Schematic Capture as commenced!

After going through the first revision of the enclosure and print it out on my CR-10. I decide to put it on the back burner.

This is my starting point. In the process, I went through many iterations for the block diagram. I decided that I would use the TQFP version of the FPGA so people could solder them by hand if they elected to. Otherwise, any other BGA type package would force me to have more layer for the PCB and increase the cost. I elected to have more small FPGA as oppose to have a more expensive PCB with increase difficulty to solder the Parts.

Unfortunately, the quantity of surface mount will be quite high considering that I am trying to stay in the realm of 1987 design, but I have to think about the accessibility of certain part and also the space I have. There are a lot of 5V to 3.3V translation to be done in between the older part I intent to use with the FPGA. So, some will have to practice their hand soldering! ;)

I moved on to the schematic capture and I decided to design it with EAGLE. Since the project will be open source, I figure that it is the best way for people to have access to the design and board information. The problem is that I never used EAGLE before.

So, there was a slight learning curve, but surprisingly enough I got on with it pretty quickly and I actually found a soft spot for it... All is good!