Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Black box again

Hi Jon, Ballendo, Alan , others,

I appreciate your valuable input on this forum. We are all trying to be
prudent about the future of the consumer based motherboards. I am afraid if
we don't stick to the consumer products, we will be paying the big bucks for
our processing power and motherboards.

I use the dual parallel port SIIG PCI card. Under DOS, it will assign its
port addresses based upon which port the mother based port is using. If you
change the motherboard port address (setup the bios) the SIIG board will
configure so that the three (I think) standard DOS ports are all available.
I do not know of another board for this purpose than the SIIG board. I sure
hope they keep it like it is for years to come. Of course the SIIG boards
are targeted for the newer operating systems.

I think about the USB port like Jon does. (Heavy overhead) But who knows,
maybe some of this can be passed through. I sure don't know, although I
think you guys probably have a better pulse on it than I do. That is the
reason I mentioned the serial port. It seems like a lot of stuff in the
industrial field is becoming serial based. Can the serial port keep up with
the bandpass we need? I don't know, but I sure like the parallel port
option right now. The serial port requires buffering for input, so even it
is operating system dependent. Isn't the USB port like a fancy serial port?

One of the nice things about DOS and the simple serial port and parallel
ports is that they keep the power of the PC within reach of the casual
hobbiest. The Macintosh computer, because of its complicated operating
system has been beyond the reach of the casual hobbiest for this reason, in
my opinion. The apple computer was not, and it sure was loved.

Keep up the good spirited discussion. I think we will all benefit from it.
I am looking forward to Jon's $200 card. Will we still have to buy the buss
too, Jon, or do you think it might be around $200 for the whole works? If
it can work with the SIIG cards then this may be our most powerful option
for as long as the pci buss lasts.

Don't you all think the pci buss will be with us for a good while yet?

My 2 Cents

Tom Eldredge

----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Elson <elson@...>
To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2001 9:43 PM
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Black box again


> Alan Marconett KM6VV wrote:
>
> > Hi Jon, Ballendo,
> >
> > I have noticed, that while you can get a parallel port board (SIIG) for
> > the PCI bus, it may (always?) put the address not at 278/278h, but at
> > something like C400h! And DOS won't recognize it! Fine for Windoz, but
> > not good for "older stuff" (like me). Perhaps someone can shed more
> > light on this subject!