Kategoriarkiv: Amiga replica building

Replica A4091 SCSI card

Publicerat av

Today I got a fully built replica A4091 Zorro 3 SCSI card delivered. The A4091 was a SCSI 2 controller for the Zorro 3 slot, it was made by Commodore. This is a reverse enginered version that you can find prebuilt on the internet or build yourself. Find out more about the original C= 4091 card here and the new replica A4091 SCSI card here.

I watched the presentation of this card on an Amiwest stream a couple of years ago so its exciting to have the real card in my hands.

Advantages of SCSI in an Amiga

The advantage of using a SCSI harddrive and a A4091 in a Zorro 3 Amiga is that it will have faster transfer speeds than IDE. SCSI is also less heavy on the system as the card has its own brain to process file transfers taking up less CPU time than IDE. This is good as Amiga is limited in CPU power (at least with a real CPU).

Zorro 3 only!

This card only works on the Zorro 3 slot. That is good news since it means better performance than a Zorro 2 card/slot. But it also means it will only work on the A4000(T) and the A3000(T). The Amiga 3000 already has SCSI on the motherboard, but if that does not work well, this card could be the solution.

Hardware setup

This card will probably end up in my A4000TX or in my A4000D. The A4000T already has SCSI2 and is basically the A4091 card implemented on the motherboard (well, the main chip is the same). As my main systems already got 060s, graphics cards and plenty of memory this is a welcome addition in squeezing out the last performance before I go into the world of PiStorms.

I will run a ZuluSCSI card on mine as I have banished mechanical harddrives from all my computers. The ZuluSCSI can emulate multiple harddrives (and CDs) stored as files on an SD card.

Purple Amiga A4091 SCSI 2 card

And I actually lied a little when I said that it was exciting to finally have the card in my hands as I already built a purple A4091 SCSI 2 card last year.

New incoming Amiga PCB projects

Publicerat av

Here are some new Amiga PCBs for some new projects I got this week:

  • GottaGoFaZt3r memory card (will do the 256 MB version and probably a second card).
  • PiStorm16 x 2
  • Prometheus clone
  • MpegIt for the Prelude Amiga sound card
  • Prelude sound card PCB (not in the picture)

I also have two Amiga graphics cards in my todo list:

  • GBAPII++ graphics card
  • Mini GBAPII++ graphics card

And lets not forget the ReAmiga 3000 PCB I got late this week too! I have had a broken Amiga 3000D motherboard in my stash for years so finally I will be able to shake some life into it again!

So lets just say a massive BOM will be ordered soon!

Finished all the passive components on my Amiga 4000T replica build

Publicerat av
Backside of the Amiga 4000T replica motherboard

I am currently building an Amiga 4000T replica that I got from Amibay. I got the components from Mouser last week and spent the weekend starting the build. There was a lot of components to solder on this and I am far from finished, but happy to say that I am finished with 90% of all passives. Backside of the motherboard is finished!

I still have a ton of 1206 passives to solder on the daughter cards. But those will be far smother to build since the cards are smaller.

Amiga 1200 build based on the ReAmiga A1200 motherboard

Publicerat av
Black Amiga 1200

I just finished building my black Amiga 1200 that is based on a ReAmiga 1200 motherboard and a TF1260 turbo card and I am very happy with it!

System specifications:

  • ReAmiga A1200 v1.5 (black PCB)
  • TerribleFire 1260 (black PCB)
  • Indivision AGA MK3
  • Micronik 1.76MB floppy drive
  • Hard keyboard membrane
  • 4GB compact flash card
  • A1200.net replacement case, black
  • A1200.net replacement keycaps, black
  • Custom metal backplate

Comments on the build

Terrible Fire 1260

I like to run either 030 or 060, preferably 060, in my Amigas. Previously I had an Apollo 1260 in my old A1200 so I replaced it with a TF1260 that I built. The Terrible Fire1260 supports easier overclocking than the Apollo 1260 did and also has more memory, 128 MB.

Indivision AGA MK3

A scandoubler is a must have in the Amiga IMHO and the Indivision is a great option for that since it hooks up to HDMI directly. I got the first version years ago but sold it. Both versions has been proven to be reliable and good solutions, but price for it has went up a lot in 15 years.

Case and keyboard

The case and keys came from a1200.net. I got a hard keyboard membrane which worked great after the I had wiped the rubber key bottoms on a paper to make them conductive again. I also got a metal backplate from CenturionTech, it is a nice replacement for the ugly metal bottom shield, makes the whole system professional and fresh.

Other

I had an old MicroniK HD floppy drive and used that in the build. No idea where I got it from and I will probably never use it, but an A1200 does not look right without a floppy. I dont use old ball mouses anymore, so I got a MouSTer DB9 to USB adapter so I can use a wireless mouse.

Building the ReAmiga 1200

I built the ReAmiga A1200 from an empty motherboard PCB myself. I used parts from a broken Amiga 1200 motherboard. Halfway in the build I decided to build a second one as a backup so I got a white motherboard and built them both back to back. Both motherboards are tested and fully working. They are equiped with full LEDs. The white one has all green LEDs while the black one reminds of a christmas tree when its powered on.

The build was farily simple, as with most replicas close to original C= designs the amount of passives that has to be soldered is a lot, although not as insane as an A4000D/T.

I decided to build my motherboards without any sockets. There are two primary reasons for this, I can not professionally clean the motherboard, and cleaning flux from sockets is very difficult for me without an ultrasonic bath. The motherboard acts as a heatsink and it is more efficient if the chips are soldered to the motherboard IMHO. For example, Alice gets very hot (as does Lisa). Off course it is also more reliable, I have yet to find a socket that is not reliable though.

You can see the LEDs in action on the picture

Summary

If I had to chose to keep just one Amiga it would be difficult not to chose this A1200, it is fast thanks to having an 060 CPU. HDMI output is a nice luxury and with high resolution monitor drivers running at 1024×768 (in 8 colors) it almost feels like you had an RTG graphics card in it when you are in Workbench.