Load64

General Category => 1530USB Datasette to PC Adapter => Topic started by: Remzi on May 06, 2018, 12:35:32 PM

Title: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on May 06, 2018, 12:35:32 PM
How did you get on with this adapter?

Did it do what it says on the tin?

Please post your results here so we can all see if the adapter is doing what it supposed to.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: whodan on August 29, 2018, 03:08:01 PM
I tested the 1530USB adapter and I could record a .tap from a tape and record a .tap on a cassette in the datasette.
I tried it with Input64 cassettes, which are not so simple like game cassettes, because there are many files in one system.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on September 02, 2018, 02:15:35 PM
Thank you for the feedback whodan.

There are a few Italian C64 community members using the 1530USB.They preserve multigame cassettes similar to Input64.

Check out this one. (http://specialprogramsipe.altervista.org/giochi.php?console=c64&collana=com_64&id=53)

But it seems Input64 is not just games,it has magazine,apps and games so more complicated.

Did you try to extract games from the tap file using the tapclean?

I found these tap files (http://www.planetemu.net/roms/commodore-c64-magazines-tap?page=I) but I couldn't split them.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: whodan on September 04, 2018, 09:30:34 AM
Hello,
I didn't use tapclean to split it to the several programs, because I have all Tapes on disk (.d64), from where
I can get the individual program.

best regards

Wolfgang Hodan
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: c64midrezzie on October 01, 2018, 03:18:42 PM
This guide is brilliant - was having trouble with setup as I had followed the guide but it turned out that my laptop was at fault.   I changed from my old laptop to my trusty PC and it worked like a charm.  Interestingly I only need to go as far as volume 2 for reading tapes.  (Volume 79 works like a charm for writing by they way) 

I loaded a tape that wouldn't load for the last couple of years - I cleaned it up in FinalTap and recorded it back to a new cassette - it works perfectly - thank you so much for creating the 1530USB.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on October 01, 2018, 08:31:38 PM
That's great news.I'm glad to hear that it worked well for you.

Interestingly I only need to go as far as volume 2 for reading tapes.

That is one of the minor issues that I need to look in to.Datasette is too loud,needs attenuation.

recorded it back to a new cassette

Check out this video  8)

Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: c64midrezzie on October 01, 2018, 11:27:53 PM
That looks class - what glue did you use ?

Quick question for you - what program do I use to create taps from multi load games like Midnight resistance or Terminator 2?  Thanks - had a brilliant trip down memory lane on a rare day off thanks to that cable I restored loads of tapes from my collection.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on October 02, 2018, 09:34:45 AM
(https://www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk/Images/Models/Full/6780.jpg)

That is what I used.Just an ordinary superglue.I just checked the cassette in the video.It seems it is still holding fine.Glue didn't eat through the magnetic tape.

Best way to backup your tapes is capturing the audio with the Audacity.Save it as wav file and convert it to TAP using audiotap.You don't need to change any settings at all.

Test the TAP with FinalTap or Tapclean.Tapclean is more upto date and recognizes more loaders.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: c64ever on October 03, 2018, 04:25:14 PM

The 1530usb did not disappoint me but:
After several attempts, I obtained 80% of good results. Sometimes though, even with the recorder calibrated well and the tapes recorded only once, inexplicably they can not (using the parallel null modem cable in pure DOS environment, the dumps succeed well at 90% of the time, both in hard disk and in the tapes).

However, to get good results I put the volume at maximum ("100%") with both the usb pnp driver for playback (from hd to datasette), and the usb pnp driver for recorder (from datasette to usb).

I would like to know if there is a method to be able to work on the computer at the same time as the dump. If, while I do the dump on tape, I watch videos on youtube or listen to mp3 or if windows applications play sounds, these are recorded on the cassettes together with the sound of TAP files !!!
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on October 03, 2018, 06:56:14 PM
If you want to use your computer for watching videos etc. while recording software to cassette tapes there is a trick.

Convert the TAP file to WAV file and play it with VLC media player.Go to audio options and audio device,choose the RECORD.


(https://thumb.ibb.co/buEFjK/vlctrick.jpg) (https://ibb.co/buEFjK)

Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: H3llR4iser on October 09, 2018, 01:56:04 AM
I got the 1530USB a few months ago - took me a while to find a good setup and to get the time to do it, but I'm having quite a good rate of success converting and preserving my childhood C64 tapes, which have been sitting in a garage for 20ish years. In fairness most of them are the same Italian newsagent ones mentioned at reply #2, but somehow I prefer doing the work myself, the fact the .tap files come from my own tapes having somewhat of a nice feeling.

As I said, I had to fumble with the settings a lot - as a matter of fact I have set the recording level to 0, which however is still almost in the "red zone" on Audacity.  The .wav files are then converted using Audiotap - Inverted wave form, advanced values top to bottom being 0,12,44100,20. The second value in particular seems to be extremely important - 12 seemingly a sweet spot. With these settings most tapes work, with the odd game not loading in Vice (but often, the same game doesn't load on my real C64 with the same 1530).

Other than making .tap files, I'm also extracting .prg files to use on the real C64 with an SD2IEC - a process that is surprisingly effective!
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on October 09, 2018, 07:35:32 AM
Thank you for taking your time,joining this forum and sharing your experience.I really appreciate it.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: H3llR4iser on October 09, 2018, 12:47:34 PM
Thanks to you for creating this great kit - I had tried every other .wav file based methods previously but nothing worked: the waveform was too loud, too faint, too filtered...I don't know how many different sound cards, cables and cassette tape decks I switched to no avail, most online guides make the sound recording based ripping process seem simple, but it is extremely finicky.

The 1530USB has made it very straightforward once you get the settings right - makes sense that the original 1530 deck is the best option to play these tapes. I'm actually amazed one of mine worked straight away, only a head clean and resumed service as if the last 25-ish years never existed!
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: incen on March 13, 2019, 08:42:16 PM
Hi,

Got my adapter today, big thanks for the quick delivery! :)

I did a test to read a tape with the adapter on my Linux Mint laptop. Using Audacity to record the wav file and then using a console app i found called ubercasette to convert it to .tap. Very simple to get it up and running, and a perfect result on the first try! :)

Will try to write a tap to a tape in the weekend hopefully.
 
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: angelcaio on September 16, 2019, 09:58:12 PM
Hi. The 1530USB adapter works very well. ;)
I used FCopyTape to Disk Backup V3.0 in WinVice to copy Multiplan from .d64 to .tap, I recorded it on a real C16 tape with AudioTap and then in C64 also with FCopyTape to Disk Backup V3.0 I recorded it on a real disk without problems: the datassette has paused correctly while the 1541 was recording the disc.
I tried with some more games but it didn't work, I guess for the protection. I will try with other copy programs.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on September 17, 2019, 11:19:40 PM
Thanks for the update angel.

You can use a freezer cartridge to record disk games to tapes.

Download the Action Replay ROM (https://rr.pokefinder.org/rrwiki/images/7/78/Action_Replay_binaries_rr.c64.org_2013-01.rar)
Attach Action Replay VI to Winvice.Load the game and freeze it.

Watch  this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYxk7dm0DiE) to learn how to do it.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: kalle on September 03, 2020, 11:32:44 AM
I received my 1530USB about a week ago, and it works flawless.

I have successfully recorded my favorite game The Newzealand Story, converted it to a .tap file, and wrote it back to a brand new casette tape.

I have a Phonemark datasette clone with a diod bar and a adjustable tape head, that give a great visual feedback of the "volume" of the signal on the tape.

With other words: My digital restored copy of the game feels much better than the original.

I have also started to record my old Turbo Games tapes, and it feels very good to re-record them. They where recorded with different tape head settings for every game, and it was always a mess to load them. Now I can re-record them so that all games has the same tape header level.

I have also managed to buy new tapes! Common casettes are not that common anymore...

Thanks alot for a great product and a great guide.

(https://i.ibb.co/wcr07xw/Sk-rmklipp2.png) (https://ibb.co/wcr07xw) (https://i.ibb.co/kcvj1My/Sk-rmklipp3.png) (https://ibb.co/kcvj1My) (https://i.ibb.co/8bBd5xf/Sk-rmklipp4.png) (https://ibb.co/8bBd5xf)

Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on September 03, 2020, 09:40:50 PM
Thank you for spending your time and joining the forum to post your results.
Support forum has been very quite for almost a year.It's very nice and motivating to get feedback time to time.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: chriz74 on December 07, 2020, 03:15:18 PM
I can't create a Pitfall II .tap file that works. I am using a tape that loads fine on C64. I tried on 2 computers, I get 99% recognized but the tap just don't work.
Here is the wav.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tj45y76ho7xn68a/Pitfall2.rar?dl=0
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on December 07, 2020, 04:24:07 PM
TAP is fine mate.It's the copy protection.
Go to Vice settings ->Drive settings
Set the Drive 8 to NONE
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: chriz74 on December 07, 2020, 07:02:02 PM
TAP is fine mate.It's the copy protection.
Go to Vice settings ->Drive settings
Set the Drive 8 to NONE

Did you optimize it in finaltap?
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on December 07, 2020, 07:23:10 PM
I tried but I didn't get all green.That tape is probably well worn out.It was a very popular game back then.Did you try the side B? You might get better results.

I managed to get the non-optimized one working with Winvice 2.2 disabling the floppy drive emulation.
Older versions of Vice are less picky and warp speed is 3000%.

Also try recording the TAP file back to a tape and try on real C64.
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: DABYX on July 27, 2021, 10:23:27 PM
Hey Remzi.

Recieved the adapter the other day and had a couple of teething troubles to begin with but seem to be getting good results now both backing up and recording!  ;D

I've found with my current setup that leaving the taps I create from wavs as-is is working better than running and optimising through finaltap/tapclean. Most of the time both programs don't recognise the files and they appear as very poor copies but running them unoptimised through winvice is working.

I pretty much always have the audio 'pops' at peast once per tape but it doesn't seem to affect the outcome.

Thanks very much for making this. Finally can make backups and copies. :)
Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: Remzi on July 28, 2021, 08:56:15 AM
Thank you for joining the forum and leaving a feedback DABYX.
I'm glad you are happy with it.
Cleaning and optimizing is not a must do procedure.It just gives a piece of mind.
You can also try Tapex which has a more up to date,larger database of loaders,

https://csdb.dk/release/?id=196280

Are you backing up a mix tape with the Turbo loader program at the begining and the games followed,that you have to rewind the tape everytime you want to load a different game? Those games don't have a loader,raw data.Finaltap will give poor results for them.

Title: Re: Share your results
Post by: DABYX on July 29, 2021, 08:58:51 AM
Yea pretty happy. I've tried making parallel cables etc before but failed miserably and this is a godsend!

I'll give Tapex a try too.

No not tried multi tapes yet. I think it's just my old tapes to be honest or maybe the belt in my datasette.
One day I might try to service the datasette but for now everything is working fine in vice (and probably my c64, will try at the weekend) and that's good enough for me!  ;D

Edit:
Just a quick update, managing to get proper optimised versions of my backups. The only issue I was having which was driving me a bit barmy was my recorded tapes weren't working in Vice at all. Errors all the time. Once I tried on my actual hardware though it worked first time! So I'm guessing my PC just doesn't like using the autobat & vice.