STFM 4MB UPGRADE & 1.44 FLOPPY KITS - LAST STOCKS

[exxosuk]

My 1.44 floppy upgrade kit has been on sale for many years now and the batch of boards I had made has now run out. Similar with the 4MB simm upgrade also. These items do sell, though I feel it wouldn't be worth investing in another batch of the pcbs unless some people order 5-10pcbs, in which case there is no problem to get more made.

 

I do still have a small number of V4 floppy pcbs, these are similar to V5 but does not have the 6ms 720k fix (which isn't vastly important anyway). Those pcbs are still available for £1 each + post if anyone is interested in the remaining boards then PM me.

 

The 4MB kit I have ran out of 72pin sockets also, these are still sold around the internet, but a lot higher priced than I paid for my sockets years ago. The kits currently are sold with the price I paid for the sockets. On the internet they seem to sell from £3-£8 which is madness. Though if the 4MB kits are to go into production again, either the price has to go up a fair bit or the simm socket is not included. Of course there needs to be at least 5 orders before I will put them into production again anyway.

 

This is just a "heads up" as to why the floppy kit and 4MB will be going off sale shortly. There are still other items for sale in my store so please take a look around.

 

http://exxos.www.idnet.com/IMPULSE/atari/last/

 

 

 

 

[exxosuk]

Thanks for everyones orders. All orders have been shipped out

The last 4MB simm kit sold today. I am not planning on making anymore , unless there is enough demand to get another PCB run done.

I do have it in mind to develop a new more universal RAM kit in the future, to fit more motherboard revisions, but with so many Marpet ones floating about at the moment I am not sure if it would be worth spending the time on ?

At the time of typing, there is 2 floppy PCB kits left, and 2 full kits left. I do not plan to produce those again, I think most people are moving away from floppies these days anyway.

[exxosuk]

In regard to 4MB upgrades..

I have designed a plug in kit for those who can't solder. Similar to the Marpet design, only not using simms. This one will plug over the MMU and SHIFTER like marpet, but there won't be the huge simm board. The RAM is a very small Ic on top of the MMU. Its a tight fit for a 2 layer PCB, but it can be made to fit, and the overall PCB size is only a fraction larger than the MMU socket. So the kit will plug into probably all STFM's with a socketed MMU.

These kits I will have to assemble myself as its all SMT, so the price will be a fair bit higher than the older solder in types I was selling. Probably looking around £30 for the kit ready to plug in. Which is probably about the price the Marpet ones are going for, only mine should be a lot more reliable with less "clutter" and cables inside the ST. If there is enough interest I will put in for the PCB order, but need around 10 orders before I will produce these. Anything less than 10 and the price would just end up doubling. I will post back in a couple months time and see what demand is like and if the kits are going into production or not.

Incidentally, the solder in KIT I can still produce the PCBs, I still have 100+ 4MB simms, but as mentioned before, its hard to obtain the simm sockets now. In anycase, if anyone wants to put a small bulk order in for the PCBs only then its not a problem to get more of those made.

[+Firedawg]

I would be interested in two of the soldered kits, if the simm sockets are available. Otherwise, two of your new "plug over" designed kit will do.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[exxosuk]

Either kit can be put into production, though ideally need at least 10 pre-orders. I suspect there will be more demand for the plug in type as many people can't solder.