Hey guys,
So, here's the news. I'm currently tooling up for PCB and enclosure production. I have decided to give back to the community by offering a different sort of service. I am going to be offering on demand production of a variety of classic computing hardware. Production will start with boards, and enclosures will follow shortly. I am going to offer many different open source pieces of hardware to start with, and I may attempt recreation or cloning of certain devices as time goes on.
Products that will be available initially and as time goes on include things like IEC2SD, SIO2SD, IDE interfaces for various machines, C64/VIC RS-232 interfaces, NetUSBee, UltraSatan, MSX slot expanders, BBC SD adapters and sideways ROM expansions, Thylacine USB (redesigned to eliminate the vast amount of wasted space!), clones of out-of-production cards (will have some delaminated and mapped for cloning), high-spec power supplies for a variety of systems including discounts for sending in old enclosures, ATX adapters for various older machines including regulators for any voltages not available from an ATX2.x supply, blank prototyping cards in various form factors (Zorro half and full length, A500 bus, Apple ][, Commodore 64 cart/userport, VIC-20 cart, Atari 8-bit cart, etc), various ROMs, GALs, and the like, repair services for certain hardware, full upgrade services for certain hardware (such as a CPU, ROM, Oscillator, GAL, and Cache upgrade for a TransWarpGS), affordable IDE/SATA/CF/SD to SCSI boards, STF RAM expansions, custom cabling, full service one off boards (send a schematic or layout and a parts list, get a finished board back) and much much more. For now, I'd like to hear from you what devices you guys would like me to offer initially so I know what components to stock up on.
The inspiration for this project when ReactiveMicro (formerly GSE-Reactive) shut down a while back. I saw how stranded the Apple II community was, and I thought, why not pick up where Henry left off, but since I'm a proud user of many classic platforms I figured it should be for every classic platform what ReactiveMicro was for the Apple II.
Also, just to be clear, this is not wishful thinking, a pipe dream, or vapour. I recently lost my day job, and I have already started purchasing equipment for this venture. The ROM/PLD programmer arrived today, the EPROM eraser is on its way, the PCD equipment will be here by the end of November, the electroplating gear (for through-hole plating) is being constructed, the box break and sheetmetal equipment will be purchased in short order, the vacuum pump desoldering station is in the shop, the rework station is on its way, and so on...
Let me know what you think. Questions, comments, and suggestions requested! Let's hear what you have to say! Also, if anyone wants to help me name this venture, I'd be glad to hear your suggestions!