"Extension cord" for a mediator

[FLiP79]

Hello, I'm going to towerize an Amiga 1200 that has a damaged case. Next, I think I will add a mediator.
Since I will try to use a standard ATX case, I'm thinking that it would be easier to mount the motherboard about in the center of the case (creating a new set of rear ports with the use of internal cables and "duplicated" ports), but the problem will be the mediator that is made to stay next to the rear panel. Do you think it's possible to add a flat cable to connect the pass-through board to the bus board, or the signals will get too much noise from the environment?

[torsti76]

In my personal experience, the Mediator 1200 is not very sensitive to noise, so I think it could work. Timing issues might occur, though, especially in combination with fast CPU cards.

Anyway, I successfully elongated the connection of my Mediator 3/4000T by about 2 inches with a custom made PCB.

[Daedalus]

In theory it's possible - I relocated an accelerator in a custom A1200 build by desoldering the connector from the small adaptor board and soldering it onto a ribbon ~10cm long. But it's probably not a great idea. If you're going to be creating a new set of read ports anyway, why not just create them in the right place so that they match where the motherboard would go? The Mediator is designed to place the PCI cards at the correct distance from the rear panel for the standard PCI card cage on PC cases, though you'd have to move the cage. You'll have to modify the card support location anyway, as the Mediator means the slots will be too far across if the motherboard is mounted on the standard motherboard carrier panel.

Back in the day, I put my A1200 in an old AT tower, with the motherboard located in the centre and cables run to the back for the connectors. It actually worked fine until I got my Mediator, and it was such an awkward thing to try and get it to work that I ended up just recutting the rear panel to mount the motherboard there.

I'm currently looking for a decent PC case that would work for rehousing my old Mediator setup - if you find a Midi PC case that's tall enough, do let us know Most are a few mm too short for the combo of Mediator + accelerator (though if you were to build a ribbon extended, that would solve that problem).

[FLiP79]

I was thinking about placing the A1200 motherboard in the center (with the need to move the mediator to the rear panel with a custom cable and to create a new set of ports) because I don't know which standard ATX case had enough DEPTH to place the motherboard (exposing its ports with a long hole in the case - or with multiple little holes for each single port) AND the mediator on top of it. I think that I will end with the PCI boards that are too high.

[Daedalus]

Depth isn't really an issue - the Mediator adds about 25mm to the distance between the top of the PCI bracket and the motherboard, so all you need is a case with more than 25mm of space between the edge of the PCI bracket and the outer edge of the case. That's pretty much any ATX case except for specialist small ones - most cases are around 190-200mm wide and have enough space to spare to accommodate the extra 25mm.

[FLiP79]

Sorry I didn't explain well: I mean the distance from the surface where the mainboard is mounted and the beginning of the slots (holes). I attach a couple of pictures where is clear that the future PCI cards will start too high, so it will be impossible to fix them to the case with screws.

I think I will completely remove the rear (PCI slots + the frame where the port plate of the PC motherboard is normally placed) and then I will replace the bottom part with a custom made plate with holes for the Amiga ports. The original PCI plate could be re-used attaching it a bit higher.

Do you think there's an easier/better way?

[Daedalus]

Ah, sorry, yes. It's a given that the PCI support cage would have to be moved in that scenario. In theory it should be a simple 25mm shift away from the motherboard, assuming the motherboard is mounted at the same level as a PC motherboard. An alternative that you could possibly do is to remove the PC motherboard tray entirely and mount the A1200 motherboard further back. This is how I fitted my Mediator in an AT case, the PCI cards fit the original case brackets, but the A1200 motherboard ended up quite close to the side panel of the case itself. Also, the case loses a lot of rigidity doing this, so it would be a good idea to refit the motherboard tray further back if possible, or if not, brace the corners of the case with triangular brackets.

Alternatively, case suitability would need to be checked, but there's a guy on Amibay who is selling replacement rear panels for some ATX cases that moves the PCI support cage to a suitable position and has the cutouts for the original ports. Some drilling and DIY might still be required, but it might be an option. I'm considering doing a variation on this myself.

[utri007]

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php...tes-(Laser-cut)

This would make a project easier. Check picture number 9

[FLiP79]

Thank you very much, finally I'm doing it in the "traditional way": I removed the original backplate of the ATX case and I put everything in the rear part. So, I hope I can put the mediator without extensions, adapting the rest of the back of the case