nama wrote:I think breadboarding sounds like a good idea. Is this something you would tackle? I only ask because I don't have a breadboard, nor a drive (I just ordered one though, but know knowing if it'll be functional on arrival), nor have I had any experience in breadboarding. If the idea is to make sure the circuit works then I feel the odds are stacked agist me.
One other part that I'm wondering is readily available is the Molex connectors. I haven't seen ones like OSI used in any of the stores in Akihabara.
Phil
Hi Philip,
I will be more than happy to breadboard the circuit and test it out. I don't have another SS/SD drive, but I can remove the data separator from my MPI drive and check the circuit out. However, it will be just a little while before I am able to spend any significant time on it.
The connectors are still being made, and are available easily from major distributors. They are Molex KK-series 0.156" connectors. I started a text file with replacement part numbers (and some discussion about the buffers) on the main OSIweb page, but I see that I only gave the Digikey part numbers, and digikey doesn't stock them. Mouser, Newark/Element14/Farnel, RS electronics, AVnet, and others do. You can check prices on Octopart.com and Findchips.com.
Replacements for OSI Molex PCB connectors: (type KK 0.156") :
12-pin right-angle (horizontal) edge connector (sockets): Molex 09-52-3121
12-pin vertical molex connector (sockets): Molex 09-52-3123
12-pin header (pins): Molex 26-60-2120
Just for your own tinkering pleasure, It's definitely worth getting an inexpensive wireless breadboard, some wires, a logic probe, a cheap DMM, and a cheap power supply. I believe an acceptable adjustable power supply can be had for $60-$80. You can also improvise your own power supplies from regulated 5V, 3.3V, 9V, and 12V wall warts if you're on a budget, or you can build your own. I recommend you check out
http://www.eevblog.com to find out about economical DMM's. Dave Jones did a couple of "shootout" videos comparing several $100 and $50 DMM's, and these are also frequently discussed on the forums there.
This is what I've found with a quick search on ebay, as an example:
Small breadboard: $16.00 (but this is in the US, and shipping may be greater)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solderless-Brea ... 3f0ac63fd4
Larger breadboard: $18.98 (ships free from China). A cheap breadboard will wear out and become unreliable soon, but by the time that happens, you'll know whether or not you want to spend a bit more on a higher quality one.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-2900-Points ... 20bb01015d
Wire jumpers (70 pieces): $2.89
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Solderless- ... 4aad837419
Logic probe: $13.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/EISTAR-LOGIC-PU ... 415d469a77
The lab/adjustable power supplies I'm finding are all in the US, and shipping to Japan would be more expensive than one from China, but I'm sure you can find a small power supply for less than $50. Throw in a pair of $10 cutters, a $10 wire stripper (Although I used a toenail clipper as a cutter and swiss army knife as a stripper for years.). All that should fit in a shoebox, and cost less than $100, and should get you started. If you are looking for a soldering iron, don't get the kind that plugs directly into the wall--get a controlled iron. You can get a cheap Hakko clone, as many do. I like metcal, and got mine used on Ebay as well. In general, I'm all for buying used soldering irons.
The other thing to look into, that doesn't require much by way of start up resources or storage space, is an arduino board. This is a small pre-assembled board with an AVR microcontroller, a USB interface, and some connectors on it in a standard configuration. The main advantage is that there is a free full-power IDE available, a large library of pre-built code for various tasks, and lots of help on the web. You can get clones for as little as $15 from China, and there are a ton of resources on the web for programming them and doing projects with them. I think that something like a data separator and motor control could be done on an arduino without too much difficulty. Turning an arduino into an OSI paddle would then just be a matter of taking the freely available eagle design files for the arduino, and adding in the OSI connectors. I'm not saying that this should be done for the current project, but it's good to know such things can be done.
Best regards,
Dave