SE/30 Powercache adapter?

[APE]

I had the above drop into my lap recently. It is clearly a Daystar Digital Universal Powercache P33 fitted with a FPU and 68030 running at 40mhz. What I was hoping is if someone could confirm my suspicion that the adapter board attached is for the SE/30. I have absolutely no way to test it as the only 68k Mac I have is locked in a Duo Dock Plus (no key either).

I appreciate any help I can get with this thing, documentation is very sparse.

 

[Mk.558]

How many pins are on the card?

A SE has a 96 pin expansion slot, the SE/30 has a 120 pin, although pin count is not a reliable measure of what it is.

 

[tt]

Looks like the SE/30 adapter based on comparison with the the manual's photo. It would be cool if you could post higher res images of the front and back and it would also help with further identification. BTW, nice find. :b&w:

 

[APE]

My sole SD card compatible with my camera is elsewhere unfortunately. The camera on my phone took the above.

It also has 3 rows of 40 pins for a total of 120. I have absolutely no way to test this thing and will probably be putting it up on eBay. I'd offer it here but I find it in poor taste to join a forum to hawk goods so quickly - plus I actually have a strong interest in 68k Apple wares.

 

[tt]

I don't think it's in poor taste... there's an active trading post here and people would actually appreciate it.

The pin count makes it fairly certain it is for an SE/30. It would probably work in a IIsi as well, but the connector for the accelerator is going the wrong direction. I'm guessing they designed the adapter to work with either machine (see the missing connector area for an additional PDS slot that would not work in an SE/30 due to space limitations), but then later decided to make one just for the IIsi since it was a more popular upgrade for that machine.

 

[spiceyokooko]

I would say that was almost certainly the SE/30 adapter board. I'm not even sure DayStar made that particular PowerCache to fit an SE, the installation manual I have covers the Mac SE/30, LC, LC II, II, IIx, IIcx, IIsi and IIci, and they all need adapters apart from the IIci where it goes straight into the PDS slot.

It looks exactly the same as the SE/30 adapter board as shown in the DayStar Universal PowerCache Installation manual. I have the 50 Mhz version, but am looking for an adapter board for a Mac IIx - so I can test it! Sadly, the only machine I have that would take the PowerCache without an adapter isn't working - Mac IIci, so I can't test it.

A very nice find nonetheless, as these are becoming quite rare to find now.

Cheers!

 

[APE]

I'd be willing to part with both separately but I don't know how much they're worth beyond a handful of threads here about it, not many on what this particular adapter runs.

Unless I can find a concrete number I'll eBay it and let it be known where to find it.

 

[IamSpartacus]

Regarding its worth-

You're the first person I know of that has one of these genuine Daystar SE/30 adapters. That doesn't necessarily make it valuable though, the availability of japanese adapters with an extra PDS pass-through slot (which yours lacks) puts a ceiling on its worth. I'd wager it would sell for ~$100 on ebay.

Hard to say though, auctions can be unpredictable.

 

[tt]

Agreed... Being an SE/30 enthusiast, I see it as more of a historical curiosity due to the presence of the more functional Artmix TwinSpark adapter. I would rather get the TwinSpark adapter over the DayStar one due to the extra PDS pass-through for ethernet or video.

APE, I hope you are able to take some higher-res photos or a board scan before you sell it so we have a record of it.

Here's an example of boards that have been posted in the past: http://www.applefritter.com/taxonomy/term/122,116

 

[Bunsen]

A good quality scan of both sides would be a great gift to the community, such that any doubts you have about "hawking your wares" would be rendered moot, IMHO

A candling or X-ray would be even better. Candling: shining a bright light through the depopulated board, such that inner trace layers are revealed. Which reminds me, I should modify one of my scanners to enable this...

Should that be impossible, a manual buzz and documentation of connections between the two PDS sockets (three, if you count the unpopulated one), and the IC sockets, would also be quite wonderful.

The utmost gift would be the above, plus identification and analysis of the ICs onboard. If they prove to be ROMs, a dump of their contents.

Of course, all of the above is merely suggestion, and I acknowledge the amount of work involved. Should you choose to offer it at fair price to someone else here to undertake this effort, that would also be grand.

I was under the impression myself that the SE/30 adapter would be somewhat more complex. The apparent simplicity (bar those two ICs) is most encouraging.

 

[APE]

Finally got some high resolution photos here:

Unresized scans:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/7316874112_6efd540116_k.jpg - underside

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7077/7316874656_6e5525e0ed_k.jpg - topside

Best I can do with the scanner I have on hand. Friend of mine has a really nice, really expensive DSLR that I'm sure would do a better job. This sucker is for sale if anyone is interested; still untested but I'd accept a return+refund if it didn't work.

 

[APE]

The adapter has been sold but the accelerator card has yet to be.

 

[Bunsen]

Thanks, APE. Added a copy of your post to the Peripherals Links Project.