On the BlueSCSI front, there are new through-hole designs on the way from the PCB manufacturer, for desktop and powerbook. These have already been verified functional, and these PCBs are for production. They are easier to assemble, with only a few surface mount parts : the microSD slot, and large SMD capacitors.
A new BlueSCSI product line, ‘F4 Lite’, will make its appearance with green PCBs. This style is just as fast as full F4 with the current SCSI protocol implementation, despite being more affordable. Future improvements to the SCSI protocol will make full F4 likely faster. But for now it’s a cheaper solution that runs at the same speed.
Also for the first time, F4 will be available for powerbooks. These designs are through-hole too, and allow disabling termination (by removing active terminator packs) for those that want to try systems other than powerbooks where termination must be fully off.
The eMate 300 RAM/Flash upgrade module will start production when the PCBs arrive.
— Update on the eMate module: either my PCBs are really fiddly or the flash chips I have are all bad. These don’t really seem to want to work, and the PCB design will be updated again later to see if things can be worked out.
The LC MACAA Power Supply Replacement has had one more PCB tweak and is not the easiest to assemble, but will be a good solution for those who want a new power supply for their LC, LC II, LC III, and LC 475.
— Update on MACAA: For the LC there’s actually a nice little medical power supply that does +12, +5, and -5 just like the LC needs. Will be easier and cheaper to just use that instead, and work is being retargeted to that.
The ribbon cable for macintosh portable backlit display upgrade is in production, with one tester ready and waiting to give it a shot.
Another new product (later in the future, design in progress) will be the standard backlit mac portable ribbon cable, as this is a different design – but they tear just as often.
