Tindie
Peter Hizalev
About
Retro-computing enthusiast.
Reviews
Andy | Dec. 25, 2019
Great little kit!
For Geoff's VT100 Terminal Kit
If you are looking for an easy-to-assemble and inexpensive ascii/vt100 kit suitable for basic soldering skills then this will meet your needs. Everything you need is in this kit. Good quality connectors (Amp) included as well. You’ll also need a ps2 keyboard which are in abundance on eBay for <$10.
The terminal adapter works perfectly. Power on is instantaneous and behaves just like you would expect it to. Some of the gaming graphics are not displaying but that might be me (there is documentation on on the Geoff website explaining the supported graphics situation ) - for all regular stuff you should be fine.
Peter was very helpful and super-responsive when I had various questions ...not to mention an embarrassing soldering crisis 😎.
Currently I’ve mounted the terminal adapter on a small piece of wood but will be put in in a plastic box when I find one the right size.
.
The terminal adapter works perfectly. Power on is instantaneous and behaves just like you would expect it to. Some of the gaming graphics are not displaying but that might be me (there is documentation on on the Geoff website explaining the supported graphics situation ) - for all regular stuff you should be fine.
Peter was very helpful and super-responsive when I had various questions ...not to mention an embarrassing soldering crisis 😎.
Currently I’ve mounted the terminal adapter on a small piece of wood but will be put in in a plastic box when I find one the right size.
.
Clyde | Nov. 6, 2019
Excellent
For Geoff's VT100 Terminal Kit
Good product. The board is a different size/layout than the original article, but after a little searching, found the layout photo at https://www.tindie.com/products/petrohi/geoffs-vt100-terminal-pcb/. Didn't really need it, but it was useful to have.
Recommendation1: Only difficulty was getting the 3.3v voltage regulator installed. The terminal pads really need to be spaced a bit further apart to prevent accidental solder bridging. There's plenty of room to do so on the board.
Recommendation2: An easily made modification (actually, just a sentence in the instructions) is to use extra strip-pins (three sets of two) in pin strip into the color pads so that different (single color - red, green or blue) can be easily changed/selected rather than solder bridging a fixed color.
It went together easily, tested out OK immediately and is now in use.
Recommendation1: Only difficulty was getting the 3.3v voltage regulator installed. The terminal pads really need to be spaced a bit further apart to prevent accidental solder bridging. There's plenty of room to do so on the board.
Recommendation2: An easily made modification (actually, just a sentence in the instructions) is to use extra strip-pins (three sets of two) in pin strip into the color pads so that different (single color - red, green or blue) can be easily changed/selected rather than solder bridging a fixed color.
It went together easily, tested out OK immediately and is now in use.
Response from Peter Hizalev | Nov. 6, 2019
Thank you for kind words! Please allow me to comment on your recommendations.
1) In the new version of PCB I changed voltage regulator footprint to be more convenient for soldering. Here is the picture of new terminal pads:
https://imgur.com/a/hi8FM0M
2) Indeed I should be providing better instructions! Kit includes pins and jumpers to make color easily configurable. Here is how it looks:
https://imgur.com/a/E8A9tgV
1) In the new version of PCB I changed voltage regulator footprint to be more convenient for soldering. Here is the picture of new terminal pads:
https://imgur.com/a/hi8FM0M
2) Indeed I should be providing better instructions! Kit includes pins and jumpers to make color easily configurable. Here is how it looks:
https://imgur.com/a/E8A9tgV
Blake | Sept. 24, 2019
Works great!
For Geoff's VT100 Terminal Kit
The super high quality kit went together easily and quickly. The PCB is very high quality and no problem soldering all the parts on. The only parts change I made was to the header for the Rx Tx signals, I used a locking header and polarized mating connector to ensure correct orientation. Dont forget to bridge at least one pair of pads that select the color of the displayed text! That info is left to the student to figure out, so one star off documentation (which is the website).
Response from Peter Hizalev | Sept. 24, 2019
Thanks! I am working on the v2 of the PCB, which will have jumpers instead of solder bridge for RGB selection.
Can you point me to the locking header you mentioned?
Can you point me to the locking header you mentioned?