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Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:12 pm
by Sparrowhawk
Dave wrote:You take off the top cover, undo the screw in the middle of the heatsink, pull off the heatsink and 7805, plug in the buck regulator, and seal up your QL.

Done!
Sold! :)

Is the Minerva upgrade equally straightforward?

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:14 pm
by Dave
It can, yes, but the microdrives draw relatively little current. If you’re that attached to your microdrives, just wait a little while. I have something interesting in that domain that might change everything :idea:

If you mail me a working microdrives unit, you’ll get a surprise in the mail worth far more ;)

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:39 am
by Zarchos
Dave wrote:It can, yes, but the microdrives draw relatively little current. If you’re that attached to your microdrives, just wait a little while. I have something interesting in that domain that might change everything :idea:

If you mail me a working microdrives unit, you’ll get a surprise in the mail worth far more ;)
An autograph of Alex Jones ? (I have just read your location).
:mrgreen:

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 11:28 am
by Timbucus
Put me down for a Minerva and Buck regulator! When and if you do get more mini planes made I had been toying with the idea...

Tim

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:44 pm
by Whopper
Dave wrote:If you mail me a working microdrives unit, you’ll get a surprise in the mail worth far more ;)
Dave,

I'm quite content to wait for your announcements, besides, I'm not THAT attached to my microdrives. It was just a thought that I had.

Whopper

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 6:21 pm
by Dave
Timbucus wrote:Put me down for a Minerva and Buck regulator! When and if you do get more mini planes made I had been toying with the idea...

Tim
Tim, next time I put in a PCB order, I will order some more Miniplane PCBs.

Meanwhile, I can supply your needs. I was going to keep one back for myself. If I'm ordering more PCBs, I don't need to.

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 6:30 pm
by Whopper
Dave,

Please can you put me down for a buck and a minerva board & ROM.


Thanks,

Whopper

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:10 pm
by Dave
*grins*

Y'all need to wait until February 14th before making your shopping lists! I have the next announcement on Wednesday 17th :)

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:16 pm
by Whopper
Dave,

As I said, I'm quite prepared to wait. I've had many years of waiting. A few days now won't matter. :D

Whopper

Re: QL 34th Anniversary new hardware.

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:41 pm
by Outsoft
Dave wrote:Hi all, January 11th has arrived, and I am turning 50 today. The QL is turning 34 tomorrow!

So, without further ado, I'd like to announce some hardware. I'll announce one per week, and start easy this week with the big hitters coming over the next two weeks :) Today's items will go on sale on February 14th, to show the love!

Item One:

Q-Buck. A QL buck regulator that is a lot more efficient than the 7805 regulator. It reduces load on the QL PSU by about 40%, and is 96% efficient. We did our own design at first, but in the end I chose the TI reference design as it was much smaller, more efficient and ran cooler than my own design. It can be preset to 12, 9, 5, 3.3, 2.5 or 1.8v or to any custom voltage. Also, it's a bit cheaper. Comes set to 5V, and with a small mounting clip so it's not just flopping around inside your QL. They can be used anywhere a 7805 would have been, in any machine. 2A continuous (3A peak), 0.85v drop out, adjustable range 0.8 - 15V, 550 KHz switch frequency, output short circuit and over current protection, ripple <10mV @ 5v 700mA, max input voltage 24v.

They will go on sale for £5. I have 150+ in stock.

Item Two:

Minerva upgrades. Just your basic Minerva plug in card, all new design. You can request any image be burned onto the ROM, if you supply the image. If you don't specify, you'll get Minerva 1.98 and TKII. They use a standard EPROM and SMD logic.

They will go on sale for £7. I have 300 in stock. I know, I went a little crazy with that PCB order! 50 are assembled and ready to go.

Item Three:

I have four Miniplanes left, for £20 for 2 thru connectors or £25 for three thru connectors. I sent the rest of the PCBs to Paul in Germany some time ago. Call dibbs on one in comments below. There won't be any more once these are gone.

These are just a few small items, but after next week's announcement on January 17th, these will make a lot more sense. :D

No orders until February 14th. This is because I haven't set up a payment system yet, and I'd like people to order everything they'd like in a single order to save on shipping costs. Shipping for any of these items, no matter how big or small the order, is £10 flat fee.

Please ask questions here, or if you'd like to chat privately, please email me at dave@sinclairql.com. Please do not use the PM system here, because it only allows me to keep a limited number of messages. I have had to delete important information to make room, and inadvertently lost customer order details. So, please, email :)

Ok, that was underwhelming. It's all stuff I've talked about or sold before! Well, here's a slightly anonymized sneak peak at next week's announcement.

IMG_1808.jpg

Yeah, a real board! That says QL on it! And has a thru-connector! And no thru-holes so it must be entirely SMD! OMG! WHAT COULD IT BE!?!?

Have a great week! Happy 34th Birthday, Sinclair QL!
I will buy all Dave!!! ;)))))

Happy birthday too and...please advice me when you will produce and...I will be always there ;)