600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

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rubber_jonnie
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600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by rubber_jonnie »

So I decided to test out the SIO port on my 600XL in the more traditional way of loading a game from cassette, since I don't have a SuperSalt loopback tester.

To avoid unnecessary clutter I pulled out the XC12 cassette deck since like the C64, it's powered entirely from the computer and no additional PSUs are needed.

IMG_20220311_130220.jpg
IMG_20220311_130220.jpg (256.41 KiB) Viewed 1832 times

Plugged it in, hit start on the 600XL, but no dice. Tape counter is static and the tape isn't going round, but the motor is running. See if you can spot why here:

IMG_20220311_130156.jpg
IMG_20220311_130156.jpg (228.43 KiB) Viewed 1832 times

So, bad belts, both the main drive and the counter drive:

IMG_20220311_130512.jpg
IMG_20220311_130512.jpg (260.53 KiB) Viewed 1832 times

Neither looks in good shape, very hard and inflexible, so time to find some replacements and give the whole thing a bit of a refurb in the process.

I've heard you can revive them by boiling in water, but I doubt replacements will cost much so I'll just get new.
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: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by stephen_usher »

You know, other than the external case, it looks very similar to the Commodore drive, including the shape of the piano keys and the location of the tape counter and LED.

I wonder if it uses the same mechanism.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
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Re: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 1:34 pm You know, other than the external case, it looks very similar to the Commodore drive, including the shape of the piano keys and the location of the tape counter and LED.

I wonder if it uses the same mechanism.
Yes, I've seen the drive you're talking about, though mine is the nicely rounded Commodore C2N.

I have also seen it as a standard cassette deck for use with computers like the Spectrum etc, I seem to recall it may have been badged Alba.

I wouldn't be surprised if it used the same mechanism, just a different controller board.
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: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2022 1:34 pm You know, other than the external case, it looks very similar to the Commodore drive, including the shape of the piano keys and the location of the tape counter and LED.

I wonder if it uses the same mechanism.
Found one that looks pretty similar:

Screenshot 2022-03-11 at 13.49.12.png
Screenshot 2022-03-11 at 13.49.12.png (1.61 MiB) Viewed 1816 times

Picture isn't great, but it looks bloody close.
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: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well, distractions with the PokeyMax problems meant I didn't get to wrap up with this.

I got a couple of bags of belts as I'm sure the 1010s have bad belts too, and also probably the Ferguson tape deck I recently got:

IMG_20220314_131028.jpg
IMG_20220314_131028.jpg (206.15 KiB) Viewed 1724 times

Counter belt comes straight off the main drive, so is easy to replace:

IMG_20220314_125104.jpg
IMG_20220314_125104.jpg (301.68 KiB) Viewed 1724 times

But the main drive belt requires some disassembly due to the metal plate over the main flywheel:

IMG_20220314_125055.jpg
IMG_20220314_125055.jpg (307.83 KiB) Viewed 1724 times

But I made a mistake here, which some of the more observant of you may have spotted. There is another black pulley, above and to the left of the flywheel. i managed to not loop the drive belt round that, and it's kind of important as without it there is no drive, other than to the capstan!!

Once I resolved my own silly error, the last part was to clean the heads, capstan and pinch wheel then reassemble, with a clean of the case.

Next I need to test, though it'll never really be a main method of storage as it's terrible slow and rather unreliable. In the end they were bundled with the computers, this one came with my 65XE bought at Dixons towards the end of the 8 bit era for the princely sum of £79.95. By that time I already had a 1050 disk drive, so it didn't get much, if any use.

I must confess that at the time, I thought the 65XE offered something new over my 800XL other than snazzy new design, though it turned out not as the enhanced cartridge port never saw any add ons that I recall. Somehow I managed to keep both the 65XE and the XC12 for the duration, so somewhere between 30 and 35 years.
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: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by derkom »

rubber_jonnie wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:56 am I must confess that at the time, I thought the 65XE offered something new over my 800XL other than snazzy new design, though it turned out not as the enhanced cartridge port never saw any add ons that I recall.
I recall once seeing in a school computer lab a "LAN" type system that networked a bunch of Atari 8-bits to one stack of floppy drives and one printer. This system actually did use that extended cartridge port, and it actually worked, although students sometimes had to "wait in line" for a long time to get to use the floppy drive. That's the only use I've ever seen in the wild.
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Re: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by rubber_jonnie »

derkom wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:18 am
rubber_jonnie wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:56 am I must confess that at the time, I thought the 65XE offered something new over my 800XL other than snazzy new design, though it turned out not as the enhanced cartridge port never saw any add ons that I recall.
I recall once seeing in a school computer lab a "LAN" type system that networked a bunch of Atari 8-bits to one stack of floppy drives and one printer. This system actually did use that extended cartridge port, and it actually worked, although students sometimes had to "wait in line" for a long time to get to use the floppy drive. That's the only use I've ever seen in the wild.
That's interesting, do you have any recollection of the name?
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: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by derkom »

rubber_jonnie wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:05 pm That's interesting, do you have any recollection of the name?
I was worried someone would ask. :lol: I did some poking around and think it was possibly/probably a CSS Multiplexer, although judging from the documentation, the ECI port was probably used for a hard disk and/or parallel connection rather than the LAN itself. I suspect now that that ECI was used for a Black Box. I remember being very surprised to see the ECI in use, and indeed it was only on the master computer (a 130XE), so that matches what this kind of setup would look like.
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Re: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by rubber_jonnie »

derkom wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:30 pm
rubber_jonnie wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:05 pm That's interesting, do you have any recollection of the name?
I was worried someone would ask. :lol: I did some poking around and think it was possibly/probably a CSS Multiplexer, although judging from the documentation, the ECI port was probably used for a hard disk and/or parallel connection rather than the LAN itself. I suspect now that that ECI was used for a Black Box. I remember being very surprised to see the ECI in use, and indeed it was only on the master computer (a 130XE), so that matches what this kind of setup would look like.
Cool, thanks I'll go take a look.
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: 600XL Side project - XC12 cassette deck refurb

Post by rubber_jonnie »

derkom wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:30 pm
rubber_jonnie wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:05 pm That's interesting, do you have any recollection of the name?
I was worried someone would ask. :lol: I did some poking around and think it was possibly/probably a CSS Multiplexer, although judging from the documentation, the ECI port was probably used for a hard disk and/or parallel connection rather than the LAN itself. I suspect now that that ECI was used for a Black Box. I remember being very surprised to see the ECI in use, and indeed it was only on the master computer (a 130XE), so that matches what this kind of setup would look like.
Both pretty cool devices, I do recall the Black Box from magazine articles, but the Multiplexer is a new one on me. I think I need to go on an image hunt, see what I can find.
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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