• Oric Atmos keys

    From Manuel Teira@21:1/5 to Andre Majorel on Fri Sep 16 16:13:51 2016
    Thanks a lot Andr�.

    I ned to go to the local electronics shop to grab the DIN and SCART
    connectors and lets see. ;-)

    Best regards,
    Manuel


    On 2016-09-16 14:06:54 +0000, Andre Majorel said:

    On 2016-09-16, Manuel Teira <[email protected]> wrote:

    I've recently purchased an Oric Atmos computer. I had luck and the
    computer works (the original owner didn't know in what state it was).

    The RF output is very noisy, and the image can be hardly seen. I plan
    to build a RGB to Scart cable, and let's see if the problem is only
    restricted to the RF output itself. Any recomendations or pinout to do
    this?

    I don't remember the wiring off the top of my head but it's not
    too complicated. The trickiest part is the DC voltage needed by
    one of the P�ritel inputs (commutation lente = switch = pin 8,
    IIRC). The RGB-P�ritel cables sold by the French importer had a
    2.5 mm jack socket on the P�ritel plug for a +12 V wall wart.

    Apparently, lots of TV sets were happy with just +5 V into pin 8
    so some people drilled a hole in the centre of the DIN 5 socket
    and put in it a female contact wired to the Oric PCB's +5 V
    rail.

    The TV set I used at the time insisted on +12 V so I went for a
    DIN 7 or 8. The extra pin brought the audio output of the Oric
    to the TV.

    If you can't find the specifics on the web, ask and I'll look
    into it.

    The main problem is that its fantastic keyboard is missing the 'H'
    keycap. It seems really hard to find an Oric to be sold for parts, and
    I was wondering if somebody here could have some spare keycaps or is
    aware of a similar keyboard or similar keycaps that could be adapted
    somehow.

    Bad luck ! The Atmos keyboard was made by a company named
    Stackpole which was a supplier to other OEMs. A search for
    "stackpole keycaps" may be worth trying.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Manuel Teira@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 16 13:29:53 2016
    Hello there,

    I've recently purchased an Oric Atmos computer. I had luck and the
    computer works (the original owner didn't know in what state it was).

    The RF output is very noisy, and the image can be hardly seen. I plan
    to build a RGB to Scart cable, and let's see if the problem is only
    restricted to the RF output itself. Any recomendations or pinout to do
    this?

    The main problem is that its fantastic keyboard is missing the 'H'
    keycap. It seems really hard to find an Oric to be sold for parts, and
    I was wondering if somebody here could have some spare keycaps or is
    aware of a similar keyboard or similar keycaps that could be adapted
    somehow.

    Thanks and best regards,
    Manuel

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Andre Majorel@21:1/5 to Manuel Teira on Fri Sep 16 14:06:54 2016
    On 2016-09-16, Manuel Teira <[email protected]> wrote:

    I've recently purchased an Oric Atmos computer. I had luck and the
    computer works (the original owner didn't know in what state it was).

    The RF output is very noisy, and the image can be hardly seen. I plan
    to build a RGB to Scart cable, and let's see if the problem is only restricted to the RF output itself. Any recomendations or pinout to do
    this?

    I don't remember the wiring off the top of my head but it's not
    too complicated. The trickiest part is the DC voltage needed by
    one of the P�ritel inputs (commutation lente = switch = pin 8,
    IIRC). The RGB-P�ritel cables sold by the French importer had a
    2.5 mm jack socket on the P�ritel plug for a +12 V wall wart.

    Apparently, lots of TV sets were happy with just +5 V into pin 8
    so some people drilled a hole in the centre of the DIN 5 socket
    and put in it a female contact wired to the Oric PCB's +5 V
    rail.

    The TV set I used at the time insisted on +12 V so I went for a
    DIN 7 or 8. The extra pin brought the audio output of the Oric
    to the TV.

    If you can't find the specifics on the web, ask and I'll look
    into it.

    The main problem is that its fantastic keyboard is missing the 'H'
    keycap. It seems really hard to find an Oric to be sold for parts, and
    I was wondering if somebody here could have some spare keycaps or is
    aware of a similar keyboard or similar keycaps that could be adapted
    somehow.

    Bad luck ! The Atmos keyboard was made by a company named
    Stackpole which was a supplier to other OEMs. A search for
    "stackpole keycaps" may be worth trying.

    --
    Andr� Majorel http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/
    "Pauvret� n'est pas vice ! Parbleu ! Un vice est agr�able."
    -- _Passe-temps_

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Manuel Teira@21:1/5 to Manuel Teira on Wed Oct 19 10:45:50 2016
    Well, finally I was able to build the cable and trick my TV to switch
    to RGB by wiring back a TV output into the detection pin, and adding a filtering capacitor to flat the signal. It works perfectly and the
    image is crisp and clear.

    Regarding the key, no luck. I tried to "rework" a PC keyboard keycap I
    found with a similar shape, but it doesn't have the same angle and
    looks weird.

    I have seen some tutorials in Internet to create a keycap mold using
    silicone putty that look promising: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=23722.0

    Maybe I give it a try.

    Best regards,
    Manuel


    On 2016-09-16 14:13:51 +0000, Manuel Teira said:

    Thanks a lot Andr�.

    I ned to go to the local electronics shop to grab the DIN and SCART connectors and lets see. ;-)

    Best regards,
    Manuel


    On 2016-09-16 14:06:54 +0000, Andre Majorel said:

    On 2016-09-16, Manuel Teira <[email protected]> wrote:

    I've recently purchased an Oric Atmos computer. I had luck and the
    computer works (the original owner didn't know in what state it was).

    The RF output is very noisy, and the image can be hardly seen. I plan
    to build a RGB to Scart cable, and let's see if the problem is only
    restricted to the RF output itself. Any recomendations or pinout to do
    this?

    I don't remember the wiring off the top of my head but it's not
    too complicated. The trickiest part is the DC voltage needed by
    one of the P�ritel inputs (commutation lente = switch = pin 8,
    IIRC). The RGB-P�ritel cables sold by the French importer had a
    2.5 mm jack socket on the P�ritel plug for a +12 V wall wart.

    Apparently, lots of TV sets were happy with just +5 V into pin 8
    so some people drilled a hole in the centre of the DIN 5 socket
    and put in it a female contact wired to the Oric PCB's +5 V
    rail.

    The TV set I used at the time insisted on +12 V so I went for a
    DIN 7 or 8. The extra pin brought the audio output of the Oric
    to the TV.

    If you can't find the specifics on the web, ask and I'll look
    into it.

    The main problem is that its fantastic keyboard is missing the 'H'
    keycap. It seems really hard to find an Oric to be sold for parts, and
    I was wondering if somebody here could have some spare keycaps or is
    aware of a similar keyboard or similar keycaps that could be adapted
    somehow.

    Bad luck ! The Atmos keyboard was made by a company named
    Stackpole which was a supplier to other OEMs. A search for
    "stackpole keycaps" may be worth trying.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)