JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (JKT) (12/06/90)
XRTNT at AMARNA.GSFC.NASA.GOV writes: >JKT100 at PSUVM.PSU.EDU writes: >>All my drive bays were full: 2 Amiga floppies, a Mac floppy in the >>lower bay connected to an internal A-Max cartridge, and a 2091 with > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >Eh? How'd you manage this? I'd like to ditch the silly cartridge thingy >off the back of my a2000. I too tired of the long A-Max cartridge hanging off the back of my 2000. So I had a 23-pin disk-drive extension cable made. This was difficult; those 23-pin connectors are hard to find, so not many places would make it, let alone any chance of me making it myself. Finally my dealer found a place that could make one. (If you have trouble, contact me; I'll give you the name of the cable company). Anyway, then I took one of the metal slot covers off the back of the A2000 and cut about a half inch off the bottom; just enough so that when it was replaced, the disk drive extension cable could fit through the gap. I connected the Mac drive and the cable to the A-Max cartridge, and wrapped the entire cartridge assembly in an old rag (held in place with rubber-bands) - This kept it from shorting anything out when I laid it in the 2000 between the other cards. The hardest part was mounting the Mac drive in the lower bay; it wouldn't fit far enough forward to allow for easy inserting of disks. Remedying this was simply a matter of cutting and filing down the plastic ridge on the bottom edge of the lower drive opening. There were also no brackets that came close to fitting it, and the Mac drive was too high for the disk slot to be easily accessible in the front of the machine. So, I tore the four rubber feet off the bottom of the drive and re-stuck them on top (with some additional glue). Then I drilled holes through the back of the upper drive chassis to place two sheet metal screws through and into the rubber thingies now on top. This configuration is surprisingly firm as long as the glue on the rubber feet holds. The rubber can also act as a cushion. In the place of the rubber feet on the bottom, I placed short sections of stick-on foam-rubber window sealing tape, about 1/8" thick. The result is a Mac drive that looks almost as if it were designed to go in the lower bay. The only indications otherwise are the gaps on the left and right; I've considered cutting a hole in the plastic cover that used to be there and fitting it over top, but it's not critical except for looks. Good luck if you try this! Kurt -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- || Kurt Tappe (215) 363-9485 || Amigas, Macs, IBM's, C-64's, NeXTs, || || 184 W. Valley Hill Rd. || Apple ]['s.... I use 'em all. || || Malvern, PA 19355-2214 || (and in that order too! ;-) || || jkt100@psuvm.psu.edu --------------------------------------|| || jkt100@psuvm.bitnet jkt100%psuvm.bitnet@psuvax1 QLink: KurtTappe || -----------------------------------------------------------------------
a218@mindlink.UUCP (Charlie Gibbs) (12/11/90)
In article <90339.212711JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu> JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (Kurt Tappe) writes: >I too tired of the long A-Max cartridge hanging off the back of my 2000. >So I had a 23-pin disk-drive extension cable made. This was difficult; >those 23-pin connectors are hard to find, so not many places would make >it, let alone any chance of me making it myself. Finally my dealer found >a place that could make one. (If you have trouble, contact me; I'll give >you the name of the cable company). Yes, that long cartridge is indeed a pain. I discovered, though, that you can get an extension cable from ReadySoft themselves. Now I can put the cartridge up against the wall and not have it take up all that space. My Mac drive still sits beside the machine, though. As nice as your internal mounting trick sounds, my lower bay is already full. Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.UUCP "I've seen The Exorcist about a hundred and sixty-seven times, and it keeps getting funnier every time I see it!" -- Beetlejuice