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REVIEW: CASSIOPEI
By Commodore Free
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The Cassiopei stands for: Cassette IO Peripheral Expansion Interface.

The Inventor and creator of the Cassiopei is Jan Derogee, who you may
remember, originally created the 1541-III, which he says; "Is the first
fully functional .D64 MMC/SD-card reader emulating a real drive using the IEC-bus in a case". The 1541-III (so named, because we already have a 1541 disk drive and also Commodore released a 1541-II or Mark 2; so it seemed a natural progression for Jan to name his device the mark 3)

The Cassiopei is a device that connects to the cassette port of an 8-bit Commodore computer. It can load 50 times faster than standard tape speed, which is faster than a standard IEC serial disk-drive! You can connect the device to your PET, VIC20, C64, C16/+4, C128 computer. With it you can
load .PRG and .TAP files. However it also has an expansion connector;
allowing you to interface to your own hardware projects. The device also
has 2 analog inputs and a PWM audio output for playing back .WAV files (8
KHz, mono, 4/8Bit) and a simple speech synthesizer. If you are interested
I suggest you visit: jderogee.tripod.com

You may also like to check this link on YouTube that gives a general introduction to the device

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmPE6BKhde4

Or here for cross development introduction

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQwfUxs9P7U

Home automation

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQiHtmJSEY

See tap files loaded on a c16

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxzAnn90D4g

As Jan says in the YouTube info

The Cassiopei has a simple speech synthesizer that requires two additional support files to be installed. These files are: a system file (.SYS) and
a vocabulary file (.VOC). These files can be found in the download section
of the Cassiopei's website.

The Cassiopei also has a BASIC wedge; however this is currently only
available for the C64, although this could change, as the device is worked
on.

Back when the Commodore 64 was released this sort of micro-controller technology wouldn't have been possible, but with various advancements and
of course the success of the1541-III, Jan wanted a device that would, work
on "ALL 8-bit commodore computers". Now the Cassiopei is such a device,
and by using the cassette-port as its physical interface, it can achieve
its original goal. Jan has also created some dedicated software for controlling the device so, the Cassiopei is a versatile tool for every rank
of commodore user.

With this device you can load single file games, or program, (the so called
PRG files), and Tape files (TAP) with its external connector the (IO
Peripheral expansion interface) you can connect your own devices and
control your own hardware projects with ease.

Cassiopei, can connect to virtually all 8 bit commodores; because it
connects to the cassette port. Some Computers (like the C16 and plus4
require the standard Commodore conversion connector) the device itself does
not need any storage device to operate as memory is onboard. The Cassiopei
is also useful for cross development due to quick transfer of data to your
CBM computers memory.

I purchased my device some time ago; it has to be said however I feel I can
now fully write a review after a large amount of testing and finally
obtaining what is commonly known as a (ROUNDTUIT)

The device arrived at my house in a very large cardboard box, However Jan pointed out to me that the shipping costs for a smaller box would be about
the same, and he may also include an option to purchase hardware projects
with the device, so standardising on a box seemed a good idea! Opening the
box you see the device itself a standard USB to MINI USB cable and a
laminated sheet thanking you for the purchase, and advising you to download
the software with links about the software and how to download it and the
PDF manual. After this was completed, (it obviously saves trees and money
and means the software is always up to date) You load the software onto
your PC (although my version did have a test file on it) the device itself
has drivers built in, so in windows you see the device being recognised
then the drivers install themselves and its all ready to use! As the
meerkat says "simplez"

Running the windows software on the PC I received the following error, well more notification than error.

Obviously the first thing I need to do is update the software

The device itself is about the size of your thumb in length and square, the only comments I would make are; that the case looks well made, with the
name of the decive and what the various buttons on it do. These markings
are etched into the case. I have resisted the temptation to crack the
device open! At this points.

However it could do with a couple of feet on the back to raise it to the
level of the Commodore 64/Vic/C16 but a trip to my local diy shop found me
with some foam pads that did the trick for a pocket money price.

The Cassiopei device manager is where you would load files onto the device. Doing so is just a matter of hitting the ADD FILE button. The file manager lists all files that are loaded onto the device.

Hitting load gives the user a browse dialogue box and the option to search
for PRG TAP WAV DAT VOC and SYS files!

The managers settings options gives quite an array of options, However I
didn't need to alter any of these in my trials.

SETUP

After loading the files you and to the device you plug it into your machine
and power on, then type LOAD and when prompted to press play you hit the
menu, this brings up a menu on screen.

The menu is a program in its own right and so loads from the device,

That's the basics, but as you know the device is much more, I seem to be running out of space, but you can use it to load what are called virtual
files, these are loaded directly into the machines memory and will help developers speed up well erm development times as it's a really fast way to
get the prg into memory and test, on a real machine.

SUMMING UP

It's incredibly useful for loading TAP and PRG files, I am sure developers
will love the virtual file option, and of course hardware tinkerers will
find various uses for connecting devices to various commodore machines; and
you need to check out Jans home automation customisation! Because the
device is small it can easily be tucked into a shirt pocket. And of course because it loads TAP files that won't degrade like real tapes "I love it".
The device will appeal to a large audience, however a friend did point out
that it doesn't load D64 files, but that's not what it was designed for,
and as it connects to the Tape port, it wouldn't be possible, unless.......

Well you never know!

I do however love TAPES and Tap files; it really takes me back to when I
was a child loading games for the first time! It's a pity the device can't create TAP files from real Tapes, that would be my final comment!

SCORES

Build quality: 9/10
looking very professional
Documentation: 9/10
once the PDF is downloaded its very
comprehensive
Software: 8/10
everything worked without a problem
Usefulness: 9/10
almost a must have
Overall: 9/10

If it could create TAP files it would be a 9.5. If it used SD or Micro SD cards as well it would be a 10 out of 10



*************************************
INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN TILLEY (UNKLE K)
Editor, Staff Writer, Designer of
RESET magazine
By Commodore Free
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Reset Magazine, designed to give the modern C64 user a light hearted
insight into the current world of the Commodore 64. Reset Magazine is a
free, non-profit publication produced by Reset Magazine Staff.

reset.cbm8bit.com/

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Kevin, please give Commodore Free readers a quick "all about me intro"

A. Well, I'm a 34 year old retro computer enthusiast and gamer. I have
been a C64 fanatic since my f

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