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View Full Version : Mediator 1200 and a new monitor!



Stephen Coates
4th February 2008, 12:47
Been spending a bit of money on ebay today.

Firstly, I bought a new monitor (second hand). I have been putting off getting one since about 2006, so due to the big scratch and slight blurryness of my current 17" monitor, I thought it was about time I got a better one. (See http://emaculation.com/steve/scratch.jpg and http://emaculation.com/steve/highres.jpg)

So, I got a Sony E530 with a 22" Trinitron. Looks like a lovely display. I know it will be a few years old now, but it is still newer than my current one and the display should still be better. I just have to make room for it as it will be very big. This cost £78 + £22 postage and should come tommorow. I could have got a 19" monitor as that would still be an improvement on the monitor which I have at the moment but the choice of ones which offered postage was limited. Probably due to the fact that alot of people selling these monitors were individuals who didn't want the hassle of postage. Link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150203341067&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=005

The second item which I got today for £102 was a Mediator 1200 with 4 PCI slots and a graphics card, a sound card and a network card. Great bargain when compared to the cost of new ones. I look forward to be able to use high resolutions and colours with my 030 amiga. It will also mean that I can make use of the new monitor's dual VGA inputs and have the PC connected to one and the Amiga1200 connected to the other :). Link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290202704175&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=019

Just got to wait for them to arrive now. I will post more about them and some photos when I get them.

Buleste
4th February 2008, 13:12
I was watching the Mediator bundle as theres a lot of kit there. The one thing that put me off that (apart from the fact i'm skint) was it's obviously an older version as it's using a ATX power adapter so you may have to buy a AT to ATX power cable if you use a good PSU (Don't forget those new cards will up you power usage so you'll need at least a 300W PSU although that depends on the accelerator you have as with a 030 you might just be able to get away with it.) Let us know how it goes.

Stephen Coates
4th February 2008, 13:20
I already have an ATX power supply and it should be more than powerful enough, but if not I can easily get another one.

What would the AT to ATX power adaptor be used for?

Buleste
4th February 2008, 13:28
OOPs i meant to say it uses a AT power connector so if you have a ATX PSU then you'll need a ATX to AT cable so you can use the PSU with the board.

If you notice on the picture on the top left is the power connecter with uses the P8 P9 AT configuration.

Harrison
4th February 2008, 13:38
Some nice hardware Steve. Have you already put your A1200 into a tower case? Or are you doing a conversion once these bits arrive?

Those Sony monitors were nice. I used to have two IBM branded 21" ones that used the same tube as your new one, and it produced a nice picture. I used to run them at 1600x1200 at 85Hz. Just remember that these big CRT monitors have huge cases and are about 2 feet deep so take up a lot of desk space.

TiredOfLife
4th February 2008, 13:41
Good deal mate.

That should make life easier for you.
Internet surfing with a decent size monitor and a graphics card makes a world of difference.
Javascript might be a bit slow with an 030 but you should be fine for everything else.

Stephen Coates
4th February 2008, 13:52
Not done a tower conversion. For now I'm just going to connect everything together to see how it works (sellotape here I come ;)).

Don't worry, I will be careful enough to not break it. I will do a tower conversion eventually though.

I checked the dimensions of the 22" monitors and it only seems to be a couple of inches deeper than my 17" one. Will be a much bigger screen though. I may have to do a bit of reorganising to get it to fit well but that won't be a problem. The guy selling it also has some newer IBM ones which have a DVI connection as well, but I thought the VGA connectors would be more useful for me.

Ad for internet, I wouldn't expect it to be any slower with a graphics card than it already is with AGA, although I will be sticking with the PC for most web browsing.

Harrison
4th February 2008, 14:17
All Workbench based graphics will be much faster at updating on the graphics card compared to AGA. The graphics card will be using it's own memory and GPU for data and refresh so will now be restricted by the slow Amiga bus. You will notice a huge increase in screen speed.

I'm not sure it is wise to try and connect it all up outside of a case. Too many connections to bend or break without being properly aligned and screwed down. Plus the big possibility of short circuiting.

Stephen Coates
4th February 2008, 14:18
We will have to wait till it arrives to see what how it connects together. I have never actually seen one so can't say how it connects up.

Buleste
4th February 2008, 15:10
I have a ZIV busboard and purely from a keyboard point a view you'll not be able to leave it open as theres only a small ribbon to connect the keyboard to the MB and the connecting slot will be covered by the Mediator and then the cards in the top slots will cover that up even more. Thats without mentioning the shocking results that can happen when you leave exposed electronics lying around when powered up and then theres the static problems. Believe me a tower conversion is the only option.

Puni/Void
4th February 2008, 19:45
Congratulations on your purchases, Steve. I see that you haven't planned any tower conversion yet, but I supposed you will in the near future. ;) After all, having an A1200 in a tower with Mediator, turbo-card and so on, will be one neat machine.

Are you thinking about going 060 as well?

Stephen Coates
4th February 2008, 20:23
I just heard that the mediator doesn't work as well with the 030 as well as it does with the 040/060, but there is a possibility of me getting a PowerTower and an 040 soon. I would of course like to get an 060 and/or a PPC sometime as well though.

Harrison
4th February 2008, 21:00
It should still work OK with your 030 for the moment though. Obviously a faster CPU is going to be better anyway regardless of it's use.

Buleste
5th February 2008, 09:48
I just heard that the mediator doesn't work as well with the 030 as well as it does with the 040/060, but there is a possibility of me getting a PowerTower and an 040 soon. I would of course like to get an 060 and/or a PPC sometime as well though.

The power Tower isn't the lightest of beasts but if your house fell down around it the tower would still be in one piece. As for the getting a PPC, as a PPC owner i would say if you already own a good 040 or 060 then don't bother. The number of programmes available for PPC is limited and OS4 for me is the OS that the Amiga should have had about the same time as ME. It adds very little other than cosmetics and some of the additional programmes that are good are useless as they are designed for the Amiga one and CSPPC and BPPC are just not powerfull enough.

Stephen Coates
5th February 2008, 10:27
Well, I have been considering a PPC for a while. It all depends on what's avaliable and whether I can afford one or not.

Stephen Coates
5th February 2008, 11:59
Monitor just arrived!

It's massive! :) Fantastic picture quality though. Much better than my old one. Just got to fiddle about with it to get it all set up right now.

And it made my back ache when carrying it up the stairs. It actually its on my desk better than I expected it to. Probably because it gets quite thin towards the back where the old one doesn't.

Harrison
5th February 2008, 12:10
Just be prepared to start experiencing some hair loss! Those big CRTs pump out a lot of radiation and as with all monitors you will be sat fairly close to it, which isn't good. I've not read or heard of any clinical studies into it, but I remember when I used to work in front of two huge CRTs I could feel the hair at the front of my head tingling.

Stephen Coates
5th February 2008, 12:36
I remember you saying that a while ago. Never felt any tingling while working in front of monitors. I did get an odd headache when I operated my 14" television without it's cover on though.

Here is a picture of the new one next to the old one: http://emaculation.com/steve/monitors.jpg. I think that was £100 well spent.

Buleste
5th February 2008, 12:45
O.K. so do they cause obesity as well as then all those fat, bald programmers out there can blame it on the radiation given out by the old CRT monitors.;)

Harrison
5th February 2008, 12:55
I see your room hasn't got any tidier Steve! ;)

£100? Was that including the shipping? That is quite expensive really when you consider you can now buy a new 17" LCD for less, and a 19" LCD for only slightly more.

Stephen Coates
5th February 2008, 14:16
Yes, that included the shipping. £78 excl. shipping.

There was another company selling them for £50 + shipping, but they were described only as 'Tested working'. It shows how a good listing can improve sales!

I'd say it was a good price, regardless of how much LCDs now cost.

And my room still isn't very tidy. I will get round to tidying it though. Eventually.

TiredOfLife
5th February 2008, 17:09
I remember you saying that a while ago. Never felt any tingling while working in front of monitors. I did get an odd headache when I operated my 14" television without it's cover on though.

Here is a picture of the new one next to the old one: http://emaculation.com/steve/monitors.jpg. I think that was £100 well spent.

What?
No cover on a telly or A1200 mediator set up?
If you want to suffer, just walk around Sunderland with a Newcastle shirt on.

Stephen Coates
5th February 2008, 18:45
Yeah, I was adjusting the brightness and focus controls, so I needed the cover off so I could be adjusting it whilst watching it (It would have been very awkward to adjust it a tiny bit, put the cover back on, test it, then take the cover off to adjust it again.

I havn't recieved the Mediator yet so I've no idea how important a case will be. Hopefully it will arrive during the next couple of days so I can find out :)

Stephen Coates
6th February 2008, 18:30
I see your room hasn't got any tidier Steve! ;)

£100? Was that including the shipping? That is quite expensive really when you consider you can now buy a new 17" LCD for less, and a 19" LCD for only slightly more.

Just in case Buleste was reading harrison's last post, I did actually state the price and the shipping cost right at the start of the topic :lol::lol::lol:

Buleste
7th February 2008, 10:09
Isn't it annoying when you just have to keep repeating yourself because certain site creators just don't read before they post.;)

Harrison
7th February 2008, 10:11
I completely admit to such mistakes. :lol: I do read everything posted, but due to having to moderate you lot I have too much to try and remember! ;)

Buleste
7th February 2008, 10:23
Ah ha!!! He can't cope with us. He's shown the sign of weakness that we needed. Now we send in the troups to the CA palace and take over, Harrison will be found guilty at a fair and impartial trial and beaten to death by ST's and it shall signal the dawning of a new age for CA where all who oppose us shall be crushed like the dogs that they are!!!!!

TiredOfLife
7th February 2008, 12:07
Ah ha!!! He can't cope with us. He's shown the sign of weakness that we needed. Now we send in the troups to the CA palace and take over, Harrison will be found guilty at a fair and impartial trial and beaten to death by ST's and it shall signal the dawning of a new age for CA where all who oppose us shall be crushed like the dogs that they are!!!!!

@Harrison

If I see any rebel dogs using STs for any reason, I shall of course crush them.

Long live The Empire.

Buleste
7th February 2008, 13:08
Ah ha!!! He can't cope with us. He's shown the sign of weakness that we needed. Now we send in the troups to the CA palace and take over, Harrison will be found guilty at a fair and impartial trial and beaten to death by ST's and it shall signal the dawning of a new age for CA where all who oppose us shall be crushed like the dogs that they are!!!!!

@Harrison

If I see any rebel dogs using STs for any reason, I shall of course crush them.

Long live The Empire.

You seem to be under the impression that i will be beating Harrison to death with ST's a sign that i like ST's. You are sadly mistaken Mr. TiredofLife. I view it as one of the few things that ST's are good for and also it would be a humiliating way to die. However your loyalty to the old regime will be punished in a far more horrible way. You shall be forced to play games on the ST for the rest of your life although you will not be using your wands to move the joystick as it will be stategically placed elsewhere. MMMMMMWWWWWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA

TiredOfLife
7th February 2008, 15:01
You cannot actually have a working ST in my presence.
A few of my more intellectually challenged mates had them in days gone by.
They were forever going tits up when I was around.
They swore blind that they always worked fine until I arrived.

Now they could have just been lying gits trying to big up their machines, but I have always had the fond hope that they were actually telling the truth.

Harrison
7th February 2008, 15:16
The STs were probably embarrassed to be in the presence of an Amiga user.

I must admit that the ST was quite a stable machine. Not any less stable than an Amiga really. Just not as good.

TiredOfLife
7th February 2008, 16:40
Then it's true, my powers are genuine.
Brilliant.

Stephen Coates
8th February 2008, 16:12
The Mediator arrived today :)

I take it that I will need an AT power supply for it then? If I connect an AT supply does this mean I can do away with the Amiga's own power supply or do I still need that as well?

Harrison
8th February 2008, 16:52
I'm not had first hand experience with this, but I think you need to supply power to both the A1200 motherboard and the mediator board, therefore you need to wire the PC PSU up to both so that they both switch on together.

Stephen Coates
8th February 2008, 17:32
I don't suppose anyone has a spare AT power supply, or even just the connector?

Harrison
8th February 2008, 17:47
Stick a wanted advert on AmiBay. There are some regulars on there that should be able to help you out.

Buleste
9th February 2008, 10:30
Amigakit sell a ATX to AT connector but they appear not to be in stock at the moment. Once you've connected your ATX PSU you will not need the 1200 PSU as the 1200 draws power from the mediator.

If you read the ZIV instruction manual that should be on the main site, the instructions should be basically the same.

Stephen Coates
9th February 2008, 10:47
OK thanks. I will just have to obtain an ATX Power supply then. (The one I have now had it's ATX connector chopped off so I could put an Amiga connector on it.

Buleste
9th February 2008, 11:19
Best thing to do is try get a AT PSU as the ATX to AT adapter is not available at Amigakit. I've an old 230W AT PSU that whilst working is on its way out and is missing a Molex if you want. Then i just have to get rid of my AT to 1200 power connector.

Harrison
9th February 2008, 12:01
That's interesting. I hadn't realised you didn't need to also power the A1200 motherboard as well once it was fitted. I remembered the earliest zorro/pci expansions for the A1200 needed to have power going to both.

TiredOfLife
10th February 2008, 07:02
http://search.ebay.co.uk:80/AT-PSU_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQdfspZ32QQfromZR40QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ32QQlredZATQ20PSU

£29 for a brand new 145w AT PSU.
Seems a bit pricey.

£0.99 and £8.99 both 200 watt with seven days to go on the bidding.

J T
13th February 2008, 17:34
Just be prepared to start experiencing some hair loss! Those big CRTs pump out a lot of radiation and as with all monitors you will be sat fairly close to it, which isn't good. I've not read or heard of any clinical studies into it, but I remember when I used to work in front of two huge CRTs I could feel the hair at the front of my head tingling.

You sure it wasn't just the static from the screen pulling your hair slightly?


I remember you saying that a while ago. Never felt any tingling while working in front of monitors. I did get an odd headache when I operated my 14" television without it's cover on though.


Christ, be careful doing that. CRT gubbins holds massive charges in the capacitors and all that stuff in there. It's quite dangerous....

Stephen Coates
14th February 2008, 10:49
I remember you saying that a while ago. Never felt any tingling while working in front of monitors. I did get an odd headache when I operated my 14" television without it's cover on though.


Christ, be careful doing that. CRT gubbins holds massive charges in the capacitors and all that stuff in there. It's quite dangerous....

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MASSIVE CHARGES!!!!!!!
I NEVER REALISED!!!!!:o:o:o

J T
14th February 2008, 11:19
Well, you don't have a great track record what with breaking and badly repairing things, so be careful is all I'm saying, don't go hurting yourself and breaking your stuff.

Harrison
14th February 2008, 11:30
Sellotape might be a good temporary fix for some computer hardware, but I doubt it would be quite as affective on a fried Steve!

Stephen Coates
15th February 2008, 10:47
Sellotape might be a good temporary fix for some computer hardware, but I doubt it would be quite as affective on a fried Steve!

I suppose it could be used to attach the lid to my coffin:lol:

AlexJ
15th February 2008, 11:16
Opening and messing inside a CRT screen up is one thing I would never do - heard too many stories of TV technicians (who should know what they're doing) getting killed.

Stephen Coates
15th February 2008, 11:23
Well, if the monitor/TV is not going to be opened, there is no possibility of any problems being fixed. e.g., if I hadn't have opened it, I wouldn't have been able to put a new switch in my 8833 (230V!!!!!!:o).

It's fine as long as you know which bits to not touch.

Buleste
15th February 2008, 11:34
It's fine as long as you know which bits to not touch.

And if you don't know what bits to touch you'll soon find out when you touch them.:p

Harrison
15th February 2008, 16:16
As mentioned a few times in the past, I once had an old PC that I used with a monitor that had no case! I used to be able to feel the magnetic field coming from it while in use. I also touched something I shouldn't one day and I was quite lucky because it just made my finger numb for a few minutes! :lol:

Buleste
15th February 2008, 16:23
Did you learn the lesson???

Harrison
15th February 2008, 16:31
Umm... well not really as I knew I shouldn't be touching the internals of electrical things anyway, so should have known better.

But even after that I still managed to electrocute myself again about a year later when trying to get my old Atari STFM to work. It had developed a common ST fault where the power would only come on if you tapped the rear right of the case above the PSU a few times. I found out this was because the PSU PCB had become bowed and caused some dry joints to occur. So I ran the ST with the top of the case off, and the shielding around the PSU open and did some experimenting to see if I could somehow clamp the PCB down to keep it flat and stop it from failing to work. But instead of that I somehow shorted out the PSU, which caused me to to get a shock and loads of the capacitors to explode and shoot around the room! Great way to kill an ST though! :lol: ;)

Buleste
15th February 2008, 16:41
LMAO:lol: :notworthy:That brings a wonderful picture of you ducking as ricocheting capacitors try to hit you whilst sitting in a cloud of smoke, hair standing on end. Still if i get this job as a PC builder i'll have a few of those stories myself. Anyone know how to break into a 1438s? One of the speakers has died so i fancied trying to fix it.

TiredOfLife
16th February 2008, 17:04
Umm... well not really as I knew I shouldn't be touching the internals of electrical things anyway, so should have known better.

But even after that I still managed to electrocute myself again about a year later when trying to get my old Atari STFM to work. It had developed a common ST fault where the power would only come on if you tapped the rear right of the case above the PSU a few times. I found out this was because the PSU PCB had become bowed and caused some dry joints to occur. So I ran the ST with the top of the case off, and the shielding around the PSU open and did some experimenting to see if I could somehow clamp the PCB down to keep it flat and stop it from failing to work. But instead of that I somehow shorted out the PSU, which caused me to to get a shock and loads of the capacitors to explode and shoot around the room! Great way to kill an ST though! :lol: ;)

Well I'm not the one who going to say you get what you deserve when using an atari but...

Harrison
18th February 2008, 18:00
Anyone know how to break into a 1438s?

I was going to suggest you ask JT, but then I realised he would recommend dropping it from a bridge! ;)

Buleste
18th February 2008, 18:27
That would get you into it. Unfortunatly i want it to work afterward and a shattered screen is beyond the help of solder and sellotape.

Stephen Coates
18th February 2008, 18:36
Anyone know how to break into a 1438s?

I was going to suggest you ask JT, but then I realised he would recommend dropping it from a bridge! ;)

I'd better keep my 1438 away from JT then.

He should keep his TV throwing skills for old TVs and PC stuff.

J T
19th February 2008, 10:05
If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to do that with a massive plasma screen.

TiredOfLife
19th February 2008, 12:45
If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to do that with a massive plasma screen.

Make sure you film it.