exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

@stephen_usher I've managed to contact Charles and he's happy to sell me one direct, which is great news.

In the meantime I'll get the dodgy sockets replaced.

ZX81 now has new sockets for the ULA and Z80, still doesn't work, at least now my vLA81 is ordered from New Zealand and will be posted out Monday. Keyboard is also replaced and I'm determined it'll live again!

65XE now has a fully functioning Ultimate 1MB flashed with the latest firmware. VBXE is installed, but as yet I haven't got a picture out of it. I have a test harness set up, but I do wonder if something wasn't quite right as the LED would flash on and off on powering on, and since the firmware update to the U1MB,it's actually staying on. Too late to test last night, so will do that today. Need to get a handle on it as I need to fit the VBXL to my 800XL, so need to get it right.

Interestingly the VBXE/XL conversion uses a 13 pin socket like the ST, though it does need a specific SCARTcable for the 1088XEL,but they are easy to get a hold of.

My birthday present from my wife should be here today, an OSSC, which is cool, I've wanted one for a while :)

Need to revisit the Geaseweazel too,as I still don't have that working :(

That and the Mac Classic which is VERY poorly still.

And on the subject of caps, I hear the original Xbox is plagued with problems, so that may need to be added to the list. I'd better check it over at the very least.

Trust me to pick the one 13 pin DIN socket that DOESN'T work for one pin.......

VBXE saga continues.....

Woo hoo!! VBXE is working lovely, different socket works fine and the SCART wiring says to pick off SYNC from composite on the old monitor port, but that is incorrect, needs to come from pin15 of the CD4050.

I'll get some pictures later, very happy as I have to do the same on my 800XL, at least I know what's what now.

Pics please. :D I've been tempted to try some of the video offerings. So many options, so little time and money......

@atari030 As requested:

The completed machine:


Overview of installation:


Ultimate 1MB in situ:


VBXE in situ:


13 pin DIN video socket in place of modulator. As it happens the modulator was already dead and removed ages ago:


Modulator hole resized for 13pin DIN socket:


As it goes they are both relatively easy upgrades to do, but do require some soldering/de-soldering skill to get done. I did need to buy a 1088XEL video cable from Coolnovelties, but I could have built my own if I'd had the time.

I also have a SIDE 3 cart I'm trying to get my head round, because most of the documentation seems to be a bit out of date, and SIDE 3 is only just released.

Next up is getting the VBXL installed, but at least even though it is slightly different from the XE install I can learn from all my previous mistakes.

The other thing I bought from Lotharek was a couple of new PSUs. They are great and now each machine has a new PSU, not a shared 30+ year old brick.

I DIY'd some USB cables and did it that way, just have to make sure you use decent PSU's, 2a+.

That looks very cunning. My 130XE has a 320XE (512k) ECI card, Sdrive max and SIO2PC. I use that and a Svideo cable to a 19" NEC TV. Its pretty good. SIDE is something I have wanted to get for a while. That and SIO2USB so I can retire the serial port.

atari030 wrote: 19 Oct 2020 23:29 I DIY'd some USB cables and did it that way, just have to make sure you use decent PSU's, 2a+.

That looks very cunning. My 130XE has a 320XE (512k) ECI card, Sdrive max and SIO2PC. I use that and a Svideo cable to a 19" NEC TV. Its pretty good. SIDE is something I have wanted to get for a while. That and SIO2USB so I can retire the serial port.

I was running the XE with SVIDEO to a 19" tv, but the XL didn't work so well, hence why I chose to go for VBXE/XL as one cable works for all and the picture is rock steady. I kind of wished I'd gone for Sophia for the DVI output, should have done some more reading, but I'm sure I'll figure it out, plus I have just got an OSSC with SCART in so I can use with HDMI. I just have a lot of spare VGA displays so it would be nice to connect to those.

I do have a Serial2SIO from AtariMax, but that is getting retired, though I may resurrect it when we move and I have more space.

Woo hoo my vLA81 is on the way :) Hopefully I can get my ZX81 revived soon :)

rubber_jonnie wrote: 21 Oct 2020 11:22 Woo hoo my vLA81 is on the way :) Hopefully I can get my ZX81 revived soon :)

:cheer: :dualthumbup: