The Sinclair QL Forum

I noticed a lot consisting of QL (ish) stuff on eBay located in France. 2x QLs, books, loads of disk drives for some reason and 3 interface cards etc etc, according to the description. However, my beady eye was fairly sure that the interface card at the top of the right hand pile was more than just an interface card!

I bid and won (it was tense) and a couple of weeks later 2 boxes containing 37kg of mostly QL stuff arrived. This is an original picture provided by the seller: I tore into the boxes and yes indeed, that card at the top of the pile is an Aurora! I never actually thought I'd be able to obtain one as I'd never seen one for sale in the last 5 years, until that recent one on UK eBay for which the seller is asking really silly money despite it being untested - but that actually helped, because his pics were fairly clear and I used them to compare with the French photos.

I haven't even tried it yet. I do have an GC/SGC for testing. It looks cosmetically great and kudos to the seller, who packed everything very well.

All it came with is the lead with 2x 3.5mm jacks for QL NET connections.

So if anyone has any spare Aurora specific stuff that they came with when new - e.g. manual, ROM port adapter thingy, cables, anything, please let me know.

(I saw that a copy of the manual is available from Dilwyn, so that will be a big help)

In the mean time, here are some pics.

Opus Discovery too! Good lot that.

vanpeebles wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:33 pm Opus Discovery too! Good lot that.

The Opus looks like it's been underwater. Rusted, dented and loose innards that have at least knocked off one large cap and who knows what else. It's probably salvageable though but needs a lot of work.... if you or anyone are interested PM me as it's one of the items I don't want to keep.

Chr$ wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:43 pm

vanpeebles wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:33 pm Opus Discovery too! Good lot that.

The Opus looks like it's been underwater. Rusted, dented and loose innards that have at least knocked off one large cap and who knows what else. It's probably salvageable though but needs a lot of work.... if you or anyone are interested PM me as it's one of the items I don't want to keep.

I'm skint at the mo

The Aurora usually comes with a VGA lead - which you will find useful - but one can be made if it's lost.

You will need something like a superhermes - not sure if a QIMSI might work? To get a keyboard working. Mouse will need a cable making, but the good news is that standard IDC cable RS232 Leads (not the ones used on old PC cards though) will work for Serial 1 and Serial 2

You will likely need a backplane for the aurora and GC/SGC to plug into along with some storage - such as a qubide.

I have a feeling I read somewhere that the ROM port could be used with one of those old floppy adapters - then solder the socket onto the pins of the adaptor - https://floppyemulator.com/products/34p ... box_2551-1

Pr0f wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 7:55 pm The Aurora usually comes with a VGA lead - which you will find useful - but one can be made if it's lost.

You will need something like a superhermes - not sure if a QIMSI might work? To get a keyboard working. Mouse will need a cable making, but the good news is that standard IDC cable RS232 Leads (not the ones used on old PC cards though) will work for Serial 1 and Serial 2

You will likely need a backplane for the aurora and GC/SGC to plug into along with some storage - such as a qubide.

I have a feeling I read somewhere that the ROM port could be used with one of those old floppy adapters - then solder the socket onto the pins of the adaptor - https://floppyemulator.com/products/34p ... box_2551-1

Thanks Pr0f, excellent idea with the 34 pin floppy adapter. I have one or more of those somewhere.

SGC has separate power jack, so I was thinking of using that to power both it and the Aurora for now. For initial testing I'll omit the storage aspect and mouse. For k/b I have a spare Di-Ren daughter board. I'll have to make a VGA lead then/bodge up an old VGA lead somehow.

I didn't know there was a difference with those RS232 cable headers that used to come with various ISA serial cards and then with motherboards that had serial built-in and just pins on them. Are they not all equal?

Chr$ wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 11:58 am I didn't know there was a difference with those RS232 cable headers that used to come with various ISA serial cards and then with motherboards that had serial built-in and just pins on them. Are they not all equal?

On the PC cards - the pins are often numbered 1-5 down one side and 6-9 (10 not used) on the other side - but the wiring on the Aurora is for the 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 7-8 and 9-10 so that the crimp on IDC connectors can be used on both sides. The easiest way to tell is to take the cap off the 9 pin connector and see how it's soldered - also, plugging it in - if pin 5 on the 9 pin isn't ground - the connector is wrong.

Nice haul!

I’d be in the market for a couple of transform md storage boxes if you wanted to offload them…

Hi,

Qubbesoft used to sell an Aurora ROM Port to QL ROM Port adapter, which was just an 34 pin IDC cable at the Aurora connector, connecting pin 3-32 which corresponds to the QL ROM Port.

Look in the Autora Manual, where the comparison of the Aurora Enhanced ROM Port and QL ROM Port.
I have nearly completed the Aurora PCB layout, just need to create a Schematic, which should correct the errors in Aurora Schematic GIF file.

So maybe a better solution for the QL ROM Port on the Aurora could be done.

Derek_Stewart wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 6:30 pm Qubbesoft used to sell an Aurora ROM Port to QL ROM Port adapter, which was just an 34 pin IDC cable at the Aurora connector, connecting pin 3-32 which corresponds to the QL ROM Port.

Was it this one, Derek? Not sure if this was the Qubbesoft or Q-Branch variant.