I have every intention of taking PZ's suggestions into consideration, but, I
have been thoroughly informed that those card edge fingers are every bit as good
and as strong as the gold. I have a prototype that I've pulled and inserted
hundred's of times and are still good as "Gold".
I respect what you're saying, but I think history has settled the gold
versus tin fingers thing long ago. If gold fingers can be had, I
think most people would want them... as the people still into this
stuff want something that will work ANOTHER 20 years down the road.
Also, the addition of a ROMdisk to the ram cards is being looked into, but I have
to say, it's not an easy task.
To be clear, the suggestions (somewhat modified) I was referring to
are:
A) Add '245's to buffer the data lines.
B) Add series resistor networks to the RAS/CAS strobes and to the
address lines to cut down on the ringing. Add inverters to the address
lines to maintain strong 5v signal integrity if warranted.
C) See if PCB layout can be improved to minimize RF.
D) Avoid RAS strobing all 32 ram chips everytime you wish to only
address one bank. Use a pair of '139's instead of '138 demux.
I would keep the RAM card just a RAM card, and with these simple
improvements above, you're talking one everyone should be happy with.