***A500/1500 Amstrad CPC464 Colour Monitor Hack By D. Haigh***

Short

This hack will allow you to use an Amstrad Colour TV monitor as found on
 the CPC464 range of computers on your A500/1500 etal2. The total cost for
 this hack is around £4 for the cable and at current prices around £15 for a
 used CPC464 and colour monitor. This hack has not been tried with a green
 screen monitor! DO NOT USE THIS HACK ON THE CD32 & SX1 AS IT WILL PROBABLY 
NOT WORK AND MAY CAUSE DAMAGE. CHECK OUT THE CD32 SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTION FOR 
DETAILS FOR YOUR MACHINE

Introduction

This hack will improve the display from your Amiga tremendously if you have only
ever used a TV screen. The Amstrad colour monitors for the CPC 464 are RGB
units and so whilst not being as good as a multi synch monitor they do
give a significant improvement over a TV. Another benefit is that you 
end up with a peice of computing history, usually with a few games or in
my case a bag full of ORIGINALs no jolly rogers and a reasonable looking
printer (which will be the basis of a future hack maybe) all for a tenner!

	To do this hack you will need a soldering iron and some insulated 
trimming tools.



Distribution

A500monitorhack .........This file!
Cable.iff
Monitor.iff

These files must be kept together and not altered in any way!



Procedure

	Read ALL instructions before proceding!

	First make up the cable as per the attached IFF file (cable.iff). 
This IFF has been drawn using the colours that I had inside my 5 core cable.
The connections are
Monitor socket                           23 way D connector
     1  					3
     2						4
     3						5
     4						10
     5						16,17,18,19,20
     6						Not connected

	Now check your cable for shorts. Next connect your lead between the Amiga and the 
monitor. If you dont get a good bright picture at this point you will need
to open up the monitor.To do this open the monitor & turn the brightness to
about half way, then using  an insulated trimming tool adjust VR402 for a 
reasonable picture brightness. You will only need to turn it a fraction clockwise
to get this, no more than about 1/8 of a turn. Now turn everything off and 
put the monitor back together. NOTE THAT LETHAL VOLTAGES ARE PRESENT IN THIS 
MONITOR WHEN IT IS BOTH PLUGGED IN AND SWITCHED ON AND NOT PLUGGED IN.



Contact & Registration

	Unfortunately I do not have full internet mail privalages but I can be 
contacted on the Amateur radio bands for e-mail as G7HKP@GB7ODM.#16.GBR.EU on 
432.650 MHz 

Or Via Snail mail at:-

D. Haigh
Mid-Cheshire College
Motor Vehicle Section
Hartford
Northwich
Cheshire
England

	The Registration fee is simple, basically make any donation you see
fit (I trust yah!). Or alternatively send me any hardware hacks you have
made that work on either a CD32 with SX1 or on an A500. Any Monies recieved
will be spent buying more old junk to make more usefull hard/hacks for which
as a registered user you will recieve one copy direct (time permitting) as 
soon as I make any more.
	
Legal Stuff

	This hack is public domain and as such can not be sold for profit.
It may be copied and swapped as much as you like but must never appear in
a library for sale at more than a reasonable charge for duplication. This
means No charging £3 for this on a disk because you deem it a hack that
the Amiga community will pay through the nose for because of its usefullness -
you PD suppliers know who I am talking about! PD means PD! this means for 
the price of a disk and reasonable duplication therefore not more than £2
which is still steep!

	This archive must be kept in its entirety and may be included in
compilation disks e.g Fred Fish or Aminet CD's. The files contained within 
must not be altered in any way or to include Bullsh*t messages 
e.g. Cracked by Bumlickers Inc. Sysop messages or BBS messages may be included
but these must be in the form of a separate file within this distribution.

	All information contained in this distribution has been tested on
my CD32 setup and my A500  and works perfectly. There is no warranty or 
implication as to suitablility of this hack for your machine or monitor. 
You build this interface at your own risk, blow up any of your hardware and
 it is down to you. You take the risk and the consequences are yours to live
with!