Can you identify this scandoubler?

[BinoX]

I have a device here that is a scandoubler and flicker fixer... But I'd like to know which one it is..

I found this in a drawer of stuff I haven't touched for a good few years and tested it and it works perfectly

The info I can give you about it is:

The main board has "design by Thomas Dellert" written on it
and the other board, connected by 2 wires clips over the Alice chip (I'd helpfully written myself a note about that one)

Attached is a pic, if it's of any help

[zipper]

http://amiga.resource.cx/photos/scanmagicint probably

[BinoX]

Hmm.. It does look kinda similar I suppose, although the VGA connector is different (No db23 to HD15) and that has no mention of a 2nd board...

Different revision maybe?

At least I have a starting place now

[BinoX]

Ah.. Found it now

It's a DCE Flicker Magic

http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/c...cgi?HARDID=361

Thanks for starting me off with the ScanMagic..

1 more question now...

Are they actually any good?

[lopos2000]

Originally Posted by BinoX

Ah.. Found it now

It's a DCE Flicker Magic

http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/c...cgi?HARDID=361

Thanks for starting me off with the ScanMagic..

1 more question now...

Are they actually any good?

I can confirm it. I had one and it was a very good SD/FF IMO.

[JuvUK]

hi,
i'm using one of these right now to post this on my 19" samsung lcd, it works great and don't seem to be too expensive

cheers, JuvUK

[BinoX]

Ah good

At least I really did find some treasure then I hate it when I go through things, find something that looks cool, just to find that it sucks when I come to use it properly... heh

tbh I can't remember where it actually came from.. lol

[AlfaRomeo]

Its the internal ScanMagic from PowerComputing, I have one connected to my philips 8833MK II during some years but when I change to a 19" LG tft it put some kind of tranparent vertical strips in the screen and I bought the fabulous IndivisionAGA.
But can confirm that it´s a great ScanDoubler

[Yoto]

This IndivisionAGA looks in fact great, too bad its not available anymore in Amigakit nor Versalia...

[alexh]

Only two things wrong with FlickerMagic :

• It is a 16-bit scandoubler meaning you loose colours in AGA screen modes (which are 24-bit)
• It cannot scan rate convert (PAL screens are scandoubled to 50Hz) meaning you need a monitor which can sync that low

[JuvUK]

Originally Posted by alexh

Only two things wrong with FlickerMagic :

• It is a 16-bit scandoubler meaning you loose colours in AGA screen modes (which are 24-bit)
• It cannot scan rate convert (PAL screens are scandoubled to 50Hz) meaning you need a monitor which can sync that low

hi Alexh,
i do understand what you are saying and i'm not disagreeing with you in anyway, i'm just going on personal expirience, i have one of these in my A120 060 tower and i play a lot of AGA title games, i've yet to notice any missing colours, in fact i'm still amazed at how crisp and clear they are on my samsung 19" lcd,(much better than my old scart setup) maybe i've just been lucky and not found a game that uses the colours it doesn't display?

cheers, JuvUK

[alexh]

Originally Posted by JuvUK

i have one of these, i play a lot of AGA title games, i've yet to notice any missing colours

Erm, yeah right. It doesn't work like that. The least significant bits of the colour bus are missing. Meaning fine detail in two very similar colours are merged into one solid block of colour. I very much doubt that you've not seen it. It's more that the loss is so subtle that you do not notice because you're not really looking.

To get a feel for what I mean:



Switch your gfx card to 16-bit and look at the image.

It should look something like this



You can see that in 16-bit mode several colours have been lost and look like solid colour bands

[AlfaRomeo]

Originally Posted by Yotoxionomai

This IndivisionAGA looks in fact great, too bad its not available anymore in Amigakit nor Versalia...

I bought my Indivision AGA at GGS-Data http://www.ggsdata.se/Datorer/en-expansion.html
Payed by PayPal in € and they have super fast service
I had litle problem with the first and they changed by new one.

[BinoX]

Originally Posted by alexh

Only two things wrong with FlickerMagic :

• It is a 16-bit scandoubler meaning you loose colours in AGA screen modes (which are 24-bit)
• It cannot scan rate convert (PAL screens are scandoubled to 50Hz) meaning you need a monitor which can sync that low

Only 16-bit eh? Well, I can live with that... Especially 'cause I didn't know that I had it before

Thankfully I have a monitor that syncs down to 50Hz Even so, it's not actually in a machine atm and probably won't be for a while since I'm using my 3000T for most things these days and that's got a scandoubler in it already
(Main use for 3000T is classic gaming, but it's expanded anyway )

If I get bothered by the 16-bit colour I can always get another scandoubler from somewhere, and I'm sure someone will have off with my one if I let it go cheap

[kriz]

AlfaRomeo: Thanks!! I got a Indivision for order at GGS Data now

Great, also got a idefix express, robin hood for MOS and some other goodies

[AlfaRomeo]

Originally Posted by kriz

AlfaRomeo: Thanks!! I got a Indivision for order at GGS Data now

Great, also got a idefix express, robin hood for MOS and some other goodies

You´re welcome kriz, the more Amiga users satisfied the better

[DDNI]

Hi all, I have a Flickermagic which is labelled eyetech. It is a different layout to the ones discussed before / below....



You can see the different chip layout in these images of my one (below)..

Unfortunately mine outputs only the Green part of the image. The detail is there but only the Green. Advice as to getting it repaired is welcome.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by DDNI

I have a Flickermagic

You sure it is a Flickermagic?

Originally Posted by DDNI

It is a different layout to the ones discussed before / below....

Interesting stuff.

Originally Posted by DDNI

Unfortunately mine outputs only the Green part of the image. The detail is there but only the Green. Advice as to getting it repaired is welcome.

Imagine the path of the data :

AGA Alice -> PLCC socket -> MACH CPLD -> DRAM -> MACH CPLD -> GPS Triple DAC -> Cable -> CSYNC PCB

If you get full colour from either composite or RGB then the Alice chip is not broken. You could try to diagnose & replace one, or all, of the above. (Although realistically you cannot replace the CPLD MACH chip)

A replacement cable between the mainboard and CSYNC PCB would be easiest to start with.

[DDNI]

Hi alexh.

It certainly seems to be an SD or an FF
Regarding it being an actual Flickermagic I dont know.

I ruled out a Scan Magic as their PCBs are totally different from mine.
However the fact that there is only one PCB with mine would suggest a ScanDoubler ( I havent really tested extensively for the FF function).

Do all those units that FF and SD feature the two PCBs?

Did Eyetech make their own proprietary internal Scandobler?

Alice is good. RGB, RF and Composite OK
VGA cable is good.
PLCC seems ok - cleaned and pins in good shape.

Suspect is the GPS as Zetro remebers TheCorfiot having a similar issue with his one.

If it is the GPS, sourcing a replacement might be fun. Sadly I have no diagnostic tools to determine the true fault.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by DDNI

Did Eyetech make their own proprietary FF?

I thought theirs were branded "Toastscan"?

Originally Posted by DDNI

Suspect is the GPS as Zetro remebers TheCorfiot having a similar issue with his one. If it is the GPS, sourcing a replacement might be fun. Sadly I have no diagnostic tools to determine the true fault.

I worked on the team that developed that chip

The company is now called Zarlink, but I think the VP101 was last-time buy a long time ago.

http://cesop.zarlink.com/zarlink/hs/82_VP101.htm

You should be able to source one, but at what price...