- Welcome to CPCWiki forum.
The ultimate Amstrad CPC community!
News:
Printed Amstrad Addict magazine announced, check it out here!
Recent posts
#71
Quote from: orzel on 15:47, 13 August 25It still requires lot of times, requires a lot bigger upfront money investment, and it still is a lot more complicated/expensive to ship.I answered only to your comment that it would be hard to source all components.
I still don't wanna do that, especially with so few potential people interested.
I totally understand that you don't want to spend money upfront.
#72
B
Technical support - Hardware related / Re: Power supply problem?
Last post by Brocky - 17:45, 13 August 25Quote from: angelcaio on 17:34, 13 August 254A power supply is a bit high... remember if anything shorts its going to pull as much amerage as it can... 4A@5v is 20watts...thats alot of heat to dissipate..and will cause chips to burn up if there is a short...Quote from: GUNHED on 13:20, 12 August 25GT64/65 are 40 years old now, they deliver too few power. Try to use more PSUs for expansions. Never get power directly from the 5 V line of the monitor if you can use an extra PSU.My MX4 Version is "without Diodes" and not has power connection:
https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/issue-with-a-mx4-board/msg168022/#msg168022Can I try powering the AMX Mouse separately with a 5V 2A PSU
And should I power the CPC with a 5V 4A power supply instead of the GT65?
the cpc464 itself doesnt need much more than about 800mA, so a 2A supply is plenty enough to drive the CPC and expansions...
im not sure what you mean about a MX4 "without diodes".. mine has none... and it can be powered externally by connecting power to the header and changing a jumper on the MX4..
#73
A
Technical support - Hardware related / Re: Power supply problem?
Last post by angelcaio - 17:34, 13 August 25Quote from: GUNHED on 13:20, 12 August 25GT64/65 are 40 years old now, they deliver too few power. Try to use more PSUs for expansions. Never get power directly from the 5 V line of the monitor if you can use an extra PSU.My MX4 Version is "without Diodes" and not has power connection:
https://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/issue-with-a-mx4-board/msg168022/#msg168022
Can I try powering the AMX Mouse separately with a 5V 2A PSU
And should I power the CPC with a 5V 4A power supply instead of the GT65?
#74
i dont think you even need the ULN2803A... should be able to connect the esp32 directly
this has given me an idea to upgrade my DIY arcade style joystick i built for my CPC, to wireless, by hooking up an esp32 and battery inside it.. and an ESP32 on the cpc side....
and the benefit, i could then use a ESP32 on my PC and use the joystick for things like mame!
this has given me an idea to upgrade my DIY arcade style joystick i built for my CPC, to wireless, by hooking up an esp32 and battery inside it.. and an ESP32 on the cpc side....
and the benefit, i could then use a ESP32 on my PC and use the joystick for things like mame!
#75
R
Technical support - Hardware related / PPC640 External Monitor Sync P...
Last post by Rodders - 16:51, 13 August 25I've recently acquired a PPC640 and I have plans to upgrade the screen and add some form of hard disk storage.
However I've run into a problem.
The built in screen works OK (as OK as it gets) albeit with a line of text near the bottom missing.
However, when I connect to an external monitor, either using an RGBtoHDMI or GBSC (with sync combiner) I get a strange flashing effect.
The screen displays fine for about 1/2 second and then it either goes blank or goes scrambled for 1/2 a second.
I've have attached a video to show this.
I was wondering if anyone had seen this effect before and could give me clue about how to fix it.
I've scoped the Hsync and Vsync lines and they seem OK if a little noisy.
Could it be a power problem due to failing caps?
However I've run into a problem.
The built in screen works OK (as OK as it gets) albeit with a line of text near the bottom missing.
However, when I connect to an external monitor, either using an RGBtoHDMI or GBSC (with sync combiner) I get a strange flashing effect.
The screen displays fine for about 1/2 second and then it either goes blank or goes scrambled for 1/2 a second.
I've have attached a video to show this.
I was wondering if anyone had seen this effect before and could give me clue about how to fix it.
I've scoped the Hsync and Vsync lines and they seem OK if a little noisy.
Could it be a power problem due to failing caps?
#76
Hi Arnold,
Currently I've wired up the two fire buttons. Apparently there's a third (undocumented) FIRE button pin for a mouse or something like that? I didn't bother with that. The joystick port allows connection of 2 joysticks using the COM/COM2 pins, so technically you could connect two controllers to the same ESP for 2 player games etc.
I'm not 100% on the diodes, but the ULN2803A does have internal suppression diodes, so I don't think external are needed. I didn't notice any keyboard noise during use.
Currently I've wired up the two fire buttons. Apparently there's a third (undocumented) FIRE button pin for a mouse or something like that? I didn't bother with that. The joystick port allows connection of 2 joysticks using the COM/COM2 pins, so technically you could connect two controllers to the same ESP for 2 player games etc.
I'm not 100% on the diodes, but the ULN2803A does have internal suppression diodes, so I don't think external are needed. I didn't notice any keyboard noise during use.
#77
Quote from: orzel on 15:47, 13 August 25I've noticed.i could sell you a spare complete board i have, or the one i have without the vga connector (i didnt order enough!)
And ? I don't see your point.
It still requires lot of times, requires a lot bigger upfront money investment, and it still is a lot more complicated/expensive to ship.
I still don't wanna do that, especially with so few potential people interested.
but shipping from australia to france isnt going to be cheap...
i ordered 5x the components (including the picos) from digikey all in one order just over the $60 threshold to qualify for free shipping...
#78
A
Amstrad CPC hardware / Re: CPC464 Wireless Controller...
Last post by arnoldemu - 16:41, 13 August 25How many fire buttons on the amstrad side are supported?
Also does this have the equivalent of diodes to prevent keyboard/joystick clash?
Also does this have the equivalent of diodes to prevent keyboard/joystick clash?
#79
I've noticed.
And ? I don't see your point.
It still requires lot of times, requires a lot bigger upfront money investment, and it still is a lot more complicated/expensive to ship.
I still don't wanna do that, especially with so few potential people interested.
And ? I don't see your point.
It still requires lot of times, requires a lot bigger upfront money investment, and it still is a lot more complicated/expensive to ship.
I still don't wanna do that, especially with so few potential people interested.
#80
Hi All,
Just wanted to share a little something I put together last night. I'm sure it's been done by others many times before. I've been struggling to find a gamepad for my 464. I unscrewed a few of the aftermarket "Mega Drive" style pads, but they contained chips for the rapid-fire etc., meaning rewiring them internally wasn't as straightforward as I'd hoped. After digging through some boxes, I grabbed an EPS32 and a ULN2803A, and knocked together a very crude bluetooth host/joystick interface. Surprisingly (considering my soldering skills) it worked flawlessly the first time and I can now use my Xbox controller (or any other Bluetooth controller) with my 464!
You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.
This weekend I might try to make a PCB/boxed version and see if I can power it from the +5v of the joystick port. Also, because there's plenty of spare buttons not in use on the controller, I'm going to try and implement rapid-fire, macros etc. in the ESP code. Should keep me busy for a few days.
I used the BluePad32 library on the ESP32...
https://github.com/ricardoquesada/bluepad32
Just wanted to share a little something I put together last night. I'm sure it's been done by others many times before. I've been struggling to find a gamepad for my 464. I unscrewed a few of the aftermarket "Mega Drive" style pads, but they contained chips for the rapid-fire etc., meaning rewiring them internally wasn't as straightforward as I'd hoped. After digging through some boxes, I grabbed an EPS32 and a ULN2803A, and knocked together a very crude bluetooth host/joystick interface. Surprisingly (considering my soldering skills) it worked flawlessly the first time and I can now use my Xbox controller (or any other Bluetooth controller) with my 464!
You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.
This weekend I might try to make a PCB/boxed version and see if I can power it from the +5v of the joystick port. Also, because there's plenty of spare buttons not in use on the controller, I'm going to try and implement rapid-fire, macros etc. in the ESP code. Should keep me busy for a few days.
I used the BluePad32 library on the ESP32...
https://github.com/ricardoquesada/bluepad32