[vcf-midatlantic] H89 for museum; gotek?

[Herb Johnson]

Just as a matter of courtesy: consider starting a new thread when the 
conversation changes greatly from the "subject" line. I am a user, I'm 
not in charge. But since I'm posting a response, I'll change the subject 
line.

The subject of the thread "Needed SD card solutions for museum" was 
about SDcard adapters to replace floppy drives on 8-bit computers. But 
most of the thread now is entirely about an H89 acquired which may be 
donated to the VCFed museum; and/or about the utility of a "Gotek" 
hardware product for it that emulates various vintage floppy drives with 
file-storage.

I would have ignored the thread, except by luck. I read this list 
online, after the fact; not by emails. And anyone looking backwards or 
search, would not find those H89 interests among the subject lines, 
until now.

The H89 by Heath and Zenith is a great 8-bit Z80 system. It works fine 
with original hardware and software, and hard or soft sectored disks.
One needs a controller for each, with drives dedicated for each. That's 
how it was done in the era. But people today do like putting modern 
widgets and new boards on it, some use modern mass storage. The H89 and 
support for it, or a system to restore or to pass to the Museum, are 
certainly worth their own discussion threads.

As for modern SDcard or CompactFlash devices that emulate floppy drives, 
like GoTek. I don't follow them much. But it's unusual for them to 
support formats like Heath's hard-sectored USART based floppy 
controller. It's a technical challenge, not just "bugs" to fix. If GoTek 
supports that better over time, that's interesting and good news.

Regards, Herb Johnson
retrotechnology.com
https://retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/s_zenith.html#h89

-- 
Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA
http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net
preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing
email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com
or try later herbjohnson AT comcast DOT net