March 2018 - TechToolsList - listserv.classicarcade.com

Fluke 9110FT SPECTRUM-TX diskettes imaged
by Martin Olsson 10 May '23

10 May '23

Hi all! I bought a Fluke 9110FT setup and with that setup came the SPECTRUM-TX diskettes which I now have imaged and uploaded to the "/TTL/Test_Equipment/Fluke/9100 Series" folder on John's FTP site. Inside the ZIP archive is a ReadMe with more details about the images etc. I haven't tested the images myself but I think they should probably work as the original diskettes was error free. Enjoy! /Martin! _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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Alpha Electronics Dynamic Integrated Digital IC Tester on eBay
by John Robertson 17 Feb '20

17 Feb '20

I chatted with the seller and he confirms that it does NOT power up. So chances are the battery backed up system ROM has failed. Item 390623172259 He reduced the price on his own from the original asking $59.95 to $19.95. Pity. I was hoping to find a good one to extract the program from to save mine... If someone here buys it and CAN extract the ROM data I'd sure like a copy! John :-#(# _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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9100FT Programmer’s Keyboard
by Ian Eure 08 Oct '18

08 Oct '18

I finally tracked down a Programmer’s Keyboard for my 9100. I don’t know how widely it’s known, but there were two different versions of the keyboard. The only photos I’ve seen are the earlier model, which meant that I almost let this one slip away. It was on eBay, new old stock, for $36 shipped! All the info is in the manuals, if you look. I had always wondered why the keyboard illustrations in the Programmer’s Manual didn’t match the photos of the keyboard I’d seen. It’s because I read scans of a later (1991) printing, which has illustrations of the later revision of the keyboard. I haven’t seen a 1988 printing, but I bet it shows the earlier keyboard layout. The various 9100 service manuals list different part numbers: 9100A Supplemental Parts List (May 1988), fig. 5-21, p. 5-53 ---- Lists p/n 5-64995-131. This seems to be the more common version of the keyboard. It has a block of (mostly) 2u keys on the far right, angled RETURN key, and arrows by the SHIFT and RETURN keys. Photo: https://i.imgur.com/undefined.png The Service Manual which this is a supplement to (9100A Service Manual p/n 809210, May 1988) only lists the Fluke stock number, 757120, in fig. 5-20 on p. 5-50. 9100FT Service Manual (p/n 910476, November 1991), fig. 5-18, p. 5-49 ---- This has new stock and parts numbers. s/n 887216, p/n E04008051. The later revision more closely resembles a 1990s 101-key PC keyboard, with separate numpad and arrow keys. It seems to work fine on a 9100A. Since this an uncommon keyboard, I naturally tore it apart and took some photos of the inside before even plugging it in. These are available on https://www.dropbox.com/s/sa34h6252476012/9100FT-Keyboard.zip?dl=0, and probably ought to go into the TTL FTP. It seems to be second-sourced from KeyTronics, which might explain the lack of documentation (schematics, etc) in the Fluke service manuals. Even though it looks like a PC keyboard, it uses uncommon capacative (hybrid mechanical) switches mounted on a metal plate, and feels much sturdier than the 1990s rubber dome board I was expecting. The controller is an 8031, with the program in a 2764 EPROM. I’m going to see if I can dump it, though it’s soldered in and I’d prefer not to remove it. There are two DIP switches which are accessible via a panel on the bottom. I have no idea what (if anything) they do. I’ve built a few keyboards from kits, so I was hoping that with a good look inside, it might be possible build a reproduction with the same microcontroller and program. While the 8031/2764 is excellent news for this, the rest is a downer. There’s an Exar 22-00958-000 IC which handles the capacitive keyswitches and provides keypress data to the 8031. It looks like the switches and controller are hard to come by, which renders the program on the EPROM useless. Still, maybe someone could adapt another KeyTronics board, as they seem to be fairly similar. Here’s a couple pages I found that have info on KeyTronics keyboards, and might be useful. http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?58612-Key-Tronic-KB3270-Plus-ROM-… http://www.seasip.info/VintagePC/kb3270.html https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=37968.0 -- Ian _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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Fluke 9010A 006/async self-test
by Tony Jones 17 Aug '18

17 Aug '18

Hi. Has anyone else tried to perform the self-test for the 9010 async module? It is documented on pages 2-13 and 2-14 of the Asynchronous Signature Probe Option 9000A-006 Operation Manual: (http://files.stardustarcade.com/Test%20Equipment/Fluke/PDFs/9000A-006%20Asy…) I'm using the archive of side-a of the tape from ftp://ftp.flippers.com/TTL/TestEquipment/Fluke/9010%20Series/9010A%20Tapes/… (which I think came from Matt Rossiter - http://www.vectorlist.org/TechTools/2011/06/0008.html) I believe the hardware specific binaries are present and executing however I'm unable to successfully pass self-test. I constantly get 0000/255 rather than BB34/256. I interpreted steps 3, 4 and 5 below to mean that I could connect green, yellow and the probe tip to one lead of the 33 ohm resistor and connect red, blue, black and probe ground to the other lead (as that's a lot easier than trying to hang everything off the tips). I'm also not seeing a "data delay" option in the 9010 setup menu so I'm unable to set it to 4. Curious if anyone else gets the expected result? Thanks for your time Tony instructions: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Connect the start and clock (green and yellow) leads of the Clock Module to the tip of the data probe. 4. Connect the stop (red), enable (blue), and ground (black) leads to the data probe ground lead. 5. Connect a 33-ohm, 1/4-watt resistor across the group of connections made in step 3 and the group of connections made in step 4. (The resistor connects so that the data probe tip is shunted to the ground lead.). 7. For the Model 9020A, run the example program listed in Section 6, paragraph 6-5. For the 9005A and 9010A, refer to Initialization of the Signature Function and: - Set the start signal to a rising edge - Sect the clock signal to a falling edge - Set the stop counter to 256 (The clock limit count provides an end to the gate time in lieu of a stop signal.) - Set the data transition (event) count to gated - Set the enable signal to low - Set the data delay to 4 - Press the PULSE HIGH key on the Troubleshooter. - Press the READ PROBE key, and the display reads WAIT followed by SIGNATURE BB34 COUNT 256 Any other signature or count indicates a problem with the Signature Module, the Clock Module, or the Troubleshooter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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Re: [Techtoolslist] Fluke on Mario Bros.
by David Shoemaker 20 Apr '18

20 Apr '18

Looking at the manual for the Z80QT pod and the schematic I think I am getting an expected result. I hooked up the pod and hit BUS to run the bus test. I immediately get back CTL ERR showing 00000010 this is the HALT line. Looking at the schematic it appears HALT and INT are both tied together and pulled high. So the fluke can't exercise that line. Any way to ignore that error and verify the rest of the bus test? Oh and according the manual maximum clock frequency is 8.0 mhz. Does that mean this pod support Z80A/B/C ? From: David Shoemaker [mailto:davids@oz.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 10:38 PM To: 'Technical Tools Mail List' Subject: Fluke on Mario Bros. Anyone know if you can use either the base z80 pod or the z80qt pod on Mario bros? I know it uses the Z80A but I don't know what the pod is rated at. Thanks, David _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ftp.flippers.com/TTL/TestEquipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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EPROM Programming Woes...
by Jess Askey 09 Apr '18

09 Apr '18

Heya Folks... I have had a need to program a bunch of EPROMs lately (27128 varieties) and Im not sure if there are sunspots or something, but I can't seem to program anything on either my 29B OR my Intronics USB Programmer... I have successfully programmed like 4 EPROMs out of like 40 attempts. My EPROM's are old pulls from either Atari boards or other used ones I have acquired over the years in storage sticks. They are either ST 27128A Fujitsu 27128 SEEQ 27128 TI TMS27C128 Im being fairly careful about the programming voltages and the 29B identifies the IC before programming it. On the 29B I just get an Error #22 Programming Error right away. Sorta the same thing on my Intronics.... Set it up, verify blank, program, error right away. Are these just too old? Anyone have any good tricks? The strange part is that I was having this exact same issue last night, then all of a sudden my 29B programmed 3 in a row just fine... today, nothing. Thanks Jess _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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Logic Analyzers and pulling out what little hair I have left...
by John Robertson 31 Mar '18

31 Mar '18

Well, not that I need one very often - the Fluke 9010A finds 99% of the problems - but right now I have a headache with a Williams F-14 pinball MPU that refuses to produce speech. According to the 9010A everything seems just fine, I can access the PIA, ROM signatures are correct (paged ROM, but pages seem to work correctly). There really is very little hardware - two Eproms, a 6802, 2106 RAM, some logic glue, and a 6821 PIA, but it won't run the speech data. Using my audio probe I don't even get the sounds on D0 so I know the problem is actually before the 6821. Audio probes are fun to use for troubleshooting digital audio as you can even hear the sounds on the logic data bus - weak and fuzzy, but clearly the sounds you are looking for. So, I figure I'd dig up one of my ancient logic analyzers that I bought around 2002 figuring I'd use them some day. Two Arium ML4100s (one deader) and an Arium ML4400. However, can I find them? No. We moved the shop after 35 years last May and my helpful staff buried two of the three Ariums somewhere in the 6,000 sq ft shop...the only one I could find was a dead ML4100. So, now I figure I'd see what was online for modern LAs and there are some interesting 16 bit units including a few from China that should work on the SIGROK software. http://www.qdkingst.com/en The point of this ramble? A question - anyone here using one of these modern inexpensive LAs (or another brand) and cares to tell us your experiences? I guess the other point is, has anyone troubleshot a Williams sound/speech section and can tell me what I have overlooked? I do know (substitution) that RAM/ROM/CPU/PIAs are all good, have replaced the glue chips, but really, they changed state correctly for the Fluke as well as my logic comparator. There is some corrosion on the board, but suspect sockets replaced and while I did have a short from R/W to another line, I did track that down and fix it. All sounds EXCEPT speech work just fine. Gah! Frigging FM. Thanks, John :-#)# -- How to subscribe or unsubscribe from TTL http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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Re: [Techtoolslist] 29B EPROM Programming Woes...
by Jess Askey 31 Mar '18

31 Mar '18

Okay, just a little followup on this for the archives... I took this moment to do several things with my 29B and I have some improvements as a result.... What I did: 1. Replaced all the mainboard Tantalum Caps - these can be identified as they are 'blob' looking and are tannish yellow. I had to replace about 9 of them around the Power Supply and these ranged from 2.2uf to 220uf. Luckily since I re-cap monitors all the time, I had lots of equivalent 105 degree electrolytic caps in my parts to match these. 2. I guessed that the tiny square tannish-yellow 5v bypass capacitors on my mainboard were not Tantalum as they were very small and also pretty high voltage, I didn't think they could possibly be tantalum due to those properties. I might be wrong, but I left them alone (there were also like 10 of them) 3. I went through the Power Supply calibration measurements, it was challenging without an extender card/cable but I was still able to get my DMM probes in there to the test points. Everything in there was pretty good so I did not need to adjust anything. 4. I also took the time while I was in there to upgrade my 256K Expansion Memory board to 1M... I had a set of RAM and sockets that I had ordered years ago, and took the time to do it now * It was tedious and meticulous. The traces are super small but I wouldn't call them fragile by any means but if you aren't pretty good with a soldering iron, I can see how this could become disastrous. * Once you have everything out, inspect your PCB for damage you might have caused and clean it up with Flux cleaner etc... I used a magnifying glass because apparently now Im old and can't see small things anymore, Im not entirely sure when this happened. * The bypass capacitors that need to be moved... they really need to be moved!! I assumed that I could just leave them and throw in some other bypass caps in the new locations.. After booting I was getting a 'Parity Error #62'. However these are not normal bypass caps... they are actually 33uf for being so small. I had to remove all the ones I put in in the new locations and moved the old ones over, just like the instructions said (docs are on the TTL FTP site for this). Then no more parity errors... Whew... Instructions to the rescue! * Select B -2 - Start reported a solid 1M memory after this. After all this, I again started programming a set of EPROM's, both 27128 varieties and 27256 varieties by different manufacturers from my 'old EPROM' bin. I was able to program the SEEQ, ST and TI EPROM's pretty decently, and the ones that failed were all the same old ones that had failed before, so Im concluding that those specific EPROM's might have issues (potentially related to the other programmer I was using)... Im going to stick to the 29B now since it actually has way better and 'specific' support for these part numbers and see how it goes. Conclusions: 1. The capacitor upgrades needed to happen anyway because eventually the tantalum caps will have silver migration issues and start to create a DC load. Even tho my unit was built in 1985 and had all the newest designs, Im sure the caps were less than optimal after 30+ years of environmental stress. 2. I think I was in a 'statistical saddle' on my luck with the old EPROM's... I sorta put my mindset into 10% failure rate might be normal on using old devices. 3. Man TI27CXXX EPROMs program fast (TMS27C256 in 2 seconds) compared to others (sometimes 2+ minutes, the SEEQ's especially), they must have really spent some time getting their programming algorithm tweaked for them. NICE JOB TI! Thanks to everyone for the tips, they were helpful to get my mind in the right place for all of this!! Jess -----Original Message----- Heya Folks... I have had a need to program a bunch of EPROMs lately (27128 varieties) and Im not sure if there are sunspots or something, but I can't seem to program anything on either my 29B OR my Intronics USB Programmer... I have successfully programmed like 4 EPROMs out of like 40 attempts. My EPROM's are old pulls from either Atari boards or other used ones I have acquired over the years in storage sticks. They are either ST 27128A Fujitsu 27128 SEEQ 27128 TI TMS27C128 Im being fairly careful about the programming voltages and the 29B identifies the IC before programming it. On the 29B I just get an Error #22 Programming Error right away. Sorta the same thing on my Intronics.... Set it up, verify blank, program, error right away. Are these just too old? Anyone have any good tricks? The strange part is that I was having this exact same issue last night, then all of a sudden my 29B programmed 3 in a row just fine... today, nothing. Thanks Jess _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com<mailto:Techtoolslist@flippers.com> https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/ _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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DS1287 repair
by Ian Eure 29 Mar '18

29 Mar '18

I've been working on another 9100FT, and like a lot of them, the RTC battery was depleted. I searched around a bit and found a guide to hacking in a button battery holder. Figured I had nothing to lose since it was dead already, so I gave it a try. It's not going to win any awards, but it does work. Seems like a decent alternative if you can't find NOS, don't want to spend what they cost, or want a permanent long-term solution. https://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2009-10-10-renovating-a-dallas-ba… _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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Re: [Techtoolslist] FREE: Fluke 9132A ROM adapters and Fluke manuals
by Tony Jones 28 Mar '18

28 Mar '18

Most of the FREE 9132A hardware was taken (THANKS!) but then I found some more :-) 9132 stuff is truly the gift that keeps on giving. I also have this complete tested working 9132A system on eBay for $300 that I'd sell to a list member for $150+shipping (paypal gift) - https://www.ebay.com/itm/183076021177 -------- Anyways, back to the FREE stuff (just pay shipping) - six 9132A ROM modules (1x 32 pin, 5x 24 pin) - 3 NOS 9132A personality modules for 68020, 68030 and 80386 (the personality and the cpu socket adapter). With manuals. - Second set of manuals for the above personality modules. - 2 copies 9100 Supplemental Pod manual (additional 9100 specific info for each 9000 series pod) - 1 copy creased 80186 manual. Any help getting this stuff out of my closet gratefully appreciated :-) Thanks! > From: Tony Jones tony at tonyjones.com > Date: Sun Mar 4 16:51:35 EST 2018 > Subject: FREE: Fluke 9132A ROM adapters and Fluke manuals > ROM Adapters (new but unboxed) > - 9132A-024 ROM module (qty:5) > - 9132A-028 ROM module (qty:1) > - 9132A-032 ROM module (qty:1) > Manuals: > - Supplementary Pod Information for 9100A/9105A users (qty:3) > - 9132A manual set (3 manuals - 68030, 68020 and 80386) (qry: 2) > - 9132A manual 68020 > - 9132A manual 80386 > - 9100 series, getting started (crease on cover) > - 9000A-80186 interface pod and getting started guide > - 9000A-8048 interface pod > - 9000A-80186 Interface pod (spine creased/worn; corners creased) > - 9000A-1802 Interface Pod (spine creased/worn) > Shipping is media mail for the manuals and USPS 1st class for a single > ROM adapter. Multiple adapters would be Priority Mail. I'm charging > only what USPS charges me. > If you want to take multiples or the entire lot that's fine with me. _______________________________________________ Techtoolslist mailing list Techtoolslist(a)flippers.com https://pairlist7.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/techtoolslist FTP site is: ftp://ttl.arcadetech.org/TTL/Test_Equipment Archive site: http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/techtoolslist/

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