My summer project: A colour Stacy

[Icky]

Since this design works well at this point, and may be of some use for someone else, here's the KiCad files for the switcher board. The PCB layout itself is very specific to my build, but the electrical layout for the muxes should transition fine to any similar switching setup.

Great work - have been following this one as you pack more and more into the Stacy.

May be worth creating a post for your board files in the PCB Files section @derkom https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=74

[derkom]

May be worth creating a post for your board files in the PCB Files section @derkom https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=74

Sure, I'll do that once it all works.

[derkom]

Today I built the ACSI interface for the CosmosEx, by removing the male connector off a Lotharek Mega STE UltraSatan adapter and soldering the ACSI ribbon cable onto the underside. This is necessary because the OSSC will sit right above this, so there is no room to connect on the top.

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I broke a trace when prying the plastic sheath off the pin connector, hence the bodge wire. But as we all know, no project is fully complete without at least one bodge wire.

I've booted this and confirmed it works.

[derkom]

Little bit of progress made today...

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Bracket for the OSSC. Yes, it's lower in the front than in the back. I have to tilt the board a little bit to fit it in there, and remove a few components off the OSSC.

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OSSC installed on the bracket.

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Keyboard installed, with about 1 mm clearance. Believe it or not, nothing is touching anything that it shouldn't. I'll still install some insulation in the final product, to be sure.

[Darklord]

I did, in a couple of different places with my Pak 68/3 installation.

Can't be too safe ya know.

[derkom]

Today I built a new bracket to hold the picoPSU and the ubeswitch behind the CosmosEx...

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A bit complicated, but it'll do the job. Took only three prints to get it right. I'm getting better at this.

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This is how the picoPSU and ubeswitch fit in. I struggled for a while to figure out how I was going to mount the ubeswitch, and then I noticed the headphone jack goes all the way through, so I'll just stick a nylon bolt or something through there to hold it in place. It won't be taking any stress, just keeping the switch in its spot, so the headphone jack will do the job just fine.

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And this is how it looks once the drive cage is put back into the Stacy. There is barely enough clearance behind the drive cage for the ubeswitch to fit. I'll connect it directly to the motherboard (with much shorter wires than my earlier attempt at this, so I can probably get away with no shielding). The OSSC will plug into the VGA port via a very short VGA cable.

Hopefully the picoPSU doesn't make noise in the video wiring. If so, I may need to rethink this.

[Darklord]

This is really starting to come together. Can't wait to see the finished result.

(bet you can't either! )

[derkom]

While it worked according to measurements, that ubeswitch placement doesn't work in the real world, due to the fact that the Stacy upper case has to rotate down to close (due to floppy drive mating requirements), so after much back and forthing and occasional swearing at the 3D printer, I now have what I hope is the final arrangement of the picoPSU and ubeswitch, both behind the CosmosEx. I also made a new floppy drive cable to connect both the CosmosEx and original floppy drive, now moved to drive B:...

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A short VGA cable is connected to the other side of the ubeswitch and comes out underneath the drive cage (along with power connections, CosmosEx ACSI, and CosmosEx IKBD) into the area where the OSSC will be placed...

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All was working fine at least before I crammed all this together into the final positions. I think I won't test tonight, because I'd rather sleep well than discover I have a problem and end up staying up all night.

@Darklord, yeah it is good to finally start to see some pieces come together. I just don't have much time these days, so it's slow moving, but I think I've crested the top of the mountain and I'm rolling down the other side now...

[Darklord]

You're headed towards a grand feeling, I'm tellin' ya.

When I first installed my Pak 68/3 along with the US
, 1.44 floppy drive mod and all that stuff, crammed
it closed, and it *worked*!, I was ecstatic!

Semi-orgasmic bliss, even...

[derkom]

Slowly, slowly he progresses...

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That's a slightly modified version of the CosmosEx case, to move the front into the right position for the Stacy, and also to make the bezel completely fill the space available. Despite the funky angle the camera appears to have given it, it's perfectly lined up with the floppy drive, and is the correct size and location to meet the top case when it's installed. And real filament PLA grey is a damn near perfect match for the Stacy!

Also the OSSC is now back in, hopefully for the final time.