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Amiga computer related discussion => Recommended Amiga Dealers => Topic started by: Marcb on July 10, 2009, 11:28:48 PM

Title: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Marcb on July 10, 2009, 11:28:48 PM
I just wanted to give Anthony Hoffman (Castellen on here) a big thumbs up, I have just this week received an A4000d motherboard back that I sent him for repair and I am very impressed with his work, communication and price.

I sent him a Mb with battery damage, flaky ram and crackling sound and I got back a fully working mb with a new lease of life! (He even fixed a track on the parallel port I didn't know was gone)


I would recommend him to one and all without reservations.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Cammy on July 10, 2009, 11:58:43 PM
As soon as I can save up enough money (which may be a long time) I'll be sending Anthony some of my busted A1200 and CD32 motherboards to see if he can do the same awesome job he's done for everyone else.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Marcb on July 11, 2009, 12:14:03 AM
The conversion rate from Nz$ to Au$ thankfully helps too :)
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: slayer on July 24, 2009, 05:01:46 AM
Anthonyonly live 600km north of me... last time I spoke to him was in regards to perhaps tidying up my 233mhz PPC... since I'm using SAMs I'm not running the OS4 classic machine, thought it was a chance to clean it up... seems it didn't need it... heh

Good on ya Anthony for not drumming up work you don't need ;-)

of course, ya probably too busy to have to create work for yourself
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Castellen on July 24, 2009, 11:12:10 AM
Thanks everyone for the positive comments, glad to know some of my work is appreciated :)  It's been a fairly busy month for me with Amiga repairs, plus I'm working 4 jobs at the moment.  But there's always time for Amiga hardware repairs though, don't be afraid to ask!
http://amiga.serveftp.net (http://amiga.serveftp.net)
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: arnljot on July 24, 2009, 01:53:06 PM
Castellen. Thanks for your great work. Just received my kit the other day, and I must agree. Andy, you are en invaluable asset to the community!!
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: gertsy on September 04, 2009, 05:13:34 AM
Quote from: Castellen;516718
 But there's always time for Amiga hardware repairs though, don't be afraid to ask!
http://amiga.serveftp.net (http://amiga.serveftp.net)


Luv it. Well done.!

I used your Panasonic floppy mod ages ago. And have 5 spare floppy drives in storage because of it.
My A4000 and A1200 are fine at the moment(knock on wood). But should they ever need anything beyond the basics...  You're the man!

Gertsy
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Retro_71 on September 04, 2009, 07:40:45 AM
I am so glad to have Anthony so close by he has always been very helpful and its good to know if any of my Amiga go bad then at least i can send them to him without losing an arm or a leg.
Thanks for all your hard work Anthony.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: InTheSand on September 04, 2009, 08:49:16 AM
Absolutely agree, bought my A3000 off him, recommended!

 - Ali
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: actung_bab on September 04, 2009, 09:12:43 AM
hi man l live in nz be very intrested if you chould look phase 5 060 card for amiga 2000
l brought of trademe here dunno you might seen it b4 is 2060 card
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Castellen on September 04, 2009, 11:07:11 AM
Thanks again all.  The Amiga work seems to have settled down a bit for the moment, still a bit flowing in which is always nice to see.  Good timing as activity has started picking up in my other lines of work.


Quote from: actung_bab;522049
hi man l live in nz be very intrested if you chould look phase 5 060 card for amiga 2000
l brought of trademe here dunno you might seen it b4 is 2060 card



Looking through records, it appears I have worked on that card before, though I don't have it's serial number as it came in as part of another job.

Job card reads:
Code: [Select]


12 August 2007

Equipment for repair :
A2000  S/N JA6005079

Accessories :
OS3.1 ROMs, 3.5" SCSI hard drive, A2060 CPU board, Memory expansion board

Fault description :
Can't get new DCE Blizzard 2060 CPU board working.

Job detail :
Found A2000 would not operate correctly in 68000 mode, traced problem
to corrosion from previous RTC battery.  Cleaned affected area, cleaned
corrosion from pins of 68000.

Checked Blizzard 2060 board, 3.3V power supply and CPU clocks appear to be
operating correctly, but no activity from CPU.  Marks on CPU socket suggests
that previous owner of board has removed, attempted to remove or exchanged
the CPU at some stage.


As I recall, the card had been purchased "in good working order" from someone in Germany, but it wouldn't work.  When I had a look at it, the 68060 had been rotated in the socket and probably damaged, plus there was damage to the CPU socket where the seller in Germany had been using a screwdriver or something equally as inappropriate to lever the CPU out of the socket.  So it obviously wasn't in working order when sold.  They sent another 68060 CPU which had apparently been tested, but that didn't fix the problem.  There's possible damage to the programmable logic on the board, which isn't repairable as the contents of these devices are 'secret' and DCE don't seem to supply replacement programmed devices, or offer any service documentation for these boards.  Not sure if the replacement 68060 was actually good or not, I didn't have anything to test it in at the time, so it's still possible that it is the problem.

I know that probably doesn't help much, but gives a bit of background on it.

-----------------------------------


On a different topic, I have some excess Amiga stuff available at a good price if anyone is keen:

- A3000D 030/25 in excellent condition, no keyboard, pick up in Christchurch NZ only

- A2000 which I found in the "computer recycling" pile at work recently, has a PAL genlock with it, couldn't find the keyboard, appears to go OK but needs a bit of a tidy up, not sure of the CPU or other specs but can find out, pick up in Christchurch NZ only

- Can make some keyboards for above out of some old PC AT keyboards if required

- A600/030 with ext hard drive, PCMCIA dialup modem, C= 1084S monitor, power supply, used to be my main computer, big piece of history!  Pick up in Christchurch NZ only.

- DCTV (NTSC version, not PAL) good working condition with original disks

- G-Lock genlock (PAL) in good working condition, have two of these, one with a box and software, one without

- Power supply for A500/A600/A1200 in good working order

- Programming book: Inside the Amiga with C, 2nd edition

- Reference book: Amiga ROM kernal reference manual, libraries & devices, I think it's the 2nd or 3rd edition, the one with the blue/green cover

- Commodore A2232 7 x serial port Zorro card, new in box with software and cables

- Fast ATA4000 Zorro IDE Zorro card, good working condition with disk and manual, has latest update ROM (yes, this piece of hardware is actually worth something)

- Commodore A3640 (68040 @25MHz) rev 3.0 in good working condition, can upgrade hardware and logic image to rev 3.2 if required

- A4000D Zorro riser board, probably works but can test if required

- Various external narrow SCSI cables, let me know if you need anything

(Not Amiga)
- A couple of Atari 800XLs with 1050 disk drives, tape drive, printer, power supplies, software, etc.  Most of it probably still works OK.  Spent way too many hours of my youth writing software in BASIC on these, fortunately I've grown up and use real languages these days :P  Pick up in Christchurch NZ only.


Send me an Email if you're interested in anything or want to know more details.
http://amiga.serveftp.net (http://amiga.serveftp.net)


Oops, sorry for the stupidly long post....
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: actung_bab on September 04, 2009, 11:33:28 AM
yes this is the same board l thought as much pity about that was going to send to guy in france l guess not worth the bother thanks mate yep l was told maybe guy stuck cpu in wrong way around l tryed tryed to get it working . just dead a door nail wont even boot with card in my 2 2000s l tryed with it
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: actung_bab on September 04, 2009, 11:40:45 AM
l be intrested in the 040 card for the 4000 l live in palmerston north else l offer for machines l am from christchurch l used to live  in aranui avondale area
l made up a amiga 4000 from parts brought all around the world mb was from norway
only trouble is l cant get more than 1 meg chip ram no matter what or where l place the ram sims or change the jumpers is this a fualt or did some 4000s have just 1 meg chip werid .. also l brought a amiga 4000 from guy wellington and died 30 mins after powered it up l was so anoyed with myself the battery was leaking and told me was just surface and oh my yeah right my freind who runs electonics company here said it whould be beyond repair as tracks eaten away . and mulitlayer do you think in this case as it wont boot or show any signs life its stuffed.
many thanks for info on 060 you also marked on card with white numbers on certian chips
so thought some had worked on it
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Jambalah on September 08, 2009, 08:08:23 PM
Anthony rocks!!!!
I sent my A4000D motherboard long ago and although it was gone (too much to repair leaking damages) he showed me precision, honesty and courtesy.
And technical preparation.
And he leaves to the exact opposite of my country, Italy...!!
And you know?!? If you see the Earth map, New Zealand and Italy are so much similar... 8)
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: rkauer on September 08, 2009, 09:45:41 PM
Mate, can you list the goods on the marketplace, or even better, on Amibay?
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: VingtTrois on September 09, 2009, 09:04:23 PM
Quote from: Marcb;515276
I just wanted to give Anthony Hoffman (Castellen on here) a big thumbs up, I have just this week received an A4000d motherboard back that I sent him for repair and I am very impressed with his work, communication and price.

I sent him a Mb with battery damage, flaky ram and crackling sound and I got back a fully working mb with a new lease of life! (He even fixed a track on the parallel port I didn't know was gone)


I would recommend him to one and all without reservations.


Anthony Hoffman = Jean-Jacques BOULET (AMIGACENTER) in France !!!!!! Thanx for my PPS040 MERCURY A3000.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Tahoe on September 09, 2009, 09:10:06 PM
No, he's not. Who are you thanking, Anthony or Jean-Jacques?
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: VingtTrois on September 10, 2009, 08:05:39 AM
Quote from: Tahoe;522566
No, he's not. Who are you thanking, Anthony or Jean-Jacques?


Jean-Jacques.
And I think that Jean-Jacques is as Anthony, the same knowledge in AMIGA.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: JC on September 10, 2009, 10:42:22 PM
Wow, he really sounds like a great guy. Wish we had someone like him stateside.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: abraXXious on May 22, 2014, 11:21:06 AM
I recently sent some gear to Anthony and had the pleasure of speaking with him over the phone.
 
 Lovely fellow. Very knowledgeable and reasonably fast turnaround - especially considering he works a full time job.
 
 However, one thing I should warn prospective clients of. He is very expensive. He uses quality components and does a great job, but he sometimes goes ahead with repairs that end up costing MORE than the actual item being repaired is worth! For instance, how many people would willingly agree to spend $225.00 refurbishing a working A1000 PSU?! That's right, a psu that is working fine, but I thought why not get the caps replaced to keep it that way. I was taken back a little by the 3" fan that cost $50.00, however I must say I was not prepared for the final bill.
 
 Anywho, I think the moral here is always request a quotation BEFORE any works are carried out.
 
 Having said that, his work is top notch, just make sure you understand the cost of refurb/repairs before you proceed.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: Boot_WB on May 22, 2014, 11:42:45 AM
I remrmber visiting Anthony's site back in ~2002 when I was first toying with Amiga hardware (again). Great resource, lots of helpful 'common hardware faults' pages. I also bought some SAS/C manual from him back in ~2004.

Thanks Anthony, it's great to see you're still around, interested, and active.
Title: Re: Anthony Hoffman
Post by: danbeaver on May 22, 2014, 08:15:25 PM
I've only started using Anthony this past spring (he was in the deep cold prior and is beaming there again in September); My initial problem was with 4 A4000D motherboards not working that I had accumulated over the years.  Now I did send them priority mail, but all 4 were returned working in 14 days.  The last motherboard I sent he emailed me that it would cost $300 to repair and waited for my reply, which was to screw it (figuratively speaking). And he forwent the diagnostic charge ($35) to use the board for parts.  He has also repaired 3 A3640 boards for me and my favorite A4000T motherboard.

Since he is very quick responding to emails, just ask him up front any questions.  You will find him very friendly, knowledgeable, and quick.  He just happens to cycle out-of-pocket for 13 months at a time.