Reviving the C2N232

On Fri, Jan 18, 2019 at 09:48:36AM +0100, Mia Magnusson wrote:
>Re replacing C2N232 with something: IMHO for most not totally unskilled 
>users it might be best to replace it with some Arduino. I may be biased 
>as Arduinos are available in a bunch of shops spread around here in 
>Sweden (100 shops in a country with a population of about 10M is imho 
>really good for that kind of stuff. Sure, there are more than one shop 
>in some of the more densely populated areas but still).

Yes, that is a good point. I have an Arduino UNO R3 and Arduino Nano (I 
think), bought in the hope that I would some day teach programming to my 
kids. It did not quite happen this way, but some spark got ignited.

Both Arduinos have a USB interface that is separate from the main 
microcontroller. It should be possible to port the C2N232 firmware to 
that. The only challenge for end users would be to find a source of the 
card edge connector and to create a nice connection between the Arduino 
and the tape port.

>Btw, what is the reason for C2N232 not being available nowdays? Too few 
>customers or too much work to produce them at a reasonable price? If 
>it's a matter of too much work then an Arduino solution might be good.

Too much real life. First, 2 small kids, and over the years, more 
demanding daytime job that makes me avoid computers in the free time.

Also, during the same time, RS-232 ports disappeared, and the USB based 
adapters are somewhat of a hit and miss. The Arduino could solve that 
problem by having standardized firmware. IIRC, the Uno R3 has another 
Atmel chip for the USB port, probably always with the same firmware. My 
Arduino Nano uses some proprietary USB adapter.

If someone is willing to take the task, I am happy to provide advice.

	Marko