CPC Mainboard Versions

[Devilmarkus]

Okay, but please don't delete it if you don't like it.

I only deleted the top part of your "Triumph" page because it's really @ the wrong place here

Should it be "Brand Names" or "Branding Names" or just "LK1 LK2 LK3"? Latter one would be clearest, so nobody mis-uses it for other brand-names (like dk'tronics). Uh, except Indescomp & Patisonic should be probably mentioned on that page, too.

That's why I asked somewhere else for native English speaking people to give the "most properly" respond...

NB. best way to learn the cpcwiki syntax is to start writing some text, and if it doesn't look as desired: Click EDIT on another page that has the desired formatting. Of course without editing that page, just to view its source code.

Yeah I know

[Bryce]

It should be "Brand Names"

Bryce.

[Grim]

@Grim: I bet the japanese-sounding name had lots to do with some "let's-do-some-Japanese-marketing" idea

Yep, that was exactly their idea (according to Cliff Lawson). But in the end, it looks like that most of these brand names were never used actually.

[Gryzor]

I've got some high-res pics at home - but I think I have already uploaded them to the wiki.

The Greek ones were totally UK ones, nothing was customised.

[nocash]

I think some pics in the gallery are from you. Though I couldn't find an english 6128 in there. Do you have photos of that one, too? If the greek one looks like the english one, then we could badge it as "english" model :-)
Otherwise, I've found that the http://bilgisayarlarim.com/Amstrad/CPC6128/ also has slightly better (non-diagonal) picture of an english 6128 (or maybe it's greek, too). The pic isn't super-good though, at least the KEY NUMBERS text is barely visible.
Aside from that, http://bilgisayarlarim.com/Amstrad/ has some really good pics, showing the interiors of different 464's and of the GX4000.

Btw. for http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Mainboard_Versions, the most-wanted missing picture would be a Spanish GX4000 Mainboard (ie. one without TV modulator). Does somebody have that board?

[yoshi.doshi]

Hello ,, if it is benfeficial i could take some pictures of my english ( ) 6128,, external and internal,, its in good nick.

I have access to a cannon g9 so should be adequate. Its the later released 6128 mind ( changed logo) with cheaper eme 156 drive ie white plastic belt wheel etc!! ~Which photos in particular would benefit the wiki???


I sold one and gave away my first release 6128's!!

[nocash]

Fantastic! The maybe most beneficial picture would be simply one like these,  http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Keyboard_Versions. Just the english 6128 keyboard. For some strange reason nearly nobody ever seems to have photographed it.

I think, I've never seen a white belt or wheel. What is that? Anyways it sounds interesting, and the http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Photo_Gallery doesn't yet show such details. Oh, and if you disassemble the cpc, please check if the mainboard is already listed on http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Mainboard_Versions

[yoshi.doshi]

Fantastic! The maybe most beneficial picture would be simply one like these,  http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Keyboard_Versions.
I think, I've never seen a white belt or wheel. What is that? Anyways it sounds interesting, and the http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Photo_Gallery doesn't yet show such details. Oh, and if you disassemble the cpc, please check if the mainboard is already listed on http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Mainboard_Versions

Ok i'll get the photo done in the next day or two. IT does seem a bit freaky if there isn't one quality uk 6128 photo on the web. 

NOt sure on the 6128's pcb number. its been a while since i looked inside it  but it needed a replacement drive last year as i had a mishap with its original and removed its stepper motor thinking it would be easy to replace but i found out that had not been the wisest thing to do!!

thankfully i had a spare sitting inside an unused ddi that was was exactly the same model and was only a month apart so no harm done.

http://tinypic.com/1r53iudi

on the older cpc drives the beltwheel is metal (sorry got no pic to compare for you ). ON this its white plastic (see above link),, in one way its much easier to replace the belt on this as its more exposed than most ddi/cpc drives ive come across but i found it much harder to remove the sticky tar (belt) it had.

Oh i did notice whilst i was looking at the wiki mainboards that i have a slight variant 464 pcb build although its basically covered on the wiki ie. by  Board pt no Z70374, MC0044B (the pics not great though) but you should still be able to see its been built  up differently (as on the pic z70375, mc0044d)
    so a bit of a crossover example.     There was a web page which showed several different cpc drives  (in relation to the changing of their belts) but i can't find it anymore.               

[yoshi.doshi]

ok ive put a decent photo up on the link hopefully. I must confess i don't have much experience of putting things up on the wiki. Please feel free to take anything worthy to update the site. The lights been so crap in stoke today. At a later stage i'll take a pic of the internals but the pcb is definetely listed.

I noticed in the "Synthesizer, sampler and music related section" there is no reference to the cheetah cpc mini interface for the cpc 464 to connect to a mk5 cheetah controller keyboard.

I have a decent boxed complete example with an unboxed cheetah MK5v keyboard.
 

[Ygdrazil]

Great!

I have only heard of this device...

Pictures and more stuff would be awsome!

/Ygdrazil

ok ive put a decent photo up on the link hopefully. I must confess i don't have much experience of putting things up on the wiki. Please feel free to take anything worthy to update the site. The lights been so crap in stoke today. At a later stage i'll take a pic of the internals but the pcb is definetely listed.

I noticed in the "Synthesizer, sampler and music related section" there is no reference to the cheetah cpc mini interface for the cpc 464 to connect to a mk5 cheetah controller keyboard.

I have a decent boxed complete example with an unboxed cheetah MK5v keyboard.
 

[nocash]

> ok ive put a decent photo up on the link
Which link? Ah, found it, the tinypic.com one. Great! Many thanks! I've cropped it a little, added it on the keyboard page, and marked it as super-rare photo. No joke there. I swear, it's a very-very rare picture. Thanks again!

> Please feel free to take anything worthy to update the site.
The disc drive pictures could be interesting. There has been a disc drive gallery somewhere around? Are there many revisions? Being more interested in digital electronics, I've never wasted a thought on that.

> At a later stage i'll take a pic of the internals but the pcb is definetely listed.
If the size of the PCB isn't listed, can you check that, too?

> there is no reference to the cheetah cpc mini interface for the
> cpc 464 to connect to a mk5 cheetah controller keyboard.
Sounds very crappy & interesting :-) do you have a scanned manual & software as tape/disc image, so one could rev-engineer how it worked?
EDIT: It's a piano-keyboard (not an external numeric keypad or so)? then maybe it isn't crappy at all.

[yoshi.doshi]

 

I've cropped it a little, added it on the keyboard page, and marked it as super-rare photo. No joke there. I swear, it's a very-very rare picture. Thanks again!

HOnestly glad to help.. Its daft there wasn't. HOpefully the earlier 6128 version photos will appear. I noticed there is only one pic of  a uk 464 manual as well. I have 4 variations of that.

.


do you have a scanned manual & software as tape/disc image, so one could rev-engineer how it worked?

Ok i will make pdf of manual + take some pics of things this weekend. As for the "mini" software not able to do that. I can of course copy it onto 3"" disk and send to you for this purpose  if you'd want to do that??

I do think the software and interface is maybe cheetah specific though as i tested it through the midi out on a korg micro x and it did nothing!!

Re: drive build variations i remember where they were now. Bit of a mix ie pics of pcw and cpc

http://www.pcwking1.netfirms.com/helpage18.html#belt

Ive seen 4 of the variations myself in 6128's/ddi's . There maybe lots more??





   

[nocash]

> HOpefully the earlier 6128 version photos will appear.
Probably not. I didn't even try to add a "No Picture Exists" placeholder on the page. The other lowres 6128 picture from bilgysaralim (or so) showed one with new logo, too. The english 6128 with old logo must be so incredibly rare that the collectors won't even expose it sunlight or flashlight to take a picture!

> there is only one pic of  a uk 464 manual as well. I have 4 variations of that.
Cool, should be fine on the http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/User_Manual page. Best upload it yourself (you need another account than in the forum, then click Upload File, found in the frame menu, left side of screen, very easy) (say something if you don't figure out how to insert a link to it in the wiki page after uploading).

NB. guess that page should be rearranged a bit: The cover-galleries would be better at the bottom of that page. At the moment it's uncomfortable to use. And confusing - showing a pic of french 6128 manual and offering a download for GX4000 manual underneath of it!

> I can of course copy it onto 3"" disk and send to you for this purpose
Bit oldfashioned compared to cable transfer :-) but yes, would be fine.

[nocash]

What to do with the mainboard sizes (the red ???x???mm stuff) on the http://cpcwiki.eu/index.php/Mainboard_Versions ? At least the sizes of the 664 (biggest) and custdown-464 (smallest) boards should be sorts of interesting. Doesn't anybody have that boards at home?

If not. Some trickery would be possible. The 464 v1/v2, and the 6128 v1/v2 are having the same size, 95% sure. So if there's no better info available, I could re-used the v2 sizes for the v1 boards. Seems to be the best (only) solution...?

For the other boards. One could calculate them. If the size of the CPU is known, and the board is N times more pixels than the CPU... The maths are simple, but it's easy to get some mistakes in there, so at least somebody should verify the result.

[Devilmarkus]

Quick question:
Don't you have any CPCs @ home?

I will measure my 6128, 464 and 664 tomorrow.

[nocash]

What do think where the already measured values are from?
Don't have too many different models though, so help on other boards would be fine!

> I will measure my 6128, 464 and 664 tomorrow.
Yipieh!

[Devilmarkus]

What do think where the already measured values are from?
Don't have too many different models though, so help on other boards would be fine!

You could calculate the size:
take 1 photo,
check size of expansion port, recalculate image size and you have the sizes.

Expansion port has always the same width.

[nocash]

Well, that is about the same method as I suggested, isn't it?

[Devilmarkus]

Humm almost.
You wanted to measure CPU size.
Expansion port is a bit larger.
As you like. The result should be accurate.
You could check that with your existing hardware.

[nocash]

Yes, I know that. The CPU was an example. Full procedure would be longer: Use biggest known thing (expansion port, obviously) where possible, gx4000 has none, on kcc & aleste it has another (known) sizes, recurse that, then you may not want to trust the aspect ratio of the pics, and thus don't want to use expansion port in vertical direction, and you definetely won't use perspective distorted photos, only scans. And so on and so on.

The maths are basic, but in practice it's a bit more complicated, and couple of things could get wrong. I really wouldn't want to go through that procedure, or only if 1-2 people do the same for double-checking the results. Measuring the real board should be ways easier and more fail-proof. Asides: Then I wouldn't have any further work since I already measured everything I have :-) on the other hand... if somebody donates a GX4000 or CPC Plus - I'd gladly measure it's size; and do some more serious research along with it :-)

[robcfg]

In the case of my scanned pictures, as we know they are at 300dpi, you can just do your math.


Some of them are slightly distorted because I had to scan it in two parts, but still results should be accurate enough.

[nocash]

> In the case of my scanned pictures, as we know they
> are at 300dpi, you can just do your math.
Good point. With other scans I've no clue if they were scanned at 300dpi, or even if so, somebody might have resized them before upload :-/

> Some of them are slightly distorted because
> I had to scan it in two parts
Ooops, I forgot about that problem.

Hmmmm, what accuracy could one expect then? It may end up as
  "Size: Probably something between 112x73 or 115x75 mm"
though maybe the accuracy is better, and varies only by +/- 0.1mm.

Currently, everybody tends to prefer doing the maths solution?
Anybody (who?) wants to verify & help doing that?

[Devilmarkus]

I added measurements for CPC-464 boards.
(These which I also provided a photo)

[Gryzor]

Hmmmm, what accuracy could one expect then? It may end up as
  "Size: Probably something between 112x73 or 115x75 mm"
though maybe the accuracy is better, and varies only by +/- 0.1mm.

If you can, please do take some measurements yourself. If not, I'll take some next week from my CPC if I find the time.

In the meanwhile, and until exact measurements are provided something like "~YYYxZZZ" is good enough, and please don't take this any further. The irony is not appreciated.

[nocash]

No irony. I really-really-really (honestly) don't know how accurate the results would be.
I guess one could calculate that, too :-) Well, yes, that's been said with some irony in it.

EDIT: Just read the message again. And you are right, I DID had some irony in mind when writing it. I was totally puzzled when markus (being the accuracy fanatic here) favoured the calculation method, which seemed more inaccurate to me.
To be fair: I also tried to UNDO my own irony by suggesting that I may have been wrong: in fact, 300dpi could be BETTER than measuring boards by hand.

---

I would very much prefer measuring the real boards, too. Last 3-5 times I asked if somebody could help doing that, there wasn't too much response :-( except 2-3 people did measure there boards, thanks again :-)  More measures would be very welcome!