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Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Blogs & guides and tales of woo by forum members.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

HigashiJun wrote: Tue Oct 27, 2026 11:24 am Nice !

You have a crystal clear screen now.
There are still some graphical glitches here and there, but text is very sharp and I think the graphical glitches may well be related to programming tricks.

Either way they are not sufficient for me to be too worried about them.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PhilC wrote: Tue Oct 27, 2026 11:36 am I'm going to have to get some more Pi Zeros then.
The Pi Zero v1.3 I ordered is due to be delivered today, Let me test how that performs as I expect it'll be less power hungry and if good enough as @alexh mentioned then it may be a cheaper way of doing it over the Pi Zero 2/2w.

I'll report back on it later.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

@PhilC

So the Pi Zero v1.3 arrived and power consumption is vastly improved over the 4B:

With the 4B and running the RGB2HDMI and FDD controller & Gotek with the game 'The Abyss':

PXL_20261027_120138037.jpg
PXL_20261027_120138037.jpg (246.75 KiB) Viewed 37 times

And with the Pi Zero v1.3 running the RGB2HDMI and FDD controller & Gotek with the game 'The Abyss':

PXL_20261027_132121936.jpg
PXL_20261027_132121936.jpg (226.6 KiB) Viewed 37 times

Thats considerably closer to how it was running without the RGB2HDMI and the FDD board before.

So a 300Ma saving. Not only that but the image quality on the program loader where it is colour cycling was a bit fizzy at times has also improved, so it seems the Pi Zero v1.3 is more than up to the job.

I've lost track of how many Pi's I've got through lately, but it's a fair few.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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PhilC
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by PhilC »

@rubber_jonnie thanks, will be getting a couple of Pi Zeros I think and will likely do the Lynx and the Enterprise when I get some RGB2HDMI pcbs ordered.
If it ain't broke, test it to Destruction.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PhilC wrote: Tue Oct 27, 2026 4:33 pm @rubber_jonnie thanks, will be getting a couple of Pi Zeros I think and will likely do the Lynx and the Enterprise when I get some RGB2HDMI pcbs ordered.
Definitely worth doing :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

So doing some testing and this machine has blown our TR2 yet again...

It's a BC337 and is used in this circuit:

Screenshot 2026-10-30 at 10.52.32.png
Screenshot 2026-10-30 at 10.52.32.png (341.05 KiB) Viewed 6 times

It looks to be part of a feedback system for the 12V circuit, though I'm not 100% on that, but my question is what is driving it so hard in that circuit that it blows?

TR3 perhaps? Could TR2 be staying on too long? Ultimate I'm assuming it is driving the voltage beyond the 9v mains input so that the 7812 can drive the 12 rail.

Any ideas would be most welcome!
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Posts: 15524
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
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Re: Another Egyptian Enterprise 64

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Where magic smoke comes from...

PXL_20261030_134033994.jpg
PXL_20261030_134033994.jpg (110.57 KiB) Not viewed yet
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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