Date   : Fri, 25 Dec 1998 15:39:17 +0000
From   : Mike Tomlinson <mike@...>
Subject: Re: Hardware queries

In article <5b2af3b948%rich@...>, Richard Harker
<rich@...> writes

>Unfortunatley I don't appear to have one of these. The Disc Pack was my
>dads (he's gradually giving me all his BBC stuff as it is no longer needed),
>and I've got all his BBC Bs, but there's no Z80 card, or even manuals for
>one. :-(

Never mind.  The z80 Disk Pack is a high quality 80 track double-sided
disc drive unit in a metal case with a good PSU, so is worth having
anyway.  I seem to remember that earlier units had a very beefy PSU with
an auxiliary output which was intended to power the Beeb too, as early
Beebs had a linear PSU in a black case which couldn't cope with the
extra load presented by the Torch z80 card.

>BTW, What's the longest a disk drive cable can be? 

It's very dependent on the age and condition of the machine, the make of
drive, and where the cable is routed (as it isn't shielded.)  A metre
should be OK; I have used two metre cables with no problem.

-- 
Mike Tomlinson
See the sci.electronics.repair FAQ mirror at  
http://www.jasper.demon.co.uk/repairfaq/