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07-04-2022, 10:07 PM
Hello everyone.
Every time a new product hits the Microbee Technology Online Store we'll post about it here with links direct to the new product and some basic product information / introduction.
10-02-2023, 10:55 AM
Hello All.
For those of you that are familiar with the Dick Smith Super-80 Kit computer, this may be of interest. Microbee Technology has designed 2 different keyboard replacement kits to suit both the original Super-80 kit and the Reproduction (v1) PCB (designed by Malcolm Macleod) So, now available to order in the Microbee Technology Store : Kit A : (For owners of the original Dick Smith Super-80 that has the metal keyboard frame) https://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/st...plate.html This kit is designed to replace all of the original key switches with new 'metal ball & spring mechanism' switches that have a shaft that is compatible with the original Super-80 key caps. Included in this kit : 1 x adapter plate (that fits to the top of the metal keyboard frame) 1 x Keyswitch adapter PCB 60 x key switches, Misc screws / hardware $95.00 Kit B : (For owners of the REPRODUCTION [v1] Super-80 that REQUIRES the metal keyboard frame) https://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/st...frame.html This kit is designed to a full new keyboard with 'metal ball & spring mechanism' switches that have a shaft that is compatible with the original Super-80 key caps. Included in this kit : 1 x Metal key switch frame & associated hardware (space bar mounting) 1 x key switch adapter PCB 60 x key switches, Misc screws / hardware. Note that the new metal key switch frame is designed for a different space bar mounting solution, so a different space bar (from the original) will be required. $155.00 Orders placed in the next couple of days should ship in the first week of March.
10-02-2023, 12:08 PM
Hello All.
A new product is on it's way. It's called the 'MultiFloppy' MultiFloppy is a neatly packaged 3.5" Disk drive for your Microbee (and other systems) that also includes a 'Gotek / FlashFloppy' Floppy drive emulator built in. With the Multifloppy, via the FlashFloppy menu, you can select which drive is in which position (A: to D: ) so that you can Boot from either the Floppy disk drive, or an image on the USB stick. It also includes a 9.5volt power supply output to run your Microbee from. As part of the design, the power supply output only gets enabled after the FlashFloppy software has read the USB Stick and has an image ready to boot - this avoids the Microbee timing out while waiting for a disk image to be ready. More details to come & it is nearly ready for production. Some minor tweaks are needed to both the PCB design & the FlashFloppy software. Stay tuned for availability.
10-02-2023, 01:04 PM
I like that drive, Ewan!
Great idea. I can see it being useful with other "shugart" systems, like my MSX, not just the Microbees. John
John "CheshireNoir" Parker
---- One Dark Little Kitten
10-02-2023, 04:13 PM
I've often thought that the Gotek should be able to be modified to act as 2 floppies simultaneously - mounting 2 different disk images on the same USB as separate drives. Or even a "plus" version with 2 USB ports to mount the images from 2 USB sticks.
10-02-2023, 09:42 PM
Yes, Yes, Yes....Love it.
Questions Are you producing up to three emulated FlashFloppy drives here in addition to the physical drive? Or is it just one Physical drive and one FlashFloppy drive either being configurable to reside in any of the four Shugart drive positions of A-D? Is the physical drive an 80 track DSDD drive? Ernest
11-02-2023, 10:30 AM
(10-02-2023, 04:13 PM)Snuffytime Wrote: I've often thought that the Gotek should be able to be modified to act as 2 floppies simultaneously - mounting 2 different disk images on the same USB as separate drives. Or even a "plus" version with 2 USB ports to mount the images from 2 USB sticks. There is actually a build of FlashFloppy that does 2 drives. Look up the Flashfloppy git repo.
11-02-2023, 10:33 AM
(10-02-2023, 09:42 PM)Ernest Wrote: Yes, Yes, Yes....Love it. Thanks Ernest. 1 Flashfloppy drive & 1 Physical drive, and choose which drive position they reside in. The Physical drive will be (most likely) standard PC High density 3.5" drive. I would have like to buy DSDD drives, but they are not purchasable in any qty.
11-02-2023, 04:43 PM
Thanks Ewan,
I thought for a moment there you may have found the the magic formula to get the FlashFloppy to emulate multiple drives. Even with the High density drives it is a great package for reading in the original floppies and transferring onto a solid state image, which in turn is easy to backup and transfer. Especially for those wanting a turn-key solution for their old system. I have seen a lot of the old disk based Microbee’s being sold in the last couple of years, all without drive systems, so I suspect you will have quite an interest in this new product, especially with the integrated 9.5 Volt supply, making it ideal for these systems. Look forward to it’s final release. Ernest
12-02-2023, 12:34 PM
(11-02-2023, 04:43 PM)Ernest Wrote: I thought for a moment there you may have found the the magic formula to get the FlashFloppy to emulate multiple drives.There is a build of FlashFloppy that supports multiple drives, but it's not mainline, ie: different fork. Once I'm finished the software mods, I'll see if Keir Fraser wants to add the code to the official git release. I've ' #if defined(IS_MULTIFLOPPY) ' all of the mods to the source so it's easy to see what has been changed from the stock build. |
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