The MKII Amiga/Atari PS/2 mouse PCBS are here!

[Mounty]

We have the new boards, and are pleased to report that they work brilliantly (we knew they would though).

Check out the pic. In the foreground the old board. In the middle the MKII. At the end is the new built up version. As soon as we have the PS/2 connectors, kits will be hitting eBay at £9.99!

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2dkyi6u&s=5

As we promised, anyone who was not totally happy with the MK I kit (because of the scroll wheel issue) will get a MK II for free!

Just email me quoting your eBay ID. kmount@outlook.com.

[Retrofan]

That's great. I've already sent you an email.

So, will the scroll be working finally?

[Mounty]

it should be, but I have to test it before I can give a definite answer. I will send the new MKII PCB out to you today.

Please note, you will need a PIC16F628A not a PIC16F84A. These chips are a bit cheaper :-)

[ElectroBlaster]

Bloomin eck thats good

I got the MKI recently.

[Retrofan]

Originally Posted by Mounty

...Please note, you will need a PIC16F628A not a PIC16F84A. These chips are a bit cheaper :-)

So I need to buy some chips to use it?
Then surely I will have to buy you the complete kit again.

[Steve T]

Mounty kindly sent me a preview version of the Mk2, in return for a heavily biased review(just kidding):P.

First a downside over the old version, with a USB to PS/2 adapter, the entire assembly is a bit longer than personally I'd like, but the same is probably true for other models of adapter (admittedly I own no others to compare other than the mk1) and you could modify this easily or use an extension lead etc, or you may not need that extra adapter anyway if your mouse is natively PS/2.

I wonder if a version with a direct USB connection would have been more useful to more people here? You could always wire your own on of course.

I'm not sure if the actual for sale kit will have a casing, structurally it doesn't need one but exposed circuitry might not be to everyones taste, perhaps some shrink wrap would do here?

I think it would easy enough to mount the board internally now too since there are some holes in the end of the board which would allow a mechanical connection into the casing.

(in the pics, the holes are covered by the PS/2)

Its definitely an improvement overall, not only much cheaper but you can assemble it in a couple of minutes. - the cabling on the old one was time-consuming and required checking the pins etc. Here, you just push-fit the connectors to the board and apply hot solder, you dont even have to hold anything in place as its held together well enough by friction alone.

The serial connector is also A600-friendly, i.e. there's no flange to prevent it fitting to the cramped ports on these machines.

Also it has the joystick header, though I've not tried it out for scroll wheel support, it should make it easier to get that working if you're adventurous.

Is it perfect in every way? No, but it was a nice price point anyway and this next model has nearly shaved 1/3rd off the previous models price, so I think the trade-offs are worth it.

I've attached a pic of my finished preview board, but this isn't *quite* what's for sale, the ps/2 connector is something I hacked from an old motherboard - it fitted the pre-drilled holes perfectly though... Again, the complete kit comes with all the parts you need for a basic 3 button mouse support.

In all, I'd definately recommend this kit, even to total electronics newbs who may have struggled with the first one, literally it can be assembled in 1/10th the time. Though the finished product is not quite as elegant visually as the mk1 - which looked really nice properly finished in its casing - its made up for by the lower price point and easy construction.

[Retrofan]

Well this is the situation: I buy an Amiga mouse with scroller (his working prototype), then the scroller doesn't work as announced.

Then he says that he will send for free his new design to unhappy customers (me of course) and I receive today a board... just the board, nothing to solder there.

Do you think I should be now a happy customer? Should I start a poll to see what people think, Mounty?

Edit: I've had to buy another kit. Thanks a lot, Mounty (Edit: Don't worry about Ebay; I never leave negative feedback there).

[Cymru]

I assume the scroll connector is a M-to-F straight thru connector with 2 active lines required to signal "scroll up" and "scroll down" to the "FreeWheel" program that intercepts them and activates the scroll bars in a "scrollable window?"