A2000 with GVP Spectrum & ethernet questions

[jaesonk]

I've pulled my A2000 out of storage and am piecing some things together. It has 3.0 ROMs and a GVP-030.

For the video side of things, it has a microway flicker fixer (DB9) and a GVP Spectrum 28/24 card. The Spectrum has a DB9 input for passing the Amiga video out through. Can I pass the video out from the microway flicker fixer through the Spectrum? Or can the pass through only accept the Amiga 15khz signal?

Can I use a PC/MAC VGA to TV converter to connect the Spectrum to an older TV set? I've seen some like the Sabrent PC TO TV converter boxes on ebay for under $20. They are similar to the A520s. For the time being my A2000 will be connected to a TV in the living room. The TV doesn't have an VGA port just RCA/SV inputs.

I have a Hydra Ethernet card with a BNC connecter instead of the RJ45 connector. I want to connect this to an ethernet powerline kit to my router. I can get an external 10base-2 to 10base-T adapter but was wondering if I could use an ISA ethernet card that has both types of connectors. Would the ISA card act as a converter/passthrough for 10base-2 to 10base-T?

Thanks.

[mark_k]

Originally Posted by jaesonk

It has 3.0 ROMs and a GVP-030.

(I take it you mean 3.1?)

Originally Posted by jaesonk

Can I pass the video out from the microway flicker fixer through the Spectrum?

Yes. You might want to double-check the flickerFixer vs Spectrum connector pinouts before connecting a cable. They probably are the same though.

Originally Posted by jaesonk

Can I use a PC/MAC VGA to TV converter to connect the Spectrum to an older TV set?

That should work, though the only way to be sure is to try it.

Originally Posted by jaesonk

I have a Hydra Ethernet card with a BNC connecter instead of the RJ45 connector. I want to connect this to an ethernet powerline kit to my router. I can get an external 10base-2 to 10base-T adapter but was wondering if I could use an ISA ethernet card that has both types of connectors. Would the ISA card act as a converter/passthrough for 10base-2 to 10base-T?

No. You could get a BNC↔RJ45 media converter, though new prices for those seem very high. Or find a (hopefully cheap) used hub which has both BNC and RJ45 ports, for example a D-Link DE-809TC.

Edit: Oh, I just noticed that some Hydra Ethernet cards have an AUI connector. If yours does, you could buy a 10BASE-T (RJ45) transceiver which plugs into the AUI port. A quick check on eBay UK showed several completed auctions which ended at £0.99 with no bids. For example this one. You should be able to pick one up in the USA for a similarly-small amount.

[jaesonk]

The ROMs are 3.1, thanks for the correction.

My Hydra is the version with the BNC only.

My concern about the Spectrum's passthru is whether it can handle 31khz (flickerfixer output) or only 15khz (Amiga output). I don't want to fry anything. I will look for pinout info.

Another thing that I'm considering is a CF drive. Reports from A1200/A4000 seem positive. I do have a SCSI-IDE bridge adapter.

[mark_k]

Originally Posted by jaesonk

My concern about the Spectrum's passthru is whether it can handle 31khz (flickerfixer output) or only 15khz (Amiga output). I don't want to fry anything.

The Spectrum will just pass through whatever signal is on its input connector, 15kHz/31kHz/whatever.

Comparing this thread on amibay and the flickerFixer manual available from amiga.resource.cx the Spectrum and flickerFixer use the same pinout.