Serial cartridge

[roboknight]

I noticed there are plenty of tutorials on how to make these, but not many that give you the quick "here's how" view in a nutshell.  Basically, just solder the 3 pins shown, and you're done.  Well, okay, NOT QUITE, but you're as near as damn it.  Just a quick wire strip and a header, and you're in business.  Deak Phreak uses the audio jack for a serial connection, which is a fabulous idea, and you should do it too because then you don't have to worry about which way to connect it and all of that.  Just be warned that SOMETIMES the audio jacks don't make as robust a connection as you might want.  But typically, they are good enough.



Hopefully it'll help someone.  The other end is just soldered to a header.  I'll get a picture of the rest soon. The numbering is from the left, even though
on the left hand side is really pin 30 of the cartridge.

[roboknight]

Here's the whole thing:



You might be able to solder the thing right to the FTDI cable (it'll work), but the wire is a little thick.  At any rate,
I use my FTDI cable in other places, so the 100 mil (0.100") header is a little handier.  The bare wires are the other serial signals.
They aren't used here (in fact, in most serial TTL applications, they aren't needed).  Technically, you can disconnect
and reconnect this and your kids can still play with the cartridge.  Just make sure they aren't the "hey lets pull
hard on these dangly bit"-types (whose kid isn't like THAT!).