Official Atari ST NokturnFM2/3 cartridges page

[saulot]

Hi,
I've published official Atari ST NokturnFM2/3 cartridges page. It's preliminary, basic project description, basic programming information and NokturnFM.play console player, which can replay several formats (still consider it beta, because it's not finished, but it is good enough for now).
NokturnFM are cartridges, which allow to use OPL2 / 3 soundchips with Atari ST and up. There's some things left to do, so watch this space.

[marss]

Great
Do you have a rough idea of the cost?

[Cyprian]

well done Saulot
masz sztukę na sprzedanie?

[artik-wroc]

masz sztukę na sprzedanie?

Will they be available at ladybug ?
How can i buy/make it ?

[Cyprian]

masz sztukę na sprzedanie?

Will they be available at ladybird ?
How can i buy/make it ?

Nice to hear that. Will call you later

[dbsys]

Great project!
Well done, Saulot.

[saulot]

I have few ones made (let's call it batch 0, 8 OPL2 (NokturnFM2) and 7 OPL3 (NokturnFM3) - blue pcbs like on website, I could have three more OPL3 ones, but I don't have more opl3 smt chips, need to order them).
Still need to make some book keeping to calculate costs, figure out p&p (in EU Inpost might be good option if available) etc.. Haven't done anything like this before. At beginning I will limit one cart type (FM2 / FM3) per person, so anyone will have chance to get one. When batch 0 runs out I will organise proper preorder of some sort to probe interest. I don't have an idea if there will be 0 persons or 100, I will post about it separately. After that I will order parts, pcbs in advance and assemble everything ,which takes awhile, because I solder, test everything myself. I've got full time job, usual life and january for sure will be busy for me. Assembly of 10pcs takes me ~3 days +/- ~1 day (for testing, possible fixes after assembling) it's full time job scenario, so it might get longer. I also need to source soundchips / dacs for a new batch, don't want to end up with a mountain of unused parts or die under boxes. So, please be patient.
Certainly I don't want to take any money in advance (don't want to sell things that I don't have) and I will probably handle orders in fifo (first in, first out). Cost of current batch / inventory will be FM3 ~80eur, FM2 ~90eur depending on parts costs + p&p (it's without case, only with plastic stands are there like on photos). FM2 is more expensive mainly due more parts.
Electronics parts, pcb cost is based on quantity (,which I assume will be rather low, some parts need to be bought in minimum quantities like 100 or more) and availability, p&p, getting genuine sound chips (with dedicated DAC) is also a gamble right now, most sources are from China and it's hard to tell, what will come and how long it will take, although the ones I've got worked ok. If chip is fake then replacement / source is needed == additional risk on my part.
I'm also considering little rework of PCB before/after making preorder to make it more case friendly and to get rid of parts, which cannot be bought anymore (,not sure about it yet, it depends if interest exceeds my parts inventory) and thinking about doing goldpins to prolong cart longevity (,which might bump cart cost too, want it to be durable and easily repairable). I also haven't decided to publish pcb design (maybe schematics only?), at least for now. Hope to improve / extend design of both carts in the future (,but this will mostly expand on what it is currently working and take into account feedback from users).

[saulot]

@dbsys Thanks, it's not over yet ..

[Shazz]

Really cool! Thanks for setting up this page!

[marss]

Any news ?

[saulot]

Hi, nothing much. Don't have any software updates yet. As I mentioned I have limited, ready made 'first wave' of NokturnFM2/3 cards(9xOPL3, 10xOPL2). If anyone is interested, contact me via private message or via mail (nokturnal@nokturnal.pl). NokturnFM2 is 78eur+P&P, NokturnFM3 is 72eur + P&P. As quantity is limited I will sell one type (FM2/FM3) per person. Later it will be lifted (I will make usual preorder, when things will be ready and I will clear out current wave).

NokturnFM2 (OPL2 based, volume control, backward compatible with OPL):
---------------
78eur+P&P


NokturnFM3 (OPL3 based, needs external amp, no volume regulation, backward compatible with OPL2,OPL1)
--------------
72eur + P&P



I'm currently working on updated, cased version, had to redesign slightly pcb (pcb with case wouldn't fit into port) and make it more lower profile. I'm in the middle of designing proper case (got basically bottom half, need to design upper part). New pcb versions seem to be fine, I will post, when everything is ready. They are basically the same as those above functionally, form factor is just different.

[marss]

Thanks for the update

[charles]

Sorry, I've briefly read this article. And the first thing that comes the mind is. Will it work with hybrid arts fmmelody maker program?

[saulot]

Interface is the same, but expanded (additional signals), but chip is little different (fm melody cart has custom opl2 with preset instrument definitions ).
Maybe if before launching fmmelody maker instruments were set to fm melody cart (there are instrument data dumps on the net somewhere, which could be set). But there might be other differences about which I don't know and probably fm melody maker player would have to be patched(Eg. writes for opll fmmelody cart are accepted from $fffbxxxx, nokturnfm operates on 0xfffaxxxx, don't remember exact reason, probably due to introducing potential expansions of this interface). I thought at some point to add fm melody cart emulation on opl2 or opl3.

[matej]

1x FM2 and 1x FM3 for me. Will write email.

[Atari74user]

Very nice work, interesting project. I shall keep my eye out in good time when pre orders are available.