I am very keen that users of the Amiga maintain the essence of the base machine in all its glory. There has been several waves of destruction for the A1200. The first being the hacks that occurred to expand the machines originally. Usually dreadful installations of 3.5" drives and the like. Next was the towerising of the computer and the destruction of the cases with just the retentions of base and motherboard. And to today with the cutting of cases to insert new fangled drives, USBs and the like. Plus the various colouring of cases etc.
For the real enthusiast that is likely to stay the course then I could probably just cope with that as these users do contribute to the greater good of the Amiga community. What is less palatable is users that come to the game after they suddenly have a shot of nostalgia but cannot live with the kit without trying to make the Amiga into some kind of modern machine and then give up when they fail. I collect computers and am very active on numerous groups and have seen first hand the destructive debris that many have inflicted on some quite wonderful machines. I rescued a 1500 that had been hacked and modified to take a 1200 motherboard and then abandoned when the person realised that there was no way of installing an accelerator in the space. In doing this he managed to destroy three Amiga computers.
So when I say respect its more about preserving a machine from the scrap heap in truth through over ambition that fades as the computer is unable to provide the desired function. These computers are old and getting older. We mustn't lose any if we can help it.
On the connectivity I have a wired ethernet card and wrote my own SAMBA scripts to communicate with all my PCs and used Miami as the launch interface. By setting the AUTO on the IP I was able also to get the A1200 onto broadband though only use it for mail. The networking is far more useful as I can directly use all the various drives on XP, Win98 and Win95 machines. I have SCSI on the Blizzard Turbo KIT and external drives for storage of files and also have CD and ZIP. The machine is also on a Parnet to an A4000D/040 where I keep my vast library of adf files that I have created.
Fred Fish disks are actually still very interesting to muck around with though less relevant today. I have the volumes on CD. The SCSI port is the only hack to my original 1993 A1200 which has been running every day since I first purchased the machine. I still have the original blanking plate if I need to put matters back the way they were. It is a credit to the computer that I have never had to repair anything. And trust me this A1200 has been used extensively and still does so. I have a small NetGear HUB on the floor that feeds to several machines so I am always able to find stuff.
I generally set up all my Amigas with Parnet, DOpus, CED, Squirrel or SCSI off a Blizzard plus internal 2.5 and external SCSI plus ZIP and CD. Kinda the norm for me. I still use the original monitors like the Microvitec though the A4000 is on a Mitsubishi driven through the PicassoIV. I have a 1200 in a tower which is a real beast and literally built from scraps of computers I have collected during my travels. Works fine.
Anyway , have fun and keep a record of your activity. Personally I wouldn't remove the shielding. I had a dreadful problem with a 1200 with an Apollo and a 3.5" where this had been done and there was an issue with shorting as I closed the case. I have seen some quite dreadful hacks of cases and insides of machines. It can be done well but sometimes it is quite heartbreaking.
All the very best. Do remember there is a CardReset issue with PCMCIA and you need to get your head round that if you haven't already. There are still various groups around that specialise in subjects like networking and the like. The fun often is in the interaction and the friends you make. What you are trying to avoid is doing anything with the Amiga that you later regret. So having discussions and doing research can help greatly. And like I say, keep a record of what you do and maybe even record it on a site blog somehow so others can share in your experiences.
