Harlequin Rev G Assembly

Are there assembly instructions on the Rev G anywhere? I know there are some component load options wrt PAL vs NTSC on the schematic but I want to make sure I don't miss anything. I'll be assembling mine as a PAL machine btw, I see no reason these days to go NTSC.

Comments

  • Hi,

    You might find this website useful: malinov.com/Home/sergey-s-blog/buildingzxspectrumclone-harlequin-part1

    Here you can find the soldering manual but it has been based on rev F of the board.
  • Yes, I had seen his website but it didn't occur to me to go back and look at his pictures. You can see pretty clearly what he loaded and didn't load. Looks like he set it up for NTSC by soldering wires in the three jumper locations. I think I'll go ahead and load jumpers so it can be changed easily.

    Being in the US, if I were using an old TV or monitor I might consider setting up for NTSC, but since I'll be using a composite -> HDMI converter I can't think of a reason to do that, and I can think of some not to. Presumably some software, all of which I would assume was written for a PAL system, might be negatively affected by the slightly different timing. Probably most wouldn't care but since NTSC doesn't really buy me anything, PAL it is.

    Besides, I'd like my colors to be the same color twice. ;)


  • BTW Claudius, thanks for the link to the soldering manual. It was slightly broken but easy enough to figure out.

    This should be the correct link: Rev F Soldering Manual

  • I've just finished my HQ48K. Apart a faulty Z80A CPU it worked from the first power up. I haven't found any difficulties in assembly the rev G board. There are a bit tight spaces allocated for large capacitors in the power supply section. If they are higher than 10mm the PCB will not fit into the rubber ZX48K casing. Otherwise smooth and nice work.
  • A few photos of the fully assembled board below:

    HQ48K_01.jpg

    HQ48K_02.jpg

    HQ48K_05.jpg
  • That looks great!

    Do you do anything special to stick your speaker to the board? Double sided tape or just let the leads hold it in place?
    Thanked by 1Claudius
  • Thanks.

    The speaker is well secured and kept in place by leads only.
  • edited March 2017
    I glued the speaker using superglue gel. Otherwise it could come to undesired sound if the speaker has unstable contact to the board.

    Greetings Ingo.
    Post edited by ingo on
  • edited March 2017
    Using superglue next to any plastics and electronics is not the wisest solution. In case of the speaker's failure you will be hammering the speaker off the PCB. For removal of speaker's and superglue remains you need a solvent.

    As the speaker vibrates a double side foam or tape is much far better option. Or you can apply a drop of hot melt glue between the board and speaker.
    Post edited by Claudius on
  • edited March 2017
    I use only a very low amount of superglue at the small outer ring of the speaker. And I successfully removed a bad speaker without any damage to the PCB. The strong fixing to the PCB improves the frequency response of this small speaker. But each user has to decide how to do that.
    Greats Ingo.
    Post edited by ingo on
  • Claudius wrote: »
    A few photos of the fully assembled board below:

    HQ48K_01.jpg

    HQ48K_02.jpg

    HQ48K_05.jpg


    That blue soldermask on that board really looks outstanding. Wish I'd have bought that one. Mine has white soldermask.

    Those pictures are great as well. Is that a smartphone camera or a dedicated camera?



    Thanked by 1Claudius
  • edited March 2017
    @msansom: Thanks a lot. I am sure the white PCB looks stunning. Have a fun and you could buy all capacitors in one colour e.g. blue only. You could go with all pin headers and jumpers in white or so. Always there is a room for creativity.

    Regarding photos, I use a full frame DSLR with prime lenses and an external flashgun.
    Post edited by Claudius on
  • Hope your build went well msansom. I also built a Rev G, but focused my build on being NTSC. Works great. I modded mine for S-Video output which comes in handy and cuts out the dot crawl I was getting with composite.
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