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RWAP

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  1. RWAP
    When I last investigated the keyboard membrane position, we arranged for new ones to be made for the A500 and A600 machines. It was decided that it was not worth getting any made for the A1200 as AmigaKit still had new old stock keyboards for less than it would cost to make a membrane. Have AmigaKit now run out of stock? If so, how much interest would there be in getting membranes for the A1200? I also need confirmation as to how many different A1200 keyboard membrane types there are (and are there different ones for Australia for example) - I believe they all use the same membrane, but who knows! Maybe people could list the part number they have by way of comparison.
  2. RWAP
    I don't know if EvilDoctor has any of these left, but I have now got some more of these and listed them for sale on sellmyretro - http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/Atari-2600-BetaGamma-Computing-2600VEC-Video-Encoder-Kit-11876 £16 plus postage
  3. RWAP
    You could also consider replacing the cable altogether and install a video encoder module, to provide composite video - http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/Atari-2600-BetaGamma-Computing-2600VEC-Video-Encoder-Kit-11876
  4. RWAP
    Yes - this has been mentioned before - but I don't quite see how it could fit in an Intellivison 1 controller. Someone would need to send me a suitable controller where the membrane fits into a connector
  5. RWAP
    Unless there are enough people to warrant getting 250 made - which is then £11 a set. Of course, the issue with buying defective units is that you take a chance as to whether the controllers work or will last. I have had the same problem when making membranes for the Amiga community - a lot of people seem to think it is better to buy an untested keyboard for £10 and cross their fingers that the membrane will work than buy a brand new membrane for £20 - quite a few have now realised that this is only a very short term solution even if the keyboard does appear to work !
  6. RWAP
    I have now received a quote for the Intellivision 1 controller parts (I still need an Intellivision III controller to get a price). The membrane consists of 3 layers - the bubble layer, a thin plastic spacer and the membrane (circuit) layer. Dependent on quantites: If I order 250 off: I could supply the membrane layer for £5 each The bubble layer would be and extra £5 each The spacer layer is an extra £1 If I order 100 off: The membrane layer would be £6 each The bubble layer would be £10 each The spacer layer is an extra £1.50 So, we need to start seeing how much interest there is in this - as obviously it would be better all round to get 250 made if there is enough demand!
  7. RWAP
    I now have a couple of Intellivision 1 controllers - does anyone have an Intellivision III (and probably an Intell II) controller I could borrow?
  8. RWAP
    I realise that for the Atari users in the states, or if you are thinking about placing an order for a number of items, Best Electronics may well seem ok - shipping to Europe however, is a ridiculous figure - I asked about 25 Atari 2600Jr reset switch mylars for example, and was quote $49 with insurance and tracking or $23 if i made payment as a PayPal gift and it would be sent without tracking. If the shipping figures for one keyboard membrane are similar, that makes it one hell of an expensive way to repair a keyboard. For me - if I sent an Atari 2600Jr mylar to the USA, it would be sent as a standard airmail letter rate for £3.80 - a keyboard membrane would go as standard airmail for around £5.50. I don't know how those prices would compare to a US buyer purchasing from Best. In an ideal world, I would reach an agreement to purchase some of the membranes from Best Electronics in bulk, with a discount, so that I could then offer them for sale from the UK - but unfortunately, they were unwilling to offer any sort of bulk discount unless you ordered over $15,000. As it stands, there seems little interest in this - certainly not enough to justify any investment.
  9. RWAP
    I spoke with Best Electronics about maybe purchasing a stock from them for sale within Europe (because of the very high shipping charges they give from the USA) - unfortunately, they would only do so with a very high minimum order, so it would not be worth my while. Others could put together to do a bulk order direct if they wanted - but quoted shipping for one membrane from the USA doubles the cost and they have a minimum paypal order of $50! You also have to beware of exceeding the £30 max for items sent from overseas - so you could incur customs charges (import duties, VAT and a £10 handling fee) which also increases the price
  10. RWAP
    Looking for new project ideas for 2016, I was wondering how much interest there would be in getting some new replacement keyboard membranes (mylars) made for the Mega STe / TT Keyboards, as I understand that this is quite a common failure. One of the main questions has to be whether there is just the one membrane used in these keyboards, or if (as I found out with the Commodore Amiga) there are actually several different types depending on the manufacturer and what mood they were in at the time... There needs to be quite a bit of interest to justify the costs of manufacturing and investment required - based on the membrane being a similar size and complexity as the Amiga membranes, you are talking of a minimum production run of 250 membranes and an end price of around £25-£30.
  11. RWAP
    No update as yet - I have not received any samples of the originals to base replacements on... That said this was always planned as a 2016 project due to the expense involved
  12. RWAP
    If you could donate one of each for copying, that would be great - I have a couple of controllers coming my way, but not sure which versions - so I can compare and then see what options are needed / possible
  13. RWAP
    I am not sure what you mean by a reservations thread - surely people who are interested can just say so on this thread rather than having another separate thread
  14. RWAP
    Yes, the aim is to make the matrices work with the original controller. However, what I was thinking, was that a separate run could be made using similar drawings, but creating a matrix which is suitable for use with the dual action controller... If you can provide a drawing / details, then I can pass it onto the factory to investigate options!
  15. RWAP
    I am considering getting some replacement membranes made for the standard controller - is there anything which could be done at the same time in order to make it easier for people to make a dual action controller?
  16. RWAP
    Getting membranes made is not too much of an issue - but cost is an issue if we are talking about several types - each production run involves about £2000 - £3000 worth of investment, so its pointless investing that much to sell 20 membranes (also my funds are not limitless!)
  17. RWAP
    We are talking about the plastic circuit inside - although I guess that potentially we could look at making a replacement for the keypad top piece / buttons (or maybe even laminating that onto the membrane itself if that would work). Making rubber parts is generally just too expensive because of the tooling required.
  18. RWAP
    If anyone has any ideas as to how the separation of signals could be achieved easily, then we could investigate that as an option. However, I doubt that it is very easy!
  19. RWAP
    Many people will already know me for the range of keyboard membranes I have had produced for Sinclair, Amiga and Amstrad machines. A recent discussion on Facebook suggested that there was a need for replacement membranes for the Intellivision controller, so I thought this would make a good project for 2016. I know someone has already produced a replacement using microswitches, but I think in order to ensure that no modifications are required to the existing controllers, the best solution would be to produce a direct replacement for the membrane. So, the questions are: a) How much interest would there be in this project and at what sort of price point? b) Should the membrane be a flat membrane (as per the Intellivision II controller) or use bubble technology above each key (as per the original). c) Will the same membrane be suitable for all of the original controllers or are there any differences? d) Is there anything else we need to take account of when making the replacements?
  20. RWAP
    After some discussion with Vectrex owners and actually managing to find samples of the MB and GCE controllers, I have now managed to get replacement overlays made for those who need to repair their controller: US (GCE) version: http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/Brand-New-Vectrex-USA-%28GCE%29-Controller-Fascia-~~-Overlay-4053 MB (European) version: http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/Brand-New-Vectrex-European-%28MB%29-Controller-Fascia-~~-Overlay-4051
  21. RWAP
    Blue and Green A600 keyboard membranes are now available - see: http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/%2ABRAND-NEW%2A-Commodore-Amiga-A600-Blue-Keyboard-Membranes-3265 and http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/%2ABRAND-NEW%2A-Commodore-Amiga-A600-Green-Keyboard-Membranes-3264
  22. RWAP
    A500 keyboard membranes are now available - the manufacturer has merged the two single connector types (both by Mitsumi) to create one membrane for both the A500 and the A500+ The membranes are £20 each and can be bought from: http://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/*BRAND-NEW*-Commodore-Amiga-A500-~~-A500%2B-Keyboard-Membranes-2871 We are also asking for pre-orders for the A600 membranes to help fund production - unfortunately, we will still have to supply two variants of these - see: http://www.sellmyretro.com/category/Retro+Computers/Commodore/Amiga/Hardware/General+~~+Add-Ons
  23. RWAP
    Unfortunately, there just does not seem to be enough interest in replacement A600 and A1200 membranes... How much interest would there be in replacement Matsumi A500 keyboard membranes at £20 each? - I would need to order 250 to get that sort of price (!) so this is only tentative at the moment. Would these also fit the A500+ ?
  24. RWAP
    They shouldn't be unless the keyboard layouts are different - position of the keys makes no difference - it is up to the ROM to know which key goes where on the keyboard
  25. RWAP
    Following a discussion with one of the moderators on Amibay.com, it seems that the Amiga A1200 and A600 (in particular) are now suffering badly with failing keyboard membranes. I am interested in maybe arranging a new production run if there is sufficient interest. The main issue has to be the amount of capital investment required - the A1200 has one membrane, and there are two different types for the A600. A minimum production run is 50 units to make it worthwhile, but even then the sale price per membrane would need to be around £25 - produce 250 units and that could drop to around £15 (based on costs of producing Sinclair QL and Spectrum membranes).. So, what interest would there be and in which type of membrane? You may want to add your interest to the poll on Amibay - http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=34587 to help move this forward.
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