Hi...

Day 10 and only 15 days to Christmas.... And today...
Well today I reflect on an early Christmas gift I received
last year... 

The SX-32 Pro by DCE that turns your CD32 into an
accelerated A1200... 1996.. And sadly too late to save
the CD32. ar hum.........

scuzz blog for 10th December 2006.

Nearly didn't make this collect as I discovered quite late
that the UK had gone in petrol buying frenzy after someone
suggested there may be a shortage. ... Anyway

I received a series of mails from this guy in London who was
moving and wanted to give me some kit. He said he just wanted
beer tokens, but I just couldn't accept that and did give him
money... The article in question was the CD32 SX-32 module

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz263.htm

I had been to Tesco the night before and noted the garage 
was closed and barriers set up. I checked the news when 
I got in an discovered a fuel shortage prompted by mad folk 
buying up supplies. There was no shortage.. Anyway I ventured 
out early morn and managed to secure enough fuel to get me 
to London and back... Really shouldn't have bothered as on 
the way back I had to refuel and parked the car on the end 
bay of the services next to about a  dozen petrol tankers doing 
the rounds... Mad Englishmen...

The location of the trip took me deep into the inner circle
of London and into what I would call the less popular
area...  I finally found the guy in what appeared to be 
an unfurnished house. The kitchen was full of kit... And
yes it was his. There was a busted up old tower and
loads of disk boxes plus the SX-32. He was happy for
me to take it all. He had been pretty active on the Amiga
scene and like many couldn't keep carrying the stuff
around with him. He was moving again and this time
it was either tip or give it away.. I was very happy to
take it off his hands...

What is amazing is that in addition to the CD32 plus the 
SX-32 and all his software and CD games I also got an
EyeTech tower with scandoubler and all the goodies
including an Apollo 060 board. The power unit wasn't
in the tower cus he had rigged the CD32 with the power
unit... And so we parted and I again was returning home
with a full boot of kit.

I have used the CD32 which works fine and is amazingly fast.
I have also connected the hd and floppy to it and all works 
like an A1200 with that acceleration. It really is a shame
that Commodore didn't stand the test of time cus this
little beauty was a real contender for the PS2 market... Sadly
the games dried up... And the rest is history. These units
are quite rare so I am very lucky to have acquired one...
As ever a work of art building this into Amiga kit ... There
really was no limit to what you could do.

As to the tower.. well this still stands dormant, all as it was
when I returned that day. I was asking folk on one of the 
groups about the PCMCIA ethernet card and the guy posted
saying all the disks are in the box. This was some months 
later... I decided to have another look in the car, and sure
enough there was the disk box filled with all the original
EyeTech disks for the tower... Silly old me.

When I think about this item I always reflect on the generosity
of the Amiga community... So wonderful.

Here are some picture by my old friend Michael Rubisch 
again... what a splendid chap.

http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/sx32pro

http://amiga.resource.cx/photos/sx32pro

SX 32 Pro    Company DCE, Germany   Date
1996   Amiga CD32 Interface trapdoor slot

Turns the CD32 into an accelerated A1200 
connects to the rear expansion connector into 
the place the FMV module 
processor  68030 @ 25 / 50 MHz, PGA 
optional 68882 @ 25 / 50 MHz, PGA memory 
one 72 pin SIMM socket accepts up to 64 MB RAM 
zero wait state for 50 ns or faster RAM 
one wait state for slower RAM 
interfaces 
serial DB25 male, RS232 
parallel DB25 female, Centronics 
external floppy DB23 female 
video DB23 male, analog RGB 
VGA HD15 male, analog RGB 
internal 44 pin IDE header 
notes 
buffered IDE interface 
DMA transfers via the Akiko chip 
the serial, parallel and floppy ports are controlled 
by two onboard CIA chips 
mounting holes for a 2.5" hard disk 
supports up to three floppy drives 
battery backed up clock 
disable switch 

Twas a good week collecting that week.. for the next day I
was off to Cardiff to collect the SX-64... Strange coincidence
of similar names there.... Just wish the SX-64 could have 
been as light as the SX-32... Then I wouldn't have been
limping around for the rest of the week.... I have already 
mentioned this Advent session the SFX so don't get your
SX's and SFX's all a twaddle...

Going now...  Day 11 tomorrow and I will give you a clue
Aunty arrived from Scotland.... :-)

scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

Hi

The SANYO MBC-550 arrived today which is a very odd
computer that looks more like it should be in a Hi Fi rack.
Lovely silver in colour and with two distinctive 5.25" floppy
drives on the front. The box said heavy... your not kidding.
The guy sent the keyboard and other bits in another
parcel so just waiting on those before switching on. In
the mean time here some images from the Old Computer
website....

[ The Old Computer Museum ]

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=473

NAME   MBC-550
MANUFACTURER   Sanyo
TYPE   Home Computer
ORIGIN   Japan
YEAR   1982
END OF PRODUCTION   1988
BUILT IN LANGUAGE   Sanyo Basic
KEYBOARD   QWERTY full-stroke keyboard with numeric keypad
CPU   Intel 8088
CO-PROCESSOR   Optional Intel 8087 math coprocessor
RAM   128 KB or 256 KB depending models
ROM   8 KB
TEXT MODES   40 x 25 / 80 x 25
GRAPHIC MODES   144 x 200 / 576 x 200 / 640 x 400
COLORS   8
SOUND   Buzzer, can only generate a single buzztone sound (fixed duration)
I/O PORTS   Printer, RS-232c, RGB & composite vide outputs, joystick/paddle,
keyboard, external
BUILT IN MEDIA   MBC-550 : 1 x 5''1/4 disk-drive (160k)
MBC-555 : 2 x 5''1/4 disk-drive (160k)
MBC-555-2 : 2 x 5''1/4 disk-drive (360k)
OS   MS-DOS 2.11, optional: CP/M 86 & Concurrent CP/M-86

[ end blurb ]

Interesting... Pictures probably Christmas or just after. Waiting
on the Amstrad laptop and the Compaq luggable only now.
Still no Amigas... very poor.

scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

Hi

I must be going mad... I definitely checked for mail yesterday
and there were no parcels... So consider my amazement
when just putting the bin bags out to find a parcel... A heavy
parcel waiting in my storage area... This thing was heavy
so I had guessed what it was... Just had to be the Compaq
luggable and in just magic condition.. All as the images
below... Even has the expansion unit on the back with
modem. Not bad for 1987 technology...

http://oldcomputers.net/compaqiii.html

Now here is the thing... It gave out a massive electronic
bang when I switched it on. Something definitely blew..
But it wasn`t the main computer, cus up popped the
orange screen with IBM on it, the hard drive is working,
the floppy drive is working as is the keyboard... I can
even run the programs on it.. The crack came from by 
the switch.. Slight burning smell, but gone now. And is
working fine. This baby has travelled a long way these 
two days... I guess not very happy. I can`t get over the
build quality.... 

Well just the one computer to arrive now... The Amstrad.

Model: 2660 
Released: 1987 
Price: US $4,999.00 w/ 20meg HD 
 US $5,799.00 w/ 40meg HD 
Weight: 20 pounds. 
CPU: Intel 80286, 12MHz  
RAM: 640k, 2048k max. 
Storage: 20 Meg hard drive 
 1.2Meg 5-1/4 inch floppy 
Display: 10" gas plasma screen 
 640 X 400 resolution 
 80 X 25 text 
Ports: RGB, serial, parallel 
Expansion: Optional external expansion 
OS: MS-DOS 3.31 

scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

CD32-SX32