Plus 4 power socket replacement
The Questarian
could be used as a straight replacement for the square +4 socket. Is
that right?
ramswell
Theoretically yes, however I would advise using a 128 socket instead
as it would:
A) Fit better
and
B) Look smoother
Charles> 8-Bit Designs
rber...@value.net
> I seem to remember someone saying that the round 64 style power socket
> could be used as a straight replacement for the square +4 socket.
Yes, that has been done in our club.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Dragos
3. Probably the best way to fix the problem of the four pin square DIN
connector on
the Plus/4 is to replace it with a standard 7 pin DIN, as is used on
the C64. Then, a
standard C64 supply will plug right in. Since some versions of the
Plus/4 already have
the 7 pin DIN socket, I examined my four pin version and discovered
that the board will
accept either type of connector with no modifications. If you have an
old dead C64
motherboard, you can rob the power connector from it. If not, those 7
pin DIN right
angle sockets are still available from several sources. One that I
know of is:
http://www.digikey.com. There are several Digikey part numbers
(because of different
vendors) that you can use to order the 7 pin DIN 270 degree sockets:
CP-2370ND,
275-1021-ND, CP-7070ND, and 275-1026-ND. Each costs about US $1.50.
la...@portcommodore.com
Yes. I've done it and still have a working Plus/4 with it. The real
challenge is trying to desolder the 64 connector from the MB. I think
I ended up using the video connector (as per Ray Carlson's notes) as
it also fits (I plugged up the center hole with glue/paper to avoid
confusion).
Larry
bilherd
use the C64 supplies only to find out that it had been "mysteriously"
switched to a square connector overseas.
Just to make sure we failed FCC, they switched it to a square connector
with a plastic shell instead of metal which was used to ground the shields
and reduce emissions.
Bil
<rber...@value.net> wrote in message
news:abe935fa-8896-4a43...@e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
rber...@value.net
> Should work seeing as how I specified a standard round connector so we could
> use the C64 supplies only to find out that it had been "mysteriously"
> switched to a square connector overseas.
>
> Just to make sure we failed FCC, they switched it to a square connector
> with a plastic shell instead of metal which was used to ground the shields
> and reduce emissions.
Thanks for that information. Interesting to know what happened
in the
production process.
bilherd
production, it occurred right as some employees had left to join Atari and
strangely enough some still worked at CBM. They won the connector war as I
controlled the PCB but ultimately they controlled the plastic housing
design and manufacture.
One day we looked at the original drawing of the 264 case only to find that
a non-documented (no revision letter issued) change to the case material
specification had occurred, you could see it had been erased (remember
pencil drawings?) and a flamful plastic had been specified in place of the
flame-retarded one. I was amused. Of course we had a room full of the
Commodore Japan personnel check every drawing and then check them again a
couple of weeks later.
Bil
<rber...@value.net> wrote in message
news:4ea8ecfc-8521-42c2...@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
Andrew Wiskow
> Actually it was the sabotage process after engineering but before true
> production, it occurred right as some employees had left to join Atari and
> strangely enough some still worked at CBM. They won the connector war as I
> controlled the PCB but ultimately they controlled the plastic housing
> design and manufacture.
>
Very interesting... Is the story the same with the non-standard
joystick and cassette connectors?
-Andrew
bilherd
reason and from the very beginning of the concept. If you can find a
picture of the very compact 116,
http://www.von-bassewitz.de/uz/oldcomputers/c116/ a small 16kb computer that
looks like the Timex Spectrum, THAT is what the TED series of computers was
supposed to be. If you look at that little case it is completely bounded by
connectors, they literally set the minimum size and vice versa.
The real sabotage of the TED series of computers (Plus4/264/364/116/C16/232)
wasn't from without but from within. TED was designed to cost between $49
and $79 and be a good value with some sound, 121 colors, basically superior
color management, but without game sprites. The lead off application was
Magic Desk by John Fegans now out of CBM Texas or one of those states (also
wrote the kernal for C64/Vic20 and wrote the compiler we all used)
After Jack Tramiel left, management didn't know what to do with the TED
concept, so they turned it into a clone of the C64 in price and size, they
literally would stand in line and each walk over and piss on the product
thereby marking their territory and causing the computer to bloat in size,
cost and complexity. Marketing/CorpSoftware won the contest when they put
that horrible Plus4 software in there and jacked the price into the $300
range. I must admit I added $1.12 to the design myself when I snuck a 6551
UART in there instead of relying on software UART code, without knowing or
caring about what Marketing was going to do to the computer it seemed like
the right thing to do.
16k is like a thumbnail or small image on the Internet today.
BTW, the case design of the C116 and the guy who picked out the DIN
connectors was a guy named Ira Velinski. He worked out of the Commodore
Japan office under Sam Tramiel and was very dedicated to his craft. He
later designed the case of the Atari ST series and had previously done the
DEC Rainbow. I was very saddened when I just found out at the California
anniversary gig that Ira had passed away 10 years ago at the age of 45. Ira
was a friend in spite of the fact we had occasional minor differences of
opinions, (I once broke a $40k joystick prototype to prove a point) and a
talented designer. I learned a fair amount of Japanese from him though he
would occasionally slip in words that got me into trouble.
Bil Herd
"Andrew Wiskow" <wis...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:4866ad1d-8d8f-4d37...@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
hg
<Bil Herd> wrote in message news:CbKdne2y5uyLdOva...@comcast.com...
> No actually they (condensed jstick and data connectors) were done for a reason and from the very beginning of the concept. If you
> can find a picture of the very compact 116, http://www.von-bassewitz.de/uz/oldcomputers/c116/ a small 16kb computer that looks
> like the Timex Spectrum, THAT is what the TED series of computers was supposed to be. If you look at that little case it is
> completely bounded by connectors, they literally set the minimum size and vice versa.
>
> The real sabotage of the TED series of computers (Plus4/264/364/116/C16/232) wasn't from without but from within. TED was
> designed to cost between $49 and $79 and be a good value with some sound, 121 colors, basically superior color management, but
> without game sprites. The lead off application was Magic Desk by John Fegans now out of CBM Texas or one of those states (also
> wrote the kernal for C64/Vic20 and wrote the compiler we all used)
>
> After Jack Tramiel left, management didn't know what to do with the TED concept, so they turned it into a clone of the C64 in
> price and size, they literally would stand in line and each walk over and piss on the product thereby marking their territory and
> causing the computer to bloat in size, cost and complexity. Marketing/CorpSoftware won the contest when they put that horrible
> Plus4 software in there and jacked the price into the $300 range. I must admit I added $1.12 to the design myself when I snuck a
> 6551 UART in there instead of relying on software UART code, without knowing or caring about what Marketing was going to do to the
> computer it seemed like the right thing to do.
>
> 16k is like a thumbnail or small image on the Internet today.
>
> BTW, the case design of the C116 and the guy who picked out the DIN connectors was a guy named Ira Velinski. He worked out of the
> Commodore Japan office under Sam Tramiel and was very dedicated to his craft. He later designed the case of the Atari ST series
> and had previously done the DEC Rainbow. I was very saddened when I just found out at the California anniversary gig that Ira had
> passed away 10 years ago at the age of 45. Ira was a friend in spite of the fact we had occasional minor differences of
> opinions, (I once broke a $40k joystick prototype to prove a point) and a
That must have been *some* joystick. 40 grand - sounds more like an airliner's yoke control than a game controller.
dspiteri
> The real sabotage of the TED series of computers (Plus4/264/364/116/C16/232)
> wasn't from without but from within. TED was designed to cost between $49
> and $79 and be a good value with some sound, 121 colors, basically superior
> color management, but without game sprites. The lead off application was
> Magic Desk by John Fegans now out of CBM Texas or one of those states (also
> wrote the kernal for C64/Vic20 and wrote the compiler we all used)
They would have sold too if released in time and at that price. I
bought my c16 for AUD$100 when they were clearing them out. It came
with datasette, a cool bag and some software, they sold out pretty
quick. At the time (1985) the c64 was AUD$400ish and many people still
couldn't afford one, my parents were rightly concerned about that much
money after spending AUD$300 on a VIC20 a couple of years earlier. The
c16 was an excellent upgrade to the VIC20, better than and cheaper
than buying VICMON, Programmer's Aid, Super expander and 16K.
I'm glad the c16 form factor came out because I did like the keyboard,
it was a useful word processor with Script-Plus in the back,
especially considering how easy it was to upgrade to 64k (which I
did). Although there were some excellent games available, the system's
monitor, powerful basic and clean architecture provided me with many
hours of entertainment.
If I'd bought a c64 at the time I think I would have just played
games. I didn't get one until 1990, and played a lot of games...
> After Jack Tramiel left, management didn't know what to do with the TED
> concept, so they turned it into a clone of the C64 in price and size, they
> literally would stand in line and each walk over and piss on the product
> thereby marking their territory and causing the computer to bloat in size,
> cost and complexity.
My thoughts are it wouldn't have been released had Jack stayed. During
the timeframe of the TED's commissioning, it wasn't clear if the c64
would succeed in the UK against the Spectrum which was dominant until
the end of 1984. But the c64 did sell strong through 1984 and became
dominant after that. Jack is definitely a master of reading the
market. Regardless, the TED could definitely been a contender in the
UK market if released at the low price and at the correct time.
Jim Brain
> Should work seeing as how I specified a standard round connector so we could
> use the C64 supplies only to find out that it had been "mysteriously"
> switched to a square connector overseas.
The 264 in my collection has said connector. It seems *SO* strange to
swap a connector like that, as:
It means another part to stock.
I can't imagine there was a cost difference
It means double the stock on poser supplies
I could see it is there was a mod to the PSU, but as I recall, there was
not. It was the same PSU, just different connector.
Jim
Jim Brain
> "they
> literally would stand in line and each walk over and piss on the product
> thereby marking their territory and causing the computer to bloat in size,
> cost and complexity."
stunning metaphor. I knew Bil was witty, but this is an instant classic.
Jim
DanSolo
It's not a metaphor. He quite clearly says "literally" so they were
actually pissing on the computers.
That clears that up.