a really good expansion interface for the vic

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Tue May 11, 2004 1:40 pm

You can see the two identical power plugs in this picture:
http://home.worldonline.se/boray/datorm ... ic20-2.jpg

I found more pictures here: http://emulazione.multiplayer.it/cbmita ... vario5.htm
There is also a picture of the vic1010. It also seems to have 6 expansion ports... And also pictures of other strange Commodore equipment...

/Anders

Post by **Jeff-20** » Tue May 11, 2004 7:40 pm

I keep hearing about this thing. What exactly does it do? I see a tape player dashed inside, but that doesn't seem very practical with a monitor on top. Is it just a multi cart selector? It doesn't seem to have an external button to switch 'em.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Wed May 12, 2004 3:29 am

Based on that picture from the side with the box closed (row 5, column 2), it seems the expansion unit uses a round DIN power plug (and the function keys are C64 gray). Possibly the expansion unit then exists in two versions.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Wed May 12, 2004 4:22 am

You are right, Anders! And there also seems to be a little gap in that picture between the vic20 and the lid of the expansion box. Is the "new" vic20 a little thinner than the old one?

Jeff, It's not for switching between cartridges, it's for using them at the same time. For example using two 8k RAM cartridges to get 16k ram and in the same time use programmers aid cartridge.... etc...

/Anders

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Thu May 13, 2004 3:42 am

Yes, I believe the cost-reduced (newer) case is slightly, but just slightly different. The Universal RAM/ROM adapter by Nicolas Welte claims not to fit in an old-style VIC, only the newer VIC-20CR. This seems odd given your observation, as one would think the otherwise, but maybe the cartridge expansion hole is wider although the case is smaller on the CR.

Bacon · Post by **Bacon** » Thu May 13, 2004 11:39 pm

The reason Nicolas Welte's expansion won't fit is because of the gigantic heat sink inside inside the "old" VIC. The expansion consists of a small PCB that's placed in the VIC's 6502 socket, but in order for the expansion to clear the heat sink you have to get it up above it with the help of a couple of sockets which means that it won't clear the keyboard when you close the case. There's a picture of this on http://people.freenet.de/x1541/hardware/petram-p.html.

I just compared my two VIC's. The CR is about 5mm thinner than the old VIC, but because of the heatsink the expansion will only fit inside the CR.