Another exhaustive search of the Web revealed an alternative. Fredrik Andersson has created a hardware interface based on the Atmel AVR series of microcontrollers. His design is described here. The code that runs on the AVR chip to translate Control-A1 signals into bytes is here.
Fredrik's done an amazing job, but a lot of people don't want to build their own hardware. Luckily, Atmel partnered with Kanda to produce a nice little development board called the STK-200. An upgraded version, the STK-200+, is available from the following sources:
| Source | Cost* |
|---|---|
| Kanda | $65 plus shipping |
| Logical Devices, Inc. | $65 plus shipping |
The STK board includes a microcontroller (the Atmel A90S8515), a parallel cable to download programs onto the microcontroller, and a board populated with all of the components you'll need to communicate using the Control A-1 protocol. The Kanda board uses a different clock speed from Andersson's interface, so we had to change some of his timing constants. We'll be posting the source and binary for those changes shortly.
You'll also need the following items, which are available from Radio Shack.| Item | Part Number | Cost* |
|---|---|---|
| Serial cable with 2 male DB-9 connections | 26-116 | $13.95 |
| 9V, 300mA power supply | 273-1767 | $10.79 |
| 1/8 monaural dubbing cable | 42.2461 | $3.99 |
| hook clips ("test clips") | 27-372 | $2.89 |
*Costs were obtained on 15 September 2002 and verified on 15 January 2003. Vendors may change prices without notice.