wAxpander with wAx2

[chysn]

What about this?.....
https://www.ebay.it/itm/144032909219?ha ... SwkqZgliN6

Those look promising! Small enough to be fished through the slot without drilling, and has a way to mount it to the surface of the cartridge. They also have a cool sci-fi look. I don't know how long the adhesive will last, but that's easy to replace. If these tact buttons I've got coming don't work out, I'll try these next. Thanks!

Also under consideration (but whimsically): Metal ball tilt sensors. Want to reset? Just shake your VIC a bit! It's likely that I'll actually try this.

[chysn]

The manual PDF is complete! It came in at 90 pages, more than twice the length of the wAx 1 manual. In addition to new functionality, I spend a lot of space on tutorials and plug-in API documentation. But here it is!

https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-wAx2/blo ... Manual.pdf

I'll post a URL for the printed version soon. I just want to get a few copies in and do proper QA.

[chysn]

I ordered a kit of tact buttons, as I mentioned before. Today I got a package, which was supposed to be 200 tact buttons in various shapes and sizes, but instead, this:

This is a mass airflow sensor for a Nissan Pathfinder. It's apparently worth 3 times what I paid for it, but I don't want to deal with it, so it's going back. I think I might try ebay.

[chysn]

I'm calling an audible on BASIC variable substitution. Originally, I restricted it to one-character variable names because my transcriber throws out non-quoted spaces. So if

Code: Select all

S = 6144
.A 'S ADC $FF

I can't tell there's a space after 'S, so unless I know it's exactly one character, I can't tell the difference between 'S and 'SA.

But there's a whole second byte there, why am I just setting it to 0? I considered a ton of things; but in the end, I decided that the BASIC variable substitution syntax will the numeric variable name enclosed in single quotes:

Code: Select all

10 S = 7000
20 CO = 65490
30 N1 = ASC("1")
40 .A 'S' LDA #'N1'
50 .A *   JMP 'CO'
60 SYS S : REM PRINTS "1"

There's a bit of extra typing involved, but I think it looks okay on the screen, and the flexibility of two-character variable names will be important for my next project.

The next project will be a tutorial for developing a simple game using wAx. This will help me sort of "shake down" everything I've done so far, to help prepare for a bug-free release in a few weeks. And then, my next actual game for unexpanded VIC-20 will be developed completely using wAx on a real VIC-20.

[chysn]

I replaced the built-in wAxScore plug-in with a "BASIC Aid" plug-in that renumbers lines, and combines BASIC programs in memory. Nobody is going to use the wAxScore format but me, and the new utilities will be useful for building up larger ML programs. It's a way better fit, and I can always load wAxScore separately when I need it.

[chysn]

I had some bytes left over after some optimizations, so added support for string variables:

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10 INPUT "NAME";NA$
15 .A 1800 LDA #<@G
20 .A *    LDY #>@G
25 .A *    JMP $CB1E
30 .A * @G "HELLO, "
35 .A *    ‘NA$‘
40 .A *    :00

Or

Code: Select all

C$ = “Y”
.A * LDA #’C$’

[chysn]

I like these buttons. They're nice and clicky, and they tuck nicely in the slot at the back of the cartridge case. Two-part epoxy holds it firmly, and it hasn't even cured 24 hours yet. It's only bonded to the case bottom, so the case can be opened easily for upgrades. I'm going to try one or two more approaches before making a final decision, but this is a good reset button.

[chysn]

The wAxpander is now available at my Etsy shop. For now, I'm holding the line on price, although I'll offer a "deluxe" package that includes the manual once the manuals arrive. Meanwhile:

https://etsy.com/listing/1184250481/waxpander-cartridge

https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/jason-j ... pageSize=4

[chysn]

Incidentally, this the reset button I settled on for the production run. It seems like it'll be more durable over time than the tact button. I think it looks way better. My rotary tool makes quick work of the back of the cartridge without risking damage to it; I just need to dig a 6mm hole. And the wires are already connected to the buttons, which I appreciate more I'd have thought. And two-part epoxy makes me dizzier than I'd have thought.

[MCes]

IMG_5137.jpg

Maybe a better button can be implemented ....
A 40 mm long push button can be placed on the jollycart and a 3 ---- 3.3 mm hole can be drilled on the thickness of the cartridge case,
but 40mm doesn't exist!

A 40mm long push button can be made from a standard 10 ..... 17mm by extending it with a 3mm diameter rod using a self-shrinking tube to join them

BOTTOM CASE

HOLE ON TOP CASE

The edge of the hole will be close to the edge of the case, so it is better to drill a 1mm diameter hole and then drill the final diameter.

[chysn]

A 40 mm long push button can be placed on the jollycart and a 3 ---- 3.3 mm hole can be drilled on the thickness of the cartridge case,
but 40mm doesn't exist!

A 40mm long push button can be made from a standard 10 ..... 17mm by extending it with a 3mm diameter rod using a self-shrinking tube to join them

It's a good idea, and I considered something like that. My instinct is that I'm not skilled enough to consistently drill a hole in such a way that it will be a straight enough shot from the button 40mm away. It requires precision, and also I've never once drilled into a cartridge case without significantly cracking it!

I really liked what doug_in_nc posted on your thread, but I'm not up to looking at 3D printers at the moment. I'm sure, at some point, I'll become obsessed with them, but not yet. My current one is too small for carts.

[MCes]

for the hole:
If a pre-hole (1 .... 1.5 mm) is made that centers the 3 ..... 3.5 mm drill, this can be done without risk of damage to the case.

A possible error in the positioning of the hole generates a very limited angular error on 40 mm of the stem, not much precision is needed

A "case" can be risked to try it...

[chysn]

A "case" can be risked to try it...

Yeah, I've got a case that came from TFW8B with a pretty good gash on the front, and I don't want to sell that to anybody. So that'll serve as my practice case for drilling a pilot hole. Plastic dowels shouldn't be too hard to find.

[Bradeep]

Responding here about the inability to run the CRT file on VICE...looks like my Linux distro was using 3.4 and refused to mount the file. Worked fine on my Mac, so just need to compile for my desktop.

tl;dr: USER ERROR

[Bradeep]

Follow-up message as I got the cart today.

First of all, rose-colored glasses off, the VIC keyboard is a pain in the ass to type on, there is no doubt. The cure is to use a Sinclair Spectrum chiclet keyboard for about two seconds and the VIC seems alright. That said, pretty much works perfectly, saves to SDIEC without issue, etc. Highly recommend this cart if you're remotely interested in any sort of coding or debugging on real hardware. Although, I'll probably just use VICE and/or my TheVIC20 to do anything for extended periods of time, but this is bad ass.