Internally wiring a uIEC

[e5frog]

The C64SD is an interesting choice of design and had the tape port also been through put (by soldering a PCB at a 90 degree angle against the main PCB) it would have been an even better solution and completely stackable. The designer shows on the web page that it's possible to stack four of these in a row, he uses external power and actually powers the extra three with a single 9V battery.

[e5frog]

Something like this would be nice:



A 1541-IISD...

[Kweepa]

Where did you find that?
Very cool!

[e5frog]

Well, perhaps it's better not to keep it a secret...

I did some measurements and edited a picture in Paintshop. If you would shrink the size of the 1541-II so that the width of the floppy would fit an SD card instead it would have the measurements divided by about 5.5417...

A floppy is 133mm wide, an SD card is 24mm, so sizes has to be decreased with a factor of 5.5417.

A 1541-II being the size (L x W x H) 244* x 181 x 74 mm the miniature would be about 44.0* x 32,7 x 13,4 mm

( That's 1.732 x 1,287 x 0,539 inches )

*On my model (there are a few different ones) the lever shoots out about 11mm so that's about 2mm in the miniature.

The thickness of the opening however is only 4mm so that would need to be increased three times on the miniature to fit the SD card.

Jim Brains version could fit in it, it may require some modding though, it would be nice making a version in which the Jim Brain version could just be slipped in. Moving the second LED to the correct side would perhaps make it possible for a more authentic look. If the lever was made separately it could perhaps work as the "change disk" button...

So... if someone could CAD it it could be manufactured at http://www.shapeways.com/ perhaps.

I have never CAD:ed or 3D modeled anything before so if I was to do it myself I'd have to learn everything from scratch.


I'd love a miniature 1541-II that reads SD cards though. I can currently not afford the $55 uIEC by Jim Brain anyway so it's just dreams.

The easier way would be to photograph the drive, make a basic shaped case in cernit clay, plastic, wood or something and then print the photos out and glue it on... not as cool as a 3D model but easier perhaps. Like a paper model that has a hard shell under it.

[e5frog]

I made this today and printed on thick photo paper - pretty nice...



Then I was thinking I might print the individual six parts on a printable CD or DVD - cut them out and glue together - that might make a workable case.

I'll give it a shot.

I wish I could figure out a better solution for that thin power wire to the tape port.

Yes, me too. It's the one flaw in the design. I don't like battery power or a separate power supply either. Unless it was a rechargeable battery perhaps?

What if you used one more wire in the IEC-cable, then you could take that out at the DIN connector instead so only one cable would go into the little 1541-box. Instead of connecting it to the tape port perhaps you could use one of those little electronics clamps and put it directly on a component?

[e5frog]

Here's the photo paper version, unfortunately the surface easily cracks when folding the paper.

I'll see if I can get a good print out of the parts on a DVD.

[brain]

Yes, me too. It's the one flaw in the design. I don't like battery power or a separate power supply either. Unless it was a rechargeable battery perhaps?

What do you think about this ?
http://c64sd.roxer.com/



It uses the same SD2IEC firmware with a different layout that without power supply and serial cables works on Vic-20, C64 end C64-C, for other commodore machines it requires an external 5v/9v power supply and the serial cable of course.

Hmm, I wonder what price premium all of that extra work commands. While I agree the PSU wire is non optimal, hitting a price point was somewhat important.

That device also does not look to work with a C128/C128D. It seems like there would be better ways to skin the cat, so to speak.

Still, it shows the power of open source. Each market segment can decide on a preferred set of products.

Jim

[e5frog]

Yes, the C64sd is probably just meant for the C64 or C64G, it works on the C64C as well but it's a little taller there than just looking over the edge.

I'm hoping we will see a IEC-SD stick? Using a microSD - that would be neat. I saw the shadowolf version somewhere, slap an IEC-connector in one end and a plastic tube around the whole PCB, it would probably not have to be much thicker than a regular connector, perhaps it would be possible to place button cell batteries in it as well - to be used unless external power is present.

[nbla000]

I've a uIEC3, a SD2IEC and a C64-SD, I've used all of them with my CBM machines Vic-20, C64 e C64C, and all works great.

Each unit has a specific characteristic, the uIEC3 is very good for machine/box inclusion, the SD2IEC+daughter-board has an external dip-switch to set on fly the drive number and 2 female serial plug (like original CBM drives), the C64-SD does not requires a power supply for the Vic-20/C64 and C64-C.

So you choose

[rmelick]

I'm under the keyboard and over the joystick port.




If I did it again I'd pull it back in slightly, drill two holes into the top of the case, and re-route the light upward using some fiber-optic (hard plastic) things I recycled out of some junk gadgets. The LED covers pictured above are actually recycled "power" and "pc/activity" labels off of an old junk cable modem. A ribbon cable redirects the serial back into the case in a rather low-profile manner.