1541-Parallel_Adapter

This is an adapter to easier add a parallel port for the Commodore 1541 and 1541-II diskette drive. You can (and should) read more on Peter's site https://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~schepers/1541par.html

Item list.

• 15CM 10 wire flatcable.
  • or 8 wire flatcable for ZoomFloppy.
• 15pin D-sub female(not the VGA type connector), either solder or for IDC ribbon cable (last one recommended).
• 40 pins IC socket.
• 2 x 20 pins sil header male-male. (turned/tulip recommended).

All items can be found on eBay or your favorite electronics pusher.

**Let the PCB be as thin as possible, otherwise you need thicker washers. Testet is a 0.8mm thick adapter. **

Washers are needed for the 1541-II drive to lift the mechanical parts. 1.6mm (2 x 0.8mm) height with an inner diameter of 4mm is just sufficient to lift the drive. It hasn't been physically testet on a 1541 drive, if you're intending to use this drive, let me know how it fits, so I can update this document.

Connecting the adapter to ZoomFloppy is described below, if you need to connect the drive to a C64, you should visit Peter's site for more help.

For solder pins

Adapter	15pin D-sub female
Pin 1	Pin 1
Pin 2	Pin 2
Pin 3	Pin 3
Pin 4	Pin 4
Pin 5	Pin 5
Pin 6	Pin 6
Pin 7	Pin 7
Pin 8	Pin 8

Soldering the cable for this is just the same pinout

15pin D-sub male	15pin D-sub female
Pin 1	Pin 1
Pin 2	Pin 2
Pin 3	Pin 3
Pin 4	Pin 4
Pin 5	Pin 5
Pin 6	Pin 6
Pin 7	Pin 7
Pin 8	Pin 8

If you choose to use the connector to press the IDC connector and don't want to use a 15 pin cable wasting 7 wires, you can hook it up like this.

Adapter	15pin D-sub female (IDC)
Pin 1	Pin 1
Pin 2	Pin 9
Pin 3	Pin 2
Pin 4	Pin 10
Pin 5	Pin 3
Pin 6	Pin 11
Pin 7	Pin 4
Pin 8	Pin 12

The cable should be soldered accordingly

15pin D-sub female	15pin D-sub male
Pin 1	Pin 1
Pin 2	Pin 9
Pin 3	Pin 2
Pin 4	Pin 10
Pin 5	Pin 3
Pin 6	Pin 11
Pin 7	Pin 4
Pin 8	Pin 12

On 1541 shortboard the chip is UC3, and on the long board it's UAB1.

Many thanks to Peter Schepers.