Hi all, so I got my C64 from eBay finally, but the case is soo f$%&kd up, bad packaging plus caveman courier 
so I have to change the case, anyone knows if all the PCB’s for the mbSID step C can fit inside this case?
Thanks!
I’ll post a picture with the damage later.
The pics:
edit:wrong links for the big photos, fixed.
your c64 got jacked up. it would be hard to fit them all into a pt-10 case. i am not sure that it would be possible. if you were creative and good you might be able to. there may be another mb 6582 bulk order. soon. look at http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/wilba_mb_6582
later
shane
PT-10 would likely fit 1 or 2 COREs and SIDs, plus a complete control surface, but it would be tight!
Maybe somebody around here would have an empty C64 case laying around that they could send you for the cost of shipping. I know I have several C64s here, but I need to decide which I’m going to keep as my regular ol’ C64. I do have a Commodore 128 case, which probably has enough room… let me know by PM if you want it and I’ll send it to you (for the cost of shipping).
Otherwise … be creative and look around … tere are lots of enclosures you could build a Step C control surface with 4 SIDs into.
How the hell have they managed to break a C64 case that badly? It looks like they’ve taken a sledgehammer to it, I guess your postie must have been a spectrum fan :D. Have you tried complaining to the courier company? The state of that case should be grounds for an insurance claim which you could use to get a another C64… A new case and stereo 
G
PT-10 would likely fit 1 or 2 COREs and SIDs, plus a complete control surface, but it would be tight!
nice info, in fact the plan was to use just 1 core, but with all the controls.
…I do have a Commodore 128 case, which probably has enough room… let me know by PM if you want it and I’ll send it to you (for the cost of shipping).
So kind of you nebula!!!, I’ll pm you.
…Have you tried complaining to the courier company? …
I’m looking into doing something about it, but as there was 2 couriers involved, USPS on the USA side and Estafeta(on Mexico) and the packaging was really weak I don’t think I will get too far with the claim.
And the worst thing is… the SID may be faulty, I hooked the c64 to the tv, wrote a small program to test the chip and I could hear the sound, but with the tv volume at max, that is 80 on my tv, I usually set it at 35 at most, so…
I guess I’ll go first with step A to be sure about the SID, then move on from there.
The low volume could be due to many factors. Have you hooked up a cable to the AV outputs to see if the signal loss is caused by a dodgy modulator?
Hi Jaicen, good tip, i’ll try that. mmm… wait, I don’t have that cable, do you know which pins to use?
^^^ be really careful there. sorry i don’t know the pins offhand, but google could probably tell you.
be careful not to plug the sound outputs into something they don’t want to be plugged into. That really WILL toast your SID.
The more I think about it though, I think you should try to get your courier company to pay you for the whole thing, then find another C64. If the sound doesn’t work, it’s entirely possible that the shock of whatever happened to it stressed the connections to, or in, the RF modulator.
And even if it was a bum SID to begin with, why should you have to replace it when your courier will?
yes, definitely will bug the courier, the shipment costed me more than the c84 alone. also, already got an e-mail from the seller offering to find a replacement, as it was his fault to begin with i’ll follow thru with that too, let’s see how this ends 
Would mounting the PCBs on edge help? IE stacked sideways
It’s not that tall 
I was thinking about stacking them by pairs like a sandwich:
on one corner
mbSID on top of:
mbCore
on the other:
DINx4 on top of:
DINx4
next:
DOUTx4 on top of:
DOUTx4
last:
mmm, anyone can tell me how many DINx4 and DOUTx4 do I need to have a working 1 chip mbSID if I remove the LED matrix but keep all the encoders, switches and the rest of the LEDs?, is no’t that clear to me and I’ve been reading the forums ;D
Thanks again!
Well, I wanted my CS to be small so I eliminated the SID selection and the CC/Link buttons. I did this because I don’t plan on having more then one SID at the moment. I also cutout the mod matrix. You’ll have to recompile the .hex file with the updated pinning of your DIN shift registers, but it eliminates 2 shift registers. Although I guess that just helps if you are making custom boards.
If you feel like being a perfboard champ, you could probably condense everything a good bit. Say, one board with the PIC and the SID and associated shift registers, then another board over it with 6 or 7 of the DIN shift registers and the 6 DOUT shift registers (which you may be able to squeeze to 5 if your creative)
good tips Mr. zip! I’m still filling my head with all the available info here before making my move ;D
