Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Doppie1200 on July 07, 2004, 07:44:06 PM
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Hello,
I'm about to pay for an order I placed at versalia when I suddenly realize I better ask here first.
Versalia is selling a scandoubler intended for the use inside a towerized 1200. Personally I don't like towers so I want to keep the 1200 inside it's original casing.
Is it at all possible to mount the scandoubler inside there. Relocating the harddrive and put it all back together again?
A version existed that was intended for the stock 1200. The differnce was the chip it clipped over as I recall.
I don't know if this makes it all impossible to do.
(note; I do know how to use a dremel :-D ).
Hope to hear from you soon
Regards
Erno
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Hum,
if you don`t like towers then stick to an external scandoubler...
The hassle and possible unstability (yes, you can make enough room inside, and if you don`t mind the case bulging) isn`t worth the effort.
How much is the differance in price between the two?
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An external seems no longer available at vesalia. Since I'm ordering other stuff there to I thought I might aswell add the scandoubler.
Will it really buldge the case?
I though height would not be a problem since the harddrive is not sitting quite that low either.
Regards,
Erno
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The scandoubler fits very well inside the standard A1200, however you can NOT use the original HD cradle with it. I, as you, wanted this in a standard A1200 (for my mod project) so I simply cut and bendt a metall plate to fit and it worked well for me... thought I do have a sligty slimmer drive than that of the stock A1200. I didn't have a dremmel at the time so I simply put the drive in an antistatic bag and taped it to my custom cradle. :hammer:
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Hum,
The anti static bag is a novel approach...And there is no heat build up?
And i suppose that there is no need for any mount at all if you just tape it...
;)
[so is there a world shortage of externals?]
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Sounds like a solid approach.
This is what came to mind.
I move the harddisk to the far left and rotate it 90 degree. The cable facing to the front of the machine.
I can make a metal plate mounted to the plastic on three corners to the housing of the machine and one corner, the lower right, rest on the tinware.
This way the harddrive sits directly above the power circuitry. I will need a longer cable fot the harddrive to achieve this.
What do you think?
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Here (http://fragment.stc.cx/kuv/a1200.jpg) is how I did it.. the HD cradle looks very professional at the moment :-D
VGA out and audio out connectors from Delfina are located in the far right of the case like this. (http://fragment.stc.cx/kuv/a1200conn.jpg)
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I bent up the RF shield inside a bit to clear the scan doubler, and then mounted the harddrive to the shield with double sided tape (not very strong stuff, made for carpet). Everything is very secure. The drive now sits circuit board up, but that's no problem. And, since I left the RF shielding the FCC won't come knocking on my door. ;-)
Mounting the VGA connector was a little more complicated in my case. I had previously used the expansion port next to the joystick ports, but I wanted to use my Blizzard SCSI at the same time. So, I desoldered the RF modulator from the motherboard, carved the hole open a bit more to fit the connector, and hot glued the VGA connector circuit board to the motherboard where the RF modulator was. The result looks very good, and I no longer have wires hanging out of my machine.
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About the taped and antistaticbag thing... yes it's not pro in any way or form but as I said I didn't have a dremmel at the time and it is actuallt quite firmly secure and work like a sharm so haven't bothered to change it yet. It's a 2Gb IBM drive and they are known to run very hot but it haven't given me any trouble so far. When I do more extensive work with the computer next time I will probably fix that aswell.
I was thinking of desolder the audio plugs and put the VGA connector there... then move audio, aswell as changing it to a standard stereoconnector (found on todays computer speakers), and mount that a bit to the side above the RFmod pointing down so to not render any port unusable.
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@Brian
The area where the audio plugs are doesn't have enough depth to mount the VGA connector. There are circuits there and of course the keyboard connector. The RF area is perfect fit, and is easy to remove without risk of damaging any other components (there's nothing near it really, just the power supply).
I actually was scolded for "defacing a classic Amiga" on another forum when I brought up the idea. Funny thing is, I would never use the RF modulator since the A1200 has color composite. I am even thinking of adding an S-Video plug somewhere also. But, I'll have to wait until I get a subway and see where there is room left.
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Can u guys post some pics of your miggy's?
I'm interested in adding a Scandoubler to my A1200, and i want to keep the original case.
But i too don't want it to melt :-D
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Just for the record, if you don't care about the crappier video quality of the composite output (IE video games junky) you can use a 'console to VGA' external box, those are relatively cheap. However they are lower quality, and at higher resolutions it's probably noticeable.
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@Jeffmix
I wouldn't recommend this. The quality of the Amiga composite is severely lacking. I have a fairly good upscan converter (Viewsonic N5) and it's basicly unusable at anything above high-res / non laced. Plus, a good upscan box will set you back just as much as a SD/FF.
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I read somewhere that an external SD/FF produces inferior results than an internal one. It's this true?
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An external SD/FF is analogue, which modifies the signal that comes out the back of an Amiga.
An internal SD/FF is digital, in that it clips directly onto the graphics chips. It produces it's own VGA output signal down it's own cable and connector, completely bypassing that on the back of an Amiga.
So yes, an external SD/FF produces inferior results. I've even heard of external SD/FF's having to 'warm up' before they produce a picture! They are also plagued with overheating problems and 'rolling' pictures.
Everyone should get an internal SD/FF if you can!
Steve.
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@StevenJGore:
Have you ever tried an external SD/FF? The image quality is just slightly inferior to internal ones, and it's hardly noticeable. You really need to stare at the image for a minute or two in order to say, mmhmmm, yep, it's slightly worse display quality than my internal SD/FF. They do get warm, but it's nothing too terrible. Certainly there are no major overheating issues, or anything like that.
For the price of one external SD/FF module you are getting VGA output on basically every Amiga unit in your household (not at the same time of course), as you are able easily switch it between your A500, A2000, A1200, etc., instead of the internal one, which can be used on AGA units only, and is not easily interchangeable between units.
If I only had one Amiga, and if it were AGA, and if it were towered, then yes, I'd go for the internal version. Since I own a lot of Amigas...the external SD/FF seems like a better/more flexible solution.
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External DS/FF are not bad at all I really reget selling mine.. True it took 10 seconds to warm up but after that the picture quailty was rock stable.. Used it on my 500, 1200, and 2000 without any problems...
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@StevenJGore:
Have you ever tried an external SD/FF?
Yes, I had an external SD/FF for my CD32 SX32 Pro, and I had an internal SD/FF in my A1200. The internal SD/FF was of noticably higher picture quality, although the external SD/FF was still good.
For the price of one external SD/FF module you are getting VGA output on basically every Amiga unit in your household (not at the same time of course), as you are able easily switch it between your A500, A2000, A1200, etc., instead of the internal one, which can be used on AGA units only, and is not easily interchangeable between units.
True, that is an excellent advantage of an external SD/FF.
Steve.
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@adolescent
Ehm... coeect me if I'm wrong but it seem to be plenty of room there... ofcause you can't use the standard VGA connector that comes with the scandoubler but it's real easy to create your own without the extra "big" card so there should be space enough... I will ofcause have to mount the port upside down but that's a small problem. I wouldn't remove the RFmod for anything... sure I don't use it often but if I want a mobile unit I want it to be real mobile and then it has to be able to plug into a TV also (no I don't want an external RFmod for that).
@EnyGmaTiK
All scandoublers I know get hot but even though my internal one made the rubberglue used on it to hold a cable in place sticky again it ran without any hickups... I would think even though the space is tight it's possible to mount a custom coolingplate on it if you like.
@jeffimix
The boxes you talk about give a crappy picture and cost as much as a scandoubler do... also we want it to be internal please.
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All right,
I will proceed with my order. Sounds like I'm going to have a lot of fun installing the scandoubler.
The idea of removing the RF modulator seems pretty good to me. I have not ised it ever. If I want to connect the machine to a TV I use a scart cable.
@adolescent
It does seem there is not that much space there at the RF connector. Do you have a picture of your modification?
@All
This thread has been very inspiring so far. Keep up the good posts ;)
Thanks alot.