@CT6502 a slightly less sound emanating from the drive is also consistent with my findings I believe the main 'upgrade' here resides in power delivery. The board outputs a much better and stable supply to the drive components (both the motor card and the analog card). I have verified this through an oscilloscope and one of the striking graphs is the sine waveform which the amplifier's filter outputs. the original card has very jagged edges, while the new card is a perfect sine wave.
2 years ago one of my drives stopped working, rpm was oscillating a lot. I swapped boards, replaced capacitors, nothing would work. Some weeks ago I got another drive, swapped motor, didn’t work as well. I found out that the issue is the head, as everything else works on other drives. I suspect the control board might have damaged the head, with a not so stable circuit. Such upgrade would enable the most reliable and stable setup, ensuring the longevity of the mechanical parts (and the head). Thanks for sharing!
@@CT6502 Agreed. I'm sure a lot of work and many prototype board were made and tested and parts scrapped. I get it, I've made PCB and shifted parts based on how things worked... I may still get one to be used for my Applesauce drive, just not today....
I bought a BUNCH of MC3470s. like in the hundreds. Those chips, after extensive tests, do perform better than the drive clones which do not have this chip. I will not get into the nitty gritty details because it can become a very lengthy subject, but suffice it to say that Motorola did an extremely thorough job in designing this chip. And I am not surprised Apple decided to go with this, as opposed to doing their own. You can still source the MC3470 from various places. But if(when) they become totally unavailable, I'll resort to an alternative option. But really, the people who still use floppies are very few and far between. But I am sure charmed by them !
Now that is cool.
Wow. Never cease to be amazed at what fans of the Apple create.
Very true! Thanks for watching.
@CT6502 a slightly less sound emanating from the drive is also consistent with my findings
I believe the main 'upgrade' here resides in power delivery. The board outputs a much better and stable supply to the drive components (both the motor card and the analog card). I have verified this through an oscilloscope and one of the striking graphs is the sine waveform which the amplifier's filter outputs. the original card has very jagged edges, while the new card is a perfect sine wave.
I thought it sounded better - thanks for the explanation. Although maybe some people will miss the super loud drive noises 🙂
Very nice. Thank you for making this video, Chris.
My pleasure! It's a great set of boards!
Very cool!! Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
2 years ago one of my drives stopped working, rpm was oscillating a lot. I swapped boards, replaced capacitors, nothing would work. Some weeks ago I got another drive, swapped motor, didn’t work as well. I found out that the issue is the head, as everything else works on other drives. I suspect the control board might have damaged the head, with a not so stable circuit. Such upgrade would enable the most reliable and stable setup, ensuring the longevity of the mechanical parts (and the head). Thanks for sharing!
Yes, that's the hope! Although I guess if the drive head is already damaged you'd probably want to replace that as well.
Nice
Looks great. I want... looks on-line at the price... ok, it stays on the want list. ouch.
The developers put a lot of time & effort into the design and testing, so that's got to be factored in. But I certainly hear you - it's not cheap 🙂
@@CT6502 Agreed. I'm sure a lot of work and many prototype board were made and tested and parts scrapped. I get it, I've made PCB and shifted parts based on how things worked... I may still get one to be used for my Applesauce drive, just not today....
@@CT6502 So there was still one for me. Rikkles mentioned his brother was doing this.
@@forrestlowe9658 yep, I see your order, thanks!
I am really concerned as to what will happen when Motorola decides to retire the MC3470 read amplifier chip...
Very true. It sounded like Karl Asseily was able to source a replacement but it just wasn't as good as the actual MC3470...
I bought a BUNCH of MC3470s. like in the hundreds. Those chips, after extensive tests, do perform better than the drive clones which do not have this chip. I will not get into the nitty gritty details because it can become a very lengthy subject, but suffice it to say that Motorola did an extremely thorough job in designing this chip. And I am not surprised Apple decided to go with this, as opposed to doing their own.
You can still source the MC3470 from various places. But if(when) they become totally unavailable, I'll resort to an alternative option. But really, the people who still use floppies are very few and far between. But I am sure charmed by them !