Dead AIM 65??

[M H Stein]

-----------------Original Message:
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 01:53:07 -0400
From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Dead AIM 65??

>On 4/15/05, Andy Dannelley <andyda at mac.com> wrote:
>> First, Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

>You are welcome.
 
>> Couple of things about general AIM-lore:
>>
>> The original AIM 65 (not the AIM 65/40) had a 20 char alpha LED
>> display. The Aim 65/40 had a 40 character vacuum fluorescent display
>> and 40 character printer, much more friendly for development than the
>> 20 char display and printer.

>I think I have heard of the AIM 65/40... if someone here knows such
>things, was the motherboard re-engineered?  Is it possible to retrofit
>the 40-col display to the original AIM?  Also, was the 40-col VFD run
>by something like an HD44780 chipset, or was it some kind of raw
>interface?  These days, 40x1 or 40x2 VFDs based on the HD44780 are not
>difficult to locate and are not all that expensive.  They are also
>trivial to send chars to.

>-ethan

---------------Reply:
The /40 was considerably different; bank-switched memory, intelligent
display & printer, different keyboard etc. (Also more than twice the 
price of a /20).

Both the display & the printer had their own microprocessor (6504) 
and could be mounted off-board.

See Interactive Issue # 5 for a preview (on Rich's site). Also see
issue # 8 for a description of the "official" Rockwell case. There were
also larger cases to house the /20 or /40 along with its expansion 
card cage.

There was an application note (R6500 N12) describing how to
build a video interface (including the software listing) and it even
references Lancaster's TVT Cookbook! Those were the heady days
of OEM support...

If you have trouble finding a display maybe that's the answer;
just stick it inside an old monitor or terminal. BASIC & the editor 
are 80 (79) column capable BTW.

I did indeed find some extra display covers; I'll be in touch with you
(Ethan) & Jules off-list.

mike