User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sat Jul 20, 2019 2:28 pm

It is almost done...everything works except for some instability in the image produced by the video slot.

Once he is done with his work, everyone with a dead A2000 board due to battery leakage can make a replacement PCB from this guy's github:

Amiga 2000 remake on Github
A2k_black_beta.jpg

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Sat Jul 20, 2019 3:06 pm

I just wish someone would re-do the Phoenixboard in a modern way :) .

User avatar
Bulletdust

Posted Sun Jul 21, 2019 12:53 am

McTrinsic wrote:I just wish someone would re-do the Phoenixboard in a modern way :) .
Wouldn't that be the GBA1000?

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Sun Jul 21, 2019 2:22 am

No, I mean a Phoenixboard with enhancements such as a better signal quality.

Or a buster ;) .

The GBA starts at 030 afair.

User avatar
Bulletdust

Posted Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:35 am

For some reason I always thought the GBA was based on a modern implementation of the Phoenix.

The Phoenix was a great board, but damn was it quirky.

User avatar
grshaw

Posted Mon Jul 22, 2019 5:46 am

This is awesome news. :)

Seems that there are many projects ( including the Rejuventator project from this forum ) that are re-implementing / improving old PCBs from back in the day. So we need to print PCBs...

I'm interested in any experiences that people have had with getting PCBs printed. Sounds like the first step would be to download the file: Amiga2000rev6.2-most-mods-applied.lay6 ( in this case ). Is the .lay6 extension a gerber file? I hear of gerber files quite a lot in this context...

Once you have the file - I guess you need to upload it to a company that can print PCBs. Does anyone have any experience with such companies? For example - which ones are reputable / good value for money? Also - in this context, I guess you would need to find one who could print in small batches or even batches of one? I have heard of PCBWay - but they get mixed reviews on Trust Pilot. Also - being based in UK or US would be preferable for me - depending on cost I guess. Anyone able to provide a ballpark figure of the cost of printing ( for example ) the A2000 motherboard above?

Finally - any gotchas for a first time PCB printer?

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Mon Jul 22, 2019 6:36 am

.lay files are Sprint Layout files. You can use that program (Sprint Layout) to load the .lay file, then have it export the files to gerbers. I haven't looked at the archive's contents, but, is that the only file in it?

Secondly, a PCB of that size is going to be expensive. Especially if you only run one copy of it -- if you can find a board fabrication house that will only do one. Acill (Paul Renzendes) is a member here, and he spearheaded the reproduction of the A4000 board. He has to order 10 of those boards at a time from the US based, quality fab house he uses. The 4000 board is a lot smaller than the 2000, and, his cost on each board in quantity of 10 is almost $70 each board. I would think the 2000's PCB will be well over $100 USD each.

I'd suggest contacting Paul about this, as he has plenty of experience with it.

EDIT TO ADD:

I looked at the archive. The file that is zipped up inside it that has "most mods applied" in the file name is the file containing the Gerbers. You would upload that file to one of the board fabs -- do not unzip it. It has .gbr files inside that have data for the top, bottom, silkscreen, excellon drill data, etc. in it and has to be sent all as one package.

User avatar
BloodyCactus
Lexington VA

Posted Mon Jul 22, 2019 7:09 am

PCB's are often priced by square inch type deals, so this pcb is gonna be expensive. example, when the last GBA1000 board was ran, it needed over 100 orders, to get the price to like $100 or something _per pcb_ and its (from memory) a 2 layer pcb. if this is more than a 2 layer board, it gets even more expensive

User avatar
grshaw

Posted Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:33 am

Thanks obitus1990
I looked at the archive. The file that is zipped up inside it that has "most mods applied" in the file name is the file containing the Gerbers. You would upload that file to one of the board fabs -- do not unzip it. It has .gbr files inside that have data for the top, bottom, silkscreen, excellon drill data, etc. in it and has to be sent all as one package.
Yup - I see that now. Should have looked inside the .zip file :) Good to know that you just upload the whole thing...
Secondly, a PCB of that size is going to be expensive. Especially if you only run one copy of it -- if you can find a board fabrication house that will only do one. Acill (Paul Renzendes) is a member here, and he spearheaded the reproduction of the A4000 board. He has to order 10 of those boards at a time from the US based, quality fab house he uses. The 4000 board is a lot smaller than the 2000, and, his cost on each board in quantity of 10 is almost $70 each board. I would think the 2000's PCB will be well over $100 USD each.
In fact - the final one of that batch of 10 is currently on it's way over the Atlantic to me. :D

Sounds like this project is still in the debugging phase - but I guess when it's complete, we can try and group together to place some orders.

Acill - are you reading this thread? Which board fabrication house did you use for the A4000 replica boards?

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:15 am

Acill's in Spain now working...might not be reading the forum, but, I do know he's been on Facebook today in the Amiga group. I know it's a fabricator that is local to him in California, or, at least a company he works with very closely with his real job.

The board is pretty much done, and 100% functional -- the only thing that has a flaw in it is the video slot, with the video output from it being corrupted in some way. If you aren't using a scan doubler or such that plugs into that particular slot, it's not an issue. :)





Return to “Hardware”