I'd support the purchase, but I'm unaware of any Australian companies that would sell it.<div><br></div><div>Where did the quoted shipping price come from? Could we potentially get it cheaper?<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 8:36 PM, Bob Adamson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bob@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au">bob@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
This thread got a little sidetracked with talks about disks...anyway, back<br>
to the actual topic...<br>
<br>
[TRS] linked me to a box[1] which not only has all the features we need,<br>
but does it much cheaper than the previous suggestion. It has 8 serial<br>
ports, a fanless 1.2GHz VIA 64-bit processor[2] running off a VIA Epia<br>
motherboard[3]. The cost of $389 is good at the moment with the Aussie<br>
dollar close to parity with the American dollar. The problem is shipping<br>
to Australia - $227!<br>
<br>
Does anyone know of a local source, a better alternative, or someone in<br>
the US that we can ship through?<br>
<br>
Bob Adamson<br>
<br>
[1] <a href="http://www.e-itx.com/epia-m840-ep50.html" target="_blank">http://www.e-itx.com/epia-m840-ep50.html</a><br>
[2] <a href="http://resources.e-itx.com/processors/VIA_Nano_Processor_datasheet_v100727.pdf" target="_blank">http://resources.e-itx.com/processors/VIA_Nano_Processor_datasheet_v100727.pdf</a><br>
[3] <a href="http://resources.e-itx.com/via-epia-m840/VIA_EPIA-M840_datasheet_v100915.pdf" target="_blank">http://resources.e-itx.com/via-epia-m840/VIA_EPIA-M840_datasheet_v100915.pdf</a><br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On Thu, 3 Mar 2011, Bob Adamson wrote:<br>
<br>
> Hi techies,<br>
><br>
> I've been thinking about a replacement box for mermaid, and now seems like<br>
> a good time to do the job properly while the box isn't being used for<br>
> anything.<br>
><br>
> Dispense is currently running on heathred, the vendserver is running on<br>
> martello, the door lock is controlled by a service running on mussel, with<br>
> a decserver, a man-eating power supply and a modem in amongst all that.<br>
> It's all very hot, very power hungry, and not all that reliable. What I<br>
> hope to do is put all these services on one reliable machine with a ups.<br>
> It will also require a little electronics later on for the door stuff.<br>
> This will hopefully mean that the services are more likely to stay up in<br>
> emergencies (fuse trips, power dips, hail storms in the clubroom,<br>
> armageddon, freshers in the machine room) and also be easier to<br>
> understand, manage and update.<br>
><br>
> The replacement box should run on as little power as possible, have at<br>
> least 3 serial ports (preferably more), have static cooling (ie no fans),<br>
> preferably mini or microATX so we can stick it somewhere out of the way.<br>
><br>
> At the moment, I'm keen on getting something in the $800 range from<br>
> advantech, such as<br>
> <a href="http://buy.advantech.net.au/ARK-3360L-3S51/ARK-3360L-3S51/system-3545.htm" target="_blank">http://buy.advantech.net.au/ARK-3360L-3S51/ARK-3360L-3S51/system-3545.htm</a><br>
><br>
> If you have a better suggestion, or can be bothered trawling sites to<br>
> custom build a box, I'd love to hear from you!<br>
><br>
> Bob Adamson<br>
> UCC Treasurer<br>
><br>
> |"Bureaucracy is a challenge to the be conquered with a righteous |<br>
> |attitude, an intolerance for stupidity, and a bulldozer when necessary" |<br>
> | ---Peter's Laws |<br>
><br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div>