Sales and gerbers

[danboid]

How many H5 boards (all revisions) were sold?

Would you consider open sourcing the gerbers etc exxos?

Thanks

[Steve]

viewtopic.php?p=113951#p113951

[danboid]

Thanks Steve!

I'd already read that post. I wondered if it was the final word and it seems like it is.

That's a shame but at least those who want a DIY Atari ST compatible can build the Raven.

[JezC]

There's a chance that some forum members might have a small number of the boards in a non-built/unfinished state, so if you were just after one (or maybe two) then asking about the availability might be an option?

If it's a much more significant number then maybe the total number would be enough to trigger a new build?

[Steve]

Thanks Steve!

I'd already read that post. I wondered if it was the final word and it seems like it is.

That's a shame but at least those who want a DIY Atari ST compatible can build the Raven.

Not quite, there's the ST ATX that anyone can build. Also a lot more compatible than a Raven, and cheaper.

[sporniket]

And for adventurous people, I remade the STe (no guarantee at all that it works) and the first ST (the one without integrated floppy drive)

[danboid]

And for adventurous people, I remade the STe (no guarantee at all that it works) and the first ST (the one without integrated floppy drive)

It looks like you finished your STe remake over three years ago. Have you not attempted to build one? I presume no-one has if you haven't?

How many custom chips does the STe require that can only be cannibalised from dead STes? Are there not working FPGA replacements for these chips yet?

You also link to your 65k colours video mod for the ST. Was any software (like an image viewer) ever written to use that?

[sporniket]

For the STe, it was essentially a byproduct of "having a printable and readable schematics". I am working on a remake but it is a really off/on project.

The specific chip is the "GST MCU", preferrably with internal blitter, otherwise you will need one blitter too. The MCU is a SMD chip in a qfp package, so not easy to solder. But I guess that I could do it now. The GST MCU with internal blitter is still easy and cheap to find on the bay.

For the sound système, I have no idea for the mixing chip (forgot it's name, use "microwire" link (kind of a predecessor of I2C))

The rest is same as previous STF.


For the rgb565, the last Time I asked about it from @mrbombermillzy it was working as intended. Using neochrome master to load a STe picture should work.

Personnally, I plan to build the ST motherboard that I finished this summer in order to finally test the rgb565 myself, but that won't happen before around octobre 2025 at best.

[danboid]

For the STe, it was essentially a byproduct of "having a printable and readable schematics". I am working on a remake but it is a really off/on project.

Does "working on a remake" mean you have started building one of your open source STe's? How far into it are you? Or does that mean you have started over with the KiCAD drawing?

I think both the Raven and a STe would be beyond my soldering skills right now but its something to aspire to.

[exxos]

I just want to interject slightly here..

Aside from the monumental amount of time and money (which generally ends up costing thousands) it would take to create a new batch, with prices of parts being still generally higher than before, the prices of the boards could may well be a lot higher than that was originally. With difficulty shipping ports to China plus the postage and import costs.. Originally it is pretty much send something to China as long as the value was over like $100 they didn't care, but now they want everything itemised will proof! It basically has become ridiculous now. I was basically sending $20 worth of parts, which cost 3c that for postage, then faking the documents for $100 value just so it didn't get stuck in customs.. Now they gone worse... I do plan on sending some ports to China though this involves multiple projects which also increases the time..

There is also the problems of @JezC H5 which are unsolved. I'm somewhat reluctant to do a new batch if there is something fundamentally wrong somewhere. I don't see what because I have been using the H5 is a daily driver for a long time and never had such issues. Though he built two boars and have exactly the same problem which is a little bit too coincidental for my liking.. Though is the only one that has reported those issues thus-far.

Also with the development of the FPGA stuff, I may need to do some tweaks or add some headers here or there to make things easier to upgrade to the FPGA chipset. Though that project could easily be in the terms of years away yet.

Plus things like the packaging and boxes were all custom made.. Then there's the whole storage of the stuff.. Every step of the way isn't simple.

The quickest simplest solution is "birdseed boards", but like I said before, half the people could not even solder the SIMM socket without ending up with various problems. So people having to solder different things again like the DAC IC a lot of people struggled with...

I have also considered uploading the Gerbers to a fab house, so people can just buy them from the a fab house directly. Though that would only likely be a PCB only thing, maybe some birdseed could be done. They become a distributor and deal with the shipping.. However what I was doing was compacting the boards as small as possible to get the absolute cheapest prices with shipping.. These other companies would package them in large boxes and would likely go by courier we are talking a lot higher expense particularly overseas shipping and likely high import taxes and the rest of it.. It goes back to someone buying the board for something like £50 then ends up paying £100+ in shipping and taxes. So don't really see its worth the hassle setting it all up to be honest.

Don't get me wrong I would love to do another batch of H5, just is not a great time to me at the moment to start dealing with another mammoth project. If someone wanted to buy 50 blank PCBs and sell them, I could probably do that tomorrow, assuming the said persons well known & trusted and would not screw me over after receiving the goods that is.. Possible even birdseed boards could be done in a few weeks time. Though would really need a USA way distributor. I could maybe deal with a small number UK way.. Though nobody has ever wanted to be a distributor (well maybe 1 person like 20 years ago) but who has a few £1,000 lay around and time to deal with all the shipping etc anyway... As I said a lot of times before it is not really cost-effective to produce a batch less than 30 because of all the "overhead costs". The boards are large and heavy, which doesn't help with shipping costs either.

Anyway, its why this thread was started viewtopic.php?f=89&t=6655