specification on how to send bits
> > to the device (what pins to wiggle and how, what are the critical
> > timings, what voltages to apply, etc) and also how to turn my design into
> > those bits. Microcontrollers do tend to be more open (the PICs that I've
> > used were fully documented), but I am not sure if this ICD system is.
> 
>     And it is still this way. No FPGA or CPLD open docs. But take a look at

I beelive that the Xilinx XC6000 family was going to be 100% documented. 
But it was a strange architecture, and either only existed for a short 
time, or was never released (probably the former). I certainly never 
managed to get a device.
 
> www.atmel.com and see for yourself how it works.

I will do...

-tony