68K Systems on eBay

[turbo87]

Since I am looking for a 68K system, I came across several systems on Ebay. One is an Expert and the other one is a Super. Both have the caps replaced in the PS and the Floppy with internal SCSI2SD interface and new SRAM battery . My question is that the CAPs have not been replaced on the main motherboard. Is that going to be an issue with these systems? I am interested in purchasing the Super one, but am concerned that the caps have not been replaced on the motherboard. Given the amount of money, I want a system that will last me couple of years at least without worry free. Thoughts/Inputs? Thanks.

BTW: I am not sure if the French ebay person is on this board.

[LowDefAl]

This is probably the same seller I have bought two units from before in which case I would recommend using them. IIRC the Super is the one that that benefits from a recap (uses lots of surface mount caps) so the Expert should be fine.

The only real difference between the two models is that the Super has native SCSI and the Expert has SASI but a one time boot disc solves that issue (and this is already set up if scsi2sd is already running). So if you don't fee comfortable with the Super, get the Expert.

Edit: can confirm I've used that seller twice last year. They were well packed and arrived in full working order, although neither had anything beyond a psu recap. One unit died because of my own fault, the other was still going strong recently until I again broke something through my own fault.

[turbo87]

Thanks for the quick input. BTW: Just curious what kind of issues did you have with your units?

[LowDefAl]

Blew the video sync while testing cables. Stray strand created short. It's a known potential issue but shouldn't really happen so it's my own incompetence, especially the second time. It was easier to check this time as I have other systems to check with now (PC98, Towns.

Both were caused by making dedicated cables rather than using the vga adapter so it's not a risk you should worry about, I can vouch for that sellers adapters.

The first system I probably made worse by attempting to fix it, I think I pulled a trace or something. I'm yet to attempt the fix on the second one just yet but I know what went wrong last time....

[turbo87]

So looks like I will also have to procure a mutlisync monitor for the 68K. Any good sources for a CRT monitor or an LCD monitor that will do 15KHZ and 31KHZ? 24KHZ would be nice also.Thanks.

[LowDefAl]

The problem is that even with models that supposedly support it, it frequently depends on revision numbers which are not always easy to find out until our open it.

 An OSSC is the safest bet but also the most expensive.

[turbo87]

Interesting, I hadn't thought about the OSSC. Infact I didn't even know what it was, until I googled it :-) Its out of stock now, but maybe the best option. The multisync sync monitors I have looked on Ebay are fairly expensive with shipping anyway. Thanks!!

[Jehuty]

Take the OSSC. It´s the best way to use all resolutions.
I just bought my 2nd for the livin room. I attach there the X68000 and all Consoles like Genesis, Snes, Dreamcast, Amiga - just all RGB units.

I own 2 X68000, one 1st modell and one XVI - i replaced the PSU with ATX ones and in the 1st modell i recapped the Floppydrive. But no Mainboard and no Periphalboard. They work both fine.
Problem is the compact with the smd type capacitors. They leak and could destroy some traces.

But i also had much problems with both machines. I attached the two cables of the quickshot QS128F on both machines on the same time - that blew the 8255 - on both X68000 :-(

[turbo87]

Thanks for your response. How did you connect your second OSSC? Did you use the VGA or SCART input on the OSSC? Or both?