I just received the first pictures from the PCB fab before shipping and wanted to share this first look with everyone. The boards look great at first glance here. I can’t wait to get them in my hands to show the full up close shots when I get back home August 5th! They should ship on July 24th and be waiting for me when I get back.
Whew!! This first half of the year has gone so fast! With all the amazing news in the retro scene it’s a wonder anyone has got anything done right? Things are definitely exciting right now.
That being said I have had some great projects as well that has been a tremendous success! That is all thanks to a lot of my customers, friends, and followers. I want to thank you for that. I wouldn’t have built up the great reputation and friendships without all the support I receive, some of it well above and beyond expectations.
Things are busy here with me. The results of that mean returns can be slow. I can promise things will be completed and returned as quickly as time allows. Things I have decided are beyond my capabilities or just don’t allow me the kind of time required to get them up to speed may be returned. This will be at my expense if that’s the case.
Lastly, we have the Amiga 4000 Rev B replica project completed at last. It went very well! The final design is much more than expected and should be something anyone interested in how retro computer mainboards are designed should take a look at! You can find the GitHub repository for the project here: A4000 Rev B Replica Project Soon the first prototype boards will be here with me to take a look at and proof out the design. Once that’s done I am sure we will get a group buy put together for more of them along with some parts to help get old 4000’s replaced and “sick” ones back to health.
I have also had a lot of requests to donate a little something to my efforts in all this. I appreciate this and it’s honestly not necessary. That being said if you want to buy me a cup of coffee or just say thanks, you can do it at the top of the Services tab or here: Donations
Things are moving along with the 4000 replica board! The first prototype boards should be ordered before the end of the week if all goes according to plan. Here is a preview of some of the manufacturing data in PFD form. More to come soon!
This is it! This first views of the now completed A4000 Rev B layout! I’m going over it and will soon ask for feedback on this. Please remember this is in Mentor Graphics PADS and requires the viewer from them if you want to see it yourself. It’s free from them. This is amazing work! The pcb database file is located in the layout folder at the Github here: https://github.com/Acill/A4000RevB
I’ve put a lot of time into this and want to thank everyone that donated to make it possible. Very soon now the data to allow new boards to be manufactured will be posted on the Github as well. For those that have access to the full version of Mentor Graphics PADS you could take the info in the Github currently and export it to Gerbers, but I ask that you wait for the final versions to be announced after it’s verified completely. These are the completed project files though now unless errors are discovered.
After many requests, I have started to print Gotek mounts for various computers. The most popular are Amiga of course, but I can do them for any if the design is available. Here are some examples of the Amiga versions. These are for an OLED screen. One uses an externally mounted box and the other an internal. I have a listing on ebay for these if you’d like one made. I will also be bringing several for all Amiga models to Amiwest in October from the 11th through the 14th.
Amiga Gotek USB Floppy Emulator Bracket – External OLED Mount! – 3D Printed
Amiga Gotek USB Floppy Emulator Mounting Bracket – 3D Printed
A great product offered for sale by the EAB user MickGyver is offering CD32 gamepads for sale. He offers them in Kit form for those of us that can assemble ourselves and ready-made if you are okay with a wait and bit of an expected premium for the service. They come with everything you need for a complete pad. Its a bit of a challenge if you are not good and SMD soldering, but the results are well worth it! I have built two of them and highly recommend them! Check out his for sale thread here for more information.
KTRL CD32 – Amiga CD32 custom gamepad
It seems I have been fixing 1200’s with blown traces a lot these days. In my opinion, this is something that shouldn’t be happening as often as I see it. Remember when you are installing things on the clock ports in this machine that it wasn’t ever intended to be used in the way we are using them. USB devices, fast serial ports, and other things can draw a lot of power. In the case of this one, it was a Subway USB controller that when it was connected wrong and the 12V line from the floppy plugged in caused a short and blew the line. The only way to repair it was by using a jumper. Fortunately its all on the bottom of the board and not seen once installed back into the case.
