any STD bus users or developers?

I'm getting the itch to get back to Z80 stuff.
Has anyone used the STD bus, or have any parts?
I have a few card cages and cards
but never enough I/O cards!
In the least, I was planning on using the STD bus
just for expansion cards to a single board computer.

-- Jeffrey Jonas

On Thu, 2008-05-08 at 21:49 -0400, Jeff Jonas wrote:
> I'm getting the itch to get back to Z80 stuff.
> Has anyone used the STD bus, or have any parts?
> I have a few card cages and cards
> but never enough I/O cards!
> In the least, I was planning on using the STD bus
> just for expansion cards to a single board computer.
> 
> -- Jeffrey Jonas

Jeffrey,

STD BUS systems are very cool toys. The open architecture
and large
number of I/O options make them very attractive for the
computer /
electronics hobbyist. 
 
I have a large stash of cards and docs. Probably 500 cards
and 5 linear
feet of docs in all. I also have a few custom cards, a bus
analyzer
(very cool), and some breadboard cards. Sorry but, I'm not
looking to
get rid of any of my treasures. Most of the docs are for Z80
CPUs and
common I/O cards. I'll be glad to look up any information on
specific
cards for you.

NOTE: Several manufacturers still make STD BUS systems. They
use x86
processors and run ROM basic, or various Real Time OSs. For
those who
want to build their own hardware, breadboard cards are still
available
from electronics suppliers.

I prefer the Z80 CPUS. 

STD BUS stuff used to be very common. I've found them in all
kind of
controller applications. From billboards to automated
machine tools and
industrial monitoring equipment to specialized test systems.
They can
still be found on ebay but are not near as common as they
were. I would
expect to pay between $10 and $20 for a common card. CPU
cards might be
a little higher. Many sellers on ebay do not know what a STD
BUS card is
and will list them without the STD BUS designation. It makes
them harder
to find but means you can get a better deal.

See ya,

-- 
Steve Robertson
steerex [at] ccvn [dot] com

On Fri, 9 May 2008, Steve Robertson wrote:

> STD BUS stuff used to be very common. I've found them
in all kind of
> controller applications. From billboards to automated
machine tools and
> industrial monitoring equipment to specialized test
systems. They can
> still be found on ebay but are not near as common as
they were. I would
> expect to pay between $10 and $20 for a common card.
CPU cards might be
> a little higher. Many sellers on ebay do not know what
a STD BUS card is
> and will list them without the STD BUS designation. It
makes them harder
> to find but means you can get a better deal.

I have several plastic storage bins full of mostly brand-new
STD BUS cards 
with software and documentation plus two or three little
boxed backplanes 
with power supplies.

If there's anyone interested in making an offer on the lot,
please contact 
me privately and I'll see about pulling together an
inventory list.


Steve


-- 

On Thursday 08 May 2008 21:49, Jeff Jonas wrote:
> I'm getting the itch to get back to Z80 stuff.
> Has anyone used the STD bus, or have any parts?
> I have a few card cages and cards
> but never enough I/O cards!
> In the least, I was planning on using the STD bus
> just for expansion cards to a single board computer.

There's a spot on the Bigboard II to put an STD socket,  and
it'll look there 
for a second bank of RAM if you use the monitor's bankswitch
command.

I've always wondered about the possibility of hooking a
backplane in there...

-- 
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting
-- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space,  a critter
that can
be killed but can't be tamed.  --Robert A. Heinlein,
"The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled
by lies. --James 
M Dakin

Jeff Jonas wrote:
> I'm getting the itch to get back to Z80 stuff.
> Has anyone used the STD bus, or have any parts?
> I have a few card cages and cards
> but never enough I/O cards!
> In the least, I was planning on using the STD bus
> just for expansion cards to a single board computer.

I have a 9-slot STD bus backplane built into a piece of
one-off lab equipment
from some physics experiment.
I made schematics for some of the cards:

  Mostek MDX-CPU-IIA  - processor, system clock, CTC timer,
                        and static RAM or EPROM memory
  Mostek MDX-MC       - static RAM or EPROM memory
  Mostek MDX-BCLK     - TOD clock
  (and some one-off IO cards)

if of any help or interest.

I was figuring on converting it into something perhaps
useful sometime,
involving re-working the prototype IO cards into more
general use. The
discussions of CP/M in ROM might be interesting to consider
for it.


I was reminded of the STD bus while reading the other thread
about minimal CP/M
or home-brew Z80 systems, the STD bus being tailored for the
Z80 (and a lot
simpler than S100).