CompuServe Thread

#ISA ENTENDER CARD

8 messages in this thread
#184867From: JOELAug 14, 1995 7:09 AM
Hi, My Pentium motherboard has 4 ISA slots, three of which cannot take full length cards because of the "junk" sticking up from the motherboard (CPU fan, heat sinks, etc.). I've got a Targa+ 16/32 on order, along with Animator Studio and I really have no patience to build one, but could someone tell me if there is a commercially available card that will raise things 1/4" or so above the MB so the card clears the components? Thanx, Joel – JOEL, Written 14-Aug-1995 @ 08:02:39 Using: Windows NavCIS PRO 1.62
#184870From: Gus GrubbaAug 14, 1995 7:42 AM
>> is a commercially available card that will raise things 1/4" or so >> above the MB so the card clears the components? That would screw things up a little as nothing would match up. Your DB9's in the back of the Targa would be half way up and you wouldn't be able to screw the board in place as the flap would be… 1/4" up in the air. There is one adaptor sort of like what you want. It makes the board a full length higher. It is intended to service boards while connected (being a full 5" up in the air makes life a lot easier to probe the thing while running). It is sold by a company called Jameco (in San Jose, CA). I can look it up if you want it. Yet another approach is to use an extension box. I have a box with 20 slots (with its own power supply) which connects to the PC using a proprietary pair of cards and very thick cable. That will give you an extra 19 slots. I've seen these things in as little as 4 slots.
#184919From: JOELAug 14, 1995 12:45 PM
Gus, Thanks for the info! I am familiar with Jamco (got to locate one of their catalogs from my dust pile <g>). I really don't care too much about the back connectors (I'll cut the case if I have too). That extension box sounds interesting (expensive?). I guess if I can't come across anything, I'll have to muster up some patience and etch a card and solder one of Radio Shack's 98 pin slots to it. As we age, it's easier to buy than make <g>. Thanks again, Joel – JOEL, Written 14-Aug-1995 @ 13:43:43 Using: Windows NavCIS PRO 1.62
#185079From: Carlton NewtonAug 14, 1995 10:29 PM
Hey Gus, PMJI, but I'd recently been looking through the Jameco catalog for an external bus box like the one your describe to install a PAR Drive in. I was thinking about an external box holding the fan, HD, PAR card and power supply. (making a kind of portable PAR) Any ideas how such a box might be connected to the PCI slot of the motherboard, or the maximum length the flexible connecting bus might be? Or maybe this Richmond VA heat has poached my brain. :*) Carlton
#185230From: Gus GrubbaAug 15, 1995 4:11 PM
The external bus I have is only ISA (16 bits). Included with it came two cards used to connect the computer bus to the box. These cards are needed mostly to handle the signals from one bus to the next. Doing the same for a 32 bit, 33MHz PCI bus would be a very difficult proposition, if not outright outrageously priced. This ISA box alone costed, at the time, twice the price of a computer. It's there because if you need to control a lot of devices at the same time, there is no other way around. I would simply dedicate a computer for that. It would be great if the PAR could be controlled using standard TCP/IP protocol so it could be used just like a little Accom or Abekas, etc. That way, you would just hook it up to the network and there you go.
#185266From: Carlton NewtonAug 15, 1995 7:39 PM
Thanks Gus, Carlton
#185571From: Charles DockensAug 17, 1995 3:53 AM
Hi Gus; Could you send me some addresses or phone numbers of the people who made your (ISA) extension box. CEDJr
#185652From: Gus GrubbaAug 17, 1995 4:00 PM
>> Could you send me some addresses or phone numbers of the people >> who made your (ISA) extension box. Heck… it's been so long I don't even know if they still exist. The name of the company is Cubix Corporation. They were in Nevada somewhere (I think it was Carson City). That's all I know.