Hammond XH-200/SP Century Limited Edition: succes!

Post here your pictures / videos / review of the HxC Floppy Emulator.
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Katsunami
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:27 am

Hammond XH-200/SP Century Limited Edition: succes!

Post by Katsunami »

Please see the pictures below: I think they don't need much explanation for people on this forum :)

For your interest and compatibility list:
WORKING - ORGAN - Hammond XH-200/SP Century Limited Edition - Generic Shugart (cable reversed on organ side) - Jumper ID0, drive A - DOS 1.44MB DSHD Image.

SHOULD WORK: All of these have the same technical manual as far as I know. All these organs work exactly the same with regard to controls and capabilities. The difference is in speaker power, number of keys per manual, number of pedals, and cabinet style and color.

Hammond XH-272 and XH-273 New Elegante
Hammond XT-272 and XT-273 Aurora Grande
Hammond XT-172 and XT-173 Aurora Classic

Hammond XH-200 New Elegante
Hammond XT-100 Aurora Classic

The Hammond XL-172 I mentioned in my earlier thread has a diskdrive. It may work, or it may not. I do not have any information about this organ. It actually is not a Hammond: It's an Orla GT5000 rebranded to Hammond, and is a completely different beast compared to the XH and XT organs above.

Jeff, thanks for developing this perfectly working device. I might actually be hesitant to upgrade the firmware for fear of breaking something in the future....

Lotharek: Thanks for sending this thing EXTREMELY quickly. Ordered on 31-10-2012, and missed the postman at 6-11-2012 because I wasn't expecting the package so soon. Picked it up on 7-11-2012, and as you can see, it works both as advertised, and hoped.

I've also written about this emulator in Dutch, on an organ website, detailing the FDD swapout and explaining how the emulator works (and also recommending it):

LINK: Review in Dutch (Click the "Back" button to get back here...)

One small nitpick: the power cable for most floppy drives has a notch. The connector on the HxC does not accomodate this, so the connector bends downward when you insert the cable. I took the notch off the power cable using a sharp knife, and now it inserts properly into the HxC power connector. Maybe it would be best to replace the connector with one that accomodates this notch.

Pictures :)

The Hammond XH-200/SP Century Limited Edition, normal modus operandi, diskdrive to the right:
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Removed in this order: Back, Top, Roll Cover, Cable Guard
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Unscrewed and lifted the control panel:
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The Devil's Spawn:
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"Loose fit": closed, but not screwed down:
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I HAVE to see if it can load stuff. Now. Or I'm going to get a heart attack. Or something. IT WORKS!
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Image mount pending... removed "HFE"-extension. Seems not to be a problem.
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It mounts, and the XH-200/SP immediately switched to the DISK menu, as it should. (I was a bit afraid that this part would not work, but that would not have been a dealbreaker.) If you look closely on the Hammond display, you can see the "Take5" registration file I put into the image on the computer, to be able to test loading.
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Formatting test on testing image called "GenShug" (Generic Shugart):
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Working, it seems. Finished perfectly, no errors.
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Saving also works, finished without errors.
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Screwed down, zipped tight, and wrapped up again. Welcome in the 21st century, my dear Hammond. I hope you may live long and prosper.
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I still hate the front plate, but I'm getting over it, because the device works so well. I could not get the screen out of the emulator. Unscrewing the bolt on the inside of the front panel was not enough: the screw/bolts seemed welded shut. Therefore I did not try further. I think I'm either going to leave the emulator the way it is now, or I'm going to tape the Hammond's control panel along the sides of the device, and paint the silver rim matte black. I'll decide later.

Oh. People who look closely and compare the first and last picture, can see that on picture 12, the console lighting below the top plate is off. Flipping the switch didn't work. And then I saw some stuff still lying on the table. First, I forgot to put back two screws to secure the control panel hinges, AND I forgot to reconnect the console lighting cable again in my eagerness to be done with this stuff after trying 2 diskdrives, 3 rewirings of the floppy cables and 2 emulators. This oversight caused that i needed to take the back, top, cover and guard off again, re-attach the securing screws for the control panel hinges, connect the lighting cable, and then screw the entire thing back up again. Don't remind me. Crap.

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