Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Holder for virtual cartridge image SD card - shaped like a 2315 cartridge

IDEA FOR THE SD CARDS USED TO HOLD A VIRTUAL 2315 CARTRIDGE IMAGE

The main V2315CF box has a slot with an SD card connector. An SD card holds a virtual 2315 cartridge image in a file - any file with the suffix .dsk and the proper header and length will be accepted by the V2315CF. Since the micro SD cards are small, fragile and awkward to insert or remove, I am planning for an alternative.

The SD card connector is on a small PCB in the opening on the V2315CF box. I purchased a 125 of the same connector, so that I can put a connector on a object that represents a cartridge. The rear of the object will have a connector pin that mates with a ribbon cable that currently hooks to the PCB of the original design. By inserting the object in the slot, the connection is made to the card connector and SD card that is hidden inside the object.

Thus, an object that represents a 2315 cartridge will exist for each cartridge image a user wants to have. By plugging the appropriate object into the V2315CF main box, it is ready to be loaded. Best would be something that looks exactly like a 2315 cartridge, in miniature. 

I designed a circular white PCB with lines on the top that makes it an obvious but tiny 2315. The socket and a couple of passive components would mount on the underside, leaving the top surface to resemble a cartridge cover. An enhancement might be a white plastic part that snaps onto the bottom of the PCB to fully hide the SD card and other parts, as well as giving it a realistic height in proportion to its size. 

Top of the white PCB

I plan to produce a good supply of the holder objects to mount the connector and pins, then modify the V2315CF main box to support insertion and removal (via some kind of guides). Each of these objects would have a micro SD card inserted, containing the disk image file. I have 125 PCBs on order as well as 125 each of the resistor and capacitor that goes on each PCB. 

wrong color 3D view of underside

wrong color 3D view of top focusing on connector


1 comment: