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XT-IDE PCBs have arrived!

Hello! Congratulations on this extraordinary project! I am willing to use an XT IDE on my AMSTRAD 1512. I want to ask this: The "built it yourself" kit is only about buying the PCB and other parts and soldering them together or do I have to program the EEPROM? I dont know how to do the last one. Are you planning to release any ready-made cards in the future?
Thank you and please excuse my poor English...
 
Hi! Thanks! Yes, you can get one of the PCBs and build it yourself with parts you have or obtain locally. Programming the EEPROM is easy because you can install a blank one and use the software to program it. You don't need an external EEPROM programmer to build the XT-IDE.

The PCBs are $12 USD each plus $5 shipping outside the US. Please send a PayPal to LYNCHAJ@YAHOO.COM and I'll send your PCB right away!

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
I received the PCB and started collecting the parts... Can I use 74LS245 and 74LS573 instead on F ones? Its hard to find them here
 
Hi! Pretty much any of the TTL compatible 74 logic families will work. LS, F, HCT, ACT, and the other less familiar varieties should all work fine.

Personally, I would avoid mixing true CMOS logic due to some different levels (HC, etc) but even those will most work.

The circuit is fairly low speed so it is not terribly sensitive to critical timing issues.

Please keep us posted with your build! Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
Hi Andrew, i'm interested in two of those pcb, do you still have a few? thanks in advance :)
 
Hi! No, I am out of PCBs although I did order some new ones and they will arrive in mid August.

Please contact me by email and I will set you up!

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
Hi! The new batch of XT-IDE PCBs has arrived and I have plenty of boards. Please contact me at LYNCHAJ@YAHOO.COM if you would like one or more. Everything is the same as it was on last batch.

Thanks and have a nice day!

Andrew Lynch
 
Finally, after many months I get my card completed.

I got the bios eeprom and some resistor networks delivered, then found out I was missing the uf47 35v cap. Doh! So last friday I went and got like 10 of them from jaycar and solder it on. Finished! But, I had to then cut the long legs off the resistors and other caps and couldn't find my cutters. So after an agonising night I get some yesterday (saturday).

Then this morning I stick it in my 486, turn it on, good, no fires, and flash the bios.

I then hooked up the hdd from my 486 (win95/dos), and load it just fine off the xtide card. :) Sure it was a bit slower, but it worked fine. The hdd was a 1gb seagate.

Funniest thing was I added a spare led I had floating around to the board too, I couldn't remember what colour it was, so when it started I got a nice big blue surprise. It was hilarious. Super damn bright too, I could see blue through the other side of the pcb where it was mounted. I then remembered where I got it from. A couple of years ago I got a cheap mouse that has a blue led that lit up the scroll wheel and it annoyed the crud out of me as I hate blue leds so I removed it. But I'm going to keep this one as it's different to a standard red/green and it's a reminder of the modern meeting the "vintage modern". Plus it's just funny as a hdd activity light. Thankfully it's inside the case.

Now I just have to set up another hdd with dos and a bunch of games and it'll be ready for my XT board. :)
 
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