Mine (08) has just arrived! Waiting for parts from Digi-Key now 😁

Just registered to join the fun. I want to start a retro/demo/chiptune live project, and of course I shall be using GUS cards. I used to have an original GUS and a GUS PnP, and in fact they might be in a box... Somewhere...

Awesome project! I will be building two of these when the next production run comes up! 😀

i start soldering this weekend...already excited, I hope I don't screw it up..

Waiting for money to buy parts 😳

Received mine last week but only picked it up from the post office today as I was out of the house.

Board looks fantastic, excellent work __shock and everyone involved!

I'll be ordering the components for this when my student loan comes in at the end of the month as I too am a bit short on cash 😉
Really looking forward to building it!

Quite lame question (sorry if it has been already answered): IIRC the stereo jacks should have been arranged in the order of the cheap and common Vibra cards (CT4170?), but if this is correct, then a mounting hole on the PCB is missing. So the question is - what is the intended donor card for the bracket?

It looks like the standoffs/screw posts of the joystick port would keep the bracket attached. Some of the smaller versions of the ESS AudioDrive based cards seem to have this layout and not have the additional mounting screw through the PCB.

That's true, but there are lots of them, and neither can be identified clearly beforehand. An identifiable model would be much more convenient. And if the Vibra is chosen, then it makes more sense to make the hole instead of cutting the bracket.

Good points 😀

I wonder how feasible getting custom brackets laser-cut would be?
The PC MIDI clone card I bought from marmes/keropi seemed to have a custom made bracket and it was quite good quality - would be nice if the cost of producing a batch isn't too bad.

Why not 3D Print them ?

matze79 wrote:

Why not 3D Print them ?

3D printing in metal is cost prohibitive and I think most people would greatly prefer a metal slot bracket over a plastic one.

i'm assembling and found some 20K resistors on the bill of materials that i haven't put into my list...damn. Can we take 22k instead ?
Resistors are: R71, R73, R75, R77

the other resistors around them are 10K like R72 e.g

edit: *ç&%*&"= i also forgot the 2.2K resistors! hope my local shop has them..will check monday..grrr
edit2: and 2.2uF are missing (SMD)

Regarding the Flash ROM:
Do all 29F800B types work? There are BT and BB types available.
Boot code sector architecture:
B = bottom sector
T= top sector
Which one to choose?

moturimi1 wrote:

Regarding the Flash ROM: Do all 29F800B types work? There are BT and BB types available. Boot code sector architecture: B = bot […]
Show full quote

Regarding the Flash ROM:
Do all 29F800B types work? There are BT and BB types available.
Boot code sector architecture:
B = bottom sector
T= top sector
Which one to choose?

The sector organisation makes no difference for our purposes. As long as it has an access time of 70 ns or less, it should be fine.

640K!enough wrote:

The sector organisation makes no difference for our purposes. As long as it has an access time of 70 ns or less, it should be fine.

Thanks a lot!

So far so good. Just missing some resistors. I'll add rhem to the digikey parts list and also into the excel sheet

updated cart (some admin can edit my post on one of the earlier pages..)

http://www.digikey.lu/short/q890rp
still not in there: sockets and Bank-RAM chips as they are not needed.

edit: 16.01: updated cart with new sub d conns

^ what was changed?

What temperature are you using?
Some passives have quite a bit of 'tombstoning' ... potentially leading to shorts. Did you check those? Is the DSUB sitting flush with the edge of the PCB? If it helps it should be a "US type" (there's also a european one).
If you intend to use the screwholes for the voltage regulators the legs need to be bent back slighty kinda like this:

1[       ]----
2            /
3           |

A good way to solder small passives is using the "tack and reflow method". Add solder to one pad, put the component on there using pliers, reheat the solder soldering the first contact and then manually solder the second contact once the component has been aligned properly. Another good "plan of attack" is going from small to big (passives first, then ICs, then jacks/caps/sockets).

If you set JP4 & JP5 you should be able to at least flash the PNPROM, check the wavetable rom for integrity, set the resources. If you install a RAM stick (and set JP0 - JP3), you should also be able to use the card (albeit without any output).

shock__ wrote:

A good way to solder small passives is using the "tack and reflow method". Add solder to one pad, put the component on there using pliers, reheat the solder soldering the first contact and then manually solder the second contact once the component has been aligned properly. Another good "plan of attack" is going from small to big (passives first, then ICs, then jacks/caps/sockets).

I call that the push down method. Load the pad with a modest amount of solder (so the contacts aren't vertically very far out of position) and push the leads down with the iron as the solder heats and re-flows.