How Can You Load Cassette Software On Your Retro Without A Tape Deck?
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Hello, friends,
Well this should be fun. Today I'm putting my non-existant SMD soldering skills to the test and building up a TZXDuino Reloaded 1.5 Nano, which uses an Arduino Nano to reproduce cassette audio from .CDT, .TAP, .P, .UEF or .CAS files (often used to load cassette images into emulators) on to the original hardware. The Maxduino software is designed to work with the ZX Spectrum, ZX80, ZX81, ORIC, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Tandy Color Computer, Dragon, BBCMicro, Acorn Electron and others. I'll be testing it on my Amstrad CPC and Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
I've only soldered a few SMT components in my life and the only "training" I've got is watching other UA-camrs' videos. Lets see if I can put any of that to good use.
Hope you enjoy the video!
Thank you for watching
Todd
TZXDuino Project GitHub Repo:
github.com/arananet/TzxDuino-Reloaded
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This was fun! I confess to a definite trepidation when it comes to attempting a project that uses surface mount components. Through hole? No problem! This also makes me appreciate all the hobbyists that assemble and sell these so that I can continue to avoid doing it myself for now.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The audio out and in (mic, ear and internal speaker) are all connected to the same pin of the ULA, separated by filter (and buffer) circuits. Impedance of the devices connected to the MIC jack are important here. It is OK to connect an amplified speaker, because it will put an high impedance (=small) load, but connecting a bare speaker, with 8 or 6 ohms coil, will cause problems. So the MIC jack should only be seen as a line out, not a speaker out. Also, phones and tablets have stereo output, whereas the Spectrum has a mono EAR jack. Connecting a regular 3.5mm stereo cable in between will cause one of the channels of the phone's output to be shorted to the ground on the computer side. This is the main reason why loading games from phones or tablets generally fail, because you can only use one channel, effectively 50% of the available audio. You need a simple, crude mixer circuit to combine both channels onto a single output and feed that using a mono 3.5mm jack to the Spectrum. There are many examples of stereo to mono mixing circuits on the internet, most of them made with passives that does not need power.
Thank you.
The best way to do the occasional SMD soldering for IC's is to learn to do drag soldering. It is not a fast enough method for mass production, (in that case hot air, hot plates, or even better soldering ovens are the best) but it is the best method for a hobbyist because it does not require any equipment but a regular soldering iron and regular solder wire.. Watch the video I linked below, pay attention to the amount of flux he uses (it may seem excessive but believe me it is the way to go), the amount of solder on the tip of the iron (way less than you'd imagine) and most importantly where he touches with the iron, only to the tips of the pins where they make contact with the PCB. Touching the whole pin will result in bridges, and use up the solder on the tip immediately. The video is actually a solder paste comparison video, but unintentionally it is also a great drag solder tutorial. And yes, you need a flux paste just like the ones seen there. Some are viscous enough to keep the IC in place too. I f your hands are not steady enough to depend on the weak tact of the flux, you can always solder one corner pin on the opposite side beforehand, to keep the IC in place while drag soldering the other side.
ua-cam.com/video/iKDAmY9Rdag/v-deo.html
I realize you're trying to be helpful and I appreciate that. But any time someone tells me they have "the best way" to do something it immediately puts me on the defensive. I'm not trying to become an expert at SMD soldering. I just want to be able to assemble an occasional project. I'll definitely take in the info you provided. And thanks for watching.
Well done, smd isn't easy to begin with
Thank you!
Excellent work and video! Nicely done, and now I have a new project to work on. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Rudy! If you'd like, I can probably send you one of the PCBs. I've got 9 left over from my PCBWay order. :)
@@YARC-1981 that would be awesome!! Let's talk more tonight
OK
Awesome thank you 🙏
No problem 👍
Since you’re already using a heat gun you might want to try a syringe filled with solder paste instead of wire solder and an iron.
I considered it, but I've never used the stuff and honestly, I'm a bit scared to try. If I really get in to a lot of SMD work, I might go that route. I also thought about heat plates (or whatever the correct term for them is), but in the end, I just decided to go with methods I was at least a little familiar with. Thanks for the advice, though. I appreciate it. And thanks for watching!
'Promosm'
Huh?