Recently I've gone back to using my MiST 1.3 hardware to run Amiga OS 3.2. I have several MiSTers setup using networking and I wondered since I stopped using my MiST if that had changed and luckily for me it had.
I really like my original MiST. It was where I started with FPGAs and where I learnt with some limited success FPGA programming. So I was really excited to get it back out and in use. There is something really nice about the rugged metal housing. I never got that same Aesthetic from the MiSTer, but I did get SMD soldering skills as I jumped onto the MiSTer band wagon from literally day one.
Initially I thought that a USB dongle would do it, unfortunately this is only an option for the Atari ST core. Searching the net I found these two great resources for setting this up.
This blog post is merely standing on the shoulders of giants, I won't include their content here. Please refer to the links above. My post covers the WEMOS D1 Mini Pro and my approach to mounting it in the case.
Initially I bought a standard ESP8266, but it needed a serial dongle to connect to and program it and reading further I noted that you couldn't shut the case as it became a Faraday cage and blocked the signal. I noted a comment about using an external aerial and then found such a device on Ebay . . the WEMOS D1 mini Pro - ESP8266.
I was also lucky that I had an old MiST 1.3 board which made wiring it in very easy.
The D1 mini Pro is self contained, it has onboard USB which you can program it and perform all of the settings on. There was a mention of a possibility using Windows to program it using WSL. You can't do it as it has no low level access. The easiest route ended up being good old Linux.
WEMOS D1 mini Pro
The header on my MiST 1.3 has the 4 pins exposed for the serial header still. Looking at the various clearances I decided on mounting the D1 under the MiST motherboard. You will notice that I am using right angle pin headers to keep the profile low!
There is a Ground, 3.3V, TX and RX that need to be connected. They will map to the D1 like so.
Mist RX <=> D1 TX (Blue)
Mist TX <=> D1 RX (Green)
Mist 3.3v <=> D1 3.3v (Red)
Mist GND <=> D1 GND (Grey)
You will notice the large amount of Kapton tape that I used to Electrically isolate everything.
I ended up deciding to mount the aerial a the rear of the unit under the MIDI expansion. A hole was drilled 5mm from the base between the mounting posts using a 6.5mm Drill bit on a slow speed. Then I painted the hole with some Zinc Gal paint. Mounting the aerial mount was simple, just ensure you tighten the retaining nut really well.
Overall I am pretty happy with how it turned out and better still I can put the lid back on and have it work. When all is done the aerial will fold neatly behind the unit or just unscrew it.
