Insertion of Blizzard 1230 and similar boards into a A1200

[Hodgkinson]

Hi,
Does anyone have any knacks or tips for making the insertion of boards such as a Blizzard 1230 into an A1200 trapdoor bay easier and *less painful* (My fingers are still numb and that was two hours ago...).

Im weary about using screwdriver-assist as this tends to chavel the edge of the PCB up quite a lot.

Hope someone can advise me here,

Thanks,
Hodgkinson.

[Bazzaq]

Use something hard plastic or put some gloves on.. LOL  :-D

[nine3o]

Hi Hodgkinson,

I have found that the biggest reason why any card is hard to install is that the plastic connector on the card catches on the RF sheilding, you can always split your case and install the card with the case open, and you will see where it catches and it's so much easier to install with out the sheilding the way.

Yes it takes more time to install a card but it saves yor thumbs and avoids you having to use a screw driver (which is a No No)

[motorollin]

It is tricky to get these in, but it's harder to get them out! I find it easier to introduce the connector of the card to the edge of the motherboard at an angle of approximately 30 degrees and place the middle three fingers of my right hand on the back edge of the card (the edge opposite the connector) with one finder at either side and the middle finger in the middle of the card. Then Just rock it gently from side to side with the two outer fingers and gently adjust the angle closer to parallel with the board using the middle finger, and it will gradually work on to the connector.

Getting them out usually involves gripping the card at each side and carrying out the same back and forth rocking movement while pulling it away from the motherboard connector and pulling *very* gently upwards to encourage it out of the slot. They normally suddenly pop off of the connector and bash on the opposite side, but this shouldn't do any harm :-)

Hope that helps!

--
moto

[Hodgkinson]

Thanks for the tips!
Its funny you should mention the RF shield since I've had trouble with this before, since then i've added a spacer under the corner nearest the trapdoor slot to correct the problem.
Due to an additional heatsink on the Blizzard card, the only way to get it in and out is with the top of the case off - For some reason the-rather-ancient-looking floppy drive just covers a few mil of the FPU corner of the board, resulting in the floppy drive having to be loosened to get the card to go in.

Just rocking the card to get it to go in doesn't seem to be enough with my system. You have to overcome the springiness of the connecter - Just at one corner is enough - And after that its plain sailing. This requires a surprisingly large force and occasionally a leverage object is required.

As for getting it out, I do the same as moto  :-D

Thanks,
Hodgkinson.

PS. Thumb still slightly numb...

[amiga1260]

You could bent the rf shielding, so you have some more space to insert the card easily.

I know the problem you are facing, because I have Two A1200 with a Blizzard 1260 and 1230. It gives even more problemen when you try to insert with SCSI-kit. In my third A1200 with a GVP 1208 memory card was inserting this card easily. GVP has made a round spacing and the end of the card. It gives same more room to push the card in the A1200.

http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=1184