Howdy folks,
Since we're still coming up zeroes on the mystery MCT serial board, I've been considering taking a different approach.
Recently, I was lucky enough to find an original IMSAI 'MIO2' comms board, which has 1X serial, 2X parallel and one "CRI" port which I believe is an old acronym for a cassette interface. What would be involved in accomplishing the following:
1) Connect I/O cables with 1/8" mini plugs that will connect with the 'CRI' interface on the MIO2
2) Obtain the required bootloader / BASIC files in +audio+ format - such as PCM or MP3 files which could be sent to the MIO by a generic MP3 player, emulating a cassette deck
3) Input (via front panel) a bootstrap routine to load the second bootloader via CRI and finally, the BASIC (or any other arbitrary) code
Will any of this work, and do the required bootloader / BASIC files exist as audio / PCM / MP3?
And finally, can I use the MIO2 serial to talk to a M15 Teletype? I know that it's quite possible to get BASIC taking with a later TTY machine, like a 33ASR, but I only have an M15 at the moment. If the M15 won't fly, I can certainly use minicom running under Linux on a really old Toshiba Satellite (P75?) laptop.
Either way, I rebuilt this Altair from a miserable basket case almost one year ago, and I'm itching to do something with it.. other than run the simple check-out programs (add two numbers, blink the lights..) in the manual. What's my best route to the next level of S-100? ;-)
-Bill