News February 1st 2021 * * * A N N O U N C E M E N T * * * Unfortunately, my time manufacturing petSD+ has come to an end. Outstanding orders will be fulfilled, but I won't be taking any more orders from today. There are a number of reasons for this : 1 Ongoing issues with either my assembly of the hardware or the undiagnosed firmware issue that I have mentioned previously means that I am spending a disproportionate amount of time testing petSD+ to find MCUs that work reliably and quite frankly, I have had enough of the frustration and wasted time. 2 Brexit ! The fall out from this has made ordering parts that I have previously sourced from outside the UK a real problem. Things may get better over the months and years to come, but in the short term, it has caused supply issues and will lead to increased cost - both of the parts that I use and for end users in Europe who will now likely have to pay local VAT on top of my previously VAT free prices. 3 There are alternatives available. When I started this journey, it was driven by my need for an SD card solution for my own PET. The manufacturer of Nils' previous model (petSD) had stopped making them due to illness and making one for myself was the only option. I worked with Nils on development of the upgraded petSD+ and began to offer them for sale, mainly to help folks who couldn't, or didn't want to, make one for themselves. Since then, other SD card solutions have become available, and whilst I still believe that petSD+ is the best one out there, the availability of alternatives means that there is less call for the more expensive petSD+. 4 Other priorities. I have far too many other projects on the go, there is just not enough time available to work on them all, so petSD+ has been moving further down my list of priorities for a while and now it's time to call it a day! So, that's it ! - It's been fun (well, mostly), but I'm done ! (I don't want to leave previous customers high and dry, so will probably make an exception for previous customers who want to replace an existing petSD+, or to add another for an additional PET they might obtain, to maintain a consistent hardware setup.)   June 26th 2020 * * * Issues with NODISKEMU and REL Files * * * Quoting from the NODISKEMU firmware README file . . . "Partial REL file support is implemented. It should work fine for existing files, but creating new files and/or adding records to existing files may fail. REL files in disk images are not supported yet, only as files on a FAT medium."  Note: this restriction also exists in other devices based on SD2IEC firmware August 29th 2019 *** PLEASE READ BEFORE ORDERING *** I am convinced that there is a bug in the NODISKEMU firmware that prevents proper initialisation of petSD+ at start-up with SOME MCUs. I think that I have eliminated all other possibilities and with the status of NODISKEMU now being unmaintained, this issue is unlikely to be fixed. If you purchase a petSD+ Version 2, there is a high probability that the device will require a reset on power on before it starts up properly. (See here for details) If you cannot live with this minor, but nevertheless undesirable, behavior, then please think twice before ordering. Unfortunately, I am unable to fix this issue and cannot accept returns for devices that exhibit this behavior. August 24th 2019  IMPORTANT UPDATE ON NODISKEMU FIRMWARE STATUS The petSD+ firmware (NODISKEMU) is now unmaintained Nils is no longer developing or supporting petSD+ / NODISKEMU Follow the link above for details and the implication of this development   5th June 2019 Luis Fernando Salazar, has created a really neat 3D printed case for petSD+ Version 2. For full details about the case and how to contact Luis to order one see this page 13th May 2019 The case options available for Version 1.x of petSD+ are not suitable for Version2.x so have been removed from the Ordering Page to avoid confusion. For any petSD+ Version 1 owners who may be interested, the information is archived on the Old News page

Please see the Order Status page to track the progress of your order Please see this note (below) if you intend to use Paypal from outside the UK For earlier "news" / errata, see the "petSD+ News" page

NB : I am not a dealer or trader, this stuff is just a hobby for me. There isn't a fancy web shop or on-line ordering facility - given the tiny quantity of items that I sell, there's no justification for that, "orders" or enquiries should be sent by e-mail.

How to get a petSD+

Do-It-Yourself

petSD+ has been designed as Open Source Hardware and the NODISKEMU firmware is a fork of sd2iec, free software released under GPL Version 2. The design files for the petSD+ PCB and the firmware source and binary files are freely available from both Nils Eiler's website or from here. All of the information that you'd need to have your own PCB manufactured and enable you to assemble it are available for download.

 

Or, With a little help from me . . . .

If you do not want to go to the bother of getting your own PCB made, you may wish to consider one of the options for obtaining a petSD+ from me, if so, please read the bullet points below :-

Buy a kit of parts from here

With help from Nils, I have put together a kit of parts required to build petSD+, the parts are available from a number of suppliers but not all from a single supplier, at least, as far as I know. You can probably source the individual parts cheaper than I have priced the kits, but you may prefer the convenience of ordering the parts in just the quantities that are needed for building a single petSD+ from a single supplier - i.e., me :-) See the Assembly page for details of building the kit.

petSD+ can be configured in a number of different ways depending on your preferences, the way that I have priced the kits is based on the premise that a "standard" petSD+ is the fully featured version which includes the following :-

 

Should you choose to drop features, such as the LCD, the kit price will reduce accordingly.

 

Buy a fully built petSD+ from here

Should you not feel confident in your own ability to assemble the kit, you may want to purchase a fully assembled and tested petSD+. It may take me a few days to build and test each one, but I will get them done as quickly as I can on an "as required" basis. Should you want to buy a fully built and tested version, please drop me an e-mail, I will start building it and give you an estimate of when it will be completed. Only after it is built will I ask you to pay.

The majority of orders to date have been for pre-assembled units, although I am getting better/faster, I did underestimate the time that it would take me to build and test petSD+. Therefore, I have decided to make a small increase in the price for pre-assembled units, the revised prices are shown below.

Given the time and effort involved in building them, I think the price is very fair, but you are welcome to comment if you disagree.

Price Increase Effective 01 February 2019 Changed prices shown in Blue

Base Prices ¹

Should you wish to take up any of these options, or have any questions, please

send me an e-mail

See the status of your order

 

A word about the price . . . . .

The price of a fully assembled petSD+ is now a little more than I had anticipated and probably doesn't really qualify as "low-cost" anymore. I wanted to say a few words about the price and, while not necessarily justifying it, at least give some insight into how the price has been set.

At the outset, I would like to encourage you to bear in mind the difference between cost and value.

I think that the product closest to petSD+ in terms of form and features is the HxC Rev. C Floppy Emulator from Lotharek. Although HxC although does not emulate PET/CBM floppy drives, it has the same Prev/Next/Select buttons and LCD screen (although half the size) functionality as petSD+. The current (as of 24/08/15) price for a Rev C. HxC, excluding shipping, is just under 70 Euros, i.e., about 20 Euros less than petSD+.

HxC is more flexible than petSD+ in that it can be used with a wide range of Shugart compatible systems, including vintage home micros, IBM compatibles and industrial systems. This brings economies of scale to the HxC product; bulk component purchases will be cheaper and the larger volume of production allows manufacture to be outsourced to an automated manufacturing facility. For petSD+, I have to purchase the components in small quantities, build the devices by hand and absorb the cost of any, hopefully few, failures during construction.

The time that it takes me to build and test each petSD+ is not insignificant, if I paid someone to do it at the price that I charge, I would be in breach of the UK's minimum wage regulations :-)  The time taken is obviously a function of my less than impressive soldering capabilities, you could probably build one faster, should you choose to, but the price is based on the time that it takes me.

 Kit Pricing

You can probably source the individual parts cheaper than I have priced the kits, but you may prefer the convenience of ordering the parts in just the quantities that are needed for building a single petSD+ from a single supplier. I do add a small mark-up to the cost of the parts, this is intended to cover the time required to order the parts, apportion the costs for price and delivery to individual kits and the time taken for me to assemble the kits. If you have received a kit, I hope you will agree that the time spent in preparing it was reflected in the package that you received.

Your thoughts ?

I would be interested in your thoughts on the subject, you can either send me an e-mail , or leave a comment here

 

 

Definitions from The Free Dictionary
Cost :	An amount paid or required in payment for a purchase; a price.
Value :	An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return.