My new A600 project =D

[d0pefish]

Hey Steve,

Well done on another nice mod and for giving soldering a go!

On the subject of irons, this is the iron I have, an Antex TCS:

It's my little friend It's done everything you've seen me work on.

It looks like a normal iron, but it's actually an up-to-50W temperature-controlled iron - it has a little screw to set the temperature on the handle. Tips are easy to find with it being an Antex, even Maplin has them.

You can get it for around £45 and may be a good compromise if you don't want to spend more money on a full-size station.

With mine, I've done everything from the intricate work on your A3640, to super-fine RAM chip legs, to large metal chassis like DB-25 plug housings and, you guessed it, RF modulaors It can be low-temperature for the delicates, and very hot for the tough stuff.

I have a few tips ranging from 0.12mm points to large chisel-tips.

The big-boys' soldering stations are probably better for more accurate temperature control, but I absolutely love this iron and can recommend it.

 

[fitzsteve]

Hey d0pefish, thanks for the info

That looks like a nice iron, if I get into it a bit more then I think that would be a good one to go for

Shocked though that you've been doing all your work on this, thats some really great work for the price of the kit!

Cheers!

Steve.

 

[Phipscube]

@marios

Cheers for the infos mate! Thats quite simple enough, i'll go and grab a 27C800 off sqweebay and put it alongside my 27C400's (for the 1200) and have a mad custom Romz Sesh

@steve

Yeah mate, i'll give it a crack! Looks like you are getting well bitten by the solder bug Wanting to upgrade your iron already is a good sign, keep it up fella, you'll be l33t in no time

 

[fitzsteve]

@steve

Yeah mate, i'll give it a crack! Looks like you are getting well bitten by the solder bug Wanting to upgrade your iron already is a good sign, keep it up fella, you'll be l33t in no time

Best of luck with the hacking mate, although I want to warn of a potential issue.

Mrs Fitz was about 40mins into a game of Sim City yesterday and (off the HxC via Floppy Image) and the system totally locked up

When I checked the 68000 chip was very warm indeed so I'm not sure how much of a good idea it is running the chip under load covered like it is.

Just me thinking out loud really.

Steve.

 

[Zetr0]

@Steve

I have to admit... I love my (soldering) unit *hehe*

Its great seeing skills developing and seeing you get bitten by the soldering bug - this is true-modding of ones hardware =D


Re: 68000 cooking

I am surprised this hasn't been noticed earlier - with that large plastic lump on top of the CPU - its sure to cause issues with the CPU off..

I will say however that running WHDLoad version of SimCity would be better idea under the properly cooled 030

 

[Phipscube]

Thats interesting... so when the ACA is off, then yeah of course, the 68000 is gonna start to cook under that plastic PLCC socket!

I was playing Zool 2 from good old floppy with Zig lastnight for about 30 mins with the ACA off, no problems. Now i'm gonna check this out and let it run longer. Maybe its possible to take the inside of the PLCC socket away? I know this potentially makes the socket alot weaker, but if that 1mm gap can help keep the 68000 from cooking then I may do that.

 

[fitzsteve]

I will say however that running WHDLoad version of SimCity would be better idea under the properly cooled 030

I didn't see one in KG's pack (Nor Sim City 2000), I'll have to double check. In the end I had her playing Sim City 2000 on WinUAE via Shapeshifter - she was well pleased if a little confused that a PC was emulating an Amiga emulating a Mac

---------- Post added at 13:35 ---------- Previous post was at 13:29 ----------

Hey Phip's

Wondering if could just be an issue with my A600, defo going to monitor it and I have a spare A600 here now just in case I do get further issues.

This one is a bit of a loose A600 (LOL) she's on her third accelerator now and had even dabbled with an A608

Steve.

 

[Phipscube]

WOAH! I wish my missus would get into all this Amiga lark. She just thinks i'm a loon At least i've brainwashed the little man :twisted:

 

[fitzsteve]

WOAH! I wish my missus would get into all this Amiga lark. She just thinks i'm a loon At least i've brainwashed the little man :twisted:

Mrs Fitz is totally on board with all this now, as she says it keep me quiet.

The other day I was humming some annoying tune and it reminded her of a game she used to play and made me download and install it for her lol.

Of course, first we had to find the game name oh:

Good old EAB

 

[fitzsteve]

Hey guys!

Little update to my project

Saturday afternoon Zetr0 helped me desolder the RF modulator from my A600 Motherboard, this was making way for the VGA connector on the Indivision ECS (Thanks again mate!)

Well it didn't take long with Zetr0's kit, it dropped off in no time at all and left no marks on the board what-so-ever

I removed the Motherboard this evening and fixed the VGA connector to the metal I/O shield which was a perfect fit without any modification and just made some adjustment to the back for the screws with a metal file.

I'm really pleased with the job, its come out lookin' pretty good if I do say so myself

 

[johnim]

very nice and simple mate

 

[fitzsteve]

Thanks mate

I also found a solution to mount the HxC internally using a motherboard stand off, its pretty secure.

Not decided what to do about the screen yet, its working from the on screen menu for now.

I don't really want to cut the case lid so I'm mulling over my options

 

[LamboJay]

Damn! Now that is one sick 600 setup. Well done man!

 

[mfilos]

OMG my miggie has a twin sister!!! hahaha!

Awesome man, very slick installation of both components! (It's like VGA header was meant for this position).
Keep it up

 

[jvdbossc]

Steve,

This is not critisism, but I am at the some point where you are, exept I fitted the screen already and I am looking for a place to fit the mobo. I tested with some sockets to solder the screen away from the mobo

How are you going to press the buttons? Do you think you can attach some plastics to it and press the plastic

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks mate

I also found a solution to mount the HxC internally using a motherboard stand off, its pretty secure.

Not decided what to do about the screen yet, its working from the on screen menu for now.

I don't really want to cut the case lid so I'm mulling over my options

 

[merlinkv]

Hey Steve.

Good job my friend. Your A600 is my envy ...

One noob question... It's possible to publish a little tuto, step-by-step, about the desolder job of the RF modulator?

Thanks & Best wishes

Pablo

 

[fitzsteve]

Damn! Now that is one sick 600 setup. Well done man!

Thanks for the kind words

OMG my miggie has a twin sister!!! hahaha!

Awesome man, very slick installation of both components! (It's like VGA header was meant for this position).
Keep it up

Thanks bro! This is kind of the problem with the ACA/Indi combo though now we all have identical A600's

I actually kept another A600 with my Apollo 620 in it just so I have something different lol

Steve,

This is not critisism, but I am at the some point where you are, exept I fitted the screen already and I am looking for a place to fit the mobo. I tested with some sockets to solder the screen away from the mobo

How are you going to press the buttons? Do you think you can attach some plastics to it and press the plastic

Thanks for sharing.

Yes the buttons lol. At the moment I've not solved this issue, but I do have a plan or two - It depends on what I do about the screen.

I had all sorts of whacky ideas like putting a hinge in the grill panel so you lift the screen open when you want to see it, cool eh?

I have three 'push to make' buttons that I am thinking to mount on the side of the case but as a temporary measure will probably just mount one button slightly out of view as with the on screen display you only need one button to return the HxC Config file and the restart to access the menu again, in fact for this solution you don't even need the screen.

More to come when I start hacking. I'm also waiting for some cables, pins and other little goodies for making a nice extension for the HxC screen which haven't arrived.

Hey Steve.

Good job my friend. Your A600 is my envy ...

One noob question... It's possibole to publish a little tuto, step-by-step, about the desolder job of the RF modulator?

Thanks & Best wishes

Pablo

Hey Pablo buddy!

I will take a photo of a board not yet modded (yeah I have three A600 here for some reason :nuts and show which parts to desolder

Will post that later today unless I can find a stock photo online to do whilst at work, since there isn't any work to do...

Thanks again guys for all the support

Steve.

 

[jvdbossc]

I have no patience and start with it I will Let you know how it goes thanks Steve I am first going to look if I have space to fit it like you did and then will probably try to desolder buttons and put them back differently with some hook up wire

---------- Post added at 11:34 ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 ----------

The screen can be moved away like this:

 

[fitzsteve]

Thanks jvdbossc, I was going to make a cable like this. But I think I'm going to try something different so that mfilos doesn't file a case against me for more copyright infringment :readit:

*Watch this space for my nutty creatation*

@merlinkv,

I've shown on the below picture which points you need to desolder for the RF Modulator, there are 6 in total:

Zetr0 desoldered these with his Hot Air Rework station, but I guess you could another method.

@Zetr0 (if you are reading?) Do you have any tips for these guys?


Cheers!

Steve.

 

[merlinkv]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the info.

I have an old solder (gas with regulator) with hot air adapter... I will test before on any spare PCB... and, if works, I will try on A600's mobo.

In anyway, I will try to buy one good solder/desolder station with temperature and airflow control......

All the best

Pablo