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Recreateing the Apple TechStep
- Thread starter max1zzz
- Start date
I love how sharp and clear these newer displays are, I'm thinking about putting one in some or all of my current TechSteps.I have confirmed modern LCD's with the HD44780 compatible controllers do work fine on the techstep
I thought I had posted that in this thread but I guess not... Must have only mentioned it in PM's with @jajan547
Here is the techstep working with a modern backlit LCD (Which looks much better than the original LCD!)
View attachment 51788
She's looking great!
Thanks
I'm very happy with how it has come out and was certainly not expecting it to boot on the first try!Thanks
Case will probably be something 3d printed but we haven't really decided yet, this may not even be the final form factor as this design was mainly done to be easy to testI have however got the LCD module mounted properly which makes it look much more like a TechStep
Now that's done I can do some proper testing on it
I need to get better at updating these threads....
It basically done
(at least as far as it is going to be taken for now) the clones have been tested and work on everything we have tried them on. Only issue I came across during testing was that the clone was failing to get some macs into test manager mode via SCSI (Macs that used the ADB entry method always worked fine) however all scsi tests would run successfully once the mac had been manually put into test manager mode. After a it of head scratching I remembered a tidbit form the datasheet of the Logic version of the 53C80 (which was the one I was using) that it ran faster internally than the AMD / NCR 53C80's, perhaps this was a timing issue? Swapping the Logic part for a AMD or NCR part fixed this issue proving this was the caseI currently have two clones sitting on my desk that are about 99% complete, just waiting for the display modules to come in
I could possibly make up kits in the future if people are intrested, need to rectify a couple of small issues on the PCB's that currently require some trace cuts and patches first but the next run of PCB's will have these all fixed so would be a good candidate for this
It’s possible but would require a good bit of work and testing to reach a stable usable image. I agree would be very cool to see a 5th. It’s too bad Apple killed it shortly after the color classic and LC520
Update time!
First batch have all sold and a second batch of PCB's are in production
The design has been changed slightly to stiffen up the units when assembled, the port pack and keypad are now one PCB with the LCD screwed into the centre of it, this also has the added advantage of getting rid of the LCD cable which will simplify assembly a little
Additionally DIP footprints have been added for the EEPROM's for storing test results which give us more assembly options if we can find a EEPROM that works here. These will also have a backplate with them (essentially another blank PCB) to protect the bottom of the logicboard from shorting on the unit you are working on and also providing a space a lithium flat cell could be installed in if you don't want the 18650 on the keypad board
Also I have had some interest in kit versions of these, if anyone else is interested in this please let me know.
The kit version will be a little cheaper than the assembled units but please don't expect them to be half price or anything like that as a very large proportion of the cost of these is the parts and not assembly time (I expect kit for to be somewhere around £200 vs £250 for the assembled units however the exact price will depend on the exact BOM cost once I have everything ordered)
First batch have all sold and a second batch of PCB's are in production
The design has been changed slightly to stiffen up the units when assembled, the port pack and keypad are now one PCB with the LCD screwed into the centre of it, this also has the added advantage of getting rid of the LCD cable which will simplify assembly a little
Additionally DIP footprints have been added for the EEPROM's for storing test results which give us more assembly options if we can find a EEPROM that works here. These will also have a backplate with them (essentially another blank PCB) to protect the bottom of the logicboard from shorting on the unit you are working on and also providing a space a lithium flat cell could be installed in if you don't want the 18650 on the keypad board
Also I have had some interest in kit versions of these, if anyone else is interested in this please let me know.
The kit version will be a little cheaper than the assembled units but please don't expect them to be half price or anything like that as a very large proportion of the cost of these is the parts and not assembly time (I expect kit for to be somewhere around £200 vs £250 for the assembled units however the exact price will depend on the exact BOM cost once I have everything ordered)
It’s a work in progress @max1zzz has updated the PCBs and sold the first few prototypes. This is a great tool for testing Vias, sound chips, scsi interface, cpu, and rom status, and even voltage. Works the same as a TechStep normally would except you select which rom variant through DIP switches. there are four ROM that each Cover a range of certain computers.
Thanks guys, that’s exactly what I was looking for. Definitely will look into one.
Thanks
Opening up the designs is something that will be considered in the future but is not something we can do right now
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