Hi Bruce,
>> However, I withdraw my optimistic order of maybe 2. I have since looked at the page describing
>> such things from your link and it is so far above my head, I have no business ordering, but...
I hesitate answering your message, but maybe my input will help you decide? I am a "lurker" to this group. I bought a lot of the early boards (they were more Z80 oriented, but now the focus seems to be more toward the 80x6 and MSDog). I had no trouble getting the CF boards to work (both of the early versions (v1 and v2??)). I had no trouble getting the serial card to work, although I was not much interested in the voice output side of things, and converted that function to support a uDrive (from 4DSystems). I was "on a roll" and envisioned putting a new S-100 system together, including a FAST Z80 CPU, EPROM board, SRAM board, and floppy controller (ZFDC). BUT, that all depended on getting the Z80 card to work. (I have a *raft* of 4 MHZ Z80 cards, so the real attraction for me was 6, 8 or even 10 MHz). Alas, I couldn't get the Z80 card to work at all, so my "project" came to a screeching halt at that point. Why bother about the rest without the newer, faster Z80 CPU??? But the CF cards work great, and the serial card does too. What you need to consider is that the focus of this group is fabricating and distributing S-100 cards. If you need any help beyond minimal, you will probably not get it. Many of these boards are "jumper rich" environments, and I find that even getting a definitive list of jumper configurations is difficult. To be fair, the stated ground rules are that these cards are not for the inexperienced, and they come with the "big boy warranty". I am not "inexperienced" (I have designed and built two Z80 SBC's and now have a 68k prototype of my own design, with 1 MB (soon to be 2) of SRAM, running at 8 MHz (soon to be 10, 12, or maybe even 16??) -- oh, and by the way, I purchased two of the S-100 68k boards, but was unable to get it working either). If you are interested in these SBC projects, have a look at my Web page: www.hanscom.us. I digress ... the point is that you ought not sell yourself short, but keep in mind that if you get into trouble, unless you are a close friend of somebody with equipment (and the will and time to help), you will be on your own.
Now, I'm going to put on my asbestos suit! *grin*
Roger