anyone offering services to make Re-Amiga 1200 using a donor board?

[guybrush]

Was wondering if anyone does offer this service; I saw some people offering the service with C64 renew boards; where they would basically take the donor board, remove the chip and put them on the new board.


Does anyone have a re-amiga 1200 board and can describe how happy are they with their board? My understanding is that it is not a direct 1:1 remake and some people brought up potential issues due to the design being different from the one made by Commodore; although the idea to have a brand new board is quite nice; even if sadly you are forced to use 30 year old chips

[lesta_smsc]

Unless your existing motherboard is damaged and beyond repair there is no real benefit to move to donor board. The existing mother can be recapped which will extends it's life

[guybrush]

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

Unless your existing motherboard is damaged and beyond repair there is no real benefit to move to donor board. The existing mother can be recapped which will extends it's life

Well, the concern is not much on the caps; which can be replaced; but on everything else, which include traces, solder mask and SMD components.

Recapping is not the panacea to make things perfect forever; it is just like changing your tires after 50-60K miles, when even if they still work, you replace them because you know that eventually they will lose the thread and break.



I have some old tech but it is something that I would not use daily and for extended time; while the Amiga is fundamentally something you turn on and use for long time. In my youth I would have it on for at least 5-7 hours a day. No component is eternal and most IC and base components have a lifespan of a certain amount of hours, so replacing caps is good because they leak, but that does not necessarily guarantee that the board will work forever


Having a new board with new components, guarantee another 30-40 years of life to the Amiga; and the only weak link at that point are the 30 year old custom chips sadly; which can't be replaced since they are not manufactured anymore.

[lesta_smsc]

I appreciate your comments but then I see this and think your daily use is merely a drop in the ocean compared to this:

[ Show youtube player ]

[van_dammesque]

Cuts to a C64 when mentioning Commodore, why not cut to a A500? Would have been more appropriate!

[guybrush]

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

I appreciate your comments but then I see this and think your daily use is merely a drop in the ocean compared to this:

[ Show youtube player ]

Yes, your point is valid in terms of absolute usage; but I may remind you that turning on and off any circuit, is much different than having something on all the time. The stress on the components is when the delta in current and voltage is applied; it is equivalent to the stress on the system when you fire up your car engine after a cold night; versus running all day with the engine on


I turn on my amiga not that often, and I don't keep it on for long time, so that is only increasing the risk of components failure. I would love to keep it on all the time, but I am afraid I do not have a place to actually keep the Amiga connected all the time

[guybrush]

Originally Posted by van_dammesque

Cuts to a C64 when mentioning Commodore, why not cut to a A500? Would have been more appropriate!

I would say that they are not that familiar It would be the same if I was talking about a female handbag brand, and the only thing I would do is to show a Louis Vitton handbag, because that's all I know on the subject LOL

[outlawal2]

Not sure why everyone tries to talk people out of what they want. I for one would LOVE a BRAND NEW 1200. I don't care if a 30 year old recapped one will last the same or not, that isn't even part of the equation. I want a NEW BOARD with as much new parts on it as is physically possible. So I am asking for an answer to the OPs question too.

[stevelord]

You might get responses more suited to your needs on amibay fwiw.


Alternatively you could ask a local repair specialist.

[wiz12]

Yes, hese on Amibay does this service.

[Daedalus]

John "Chucky" Hertell does offer this service, so it's worth asking him if he has time (he's a busy man...)

Though I'll echo what others have said regarding how useful it really is if the existing board has no problems. An existing board can be relatively easily repaired if something breaks, unless the failure relates to a hard-to-find part like a custom chip. And if that's the case, chances are you'll be carrying that same old part over onto the new board anyway, along with its 25-year-history of power cycles. Yes, turning things on and off is stressful, but it is still what they're designed to handle, and in the grand scheme of things, occasional use is hardly going to figure in that. But yes, the cheap, commonly-available parts that would be brand new on the board are potentially going to reduce the risk of failure versus their aged counterparts.

[Chucky]

Yeah I usually do this. but currenlty I take new stuff only at like end of aug.

repairing a board is always better when you see to the view of "keeping it original" but when you had cap-leakage or so on the old board. it can be a instable nightmare. and this is the reason why I did the ReAmiga...

[guybrush]

Thanks for the info

I get that where possible, people want to keep it original; but I find it an oxymoron when people slap on their 1200 a vampire for example; or add workaround to support peripherals that never existed on the Amiga. At that point if the philosophy is to keep everything original; then what is the point to use a FPGA that basically take over most of the board and components of the amiga, versus use a RPI or a Mister or any other FPGA/emulated solution?

To me replace the mainboard with newer components to increase the lifespan of the amiga seems less invasive than replace the main chipset and CPU with a FPGA implementation that run on a card mounted in it; but I understand that each user has a different concept of what is considered acceptable for their Amiga.

If there was someone that would make brand new boards I would buy it in a flash to be honest; so the ReAmiga seems to be the closest thing to getting a brand new board (even an amiga stored in its box as original may be at risk, if not stored correctly; I personally bought a dynamite pack sealed from a guy that bought a big shipment like 15 years ago or so; and that computer died horribly after not even a year; and it was new sealed in box )

[RetroPassionUK]

Hello,

We do now provide this service and A500 ++ from late Jan 2022

https://www.retropassion.co.uk/product/reamiga-a1200/

Options that we supply a full board, customer provides a dead board (chips will be tested before hand) or the customer can supply the parts only (not the full board. price will be reduced depending what option is chosen.

Thanks!

RetroPassion

[Pyromania]

How long does it take to get a Re-Amiga A1200 Rev 1.5.

[RetroPassionUK]

Originally Posted by Pyromania

How long does it take to get a Re-Amiga A1200 Rev 1.5.

It was 3/4 weeks, but we have had orders come in and now at 4/6 weeks (starting after new year).

Thanks!

Steve

[Pyromania]

Are these just motherboards or full A1200 systems with case and power supply?

[RetroPassionUK]

Originally Posted by Pyromania

Are these just motherboards or full A1200 systems with case and power supply?

Hello!

Purly the motherboard. We can supply Checkmate cases or A1200 Tower Cases as part of the build if needed.

Thanks!

[Pyromania]

What about keyboards? Got great keyboards too?

[RetroPassionUK]

Originally Posted by Pyromania

What about keyboards? Got great keyboards too?

We have 1 here (original) which is good, but nothing mint unfortunately. Keycaps there is no date.

Thanks!