Atari Quantum Reproduction - my little contribution

[YellowDog]

Not sure until I get a real interest list, but I think if I can get at least a preorder for 25 of them, I could bring the price down to $185 per blank PCB.

If you are counting, put me down for 1. You should also check with some of the other electronics gurus and see who does their board fabricating. You may be able to shave some cost with a competitive bid.

I got to see the blank in person, I knew it was only a matter of time. I want two! I am collecting parts to make 2 quantums and I am still making the cabinets. Really behind again, working out of town 10 hour days and a 3 hour round trip is sucking.

Have you ever thought about leasing an RV and parking it behind the shop. The gas costs alone during the week would probably pay for it. Back in the '80s I worked at a couple of places where guys did that and if it was cost effective then, it must be more so now. Check with some RV dealers in your area. I know they are hurting around here, they may be willing to deal on a lease or even more if you buy it.

ken

 

[gozer5454]

I will add this: You are a badass sir!

 

[Maxstang]

An amazing accomplishment! You can put me on the list for a bare board too!

 

[ballytablewiz]

Holy mother...

Impressive, to say the least. If you're counting, put me down for one. Somehow I think that 25 number is going to look paltry in a few days

 

[oppolo]

I'll buy one

 

[DogP]

That's really sweet! I know it wouldn't have been totally original, but adding the AVG circuit directly into the layout would have been nice too. But I guess if you're going to stray too much, you could just have the analog section plus an FPGA and save tons of parts and board space.

If there is a lot of interest, someone should look into having an assembly house actually populate these... buying the parts in (semi) bulk, plus pick and place and wave soldering on through-hole boards probably wouldn't add much to the overall cost, versus everyone buying everything individually... and it'd save a LOT of time, and probably some errors.

DogP

 

[JeffC]

What an amazing accomplishment. Excellent work man, congrats. I'm one of those that had a long, expensive search for a working PCB. I'm also using one of Mark's adapters with a Tempest Harness, but in an original cab. It works great, but I'll swap to one of the new repro Quantum Harnesses someday.

This is definitely one of the most awesome reproduction efforts I've seen. Great job.

 

[djw90]

If your making a list please add my name!! Awesome Job!!

 

[DPtwiz]

I have a hotel card if I wanted to stay, but I need to home in the evening's to help the girlfriend out with our daughter that has cf, and her being 4 and the boy 3, she needs a break!

 

[mrbill08]

This truly defines "a labor of love". You did it the way that would give you the best shot at success in the end. My hat's off to everyone involved.

An almost totally reproduced Quantum is a reality.

Which game is next?

Bill

 

[MikeyDee]

Wow, very impressive. Thanks for sharing your work, too. I know there are lots of guys who will get a "new" board from this.

That is so cool that you have a "new" Quantum PCB. All of the time factors that make the game boards flakey and fail are not an issue.

Amazing.

 

[hereitcomes]

Please put me down for 1!!!

 

[Tronic]

Well, it seems like I am getting interest in getting these reproduced. The interest is a little better than I thought it would be. I guess when it comes time to actually get preorders I will know for sure.

I am looking into quotes right now so I will start a preorder thread once I get that back with more info.

The way I look at it, there are alot of original boards that are at the age where the edge connectors are worn, traces are lifting when an IC is replaced, etc. This is a way to have replacements so those that have Quantums don't have to worry about their one board becoming unrepairable.

I did route all the traces on the board in the exact spot as the originals, for many reasons, so yes it will look just like an original board when you see it. The only difference is I included the factory modification (blue wire) that you usually see on original boards. It's also the same size and shape so it will slide into the factory slots on the games.

 

[Tronic]

I don't know if these pics will interest anyone, but it kinda shows a bit of the work involved in doing a reproduction of an Atari main PCB.

This first one was taken after I finished entering the schematic into capture and exported the netlist into the Layout program. You can see all the yellow lines, those are the individual "nets" that all have to be routed into traces on the PCB.

This second one is a close view of the middle of the board once I completed all the routing, showing the top layer in green and the bottom layer in red.

 

[bheineck]

This second one is a close view of the middle of the board once I completed all the routing, showing the top layer in green and the bottom layer in red.

Ummmmm......I only see one picture.

 

[Tronic]

Ummmmm......I only see one picture.

I had to leave my desk mid-save for a fire drill here at my office. I just posted the second pic.

 

[Tronic]

And a little bit of useless trivia, if you ever wondered how many holes you would have to drill if you were crazy enough to try your own etching (impossible since you would need plating capabilities for the through holes).

You would be at the drill press for a long time there are 3,744 holes in the Quantum PCB.

 

[osver]

Those pictures impress me, and make my brain hurt, all at the same time.

 

[EclipseEye]

You would be at the drill press for a long time there are 3,744 holes in the Quantum PCB.

Is that the amount of times you would have to solder lol?

 

[Tronic]

Is that the amount of times you would have to solder lol?

That would be crazy!

No you have around 250 or so holes that you would actually solder with parts. Most of those 3,744 are via holes.