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From: ranjit@grad2.cis.upenn.edu (Ranjit Bhatnagar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: ST-506 controllers (cheap)
Keywords: cheap, hard-drive, ST-506
Message-ID: <19047@netnews.upenn.edu>
Date: 16 Jan 90 07:57:30 GMT
References: <1990Jan16.053837.14871@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>
Sender: news@netnews.upenn.edu
Reply-To: ranjit@grad2.cis.upenn.edu.UUCP (Ranjit Bhatnagar)
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
Lines: 51

In article <1990Jan16.053837.14871@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu> you write:
>
>to send me some info on the wedge.  The prices he quoted were:
>
>Wedge 500                    US $160
>DTC-5150 MFM Controller      US $90
>Box and Power Supply         US $175
>Cables                       US $15
>Shipping & Handling          US $18
>
>    That is $458 !!!  for a 10-meg drive !!!

And that doesn't even include the drive itself!

It's astounding how the do-it-yourself st-506 folks can advertise their
boxes as an inexpensive solution when they tend to cost more than
better systems that you don't even have to assemble yourself.
(For instance, a TrumpCard 500 with a fast 48M disk goes for about
$600, and the SCSI interface alone is about $200.)

What I'd suggest, if you're adventurous, is to buy somebody's
old 2090 or 2090a interface.  Since the 2090 has some problems,
people sell them pretty cheap.  You then need to build an adapter
to attach the 2090 to your 500 - this is apparently pretty easy
if you're willing to give up pass-through: just run the appropriate
lines from the 500 bus to the 2000 bus.  I got this info from the net, but
I don't know quite how to do it.  If someone knows, please post.
Also a box (more than cosmetic, it keeps dust out of the drive) and
power supply.

Used 2090	$100-150 has BOTH scsi and st-506 interfaces!
Adapter		$15 + a few hours work (two wirewrap connectors 
			and a lot of wire)
Box		$10 	
Power supply    $25 surplus	(175?  Feh!)

total         ------
		$150-200

That sounds better to me!

If you don't want to build an adapter, buy an expansion chassis
for about $160-250.  These usually come with their own power supply.
If there is room in the case for the disk drive, you save the price
of a box (and the system is neater too).  If you buy an expansion
chassis and a used 2090, the total system cost is about $260-400
and you have an extra 2000-style slot or two to plug other stuff
into.  Still cheaper than the system above.

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