6128 for HxC, what else do I need?

[Shaun M. Neary]

Hey guys,
Just looking for some advice. I'm gonna be spending the next while trawling ebay for a 6128. I've a bid on a couple, so I can't imagine I'll get one any time soon, but I'm just trying to prepare.
Once i get it, I'll be looking to modify it with HxC and throw a ton of stuff to an SD card.

What sort of Power supply unit do I need to get to power it up? Does it have to be specific or is it a case of 12 volts being 12 volts.
Then there's hooking it up to a 32" screen. It has a SCART as well as an RGB input so neither of those are a major issue.

Nothing too technical please, just wondering if the additional cabling is easy to come by. =)
Cheers.

[chinnyhill10]

Hey guys,
Just looking for some advice. I'm gonna be spending the next while trawling ebay for a 6128. I've a bid on a couple, so I can't imagine I'll get one any time soon, but I'm just trying to prepare.
Once i get it, I'll be looking to modify it with HxC and throw a ton of stuff to an SD card.

What sort of Power supply unit do I need to get to power it up?

Why you want a 12v supply? The HxC I have is 5v. If you go on Ebay there's a seller with CPC cables and power cables for an HxC in Austria.


Amstrad CPC 664 6128 Spectrum +3 ribbon cable HxC floppy emulator w/ SIDE SWITCH


Amstrad CPC power cable for SD HxC floppy emulator & 3.5" HD floppy disk drive |


In terms of a supply for a standard CPC I use RS part number 726-2836: ECP-20-5U | 5V dc, 1 Output, 2.1 x 5.5 x 9.5 mm Centre Positive Switch Mode, which has plenty of welly for a CPC as well as any other projects using 5 volts you may need.


If you want to power the 12v side of the CPC (the floppy) then RS will also have supplies that can help. But with an HxC you won't need it.


Other PSU's are available. I see some suppliers on Ebay selling Chinese supplies with dual 5v and 12v on them repurposed for a CPC. Your call/fire risk.

[TFM]

Guys, just read the HxC manual! Everything is in there.

[||C|-|E||]

To be honest, my HxC was expensive, but I think that is worth every single euro . After that, I would try to install some of the most common expansions, like X-MASS, X-MEM and maybe a S-Video and a mouse adapter .

[Neil79]

Guys, just read the HxC manual! Everything is in there.

Wasn't for me, it was pants..


I had to find out which way to put the cable and what switch needed to be  up and what needed to be down, plus how to make a working amstrad disk booter. Although this was some time ago now, it's probably matured a lot since then. ( Hence the wiki entry )

[Shaun M. Neary]

Why you want a 12v supply? The HxC I have is 5v. If you go on Ebay there's a seller with CPC cables and power cables for an HxC in Austria.


Amstrad CPC 664 6128 Spectrum +3 ribbon cable HxC floppy emulator w/ SIDE SWITCH


Amstrad CPC power cable for SD HxC floppy emulator & 3.5" HD floppy disk drive |


In terms of a supply for a standard CPC I use RS part number 726-2836: ECP-20-5U | 5V dc, 1 Output, 2.1 x 5.5 x 9.5 mm Centre Positive Switch Mode, which has plenty of welly for a CPC as well as any other projects using 5 volts you may need.


If you want to power the 12v side of the CPC (the floppy) then RS will also have supplies that can help. But with an HxC you won't need it.


Other PSU's are available. I see some suppliers on Ebay selling Chinese supplies with dual 5v and 12v on them repurposed for a CPC. Your call/fire risk.

Sorry, I meant to specify. 12v power supply to power up the CPC. It used to draw power from the monitor, but seeing as I won't be hooking it up to a monitor, I'm shit out of luck in that department.
So cheers for clarifying that. I'll shop around once I get the actual CPC. If I get outbid on these, I'll give up the ghost and get a Raspberry Pi and throw a CPC emulator on it.

Guys, just read the HxC manual! Everything is in there.

Helpful as always... 

To be honest, my HxC was expensive, but I think that is worth every single euro . After that, I would try to install some of the most common expansions, like X-MASS, X-MEM and maybe a S-Video and a mouse adapter .

Yeah, I'm seeing em for some crazy money, up to nearly €100! Really only interested for the games at this stage to play em glitch free. =D

[pelrun]

The 12V supply is only used by the floppy drive motor. If you're using the HxC exclusively then you won't need it; you can run the 6128 with just a 5v supply. If you want to run the floppy drive, then any 12V supply that can supply enough current will do.

[Bryce]

Just to clarify it for Shaun:

The cable that hangs from the monitor and plugs into the CPC is the 5V supply. This powers the CPC electronics (and the HxC if you add one).

The cable hanging from the 6128 that plugs into the monitor is the 12V supply. This only powers the drives motors and won't be needed if you have a HxC instead of a drive. This cable is just plugged into the CPC mainboard, so you can remove it completely when the HxC is installed so that you don't have a useless cable dangling oout the back of the CPC.

Bryce.

[chinnyhill10]

Sorry, I meant to specify. 12v power supply to power up the CPC

The 12v is for the 3 inch drive. The main board only requires 5 volts. I don't bother with the 12v as I now exclusivly use the HxC.


The power lead I posted will split the 5v from the supply to power both the HxC and the CPC.


The ribbon cable I posted will force the HxC to be the A drive.


Make sure you buy your HxC direct from Lotharek`s Lair

[Shaun M. Neary]

Thanks for the responses, guys. This gives me a good starting point, so I do appreciate it.

The 12v is for the 3 inch drive. The main board only requires 5 volts. I don't bother with the 12v as I now exclusivly use the HxC.


The power lead I posted will split the 5v from the supply to power both the HxC and the CPC.


The ribbon cable I posted will force the HxC to be the A drive.


Make sure you buy your HxC direct from Lotharek`s Lair

I was looking at that, looks bloody expensive, but also looks well worth it too.
5v it is then, as I'll probably be stripping the 3" drive as the price of the disks are silly for second hand disks from 25-30 years ago xD


Any particular drive from that site that you'd recommend? 

[chinnyhill10]

Thanks for the responses, guys. This gives me a good starting point, so I do appreciate it.


I was looking at that, looks bloody expensive, but also looks well worth it too.
5v it is then, as I'll probably be stripping the 3" drive as the price of the disks are silly for second hand disks from 25-30 years ago xD


Any particular drive from that site that you'd recommend? 

Whatever takes your fancy. I paid the extra for a boxed unit http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=18. Keeps the dust out and protects the board.

Some people prefer to butcher up their CPC's and fit one inside the 3 inch drive but then you can never use the drive again and you also can't use the HxC with other hardware which is a shame.

[Shaun M. Neary]

Whatever takes your fancy. I paid the extra for a boxed unit http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=18. Keeps the dust out and protects the board.

Some people prefer to butcher up their CPC's and fit one inside the 3 inch drive but then you can never use the drive again and you also can't use the HxC with other hardware which is a shame.

Ooooh that's what I was going to attempt to do, but if it can be run externally, sat on top of the existing drive, that's a much safer route for me. =D

[TFM]

Helpful as always... 

My pleasure! RTM! 

[pelrun]

Some people prefer to butcher up their CPC's and fit one inside the 3 inch drive but then you can never use the drive again and you also can't use the HxC with other hardware which is a shame.

Unless you put the 3 inch drive in an enclosure and make it an external drive

[TFM]

Also you can just keep the 3" drive a make it B staying inside.


However an external HxC can serve as A and B (according to the manual).    So butchering is for people only who never want to see a real disc in their life! Well, the HxC is still not as good as a real drive when it comes to playing Orion Prime f.e. One has to know that no emulation is perfect.

[||C|-|E||]

I personally like to have it outside, although I normally use it as a A drive. It depends a lot on personal taste, but if I can I prefer not to touch the original hardware and put the additions outside .

[Nich]

I personally like to have it outside, although I normally use it as a A drive. It depends a lot on personal taste, but if I can I prefer not to touch the original hardware and put the additions outside .

This is my setup as well. I have a 'bare' HxC and I use a cable with a small switch that lets me choose whether the HxC is drive A or B - very useful indeed for those games that won't load from drive B.

[Shaun M. Neary]

My pleasure! RTM! 

I could, but I probably wouldn't understand it very well.
Just like you can't understand that nobody likes a patronising smartass.

The difference is, I accept what I can't understand, and I ask for help. Unfortunately there's nothing in a bottle or a tablet that could help you.
Good day, sir.

[Shaun M. Neary]

I personally like to have it outside, although I normally use it as a A drive. It depends a lot on personal taste, but if I can I prefer not to touch the original hardware and put the additions outside .

This is my setup as well. I have a 'bare' HxC and I use a cable with a small switch that lets me choose whether the HxC is drive A or B - very useful indeed for those games that won't load from drive B.

Yeah, this sounds like the way to go alright. It may not be happening now unfortunately, I'm getting closer to being outbid, and I refuse to pay extortionate prices for it.

[TFM]

I could, but I probably wouldn't understand it very well.
Just like ... that nobody likes a patronising smartass.

Don't underestimate you the Manual is newbie prove. Give it a try. And I'm sure some people even like you. Never put yourself down! You can do better. 

[Shaun M. Neary]

Don't underestimate you the Manual is newbie prove. Give it a try. And I'm sure some people even like you. Never put yourself down! You can do better. 

I can, which is why I'm giving you the last word on a silver platter.
I've no problem being a newbie. Beats being ignorant, congratulations for being an inspiration for everything I stand against.

Ta ta...

[chinnyhill10]

I've no problem being a newbie. Beats being ignorant, congratulations for being an inspiration for everything I stand against.

Ta ta...

Anyway, do get an HxC. Get one direct from Lorharek and you guarantee the latest firmware and hardware revision. It is easy to use. Yes the manual is a shocker (the jumper diagrams in mine had no relation to what I actually had in front of me and it took some thought to transpose it to what I actually had). But once I had that sorted it was dead easy.


Price high? Well actually its very reasonable for what it does and how it compares to storage systems for other computers. Seen how much a 1541 Ultimate costs? 150 Euros!

[TFM]

I can, which is why I'm giving you the last word on a silver platter.
I've no problem being a newbie. Beats being ignorant, congratulations for being an inspiration for everything I stand against.

Ta ta...

Well spoken Sir. No pun intended the manual is really great, even a sucker like me could actually understand it.