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avatar_Sebastian Blanco

building the aleste 520ex (cpc/msx russian clone)

Started by Sebastian Blanco, 01:23, 01 November 19

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Sebastian Blanco

Got a "complete kit" with exception of the keyboard from Tetroid (he sells some stuff on sellmyretro) it includes the pcb,IC's, and passives also din connectors nicely wrapped in vintage grease paper  :D . From Novosibirsk.


In the past i got a pentagon kit from him and got it running on the first shot (my best speccy in my opinion), and the one i use the most so this encouraged my to try this kit also.


I don't think this is going to be an easy build there's very little information about this computer and the language barrier is big everything is in Russian an the only translators make a mess from the documentation.

Managed to scrounge every little piece of info i can get from the web including the shematics and the bom for the kit in this file is everything i got if someone find something useful: https://www.filehosting.org/file/details/830156/aleste.7z
Going to document here the build process in case i got it right it may help people later :) .


Someone have done this CPC clone ?.

pictures from the kit:





GUNHED

Awesome! Let us please know as soon as it is running. Never saw one in real life.  :)
http://futureos.de --> Get the revolutionary FutureOS (Update: 2023.11.30)
http://futureos.cpc-live.com/files/LambdaSpeak_RSX_by_TFM.zip --> Get the RSX-ROM for LambdaSpeak :-) (Updated: 2021.12.26)

TotO

A friend is currently close to finish one... I will ask.
"You make one mistake in your life and the internet will never let you live it down" (Keith Goodyer)

llopis

Oh wow! I didn't even know this existed. Where can I order a kit like this? I'd love to give it a try.

Sebastian Blanco

Quote from: TotO on 06:04, 01 November 19
A friend is currently close to finish one... I will ask.
Could be great to know, if the board need any corrections and pictures ! etc :)

Sebastian Blanco

Quote from: llopis on 09:35, 01 November 19
Oh wow! I didn't even know this existed. Where can I order a kit like this? I'd love to give it a try.
Just email the seller tetroid@inbox.ru and ask for the aleste kit.


Sebastian Blanco

Quote from: LambdaMikel on 15:05, 01 November 19
A lot of info still here, including the interview:
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/aleste-520ex/25/
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Aleste_520EX
Thanks i will take a look for usefull information  :D
[color=inherit !important][size=13px !important][/size][/color]

deepfb

Quote from: llopis on 09:35, 01 November 19
Oh wow! I didn't even know this existed. Where can I order a kit like this? I'd love to give it a try.

Noel, I already told you I had one of the new boards -didn't you realize it was a remake? :D

Cpcmaníaco bought the 2018 revision of the board more than one year ago, and I was commissioned to find the components and solder everything on it. It is almost done since months ago...



...except for the elusive KP1802ИР1 dual RAM ICs: the footprint on the board is for the DIP plastic package (it's almost impossible to fit the more common, surface mounting, 1802ИР1 on it), and I haven't managed to find them until some weeks ago. If anybody is looking for components for these Russian PCBs (Aleste, or ZX clones), I can provide the addresses of a pair of suppliers who may sell them.

Btw, I joint the Russian forum where this New Aleste was born, and I sent them dumps of the EPROMs on my original Aleste. It seems they are different to those they were using, actually a more up-to-date version! I can provide those dumps for anybody -actually, they are stored in the GUA's FTP, along with the MSX & CPC games we found for the computer some years ago.

The casing for the 2018 revision of the Aleste was another finding I did on that Russian forum. The PCB's form factor is intended for a standard (standard as of the beginning of the 90s) casing that was used on some Elektronika computers, such as the MS1502 and the MS0511 (AKA UKNC, "the Russian Amiga"). I got crazy about finding any of these computers, and I ended buying one MS1502 to dismantle it & use the casing for the Aleste, and one UKNC just to play with it xD



I guess we will be able to switch this thing on before the end of the year, during one of the upcoming GUA meetings in Madrid. I will let you know if we succeed on having anything on screen! :D

Sebastian Blanco

cool deepfb i see your board is different that mine yours is the one done to get into the uknc case.I have an uknc computer also and also purchased the same pcb as yours, the russian ICS look hard to get.
Then i hear from tetroid and ended up purchasing his kit that have all the original ics included and the eproms and gals already programed.
Got this keyboard https://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-soviet-ELEKTRONIKA-MC-computer-IBM-keyboard-MS7007-NOS-NIB-sealed-new/333300714817?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
and here is the board for the uknc case version https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCB-Aleste-520EX-%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0-compatible-Amstrad-CPC/383169343502?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Do you know if the keyboard layout is JKUNG or QWERTY ?, and if is possible to change the layout changing the rom or something ?.

GUNHED

Nice! And yes, that's really a big board!  :)


Out of curiosity, does CP/M Plus, SymbOS and FutureOS run on the Aleste?
http://futureos.de --> Get the revolutionary FutureOS (Update: 2023.11.30)
http://futureos.cpc-live.com/files/LambdaSpeak_RSX_by_TFM.zip --> Get the RSX-ROM for LambdaSpeak :-) (Updated: 2021.12.26)

deepfb

Quote from: Sebastian Blanco on 16:07, 01 November 19
Do you know if the keyboard layout is JKUNG or QWERTY ?, and if is possible to change the layout changing the rom or something ?.
The original Aleste uses the traditional Russian typewriter keyboard layout (JCUKEN), and afaik they followed that scheme on all those re-makes.
It may be possible to change the firmware in order to plug a QWERTY keyboard, but I don't know how to do it. I guess the guy who should take a look on it is Valery himself, but last time I contacted him -or met him on a forum- was, like, four or five years ago :-/
Quite off topic: while looking for the pictures I have attached to my last message, I have found this old one xDD



Sebastian Blanco

Quote from: GUNHED on 16:25, 01 November 19
Nice! And yes, that's really a big board!  :)


Out of curiosity, does CP/M Plus, SymbOS and FutureOS run on the Aleste?
I have seen pictures of cp/m and symbos running on the aleste in the russian forum zxpk.ru msxdos also runs.

GUNHED

Quote from: Sebastian Blanco on 16:28, 01 November 19
I have seen pictures of cp/m and symbos running on the aleste in the russian forum zxpk.ru msxdos also runs.
Hopefully someone will try and report. Any idea about FutureOS?


The reason I ask is ... well, this nice machine is a MSX and CPC somehow. Therefore compatibility is of interest.  :)
http://futureos.de --> Get the revolutionary FutureOS (Update: 2023.11.30)
http://futureos.cpc-live.com/files/LambdaSpeak_RSX_by_TFM.zip --> Get the RSX-ROM for LambdaSpeak :-) (Updated: 2021.12.26)

deepfb

#14
Quote from: GUNHED on 16:25, 01 November 19
Out of curiosity, does CP/M Plus, SymbOS and FutureOS run on the Aleste?
I think we managed to run a lite version of Symbos on the Aleste during a MSX meeting (MadriSX 2008), but if you are asking whether it is mapping the RAM the same way as the original CPC, I would say... well, I am not sure: Dragonninja crashes if you try to load it :-D

Sebastian Blanco

Quote from: deepfb on 16:33, 01 November 19
I think we managed to run a lite version of Symbos on the Aleste during a MSX meeting (MadriSX 2008), but if you are asking whether it is mapping the RAM the same way as the original CPC, I would say... well, I am not sure: Dragonninja crashes if you try to load it :-D
From the forum:https://zx-pk.ru/threads/20769-kompyuter-quot-aleste-520ex-quot/page22.html
Look like they change something and now can go up to 256k.

genesis8

From this russian forum in one signature a web site in english about the Aleste 520EX : http://aleste520.narod.ru/


There is even an Aleste emulator using a modified version of Caprice32 : [size=78%]http://aleste520.narod.ru/caprice.html[/size]

BTW Sebastian, can I use your photos on my web site at [size=78%]https://www.genesis8bit.fr/archives/index.php?news_id=1388[/size] ?
____________
Amstrad news site at Genesis8 Amstrad Page

vk5hbl

Sebastian ,


Just wondering how your going / went with this build?


I ordered a kit from Tetroid and are in the process of building mine up.


cheers
Darren

Sebastian Blanco

#18
Still don't started to assemble the kit a little scared of doing this without any help

I was asking for information in zxpk.ru but got nothing.
Also read the  thread about the assembly of the board like 20 times to try to understand what they are talking about using the translator this resulted in very little usable information.

Then asked the seller of the kit vitaly for some basic questions (if he knows if the pcb requires any corrections) etc but he kindly ignored me.
So no help from the Russians, i have to start soldering and pray that everything will work.Usually is best if there's any need to cut traces etc on the pcb to do it before soldering.

llopis


Quote from: Sebastian Blanco on 16:55, 18 February 20Still don't started to assemble the kit a little scared of doing this without any help

I was asking for information in zxpk.ru but got nothing.
Also read the  thread about the assembly of the board like 20 times to try to understand what they are talking about using the translator this resulted in very little usable information.

Then asked the seller of the kit vitaly for some basic questions (if he knows if the pcb requires any corrections) etc but he kindly ignored me.
So no help from the Russians so i will be on my own on this, i have to start soldering and pray that everything will work.
I have a kit on its way right now, so post any questions here as you go and hopefully we'll manage to figure it out :-)

Sebastian Blanco

Quote from: llopis on 16:58, 18 February 20
I have a kit on its way right now, so post any questions here as you go and hopefully we'll manage to figure it out :-)
Also if you need the keyboard i purchased one of this :https://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-soviet-ELEKTRONIKA-MC-computer-IBM-keyboard-MS7007-NOS-NIB-sealed-new/333300714817?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I'm almost 100% sure this is the keyboard that the aleste uses.

llopis

Is the keyboard compatible with the 464 or 6128 ones, or do you need that special keyboard? I never even looked that far ahead :-)

Sebastian Blanco

The keyboard is a Russian one is the same of the UKNC computers and is on JKUNG layout (must be super funny to type stuff on it).
The link i provided on the previous post is from a seller on ebay that sell the UKNC keyboards brand new and they are quite cheap.
Its not compatible to the CPC keyboards the matrix is very different have more pins in the connectors etc.


Sebastian Blanco

Another doubt i have was that theres no power plug in the board, but lucky a russian user got me this information:
goodboy from zxpk.ru told me that power +5v must be feed into the board using the holes close to C20i marked them in yellow on the shematic linked below:


Sebastian Blanco

Quote from: vk5hbl on 13:00, 07 February 20
Sebastian ,


Just wondering how your going / went with this build?


I ordered a kit from Tetroid and are in the process of building mine up.


cheers
Darren
Hi do you already started the build ?

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