Ho do I connect the CPC 6128 Hardware Floppy Emulator from Pjotr Bugaj?

[Bytebreaker]

Hello,


I am a total hardware noob and don't know how to connect the CPC 6128 Floppy emulator from Pjotr Bugaj.
The DDI 3 emulator fits to the external port of the CPC 464 but the CPC 6128 version does not fit into any port on the backside of the CPC 6128. The ports on the CPC 6128 and on the floppy emulator are both "female".


Another question:
Can I connect one 12v power source to the 5v input of the CPC 6128 and is that enough to feed both cpc and floppy drive? Or do I need to connect a separate 5v and 12v source and connect them to the power inputs on the back side?


Currently, I use a green monitor as power supply and use colour video output on a flat led TV with a special cable.

[robcfg]

A picture of the back side of your 6128 would be appreciated, though I think your 6128 has centronics ports instead of the male edge connector.


If I'm right, you'll need an adapter for that.

[Shaun M. Neary]

If it's an Amstrad CPC6128 model you'll need an edge connector but if it's the German Schneider CPC6128 model then you'll need a centronics connector to attach the floppy cable from the computer to the 3.5" drive / HXC. A lot of cables come with a ABAA switch which works just fine although ABBA would work better but it's not a show stopper as the likes of JLCopy runs just fine from B: as opposed to Discology which throws a fit unless it's run from A: 

[gerald]

Another question:
Can I connect one 12v power source to the 5v input of the CPC 6128 and is that enough to feed both cpc and floppy drive? Or do I need to connect a separate 5v and 12v source and connect them to the power inputs on the back side?.

There are no voltage regulation inside the CPC. 5V input is 5V input. Put 12V on it and you have an ex-parrot ex-CPC.
The 12V is only required for the internal floppy drive.

[Bytebreaker]

Thanks mates!
For God's sake I had an instinct that prevented me from grilling my new cpc 6128. So I did not try that 12 v on 5 v Experiment. What I did though was connecting 5v on 5v with the result that disk drive did not respond ("no disk in drive ") and the blue background color and yellow pen color were not displayed properly over the whole led TV screen. The cpc itself worked fine.


When I connected the green monitor as power source for 12v And 5v with the cpc inputs, I had a perfect color picture on led TV AND a perfectly responding disk drive.


And yes, I have a Schneider with centronics ports so I have to get such an adapter and I guess I have to keep feeding the cpc with both 5v and 12v for perfect colors on flat led TV.

[Bryce]

Thanks mates!
For God's sake I had an instinct that prevented me from grilling my new cpc 6128. So I did not try that 12 v on 5 v Experiment. What I did though was connecting 5v on 5v with the result that disk drive did not respond ("no disk in drive ") and the blue background color and yellow pen color were not displayed properly over the whole led TV screen. The cpc itself worked fine.


When I connected the green monitor as power source for 12v And 5v with the cpc inputs, I had a perfect color picture on led TV AND a perfectly responding disk drive.


And yes, I have a Schneider with centronics ports so I have to get such an adapter and I guess I have to keep feeding the cpc with both 5v and 12v for perfect colors on flat led TV.

It sounds like the first 5V PSU you used either wasn't supplying enough amps or it was a switchmode PSU with a noisy signal.

Bryce.

[Bytebreaker]

@ Bryce


The PSU has got a modulator to turn up or down the voltage. Currently, the setting is between 4 and 6 V, there is no marking on 5V. I can turn it up to 12v max.


Then, there is a big set of connectors I can plug on the PSU cable. There was only one that fits into the CPC, and it does not fit very deep. On the CPC 464, this works good, I have no flaws on the video display when connected to LED TV. With the CPC 6128 it is different, though. I only have a good picture with black/white display in S-VIDEO Scart mode. With normal SCART, I can see everything, but the background colour does only fill parts of the screen and some letters look strange.


So the 5V input from the green monitor simply delivers a better signal. 5V is enough to run a CPC 6128 with hardware floppy emulator. I just need to maybe use a different adapter/connector or a different PSU. Or I have to turn the modulator slightly more towards the 6V marking.


I have already ordered a centronics adapter I found on a webshop. Thanks for your expertise.

[Bryce]

No! Definitely don't increase the voltage towards 6V! It needs more amps (Strom), not more volts (Spannung). Using a variable PSU is generally a bad idea because you don't know exactly how many volts the supply is delivering without testing it. There is zero protection or regulation inside the CPC and some of the chips inside the CPC will be damaged if the voltage goes above 5.25V.
The reason the 464 isn't displaying the problem is because it requires less amps than the 6128.

Bryce.

[Bytebreaker]

Dear Bryce,


thank you Sir, I will no longer put the life of my CPC at stake. 


In real life, I work as a project manager in a software company that also ships hardware to customers. This hardware receives signals from machines and directs them to a software server, where the signals are counted/evaluated. I am just the software project guy who manages the time line and keeps the customer happy, but I could indeed know a little more about hardware electronics than I do. For example, we use "potential free" contacts with galvanic separation (bad english, I don't know any better) to connect our signal recording devices to prouction machines without manipulating voltages and functionality. I never go that deep into hardware topics as it not my direct field of activity.


I will in the next days sit and learn some more electronic basics. To keep my CPC from harm and also my real life customers.

[Bryce]

Knowing a little electronics is never a bad thing. If you have any questions or can't understand something, you can always send me a PM. Despite the random flag in my Avatar, I speak German too

Potential free galvanic separation is actually very close: Potential free, galvanic isolation is the proper english description. Sounds fancy, but usually just means that they put an optical isolator in the signal path

Bryce.