BusCard II IEEE-488 Interface
-
The Buscard II from Batteries Included is an expansion port device for the Commodore 64 that provides an IEEE-488 interface allowing peripherals designed for the PET/CBM series to be used alongside serial IEC peripherals.
-
- Assembled
-
- Top side
-
- Bottom side
In addition to the IEEE-488 port, the BusCard II features a parallel printer port. This is a Centronics-style port but uses an nonstandard card edge connector that requires a special adapter. A pass-thru port on the right-side of the unit allows another expansion port device to be connected.
Timing Clip
As detailed in the owner’s manual below, the BusCard II requires a timing clip to be installed inside the computer. The single wire from the clip hangs out of the cartridge port and is received by any one of three pins on a header located on the front of the BusCard II. The timing clip is also compatible with the RAMDrive and RAMLink devices.
Usage
The on-board 2764 EPROM provides driver software which gives a transparent interface to IEEE-488 devices. When enabled, parallel IEEE-488 devices are accessed the same as their serial IEC counterparts.
The BusCard II does not alter the normal C64 power-up screen when enabled so it may appear non-functional to new users. Like the BI-80 cartridge, it also has a BASIC 4.0 extension that can be optionally selected.
Resources
-
