project idea: ECL signal adapter for TT-High...

[tenox]

My original specification was for a flying lead. It has been done with two VGA ports for simplicity of prototyping. There are some considerations about price / assembly cost for a flying lead. I will see what can be done about that.

Again, well done! Most importantly, assemble the adapter on a flying lead, there's too much hanging on the TT socket and there's usually not enough room behind the TT in a studio to plug the board in and guide the lead to the monitor. (Got the T shirt).

Soon as you have a price let us know. I would like 5, yes I have 5 TTs with 2 iffy TTM 195s taking up much too much room in the studio.

Cubase on a TTM 195 is excellent, full page of score, very useful. Onward!!!

[tenox]

Unfortunately there the device is not as simple as one would hope for. You can convert ECL to TTL and then to VGA or do some other tricks. This has been tried before but the results were horrible image quality. The goal of this project is to make it "right" with a superb display quality in a standard of TTM195 or higher.

What do you mean by fixing TT VGA?

Looks nice, but I thought it would be simplier device.

BTW would it be possible to fix the TT VGA somehow?

[krupkaj]

aha, that is great. I am looking forward to the adapter.

By fixing the VGA I meant if it is possible to change the geometry of the picture on VGA monitor. The picture on VGA is narrow and not centered. IIRC only original Atari monitor displays the VGA resolutions right.

[Zogging Hell]

Well TT VGA does work ok with old CRT monitors where you can adjust the size and position of the picture. On LCD screens though it is blurry and non-centred..

[hercule12]

Please concentrate on perfecting the 1280 x 960 TT hi res picture! Colour has no interest for Cubase users. Please test with Cubase running with NVDI 2.5.
Yes, Cubase score page in TT hi res is greattttt!
Maybe a short connecting lead would solve the rear space problem.
I hate those solid ST/vga connectors which hang on the monitor socket.

[tenox]

Update:

First of all the image has been fixed by shifting the phase. See attached picture.

4a.jpg

What remains to be done is the voltage regulator and converter as currently -5V is required. Once done we can estimate the unit price.

As for the cable I'm going to cost labor required to make a short VGA cable vs a price of a very short extension lead.

[krupkaj]

Hey, it is really nice

[tenox]

What about something like this:

http://www.pccables.com/00600.html

...ordered one will test with the prototype

[qq1975b]

Update:

What remains to be done is the voltage regulator and converter as currently -5V is required. Once done we can estimate the unit price.

And the 5V can be get from the TT itself? I mean from any non commonly used port? Or will it need an external psu?

[tenox]

Well TT VGA does work ok with old CRT monitors where you can adjust the size and position of the picture. On LCD screens though it is blurry and non-centred..

This is nothing to do with TT itself, it's to do with the LCD panel. You need to find one that has possibility to run off expansion, or set 1:1 pixel mapping. Some LCD panels do some don't.

[tenox]

Update:

What remains to be done is the voltage regulator and converter as currently -5V is required. Once done we can estimate the unit price.

And the 5V can be get from the TT itself? I mean from any non commonly used port? Or will it need an external psu?

The image quality is extremely dependent on a stable source. Even small variations in voltage cause screen distortion. We are adding a voltage regulator, but this will require a higher input voltage, like 6 or 7 volt. And for the +/- conversion it's another little bit. So we are probably talking 9 or 12 V DC external power supply.

[tenox]

And due to a popular demand...

6a.jpg

[hercule12]

Just a thought on the PSU: All TTs (and Mega STEs) have a supply for the hard drive, could this not be adapted to supply 12v?

NVDI 2.5 because it's all that's needed to run Cubase in Hi Res, anything more is a waste. I usually delete some of the extra fonts to retain Cubase screen fonts.

Can you post some pics of Lite with tracks named to see the size of the letters. Load a midifile, alternate and click on the track opens the dialog box. Show a page of score please. (This is all good publicity for the adapter 'cos it's what musos want).

Onward!

[FujiMan]

This is looking promising. Great job, Tenox!
I would definitely take 2-3 when they become available.

[tenox]

Just a thought on the PSU: All TTs (and Mega STEs) have a supply for the hard drive, could this not be adapted to supply 12v?

NVDI 2.5 because it's all that's needed to run Cubase in Hi Res, anything more is a waste. I usually delete some of the extra fonts to retain Cubase screen fonts.

Can you post some pics of Lite with tracks named to see the size of the letters. Load a midifile, alternate and click on the track opens the dialog box. Show a page of score please. (This is all good publicity for the adapter 'cos it's what musos want).

Onward!

I can add an Y splitter for the HDD power cable with a plug to connect to the unit as an option. I'm sure some users will want that while others will not want to open their Atari to do that.

For size of letters do you want the actual size or sharpness / quality? I can connect TT to a 50" TV or 200" projector and then you will have very large letters. But they will not have same sharpness as when connected to 19" LCD panel with 1:1 pixel mapping.

Can you send me a sample midi file compatible with Lite?

Is there a newer version of Lite than the one I have (1.0)?

Thanks!

[tenox]

This is looking promising. Great job, Tenox!
I would definitely take 2-3 when they become available.

Thanks I will definitely let everyone know

[hercule12]

AFAIK there is only the one version of Lite you have, all versions of Atari Cubase display the same.

Grab one of the net, any SMF should open in Lite, need to check if it saves / loads or imports / exports SMFs.

You'll see what I mean once you have a file loaded.

The Y splitter is OK, only one screw to lift the HD carrier for access.

H.

[tenox]

AFAIK there is only the one version of Lite you have, all versions of Atari Cubase display the same.

Grab one of the net, any SMF should open in Lite, need to check if it saves / loads or imports / exports SMFs.

You'll see what I mean once you have a file loaded.

The Y splitter is OK, only one screw to lift the HD carrier for access.

H.

Help me a little bit, I don't know anything about Cubase. Can you you post a link to a file that Lite can load and then tell me what exactly I have to do.

Thanks,
Antoni

[hercule13]

OK, I'll spin up my copy of Lite, just to check it functions the same as Cubase Score 2 then post a short "how to".

[hercule12]

OK, google free midifiles and download a small one. Copy to a floppy and import into Lite. File menu, import.
This should provide you with one or several tracks, don't matter which for this exercise.
Select score edit and the score should open. (Lite only has score edit).
This should fill the screen with a page of score, you may have to stretch the lite page. Grab the bottom right corner and drag.
This is the page to photograph. This is where the clarity is needed. You can grab a note and drag it to wherever you wish but you need to see the notes and lines/spaces clearly, unless you use the numerical positioning which can be awkward.

Onward.

[tenox]

Will do thanks a lot!!

[yungjoon]

Where is the the order form ? I want one !

I use cubase 3 with my TT. If you need a dongle to perform your tests, I can lend you mine. Cubase 2 is good version to test (I used it for years).

[tenox]

Where is the the order form ? I want one !

I use cubase 3 with my TT. If you need a dongle to perform your tests, I can lend you mine. Cubase 2 is good version to test (I used it for years).

Unless you need me to photograph some specific features of 3 I'm just going to stick with Lite. There should be no difference, the adapter doesn't do anything specific it just converts ECL to VGA. TT-HIGH is TT-HIGH. If Cubase works well on TTM195 it will work well with the adapter. I'm getting some flat panels with 1:1 pixel mapping to test. I will snap more Cubase and Calamus photos once I get them.

In terms of availability I believe the final prototype will arrive in about 2 weeks from now and then once it passes all tests there will be 3-4 weeks for the actual production run.

[dbsys]

In terms of availability I believe the final prototype will arrive in about 2 weeks from now and then once it passes all tests there will be 3-4 weeks for the actual production run.

This is interesting and good news. May I ask in which country you are located?

[1st1]

As the ECL adapter of atari-home.de forum seems not to advance, I also claim interest for this adapter.

Does it also support of pass through of the lowres resolutions of the TT, I mean a kind of switch between TT VGA and TT ECL mode?