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Questions about walkman sized microcomputer

From: "Robert Parratt (FoodHawk)" <>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 12:30:50 +0100

I'm going to try to design and build a small 65C02 based device.

Proposed features will include:
1. Switchable clock rate. 32.768KHz when on batteries, 3MHz on "mains".
(Can 65CXX family be run at lower clock rates?)

2. Runs off 4 NiMH AA batteries.
(Minimum component charging circuitry please, assuming guaranteed input
voltage, variable amperage. Would a regulator changing from 4.8V to 5V need
cooling? I read CMOS devices can operate over a range of voltages; does this
include CPUs, and what implications would driving the chips at 4.8V have?
Would regulation be advised to compensate for discharge curves, or are NiMH
relatively flat like I remember NiCad being described somewhere.)

3. A parasitic RS232. As well as performing RS232 the interface will extract
power from the DTR line. This power will charge the batteries and assist
running.
(Will RS232-TTL drivers work with CMOS circuitry? How much power can be
safely extracted whilst allowing standard drivers to operate?)

4. 8 character display.
(I was thinking of using a 10 character intelligent serial access LED
display. It was quite expensive. I want to reserve at most 240 bytes memory
mapped I/O for accessing the display - can anybody suggest a better solution
with a minimal component cost that's cheaper?)

5. 6 buttons, speaker and lights.

6. 64K NVSRAM
(I don't want to use DRAM, since at these sizes the price difference is not
important.  Should I battery back, or is there a nice cheap truly NV SRAM
chip with unlimited writes?)

Also, where is the site with virtually every spec sheet in existance?

--
Atoms has finally been released!
www.doldev.freeserve.co.uk


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