[Coco] FD-502 dual drive system on eBay (not mine)

Retro Canada retrocanada76 at gmail.com
Mon Sep 16 20:08:08 EDT 2013


no i use hd floppies with the hd hole taped and it just works.

some will say it wont hold the data but for me it works...

using dd floppies would be better but they are prety rare nowadays...


On 2013-09-16, at 7:08 PM, Christopher Smith <csmith at wolfram.com> wrote:

Oh, right; I'd forgotten about the ones that used the 3.5" type power connectors.  So, you say you put a 1.4M drive in?  Do you have the one really ancient disk controller that's supposed to be adjustable to support high-density, or have you done something else to use them?

Chris

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Retro Canada" <retrocanada76 at gmail.com>
> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Cc: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 5:30:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [Coco] FD-502 dual drive system on eBay (not mine)
> 
> up to fd501 they all use standard 5 1/4 molex and for fd502 the 3 1/2
> connector. i have 3 units a white full height, a fd501 and fd502. in
> both fds i put a 1.44 3 1/2 as ds0. i dont like 5 1/2.
> 
> my full height is misaligned. even if i manage to fix the head it
> will misalign again.
> 
> On 2013-09-16, at 6:19 PM, Christopher Smith <csmith at wolfram.com>
> wrote:
> 
> That's interesting... what is the power supply connector now?
> 
> Chris
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Retro Canada" <retrocanada76 at gmail.com>
>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts"
>> <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>> Cc: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts"
>> <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 4:51:10 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Coco] FD-502 dual drive system on eBay (not mine)
>> 
>> i am talking about the full height unity to put half drives.
>> 
>> On 2013-09-16, at 5:46 PM, Sean <badfrog at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I put a non-Tandy drive in my old FT-502 case and it fit perfectly
>> back in
>> the day.  I think I just had to change the power connector to a
>> molex
>> one.
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 3:16 PM, Luis Antoniosi (CoCoDemus) <
>> retrocanada76 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> you will need to drill new holes on it since they don't match.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 4:15 PM, Christopher Smith
>>> <csmith at wolfram.com
>>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Excellent, so it looks like I may be able to make a simple
>>>> conversion
>>> from
>>>> one of the full-height units, then.  I'll just have to keep an
>>>> eye
>>>> out
>>> for
>>>> a half-height, DS/DD drive.  The second drive would probably be
>>>> the
>>>> quad-density one that I have currently.  I suppose I should start
>>>> looking
>>>> at how to swap drive IDs as well.
>>>> 
>>>> Chris
>>>> 
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Rogelio Perea" <os9dude at gmail.com>
>>>>> To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts"
>>>>> <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>>>>> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 2:52:53 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Coco] FD-502 dual drive system on eBay (not mine)
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Mon, Sep 16, 2013, Christopher Smith wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> I do wish people didn't pay nearly so much for those two drive
>>>>> things.
>>>>>> Honestly, I've begun to wonder whether I could convert one of
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> single
>>>>>> drive boxes to hold two half-height drives.  Not sure if they'd
>>>>>> mount
>>>>>> properly in the case, and have no idea whether the power supply
>>>>>> would be
>>>>>> sufficient.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I added a second drive to my FD-502 years ago (20+) and did not
>>>>> install the
>>>>> fan as suggested in the user manual; had the system in close
>>>>> observation
>>>>> for a while and even under heavy disk usage (OS9L2) the power
>>>>> supply
>>>>> never
>>>>> defaulted, and it is still rock solid to this day. That FD-502 I
>>>>> use
>>>>> exclusively on my CoCo 3 setup.
>>>>> 
>>>>> A little bit more than a year ago I upgraded my CoCo 1's 26-3029
>>>>> disk
>>>>> system (prior model before the FD-500): drive was a full height
>>>>> device
>>>>> mounted on a corresponding case - took the original drive out
>>>>> and
>>>>> replaced
>>>>> it with two TEAC FD-55 half-height drives, they sat nicely on
>>>>> the
>>>>> case -
>>>>> only had to drill a couple of mounting holes on the bottom to
>>>>> secure
>>>>> the
>>>>> drives inside. The full height case's power supply is a no
>>>>> frills
>>>>> linear
>>>>> one, again as with my first days with the upgraded FD-502, after
>>>>> hooking up
>>>>> both drives to it I kept a close eye on the power demands, play
>>>>> tested with
>>>>> OS9L1 to my heart's content and not a single problem crept in -
>>>>> I
>>>>> did
>>>>> put a
>>>>> fresh helping of heat sink silicone grease on the power
>>>>> regulator
>>>>> before
>>>>> hooking up the drives, power supply runs warm to the touch but
>>>>> nothing
>>>>> beyond the ordinary.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Newer drives will have less power demands than older units, that
>>>>> has
>>>>> to
>>>>> account for my problem free experiences with the disk system
>>>>> upgrades
>>>>> noted
>>>>> above.
>>>>> 
>>>>> -- RP
>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Christopher Smith
>>>> Systems Engineer, Wolfram Research
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Coco mailing list
>>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Long live the CoCo
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Coco mailing list
>>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>> 
>> --
>> Coco mailing list
>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
>> 
>> --
>> Coco mailing list
>> Coco at maltedmedia.com
>> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> 
> --
> Christopher Smith
> Systems Engineer, Wolfram Research
> 
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> 
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco

-- 
Christopher Smith
Systems Engineer, Wolfram Research

--
Coco mailing list
Coco at maltedmedia.com
http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco



More information about the Coco mailing list