VBXE 2

[candle]

it is, but while with vbxe 2 users have 12 slots for cores, vbxe 1.x users have up to 4

 

if something works in "dumb mode" - assuming vbxe presence at certain addresses, then it will work if it worked with 1.20 core

[+rdemming]

refer to XEGS installation guide

You should also remove C24 and C25 caps on VBXE board (bottom side)

 

Hi Candle,

 

I finally got the VBXE board installed. I have the big oscillator and wired Freddie pin 2 to left pad of X1 (The 14MHz in option) but did not yet remove the C24 & C25 caps on the VBXE board. And J6 is left unconnected.

This works only a little bit. When the screen is simple, I got a stable picture, but when the screen is more complicated, it gets distorted. Also when I touch the 14MHz wire to X1, the screen gets distorted. So the 14MHz signal is not stable this way. I suppose it will get better if I remove the C25 and C25 caps.

 

But before I do that, I was wondering if it might be better to remove the big oscillator from the motherboard and put a crystal from an old 800XE on the VBXE board and then connect J6. I think I still have an old 800XE board with those bad Chinese GTIA chips and that somehow is "missing" the Pokey chip

Would feeding 14MHz from VBXE to the XE motherboard be more stable than feeding 14MHz from the XE motherboard to the VBXE?

 

And what if I then leave both the oscillator on the 130XE board and the crystal on the VBXE board without connecting J6. Would that work or is that not working because the two clocks are not synchronised then?

 

Robert

Edited March 1, 2010 by rdemming

[candle]

it would be preffered, yes

but it certainly won't work in current configuration with caps in place, and if you remove them, and decide to go for 800xe option then crystall won't be stable enought to give you color picture on standard monitor output

[+rdemming]

it would be preffered, yes

but it certainly won't work in current configuration with caps in place, and if you remove them, and decide to go for 800xe option then crystall won't be stable enought to give you color picture on standard monitor output

 

Thanks for the fast answer. I will salvage the crystal from the 800XE board and put it on the VBXE and remove the big oscillator from the 130XE board.

 

Robert

[+rdemming]

OK, I've put the crystal of the "spare parts" 800XE onto the VBXE board, removed the oscillator from the 130XE board and connected J6 (14MHz clock) with a shielded cable to the old oscillator connection points. And what a sharp and stable picture! And the colors are much brighter/vibrant as well. The much better picture was worth the upgrade alone

 

Also the GTIA modes (I tried Ball Blazer) are working with VBXE while I thought that was not yet implemented. That must have been for an old core version then.

 

There is only one very small disadvantage of the much sharper picture... There is no artifacting anymore in "graphics 8" mode. The game Amaurote is using "graphics 8" mode and has subtle colors in the dithered pixel patterns when using composite video or RF. But on the VBXE it is pure black/white which makes the graphics a bit too sharp.

 

Thanks to Candle and Electron for bringing this great upgrade.

Next thing is installing the simple stereo and IO board. As I only have a few hours per weekend, I hope to finish that within two months

 

Robert

 

 

B.T.W. As expected, having both the crystal on the VBXE board and the oscillator on 130XE board does not work because the two clocks are not synchronized then.

Edited March 9, 2010 by rdemming

[Rybags]

GTIA modes are there - what's missing is the PAL colour averaging which means we miss out on APAC and similar modes, they'll look wrong just like a normal NTSC machine.

 

One of these days soon, I'll try this modulator project though, which will bring that back.

[timofonic]

What's the status of this project? Also, how to buy a VBXE2?

[Rybags]

There's around 85 boards out there, we all received them back last November or so. Most should be installed by now, I'd imagine.

 

candle is a busy guy... seems he's always got a couple of 8-bit hw projects in development.

 

Rumour has it that with the right number of buyers, he might do another production run... IIRC he posted the numbers required a page or two back.

[Syfo-Dyas]

Ya, and now that I'm all hyped about this, he also has me hyped about his stereo sound board with built in covox!

[candle]

give me a week or two, and i'll get to that preorder thread i was mambling some time ago

[hitchcock4]

give me a week or two, and i'll get to that preorder thread i was mambling some time ago

Cool. When you do, please keep the pre-order open for 5 or 6 days for those of us that don't read everyday.

Thanks!

[candle]

preorder will be open for a month, this is pretty expensive board, and decision has to be well thought (and pay for in advance)

[Rybags]

I don't know if this convertor has been mentioned yet, it's reasonably cheap at US$25.

 

https://www.arcadespareparts.com/arcade_parts/video_converter/rgb_to_tv_converter/12217.html

 

I think there's a typo in the specifications... should be 480i, not 480p. I have been told by someone it works fine converting arcade RGB signals for use on a normal TV.

 

 

Also... I finally got my VBXE working properly in Rambo 320 emulation mode. For some weird reason, it was defaulting to the wrong core.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Rybags

[SuperSparky]

preorder will be open for a month, this is pretty expensive board, and decision has to be well thought (and pay for in advance)

 

I'm ready and anxious to purchase two of each of your projects. Just tell me how.

[spookt]

I just noticed candle has opened a new preorder thread and I don't want to miss out this time, but I have a couple of questions.

 

I need to decide which machine to put a VBXE in. My main day to day machine is a PAL 800XL with 256Mb, stereo and 32in1 OS. I also have a number of stock XLs and XEs and some other mods on hand. My 1st thought was to drop the VBXE into the 800XL but now I'm wondering if I should grab an XE and do a RAM upgrade and drop in one of Mega-Hz stereo boards and an internal SDX.

 

Can anyone let me know what the main differences between the install in an 800XL (without FREDDY) and say a stock 130XE are. I've seen mention of moving a crystal to the VBXE board but it seems this only applies to PAL systems with FREDDY. Is that correct? Is there anything else I should be taking into account when deciding?

[Rybags]

You remove or disable the internal crystal regardless. Then you need the 14 MHz crystal onboard VBXE. Since XE has a 14 Mhz crystal, you can use that one.

NTSC based crystals are easy to come by, hence their inclusion already for those people. PAL ones, not so - which means that bit of extra work.

 

VBXE has 3.6 and 14 MHz output pins, so for a Freddie-equipped system, you take output from that to supply the system, otherwise you use the 3.6 MHz output for the older machines.

 

Regardless of system, you need to install a precision 40-pin DIP socket. So no advantage to the XL - I tried, and VBXE won't stay put in the normal "cheap" sockets.

But... the XL mainboard is of significantly better quality than the XE mainboards, so will be easier to work on.

 

But, as mentioned, you'll need to find the 14 MHz crystal somewhere. I ended up using the one from one of my 7800s.

It could be possible to use an NTSC crystal on a PAL machine, but then your video will be slightly out of spec. An Amiga 1084 monitor would probably handle it, but AFAIK nobody with a PAL machine went down that route.

[candle]

as i wrote in the preorder thread - i can order crystals at any arbitrary frequency i want, even if i need single piece of it, and i have a company here that will manufacture that crystal for me - the more i need, the cheaper they become, but still more expensive than stock ones

 

if you don't have any preferences for XL or XE line, then i would choose fresh unmodded XE (65XE to be exact) and wait a bit longer before i would decide for ram upgrade or other extensions

future may suprise you

 

as what Gary suggest - using 14mhz crystal (NTSC) for PAL machine - there is no problem with this, AFAIK there is lots of possibilities for crystals, but only the original one will give you color output on standard monitor output

others will givie you nothing more than monochrome, because clock synchroniser for PAL 4.43MHz color burst won't synchronise with atari system clock

[hitchcock4]

Can anyone who has installed the VBXE 2 tell me how long it takes to install? I have an NTSC 65XE, so if you have installed it into the 65XE or 130XE, please let me know.

Also, let me know your experience level with a soldering iron. I certainly have used one but it has been 10 years I'm sure.

 

Thanks!

[Rybags]

800XL, and didn't do it all myself, but the amount of work required is similar as for an XE.

 

The single most time-consuming job will likely be desoldering Antic, then installing the precision socket in it's place.

So realistically figure at least 40 minutes to do that, although you shouldn't rush it and don't be surprised if it ends up double that.

It's also the job you should do, and get right, before doing any of the other steps - ie put Antic back in and verify the machine is good.

 

The rest of the job is fairly quick and easy.

 

My advise would be try to set aside 3 hours for the whole job... or at least do it in 2 stages where you put the socket in one stage, then do the rest in the other.

 

You also need to make arrangements insofar as getting the RGB, Sync and GND to some sort of monitor jack. So, that will possibly involve putting a hole in your case, or as some have done, remove the monitor jack and replace with an ST type, or 9-pin DIN. Or like me, use a D-15 VGA type plug.

 

Remember the critical part is the desolder + install precision socket for Antic - I and a couple of others had trouble there.

 

Practice on something like an old ISA card or Atari cartridge first. Read the guide that candle posted earlier on in this thread.

 

Also I've found that a small vice (plastic jaw guards too) or something to securely hold boards vertically while you work on them is a vital piece of equipment.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Rybags

[RGB_Gamer]

can I still buy a VBXE 2 and if so, where? Also, is there RGB output? I have an RGB/VGA (15khz/31khz) monitor.

 

thanks

 

eastbayarb@gmail.com

[+rdemming]

can I still buy a VBXE 2 and if so, where? Also, is there RGB output? I have an RGB/VGA (15khz/31khz) monitor.

 

thanks

 

eastbayarb@gmail.com

 

The pre-order list for the next batch is here.

 

Second, there is only RGB 15KHz output. There is no VBXE signal on the standard DIN-5 monitor and RF outputs. You need to add a special RGB out connector.

 

A regular VGA monitor (31KHz) does not work, make sure yours support 15KHz signal like the old Atari ST and commodore Amiga monitors or the old NEC multi-sync VGA monitors which supported both 15KHz and 31KHz signals. In Europe, you can use the SCART connection on regular tvs.

 

Robert

[flashjazzcat]

A nice way to go with this (what I did) is to install the precision socket during the pre-order stage. That's the toughest part out of the way and as long as the Atari still works with ANTIC in the precision socket, you're ready to rock and roll as soon as the board arrives.

[candle]

RGB_Gamer -> if You browse this thread, you'll find references for gonbes gbs-8220 cga/ega/rgb to vga converter - its pretty cheap (i've bought some for 24$) and they work flowlessly with NTSC systems

problem is they won't work with PAL systems ;(

so this is another option for You to consider if You want to connect Your system to say - VGA monitor

as You may have noticed Atari computers don't work on every LCD tv as they should, but again it might be limited to PAL systems

[Rybags]

AD725.pdf

 

Here's another RGB to PAL/NTSC IC. AD725, it's advantage seems to be that it doesn't need the 12 Volt DC like the MC1377.

 

But, it does need a 17.734475 Mhz crystal for PAL operation.

[candle]

fortunatly, one can buy one in every grocery (and i mean it)