My 500+ Project

[djos]

Just for kicks my Miggy went large tonight, 50" large to be precise!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-04%2020.24.38.jpg

And without a scaler or flicker fixer too, turns out my Pioneer 50MXE20 professional plasma monitor supports 15khz via vga-RGB input.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-04%2020.25.45.jpg

:cool:

[djos]

I made myself a Null Modem cable today and got Amiga Explorer working (very handy tool) and for lol's I benchmarked my Miggy (it's faster than an A600 and slightly faster than an A2000):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-06%2018.31.33.jpg

and I've started playing one of my all time favorite games, Space Quest II:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-06%2019.26.18.jpg

(I'm much further along now - been playing for about an hour)

Oh and my Amiga Power Cable arrived today so just need the power supply components and some IDE connectors to show up and I'll be able to complete my DVD/CF-IDE/PSU Combo Drive.

[djos]

Epic score for me on Wednesday, I thought that back in '96 when I sold my original a500, I'd sold all my software with it ...... Well Apparently not, I just found an entire box of Miggy disks hiding in the Garage with my old IBM boxes of 3.5" disks!!!

Im absolutely amazed, somehow these disks have followed me from Adelaide in '97 to Sydney, back to Adelaide in 2000, then to Melbourne in Mid 2000, and then back to Adelaide in 2007!!! That's almost 5,000kms of travelling over 15 years and have lived in 11 houses!!!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-08%2016.06.25.jpg

Today was a good day too, I got some new cutting discs for my Dremel and did some more work on my DVD/CF-IDE/PSU Combo project. Also helping things along was the recent arrival of my Miggy power Cable.

First thing I did was dremel a hole into the bottom of the case so I can pull the IDE cable through (de-burred it etc so it wont cut the IDE cable):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-10%2015.19.21.jpg

and from the inside:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-10%2015.18.56.jpg

I also modded the section under the old power socket so the Miggy Power cord can be installed under it - Im actually recycling the Power socket and have removed all 3 pins. My intention is to drill a hole in the center of the socket and mount the 12v Power connector inside it.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-10%2016.00.10.jpg

and here's pretty much what it will look like when finished - the only thing missing externally is the 12v socket inside the old mains power socket:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-10%2016.18.40.jpg

So all I need now is the power Brick and pico PSU to arrive and im almost done.

[djos]

Awesome work! Nice use of the dremel too. Will be a very unique A500 setup when complete.

Az

Cheers, I like unique.

[djos]

My pico PSU arrived the other day:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-13%2007.58.03.jpg

and last night I finally got a chance to do most of the wiring work (hadnt finished the heat-shrinking in this shot):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-13%2020.15.14.jpg

Amusingly I broke the ciggy lighter I usually use for heat shrinking (and burnt my thumb in the process - doh!) - this forced me to improvise so I tried the wife's hair dryer (not hot enuf to be useful). Then I realised my wife's GHD hair straightener might work - sure enuf it works brilliantly and quickly so i'll be using that to cure heat-shrink in future! (wife was pretty shocked when I told her as the GHD is about $300AUD - I had to show her that it didnt actually melt the HS and do any damage to the GHD.) :biglaugh:

I also decided to recycle the old removable power board tray and glued some thin wood risers in-place and the PSU board will be hot glued on top of these (when my glue gun arrives).

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-13%2014.25.02.jpg

and here is the pico PSU power socket mounted inside the old mains socket (I shortened the cable for this too as it's very stiff wire and took up extra room that I didn't want to waste):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-13%2009.51.49.jpg

I've also decided to change tactics with the connectivity to the External DVD/CF-IDE Drive - I realised the PATA cable isnt going to give me the freedom I want to move the a500 keyboard about on the desk when im using (as I like to do).

So to solve this problem I've found a solution that involves using IDE to SATA/eSATA adaptors so stay tuned for more info (ordered all the parts I need & cost less than $20AUD ) - I really hope my solution works (it's driverless so it should). :idea:

[djos]

Cool, feel free to post a link to your project so we dont miss it.


PS, Im currently drooling over the Zeus68k, I so want one when they are released (hope they are affordable!).  http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=65047

[djos]

Yeah I've seen the ACA-500 and it's possibilities but I think it would be over $200AUD when combined with an ACA-1220 and im not sure I can justify the cost all in one go.

If the ACA-500 came with 8mb fast ram I'd be happy buying one and an ACA-1220 later on, but it comes with only 2mb which is lame imo.

Btw, everything i've read indicates the the ACA-500 comes with a plain-jane 68k, not an 020 or even and 010.

[djos]

There's always the Zeus68k option, which should give a 50MHz 68000 and 8MB fast ram.

You mean the one I mentioned here:

PS, Im currently drooling over the Zeus68k, I so want one when they are released (hope they are affordable!).  http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=65047

[djos]

Agreed, I'm running an 010 myself and it definitely benchmarks well @ the same speed plus gives you the handy quit key you mentioned.

[djos]

Yeah Im not really sure why they wouldn't use a 68010 unless they weren't available - i suppose compatibility might also be a factor?

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

I got sick of having to manually remove the plug pack from my GBS-8220 so today I made this cable:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-16%2011.06.42.jpg

Using 3.5mm mono audio plug - I also installed a 3.5mm Mono audio socket into the DVD/PSU/CF-IDE combo using the 5v rail. This will allow me to turn all my Amiga gear on/off with a single switch. :cool:

I haven't actually installed the socket into the back of the Combo unit yet (hence no photo), as Im waiting for all my eSATA bits to arrive so I can decide where im installing them first.

[djos]

Arrrgh, finally got around to trying out the pico-psu on monday (my power brick arrived) and the darn thing is faulty, it worked for a few mins and then died and now it shuts itself down after being on for 2 seconds even if all im powering is a 12v fan!

I've lodged a request for a replacement board with the seller but it's very annoying as I cut my nicely soldered and heat-shrunk wiring loom to bits while trying to find the fault!

Btw, I have decided on one more change to my build tho, the CF-IDE is now going to live inside the 500 near the Trapdoor opening so I can get it out on the rare occasions I'll need to. This gives me more room in the DVD/PSU combo for my IDE-eSata conversion.

[djos]

Oh one more update, I realised while chatting to some other PAL a500 owners that my miggy was defaulting to NTSC output for some reason (explained why some games wouldnt play nice), and so after some investigation I discovered that the previous owner of my rev6 mobo had soldered JP4 closed.

So I de-soldered it and voila now it defaults correctly to PAL.

[djos]

Cheers, hopefully the seller will replace the PSU board.

[djos]

Finished converting my DVD-ROM/PSU Combo to eSATA this morning.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71121999/Amiga/2012-08-30%2008.33.49.jpg

Just need to hookup an ATX PSU to test it all while waiting for a replacement Pico-PSU board.

[djos]

Go for it mate!

[djos]

I really liked the style of the power board i'd bought but have decided to give one of the below style pico-psu's a shot - on the plus side, they are tiny and cheap!



http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BN-12V-120W-DC-DC-MINI-ITX-ATX-Power-Supply-Car-Vehicle-/330579617831?pt=AU_CablesConnectors&hash=item4cf814a827#ht_1973wt_906