Elfacun Module for Mephisto Boards

[Scally]

Hi all,

At the weekend I received my new Elfacun Module for Mephisto Boards, see:

https://elfacun.eu/

& 

https://github.com/inmbolmie/elfacun

One of its many features is that you can connect a RPi & DGT3000 clock or a DGT Pi to the Module and use the Mephisto Board instead of using a DGT Board.

I’ve only used a couple of it’s many features so far which was playing a native MMV module against the MMV mame Version of Picochess. I also connected to Lichess but only to observe, I haven’t played a game yet.

I’ve documented all on the Hiarcs forum here:

https://hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10861&start=15

Scroll down to the bottom of the thread to see my latest post (dated the 3rd of May)

Cheers,

Al.

[Henri]

Looks like a great piece of equipment Al. I have two Mephisto Exclusive boards, so it is very tempting to go after this module.... Can you give me an indication of the price?

On the other hand, I recently bought a DGT Pegasus board, so I already kinda reached my budget. Does anyone know if it is possible to connect the Pegasus board to the DGT Pi?

Henri

Op dinsdag 3 mei 2022 om 11:14:24 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Wilhelm]

Hello Al,

that's great news.

I hope it won't be that long before the module is available for purchase.

Please keep us up to date.

 Wilhelm

[Scally]

Hi Wilhelm,

I swapped over to an Exclusive board and added the provided RFID tags to the pieces. Although not required by Picochess, I kept knocking pieces off their squares when playing a Mephisto Modul on the Modular Board and it then didn’t recognise the replaced pieces, it does now.

Here it is set up for mame on Picochess using your  “Scally Pi” &’the Elfacun Modul ^^^^^

Note a few Mephisto Moduls which I want to try against Picochess running the same Engine.

Cheers,

Al.

[Scally]

Hi Henri,

It cost me 280 euros, I have unit #10 from Pablo’s 2nd batch. He now has more orders than units I believe.

Tomorrow I will have go at your Stockfish 15 survival record of 42 moves using my Scally Pi and the Exclusive Board with the Elfacun Modul …

Cheers,

Al.

[Wilhelm]

Hello Al,

 I too have a Mephisto exclusive, with the Polgar module.

Thank you for your picture.

If it were possible to close the drawer it would be even better. You only need to open the drawer for setting and checking.

Nice that you like your ScallyPi so much. :)

Wilhelm

[Scally]

Hi Wilhelm,

I couldn’t do without my “Scally Pi” with its inbuilt speaker and other useful features. 

The 8bit Polgar Modul is compatible with the Elfacun unit and Picochess, so I played them against each other which ended in a hard fought draw at move 101, game available on request.

The Elfacun is powered by USB, the lead at the top of the unit prevents me closing the drawer, but there’s nowhere else to put it. The Elfacun buttons emulate the DGT Pi, so all you would really need is Raspberry Pi with Picochess. There is also a port for a DGT3000 clock too, all in all, the Elfacun is a really great product.

Cheers,

Al.

[Wilhelm]

Hello Al,

Thanks for your info.

I still have 2 questions regarding the Elfacun module with the Mephisto board and picochess:

When playing against picochess, is it possible to play with swapped colors? So when the white pieces start on the 7th and 8th rows.

Do you think it's possible to install a Raspberry with speakers (for picochess) in an empty module slot and then play against the picochess engines without a clock?

Wilhelm

[Scally]

Hi Wilhelm,

Here’s a link to Pablo’s documentation: https://elfacun.eu

Yes it’s possible to swap the Color’s around and you don’t need a DGT Pi, his Elfacun Buttons emulate the DGT Pi buttons in a similar way that the Revelation II buttons do. However the Rev2 has the lever on the left then the 5 DGT Pi buttons, whereas the Elfacun had the 5 DGT Pi buttons then the lever on the right. I emailed Pablo and he has provided me with an update where the User can chose if they want the lever button on the left or the right. This was provided today so I will test tomorrow as I’ve been out tonight. So you can use a Raspberry pi with speaker attached or attach a DGT 3000 clock to the provided port on his Modul.

I’ll provide a small video tomorrow showing this and the reversed Colors.

Cheers,

Al.

[Scally]

Hi Wilhelm,

Here’s a link to a small handheld video showing how to switch the Colors around using the Elfacun Module on a Mephisto Board with Picochess.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8dbc65xn8zk8z9h/elfacun-colors.mov?dl=0

Pablo’s update has been applied so the Elfacun Buttons now mimic the Revelation II buttons, this is reversible in the settings.txt provided on the SD card with the unit.

Cheers,

Al.

[Scally]

Hi all,

I acquired another board from eBay in Germany that houses all Mephisto Modules plus the Elfacun Module for playing Picochess.

I’d never heard of it before now, it’s the size of the Mephisto Munchen boards and is really nice with lovely pieces.

A few pictures can be seen here:

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/SJW1CwdR/4-D7-D6-E1-B-A480-4151-8150-152039-FE4113.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/FYVq52k8/9979-D0-FE-E05-B-4-B81-A01-F-65-AF3-CA7449-C.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/21rcw29w/F3-D4-E41-B-75-BA-412-E-8-A35-11-CE86-ED1419.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/TLT2TPmr/351-EDED4-2452-406-C-9-D49-43-C999-F314-B4.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/Hr7k2Rd7/6-C5-AFA55-9-AD4-4-D30-9-E5-C-1-AE2-C1-BBE6-AA.jpg[/img]

Cheers,

Al.

[Scally]

Sorry,

I should have said the chess board is an Impos Royal.

Al.

[Henri]

Looks great Al! Problem is, there are so many boards/computers around these days. Can't keep up!

Henri

Op dinsdag 12 juli 2022 om 17:28:40 UTC+2 schreef Scally:

[Scally]

Hi Henri,

I’m trying to keep up …

My Chess Computers: https://rentry.co/ovvn9

Al