New a1200, how are the caps looking?

[Steve]

Hey guys,

As you know I'm an Atari man - but I recently snagged an a1200 for a bargain. Very much looking forward to learning about this machine.
Anyways, it's all working great. I decided to just open it up to check for leaky caps etc, but they look pristine:









I'm not familiar with Amiga re-cap kits, I don't think this has been re-capped. I'm impressed with how good everything looks

What do you guys think? Stock factory caps?

Cheers,

Steve

[IngoQ]

Hiya,

yup, these are factory caps. I recommend swapping them in any case, there are a lot kits available for this. Buy from a reputable source, and replace the SMD caps for ceramic ones. When desolderding, take your time, some of these are a bit tricky. I recommend watching some of the youtube instructional videos first.

In addition, check the the caps in the power supply as well, if you want to stick with the original PSU.

[Steve]

I was recommended this guide:

http://wordpress.hertell.nu/?p=464

This guy seems to really know his stuff. I bought exactly the parts he recommended, cost me about 28 quid tho, not cheap parts.

IMG_20190412_202101.jpg (370.54 KiB) Viewed 4856 times

I managed the recap ok, was a bit touch and go though as I almost lost two pads. I'll have to buy some PCB epoxy to make sure they're protected.

As for the PSU, I wanted to recap it but the problem is it stinks really bad of tobacco. I tried washing the case and scrubbing the parts with contact cleaner but it made no difference.

[Steve]

On a side note, luckily this Amiga came with a CF fully installed with hundreds of games. But I've got no idea how to run programs or add new programs, Amiga seems so foreign. There doesn't seem to be executables like on an Atari. So I wouldn't know how to download for instance tracker software and add it to the HDD etc. Do you have any advice? Thx

[Steve]

IngoQ

[IngoQ]

On a side note, luckily this Amiga came with a CF fully installed with hundreds of games. But I've got no idea how to run programs or add new programs, Amiga seems so foreign. There doesn't seem to be executables like on an Atari. So I wouldn't know how to download for instance tracker software and add it to the HDD etc. Do you have any advice? Thx

That's actually quite ease, just copy the folder and execute the binary. Amiga does not use name extensions to identify file types (like .exe or .tos), every file has a header instead, called Hunk. In addition, there are .info - Files (normally hidden), where additional metadata is stored, like the icon for example. You usually recognize the executable file because it has a distinct icon.

[Steve]

Cheers!