=What is a card that has some cool features, isn't ridiculously expensive, etc?
I already have a video/ethernet card.
I already have a video/ethernet card.
What should go in the third NuBus slot of my IIci?
Wow, that's really cool. I'd imagine it would be really hard to find though. 
Before you worry overmuch about the third NuBus slot, why not fill the RAM slots with 16MB 80ns cards, and the cache slot with a DayStar 50MHz PowerCache card at minimum, or an 040 card by DayStar, MicroMac or Mobius, or a DayStar 601/100MHz?
Drool.
Price and cool usually go hand-in-hand.
de
Drool.
Price and cool usually go hand-in-hand.
de
I was actually considering buying the Daystar '040 that somebody was selling here for $20 for a while.
Radius Rocket? 
Or perhaps some kind of video input card, such as a SuperMac VideoSpigot?
Or perhaps some kind of video input card, such as a SuperMac VideoSpigot?
Hmm... there's actually a VideoSpigot for $16 shipped on eBay (BIN). That's not such a good deal, right? :-/Radius Rocket?
Or perhaps some kind of video input card, such as a SuperMac VideoSpigot?
And a Radius Rocket would also be awesome! I could only dream of finding another though.
I have no idea what they're worth over there, since I don't think they're all that common here in Australia...but US$16 shipped sounds good to me.
You may want to consider a 16 bit sound card as the IIci is limited to 8 bit sound.
Also considering that too.
What brands of 16-bit sound cards are there besides DigiDesign?
What brands of 16-bit sound cards are there besides DigiDesign?
That's a great deal IMHO - if you want video input.
AFAIR, the only other Nubus soundcard of note is the Nubus version of the PAS 16 (Pro Audio Spectrum). It has the advantage of a nifty little software controlled four input mixer, and a MIDI port, but it's a lot harder to find than the Digidesign AudioMedia cards. The AMII Nubus has a DSP onboard, better quality analogue I/O, and digital S/PDIF I/O. If you need MIDI, a serial port interface is a simple addon.
You could also consider a Digidesign Samplecell Nubus, or if price and patience be no object, the Lexicon Nuverb.
I second the thoughts of a PDS '040 - although with the slot layout, don't you lose a Nubus slot?
JackHammer. Fast and Wide SCSI. Once you've got a network and fast video and maybe a CPU upgrade, the limiting factor in the IIci is the disk access.
The JackHammer (or the SEIV by ?? Initio?) provides Fast & Wide SCSI in NuBus machines. That's as fast as it got for NuBus machines. If you can find an Acard 7720UW, then you can hook up modern fast IDE drives and really go. The SCSI drives of the day, while they had 20 MB/s F&W SCSI interfaces on the disks, didn't actually deliver much better than 6 MB/s from the platters. But at this late date, there are plenty of modern and even five or six-year-old drives whose platters will out-perform the electronic interface of F&W SCSI.
The JackHammer (or the SEIV by ?? Initio?) provides Fast & Wide SCSI in NuBus machines. That's as fast as it got for NuBus machines. If you can find an Acard 7720UW, then you can hook up modern fast IDE drives and really go. The SCSI drives of the day, while they had 20 MB/s F&W SCSI interfaces on the disks, didn't actually deliver much better than 6 MB/s from the platters. But at this late date, there are plenty of modern and even five or six-year-old drives whose platters will out-perform the electronic interface of F&W SCSI.
Hmm... are those cards bootable? I heard that they weren't, but I'm probably wrong.
and @ Bunsen: WOW-I'd kill for one of those. Too bad they're probably really expensive if I can even find one.
Hmm... I managed to find a PAS 16 without the interface or cable for $5. Should I take it and pray that I can find the interface/cable?
Or should I take one of the following?
SuperMac SpigotPower AV card=$10
ComputerEyes Pro Spigot video out card=$15
Or should I take one of the following?
SuperMac SpigotPower AV card=$10
ComputerEyes Pro Spigot video out card=$15
Is this just for snits and giggles, or do you have purpose in mind for this machine? Now that it's been mentioned, I second the vote for the Jackhammer as a pure performance upgrade.
I wouldn't go for the PAS16 without the interface. Or would I? There was an ISA version of the PAS16 for PCs, and who knows, the interface and cable might be the same. If you can score the Mac card for a five-spot, and the breakout box from a PC set, it might work.
Come to think of it, make sure the one you're looking at is the Mac version.
I make no guarantees, and this is the advice of an inveterate packrat. Grabbing half a system "just in case" the other half turns up is the precipice of the slippery slope to crazy old coot compulsive hoarding hell.
"GIT AWAY FROM MAH BARN YOU KIDS"
I wouldn't go for the PAS16 without the interface. Or would I? There was an ISA version of the PAS16 for PCs, and who knows, the interface and cable might be the same. If you can score the Mac card for a five-spot, and the breakout box from a PC set, it might work.
Come to think of it, make sure the one you're looking at is the Mac version.
I make no guarantees, and this is the advice of an inveterate packrat. Grabbing half a system "just in case" the other half turns up is the precipice of the slippery slope to crazy old coot compulsive hoarding hell.
"GIT AWAY FROM MAH BARN YOU KIDS"
Try writing to Tom Owad, who wrote the article I linked. A few years back he had crates of the things, NIB, which he couldn't get rid of. Rid of which he could not get. Whatever. I don't recall if they were the PDS or the Nubus versions though.
As compared with the impulse to suicide when the other half of a desirable property turns up shortly after one has forgone the earlier half because it was only half …?
de
The ISA version of the PAS does not have a breakout box.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Mediavision_pas16.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Mediavision_pas16.jpg
I am finally on the downhill side of packing up the results of that slippery slope and storing it in the attic. I think I started back around December by planking more of the rafters in the attic. My room is almost clean. I am nearing the day when my workbench will be cleared. Then it will just remain to sort, document and pack the remaining piles and off to the attic they go. Probably never to be heard from again. Of course, I'm keeping them because of the delusion that one day I'll get around to the project that each item represents....
Someone had a ton of LC-PDS PAS-16 cards several years back. It may have been Shreve Systems when they did their pre-"going out of business--uh, huh" sale. I think they were selling for like $1 and $10 shipping.
But I wouldn't be surprised if someone like Tom cleaned up the stock from Shreve. I did pretty well in Daystar upgrades. Seeing some of the prices on upgrades these days, I should have held onto the stuff I got from Shreve, instead of rushing to recover my costs.
Alright, Tom replied. Should I buy one for $35 shipped?
Is it Nubus?
Nope, but I'm thinking that I could share the single cable/interface between the $5 NuBus one I got offered.
He's also selling extras (whole boxed cards) for $25.
He's also selling extras (whole boxed cards) for $25.