INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON THE MICRO INNOVATIONS POWERMATE HARDWARE FOR ADAM. 
 
Downloaded from AWAUG BBS (703-922-5497, 8 N l, 24 hrs.).
 
 Thank you for referring the questions that you've received on the Micro 
 Innovations Powermate products.  All interest is genuinely appreciated.  However, 
 before I get into detailed answers, please allow me give you a little background 
 on the products.
  I developed the hard disk interface in response to the urging of my 
 teenage son.  He bought an Adam computer several years ago when he decided that 
 he wasn't satisfied using our PC computer for his purposes - it didn't have 
 enough games for him.  After using the Adam for a while, he concluded that the 
 tape system wasn't fast enough for him and bought a floppy disk.  It didn't 
 take him long after that to realize that there were faster storage peripherals 
 available for other computers - so why not for the Adam?
  He had been briefly involved with AWAUG several years ago but didn't 
 join because he didn't drive and I wasn't crazy about driving him.  Finally, 
 after a significant amount of coercing from him, I agreed to develop a hard 
 disk drive add-on product for the Adam.  I began designing the hard disk 
 interface for him this last spring.  We didn't know about any other hard disk 
 interfaces until just recently when we discovered that BJ (Big John Lingrel) 
 was developing one.  By that time, I had the wire wrap version up and running. 
 When I found out about it, I felt that I had too much time and effort invested 
 to abandon the project.  So we decided to proceed.
  One of the things that Scott didn't like about the design I had develop- 
 ed was that it occupied the center expansion slot in the Adam.  He had a 
 parallel printer interface in that slot and didn't want to give it up.  So I 
 agreed to put a printer interface on the board so he wouldn't have to.  He was 
 also not enthralled with the underwhelming performance of his internal 300 baud 
 Adam modem and asked for an RS-232 port to control an external modem.  Okay, I 
 said, I'll see if I can fit a serial port on the interface board also.  We had 
 all of that up and running in wire-wrap form when we went to the AWAUG meeting 
 that BJ attended.  Not knowing how BJ would respond to a potential competitor, 
 we decided not to mention the product to him.
  However, at that meeting we discovered that most of the Adam hackers 
 were connecting both an RS-232 80 column terminal and an external modem to the 
 Adam.  Knowing of a dual UART chip, we decided that we would further expand the 
 interface board to handle two RS-232 ports, a parallel printer port, and a hard 
 disk interface.
  About the same time, I discoverd a source of hard disk controllers that 
 also had a floppy disk controller port on them.  It took a while but I finally 
 got both the hard and floppy disk controller ports working. We can now attach 
 IBM-style floppy disk drives (360K/720K) to the controller as well as two hard 
 disk drives.
  So much for the history.  Now let me try to satisfactorily answer the 
 questions you asked. 
 1.  Can memory expanders be used with the hard drive interface, since they also 
 need to occupy expansion slot #2 to function?
  I was not aware of the memory expander products when I designed the 
 Powermate products.  Obviously, if they need to occupy the center expansion 
 slot at the same time the user wants to run the Powermate, we have a basic 
 conflict - both can't occupy the same physical space simultaneously.  The 
 Powermate interface board can function in either the first or the second slot - 
 all of the signals that it needs are available at either connector.  However, 
 since Scott did not want to give up his internal modem, we decided on the 
 middle slot.  I could redesign the board for the first slot (and will investi- 
 gate the possibility), but I would need some significant amount of user feedback 
 as to which slot is preferable.  This would also delay delivery of the product 
 about two months. 
 2a.  Are we using a PC or PC-XT type of controller?
  We are not using a PC-type controller.  I considered it but did not 
 want to attempt to write drivers for one.  There was also no good place to mount 
 it and I did not want to extend the bus by the several feet it would take to 
 mount it in an external enclosure. 
 2b.  Will the serial and parallel ports be compatible with existing Adam add-on 
 products such that Adam software designed for those products will be useable 
 with our board?
  I assigned the Powermate ports so that they would not interfere with any 
 existing Adam products.  That way the Powermate could be added to whatever the 
 owner had already.  I provided drivers in the Powermate BIOS to handle communi- 
 cations with all of the ports on the board.  I do plan, however, to make bit 
 and address assignments known so that existing software can be patched to work. 
 I also would consider developing specific drivers or patches for a few key 
 programs that need to know how to drive the ports. 
 3.  Are we using surplus boards or custom designed boards to achieve the 
 low price?
  The Powermate design consists of three circuit boards.  The interface 
 board that plugs into the Adam (in expansion slot #2) was designed completely 
 by me and contains the 2 serial ports, a parallel printer port, and a hard 
 disk controller interface port.
  An interface converter board (which I also designed) is installed 
 inside the external disk chassis and allows the Adam board to interface with the 
 disk controller board, also installed inside the external chassis.  The 
 interface converter board provides two benefits - it allows me to use a 25 pin 
 ribbon cable to connect the external chassis to the Adam, and it allows the 
 external chassis' power supply to send plus and minus 12 volts to the interface 
 board inside the Adam to run the serial ports.
  The disk controller board is a commercially manufactured product made 
 by a large reputable hard disk controller manufacturer.  It has the ability 
 to control 2 hard disk drives and 2 IBM-style floppy disk drives. I buy the 
 controller boards in quantity from a reputable perveyor of new and used computer 
 parts.  Some batches are made up of entirely new boards.  Other batches consist 
 of a mixture of new and used products while others are entirely used. However, 
 no matter what the status of the boards are, they all come tested and guaranteed 
 to work.  I then add a new product warantee to the overall Powermate product 
 such that the user need not worry about a malfunction in the first 90 days.
  I have tried to price the Powermate products as aggressively as I can 
 so that it is not outside the reach of the serious Adam computer buff. I make 
 a modest profit on each sale and probably cannot go any lower on price or I 
 won't make anything at all.
  The most important aspect of the product, I believe, is that it is a 
 complete turnkey system for about the same total price that you would pay for 
 the hard disk components.  It also does not require any modifications to the 
 Adam computer to install it.  Bundle that with all of its functionality (two 
 serial ports, a parallel printer port, and a hard disk) and expandability (up to 
 2 hard disk drives and 2 floppy disk drives) and I don't see how you can beat 
 its' bang per buck with anything else available.
                                                             
 new product warantee to the overall Powermate product 
 
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