exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Personally I wouldn't worry about the PCB cost and would much rather a full length card without mouse bites for the A2000 that doesn't flop around or need bodges to stay in place. PCB manufacturing costs are coming down all the time.

I think structural support is super important and there will be more problems with people not using proper support and over time the card leans in the slot (because you know, chunky bling heatsinks) causing slot/contact issues.

Mounting holes on the unused space for a 2.5in IDE hard drive would be nice.

A500 users have other options. If you left the spare space free of copper then checkmate users can use a hacksaw to cut it down to size. But if you are thinking A500/checkmate then don't you still have all the support issues you were hoping to avoid?

But that's just me?...

dalek wrote: 14 Jul 2022 12:26 Personally I wouldn't worry about the PCB cost and would much rather a full length card without mouse bites for the A2000 that doesn't flop around or need bodges to stay in place. PCB manufacturing costs are coming down all the time.

I think structural support is super important and there will be more problems with people not using proper support and over time the card leans in the slot (because you know, chunky bling heatsinks) causing slot/contact issues.

Mounting holes on the unused space for a 2.5in IDE hard drive would be nice.

A500 users have other options. If you left the spare space free of copper then checkmate users can use a hacksaw to cut it down to size. But if you are thinking A500/checkmate then don't you still have all the support issues you were hoping to avoid?

But that's just me?...

Absolutely will not make a "full length card". But extending the card to the front panel is on the table for discussion.

Remember there are no supports in the CD32 riser and there arent many issues there that i'm aware of. And it runs at 4x the data rate.

No matter what i do I will get nagged about an A500 version so i might as well bake one card that could be used in all situations.

But also no matter what i do people will whinge and complain.

Ok... i've been thinking about this and alot of the comments i'm getting on this card.

The TF2040 is NOT a way to make your A2000 into an A3000/A4000. I'm not interested in making that upgrade. The A3000/A4000 are vastly superior machines with stunning performance.

The TF2040 is a covid-fever induced distraction aimed at using up some cheap 040s on one of the most terrible computers in the Amiga range (IMHO.. and i include the A600 in this assessment). One that given its routed would be rude of me not to try and build.

I know there have been a lot of people waiting for a card like this and this *nearly* fits what you want but i'm not the dude that adds features and one of my pet hates is trying to turn a retro computer into something it is not. Look at my record. I keep it to the absolutely bare bones. I almost didnt put the IDE interface on this accelerator but i gave in because if figured there isnt an alternative on the machine and it would be a bit mean of me not to.

Really all i want to be is a cheaper alternative to Jens/Warp etc. I'm the low cost airline of Amiga accelerators. No frills. I'm sure there will be an ACA2060 in the future that will have all these extras that people are asking for. If you really want that then just wait for that.

terriblefire wrote: 14 Jul 2022 21:22 Ok... i've been thinking about this and alot of the comments i'm getting on this card.

The TF2040 is NOT a way to make your A2000 into an A3000/A4000. I'm not interested in making that upgrade. The A3000/A4000 are vastly superior machines with stunning performance.

The TF2040 is a covid-fever induced distraction aimed at using up some cheap 040s on one of the most terrible computers in the Amiga range (IMHO.. and i include the A600 in this assessment). One that given its routed would be rude of me not to try and build.

......

Totally agree :thumbup:, and exactly why most of my own Amiga's sport a TF card. They are economical, easy to build and provide good speed and memory enhancements.
My own experience using a few different short form cards in the A2000 (one of them being short form GVP SCSI/memory card which carried some lopsided weight because of the memory) has been no connection issues at all.

terriblefire wrote: 14 Jul 2022 11:43 Yeah the missing part to the front plate is only 25mm on the current card. <....> I think the mouse bites and a break off tab (or two) would be the best option that wouldnt leave me with multiple versions of the card....

That would be cheapest and easiest solution!
040 runs quite hot, we know that, some kind of cooling is needed - no doubt, that will add weight, so it would be nice just to plug the card and enjoy speed boost instead of thinkering with 3D Printing...
It wouldn't add much cost also, 2 - 4$ only, so I'm with both thumbs up for that :)

Thank-you Stephen.

The A2000 is underserved. This will do nicely.

One way to offer structural support to the card while installed and not having to increase the size of the PCB, is to have some holes in the PCB, as it is now, and then people can 3D-print some supporting bracket, probably in multiple pieces fastened together, that reach to the front guide rails of the Amiga 2000 case, and to the back of the case.

XLV2K wrote: 14 Aug 2022 23:32 One way to offer structural support to the card while installed and not having to increase the size of the PCB, is to have some holes in the PCB, as it is now, and then people can 3D-print some supporting bracket, probably in multiple pieces fastened together, that reach to the front guide rails of the Amiga 2000 case, and to the back of the case.

Yes this solution has already been discussed here.

i am really looking forward to this card :)

Chrissy wrote: 28 Sep 2022 16:43 i am really looking forward to this card :)

As things stand i'm not sure i plan to finish this. I say this to encourage anyone else with something else like this in the works to keep going.

Its entirely due to the cost of living crisis. I just dont have the time or money to add another card to the list.