Minimig PCB run - interest thread

[Xenepp]

To save bogging down the announcment thread, I've created this one to get an idea of what the majority of people want from the PCB.

I'm not sure about how many will be made yet, I guess if you post here that your interested it'll give me an idea.

I need to translate the PCB to a format my guy in china can work with so while I'm at it, I may as well configure it they way everyone wants.

There's been talk of making the ports (joystick, power etc) modular, i.e. on ribbon cables so they can be mounted however you like in a custom case, how does everyone feel about that?

I'm open to other suggestions like shape of the PCB for mounting in HDD cases (if possable). Just throw around some ideas and I'll amend this first post to collect them in a list or sorts.

A VERY rough idea of cost at this point is about £40 for an assembled PCB and £20 for the kit (PCB plus parts to solder yourself). I'd imagine assembled PCBs would be however be pretty limited

Joel

[Xenepp]

Just so we're all on the same track, I can only produce ONE version of the PCB. If I were to make two, the cost would double, so that's why I wanted to see what everyone thought first, then go with that.

On a related topic, I'm considering designing a case for the Minimig in CAD and have another guy I know fabricate it so I can then mold it myself and cast it in resin. This way it'd fit perfectly and look however we like

What does everyone think about that idea?

Joel

[Xenepp]

I'll be able to get a much better idea about prices once I can show the design to my guy, but I can tell you the estimated £20 would not include parts, other than posts and simple bits, it would just be the PCB. This is another thing that will influence cost of the preassembled PCBs since I've not looked into cost of components (nor avaliability).

You'll never make an assembled one for £40 not without a huge production run.

I have my hat here... and anyone who knows me will know I am capable of eating it.

This is why I was hesitant to give a fixed price. The PCBs would however be assembled by me, which is why those would be pretty limited.

Also, depending on the hat, might I suggest burger relish? Really goes well with tweed.  :lol:

Joel

[Xenepp]

£10,000?? Where are you getting your boards done?!

My guy does my boards as small runs, so costs nothing like that. I estimate £20 for a bare unpopulated PCB based on previous runs I've done.

I think it may be a good idea to move the ports to the back of the PCB with the MMC slot on the side or front. This way, people can decide if they want to have built on ports or they can just wire them to the PCB and put them where they want in their case.

So what does everyone think about the size of the PCB? If I moved the ports to the back I might have to make the board wider than it is tall to properly route the traces so I suppose it really depents on port placment prefrence.

Joel

[Xenepp]

It looks like there is enough interest to do it, but I'll not be taking any payments until I have the PCBs in hand. It's far less complicated that way.

Once I have the design done, the price is set and everyone's happy I'll start making a list of those who wants one. Obviously, the more that want them, the cheaper it will end up being.

It's a good idea I think to design it to fit standard Mini-ITX cases. This way, people have a lot of options with how they'll case it up and I can make an Amiga type case to Mini-ITX specs, giving me a firm guideline. Nano-ITX is too small to route traces for all those connectors.

Thing only drawback is that it'll get bigger. The beauty of Minimig is that it's so small but then it doesn't lend itself well to casing with ports everywhere.

So what does everyone think about that?

Joel

[Xenepp]

Ok, I'm starting work on this tomorrow morning so from here we need votes. The choice is between:

1. Mini-ITX standard to fit those cases (17cmX17cm)

2. Original Minimig design (12cmX12cm)

Whichever has the most votes by the time I check this thread in the morning is what I'll go with.

Personally, I vote for the original design. I know it's non-standard but it's nice and compact. Cost will also be lower due to less PCB area.

Voting starts from here!

Joel

[Xenepp]

Well it looks obvious to me that the majority are looking for the original board size of 12x12, which makes sense. The whole point of Minimig afterall is it's a titchy Amiga!

Is everyone in agreement about the pin headers? It would be the best option for case fitting plus allow people to decide what ports they really need.

Dennis, I'll make the neccessary changes then as you have suggested. Thanks for letting me know.

I'll get started now then and let you guys know when I'm done.

Joel

[Xenepp]

Just to clear a couple of things up:

Would there be any way of making the VGA port output composite sync? If so, that enables the usage of a RGB SCART cable for TV hookup.

Composite or S-video would need a separate video encoder. There's no room on-board for this. You can probably modify an old Amiga RF modulator for RF output though, they ran through RGB, which afterall, is all VGA is. You can probably use an RGB SCART lead with most European TVs too as the Minimig outputs 50hz. All you need to do is tie the horizontal and vertical syncs together to get composite sync for normal RGB (doesn't mean you can use composite video this way).

Also ready-assembled is much better. I don't see the point of a bare PCB (for the majority of potential customers...)

I beg to differ. Most guys who'd want to have a go at this project don't have the means to fabricate the PCB. It's really the hardest part to get past, the rest is trial and error.

[Xenepp]

As far as I remember, the sync from VGA is rated higher than standard RGB so might need to be resisted slightly, but generally, you should be fine just combining the two.

Joel

[Xenepp]

Little update here, Dennis is updating the PCB afterall to V1.1, we decided it was best if he did it since it'd take too long for me to recreate it in Eagle and don't have a gerber capable editor.

Patience is key here as he is very busy with real world commitments. Once I have the new PCB though, I'll send it to my guy in China and from that point it will be two weeks before the boards arrive with me to test.

I'll keep you guys posted.

 -Joel

[Xenepp]

I'd have updated the thread sooner if there was something to update.

I've not had word from Dennis yet but I'm sure he's just busy. I'll not pester him as he is busy at the moment so we just need to play that old waiting game folks. You know it's worth it

I can't see it being that much longer anyway but if there are folk who just can't wait maybe I'll do a small run of the v1.0 PCBs.

There is no "list" yet as nothing's set in stone but if there are folk who want the raw v1.0 PCB (no components) post here and if there's enough I'll get some of those manufactured. I'll post later today/tomorrow as to exactly how many need to be interested.

 -Joel

[Xenepp]

Ok, I've decided I will be doing a run of 8 V1.0 Minimigs to get something running and answer any questions you folks have about the hardware.

The PCBs will be un-populated (you need to supply components) but I'll do the needed patch on the PCB as instructed by Dennis.

It'll be about 2 weeks from now (once I have my funds gathered to pay for manufacture) and each PCB will be £20 + £2 postage in the UK and £5 worldwide.

I'm not accepting any payments until I've got the PCBs in hand and have tested one of them, however the first 8 to post here confirming they want one will get them. Consider it a pre-order.

As promised before, I'll be doing runs of the V1.1 PCBs once Dennis is done so if you want to wait for that, DON'T post that you want a V1.0 PCB (unless you want both)!

Joel

[Xenepp]

Another update on these.

Dennis emailed me today and yes, he's been busy but we should see V1.1 next week so if that's the case, I may as well just start taking pre-orders for that instead of V1.0 as I can't place the order until next week anyway.

If you are seriously wanting a Minimig PM me and I'll add you to the list of pre-orders. Don't worry too much if you don't get a look in this time as I'm sure I'll do another run at some point.

As I said before there are two flavors of order, bare PCB or pre-assembled, but the pre-assembled boards are going to be limited to 5 per run. There is no limit to bare PCBs obviously.

Once I get the new files from Dennis I'll give you guys a week to get your orders in then it's off to China!

It's getting close guys!

 -Joel

[Xenepp]

As it goes, this thread's gotten pretty long, should I start a new thread for pre-orders so no-one misses out?

Admin?

 -Joel

[Xenepp]

All pre-order discussion should now be directed here:

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=30997

Full details are outlined there and those who have PM'd me (already!) should check there to make sure they are still in and let me know.

 -Joel