H8 front panel choices

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John Evans

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Sep 14, 2023, 5:48:41 PM9/14/23
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Greetings,

   I have Les' plug n play board set but my empty chassis needs a front panel.

  I have a bare board from the old H8-2000 board set and some parts but I am wondering if Norberto's v2 front panel board might be more suitable.

  Any recommendations ?

Thanks - john - n0hj

smb...@gmail.com

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Sep 14, 2023, 6:14:52 PM9/14/23
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Interesting, I thought the H8-2000 Front Panel and Norberto's Front Panel were the same, but I can see that https://sebhc.github.io/sebhc/pcbs/H8-2000_Construction.html is different. It might just be that one is revision 1.1 and the other is revision 1.2.

Norberto's 1.2 front panel is very nice. It has the ability to add some extra status LEDs (which I've never wired up) and the ability to add an onboard oscillator (which I'm not sure if I use or not, but would be useful for installing oddball CPU boards). Then of course the MX keyswitches are much nicer than the factory board.

Scott

norberto.collado koyado.com

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Sep 14, 2023, 6:35:40 PM9/14/23
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Go with the new v2 front panel because of the added features + keypad backlighting. Also, I did add some improvements to the board layout. 

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Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 3:14:52 PM
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Subject: [sebhc] Re: H8 front panel choices
 
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Les Bird

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Sep 14, 2023, 7:28:25 PM9/14/23
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I've been silently updating and simplifying my old designs. Last month I took my V1.1 front panel and made some small changes to it to make it super easy to install.

One of the worst parts about the front panels is that you have to construct a cable to plug it into the backplane. It's kind of a pain in the ass to do that because you have to crimp pins to the cable ends and plug them into a housing and plug that into the backplane. Not much fun. So I got rid of that and switched to using flex cables instead. Here's a photo of the new V1.2R1 2023 version backplane which was built on top of my original V1.1 design.

H8-FP-FRONT.jpg

Back view showing the connections to the backplane. Basically you plug one end of the flex cable into the connector on the front panel and the other end goes to an adapter that plugs into the backplane. Super easy and no way to mess it up.

H8-FP-BACK.jpg

If you're interested in this new front panel just let me know and I can send a PCB your way for the cost of shipping. It doesn't do the backlighting though so if you want that you'll need to use Norby's V2 front panel.

I also have some of the old H8-2000 V1.3 backplanes if you need one of those too.

Simplifying the designs of my cards is all part of a new kit I'm working on called the "H8 PLUG-N-PLAY OPEN AIR KIT". Basically it will be a complete H8 kit minus the chassis which will look something like this (this is the kit that I sent to Craig):

H8-OPEN-AIR.jpg

No timeframe for this kit yet though as I'm still working out the logistics.

Les

rw...@robhome.com

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Sep 14, 2023, 7:32:13 PM9/14/23
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Wow!

That cable plan is a huge improvement! It would be nice to incorporate that into all of the front panels. Imagine the troubleshooting that would be eliminated by this design.

Rob Waggoner
________________________________
From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Les Bird <lesb...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 6:28:25 PM
To: sebhc Google Group <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: H8 front panel choices

I've been silently updating and simplifying my old designs. Last month I took my V1.1 front panel and made some small changes to it to make it super easy to install.

One of the worst parts about the front panels is that you have to construct a cable to plug it into the backplane. It's kind of a pain in the ass to do that because you have to crimp pins to the cable ends and plug them into a housing and plug that into the backplane. Not much fun. So I got rid of that and switched to using flex cables instead. Here's a photo of the new V1.2R1 2023 version backplane which was built on top of my original V1.1 design.

[H8-FP-FRONT.jpg]

Back view showing the connections to the backplane. Basically you plug one end of the flex cable into the connector on the front panel and the other end goes to an adapter that plugs into the backplane. Super easy and no way to mess it up.

[H8-FP-BACK.jpg]

If you're interested in this new front panel just let me know and I can send a PCB your way for the cost of shipping. It doesn't do the backlighting though so if you want that you'll need to use Norby's V2 front panel.

I also have some of the old H8-2000 V1.3 backplanes if you need one of those too.

Simplifying the designs of my cards is all part of a new kit I'm working on called the "H8 PLUG-N-PLAY OPEN AIR KIT". Basically it will be a complete H8 kit minus the chassis which will look something like this (this is the kit that I sent to Craig):

[H8-OPEN-AIR.jpg]

No timeframe for this kit yet though as I'm still working out the logistics.

Les


On Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 4:35:40 PM UTC-6 Norby wrote:
Go with the new v2 front panel because of the added features + keypad backlighting. Also, I did add some improvements to the board layout.

Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>
________________________________
From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of smb...@gmail.com <smb...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 3:14:52 PM
To: SEBHC <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [sebhc] Re: H8 front panel choices

Interesting, I thought the H8-2000 Front Panel and Norberto's Front Panel were the same, but I can see that https://sebhc.github.io/sebhc/pcbs/H8-2000_Construction.html is different. It might just be that one is revision 1.1 and the other is revision 1.2.

Norberto's 1.2 front panel is very nice. It has the ability to add some extra status LEDs (which I've never wired up) and the ability to add an onboard oscillator (which I'm not sure if I use or not, but would be useful for installing oddball CPU boards). Then of course the MX keyswitches are much nicer than the factory board.

Scott

On Thursday, 14 September 2023 at 14:48:41 UTC-7 n0hj wrote:
Greetings,

I have Les' plug n play board set but my empty chassis needs a front panel.

I have a bare board from the old H8-2000 board set and some parts but I am wondering if Norberto's v2 front panel board might be more suitable.

Any recommendations ?

Thanks - john - n0hj

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H8-OPEN-AIR.jpg
H8-FP-BACK.jpg
H8-FP-FRONT.jpg

Joseph Travis

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Sep 14, 2023, 7:56:54 PM9/14/23
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Hey Les,

Have you done anything special regarding the 02 clock on the front panel?  I have a few different CPU boards I use in my H8 test bed and have to switch where I'm getting the (2 MHz) 02 clock depending on the CPU board.  On a "standard" 2 MHz CPU board, I'm using pin 22 on the bus but when I run the H8-Z80-64 CPU/GIDE board with the H8 Speed Mod, I have 2 MHz from the Speed Mod going to pin 24 on the bus and use a slide switch mounted to the back of the front panel (see photo) to select which source to use.

It may be nice to have a similar option (e.g. a jumper selection) if you're making updates to the front panel board.

BR,
Joe




20230914_195222.jpg

Les Bird

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Sep 14, 2023, 8:43:03 PM9/14/23
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Oh, that's cool Joe. No, I have not added any kind of clock selection to the updated front panel but if I make another update I'll add a jumper for that.

Les


norberto.collado koyado.com

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Sep 15, 2023, 1:21:47 AM9/15/23
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Les,

 

How I can the two cables and the board to test on the V2 front panel?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Norberto

 

From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Les Bird
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 4:28 PM
To: SEBHC <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: H8 front panel choices

 

I've been silently updating and simplifying my old designs. Last month I took my V1.1 front panel and made some small changes to it to make it super easy to install.

 

One of the worst parts about the front panels is that you have to construct a cable to plug it into the backplane. It's kind of a pain in the ass to do that because you have to crimp pins to the cable ends and plug them into a housing and plug that into the backplane. Not much fun. So I got rid of that and switched to using flex cables instead. Here's a photo of the new V1.2R1 2023 version backplane which was built on top of my original V1.1 design.

 

 

Back view showing the connections to the backplane. Basically you plug one end of the flex cable into the connector on the front panel and the other end goes to an adapter that plugs into the backplane. Super easy and no way to mess it up.

 

If you're interested in this new front panel just let me know and I can send a PCB your way for the cost of shipping. It doesn't do the backlighting though so if you want that you'll need to use Norby's V2 front panel.

 

I also have some of the old H8-2000 V1.3 backplanes if you need one of those too.

 

Simplifying the designs of my cards is all part of a new kit I'm working on called the "H8 PLUG-N-PLAY OPEN AIR KIT". Basically it will be a complete H8 kit minus the chassis which will look something like this (this is the kit that I sent to Craig):

 

glenn.f...@gmail.com

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Sep 15, 2023, 7:14:07 AM9/15/23
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Great work Les.

 

It’s been quite a year for “board” productivity in the H8/H89 space. We now have many members churning out boards at a pretty fast clip. Scott Baker probably takes the prize here but also work from Les Bird, Norberto Collado, Terry Smedley, Joe Travis and others have made for quite a bountiful crop!  It’s been hard to keep up, and right now, except for the ones Norberto has handed off to Todd, it’s up to individual users to reach out to the board creators to see if they have spares or to get hold of Gerber files to make more.  Still pretty amazing!

 

  • Glenn

 

 

From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Les Bird

Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 7:28 PM
To: SEBHC <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: H8 front panel choices

 

I've been silently updating and simplifying my old designs. Last month I took my V1.1 front panel and made some small changes to it to make it super easy to install.

 

One of the worst parts about the front panels is that you have to construct a cable to plug it into the backplane. It's kind of a pain in the ass to do that because you have to crimp pins to the cable ends and plug them into a housing and plug that into the backplane. Not much fun. So I got rid of that and switched to using flex cables instead. Here's a photo of the new V1.2R1 2023 version backplane which was built on top of my original V1.1 design.

 

 

Back view showing the connections to the backplane. Basically you plug one end of the flex cable into the connector on the front panel and the other end goes to an adapter that plugs into the backplane. Super easy and no way to mess it up.

 

If you're interested in this new front panel just let me know and I can send a PCB your way for the cost of shipping. It doesn't do the backlighting though so if you want that you'll need to use Norby's V2 front panel.

 

I also have some of the old H8-2000 V1.3 backplanes if you need one of those too.

 

Simplifying the designs of my cards is all part of a new kit I'm working on called the "H8 PLUG-N-PLAY OPEN AIR KIT". Basically it will be a complete H8 kit minus the chassis which will look something like this (this is the kit that I sent to Craig):

 

image001.jpg
image002.jpg
image003.jpg

Les Bird

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Sep 15, 2023, 8:56:11 AM9/15/23
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Norby, I updated the Wiki with all the details including Gerbers and links to the connector and cables:

I can send you a couple of the adapters, cables and connectors though. No problem.

Glenn, yes since basically January of this year I've been doing nothing but making boards. Thanks to Scott for sharing his PCB fab (JLC PCB) it has greatly simplified the process of making PCBs, both easy to submit new designs and very low cost for iterating on prototypes. I'm actually on PCB design #96 since my first design (H8 FPGA) back on Dec 29, 2022.
PCB96.png

glenn.f...@gmail.com

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Sep 15, 2023, 10:46:45 AM9/15/23
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Yikes. That’s a new design every 2.7 days!

 

From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Les Bird
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 8:56 AM
To: SEBHC <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: H8 front panel choices

 

Norby, I updated the Wiki with all the details including Gerbers and links to the connector and cables:

 

I can send you a couple of the adapters, cables and connectors though. No problem.

 

Glenn, yes since basically January of this year I've been doing nothing but making boards. Thanks to Scott for sharing his PCB fab (JLC PCB) it has greatly simplified the process of making PCBs, both easy to submit new designs and very low cost for iterating on prototypes. I'm actually on PCB design #96 since my first design (H8 FPGA) back on Dec 29, 2022.

image001.png

glenn.f...@gmail.com

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Sep 15, 2023, 10:50:56 AM9/15/23
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Les’ new front panel is cool but Norberto’s V2 may be better if you have any of these needs:

  • Running at high CPU speed (Norberto’s design has the 2Mhz oscillator build into the board)
  • Experimenting with sound/music from front panel (board has jumpers to run early H8 music software)
  • Showing CPU speed via leds (board has LEDs to show CPU speed via System Support board)
  • LED backlighting on the keypad

 

If you build Norberto’s V2 board ignore the built in speaker – you need to use the original Heath one or compatible (not an 8 ohm one).

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