+OLD CS1 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Wife 'requested' that I take that sh move my projects to a better location than her kitchen. "Asking is just polite demanding!" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 (edited) Well at the expense of more kidding, my parents' 'Ranch' is only a few acres and the totality of their livestock is a bunch or rabbits that are kept in line by a very spastic Chihuahua. Now for something completely the same; the super cart. Is there a program that will make the extra memory in the super cart accessible as a drive like the mini-memory, kinda like a ram disk? And can you switch the memory banks with the computer on? Edited December 20, 2014 by hloberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 "Asking is just polite demanding!" Ya, for some reason she finds the smell of burning solder in the morning a bit offensive, go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I understand that one totally--mine freaks when I set up my pad and soldering tools up on the table to build 20-30 cartridge boards at a time. It "eats" her space. :twisted: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 turned out to be a nice day today so I tried working on making the super cart. Score: Now non-working E/A cartridges 2, my de-soldering skills 0 Sigh, now I need to get two more E/A cartridges and, obviously, a lot more practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKRetrogamer Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 (edited) Ouch. Sorry to hear you had trouble. I loathe de-soldering stuff. I've never been particularly good at de-soldering ICs for transfer/salvage, myself. I ended up buying a de-soldering station (basically a gun-type soldering iron with a pump which pulls the solder trough the tip of the iron and into a chamber at the press of a trigger). Expensive when compared to a hand de-soldering pump but this has saved my skin lots of times when it comes to salvaging ICs. It's really the ONLY thing I use it for. For components with less legs (two, preferably), I use a standard solder-sucker. Now that the guys have worked out how to emulate GROMs in an AVR, maybe there's a market for an Atmel-based, GROM-emulated mini-memory or Supercart to save the remaining Editor/Assembler carts from being culled into extinction. Edited December 23, 2014 by UKRetrogamer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkeey Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I do my soldering in the basement. I prefer it down there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 Ouch. Sorry to hear you had trouble. I loathe de-soldering stuff. Now that the guys have worked out how to emulate GROMs in an AVR, maybe there's a market for an Atmel-based, GROM-emulated mini-memory or Supercart to save the remaining Editor/Assembler carts from being culled into extinction. I'd pay good money for any kind of E/A GROM, AVR based or otherwise I might single handedly drive the E/A Cartridge in to extinction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 turned out to be a nice day today so I tried working on making the super cart. Score: Now non-working E/A cartridges 2, my de-soldering skills 0 Sigh, now I need to get two more E/A cartridges and, obviously, a lot more practice. Instead of desoldering the GROM, cut the pins off near the PCB, then solder the GROM to a DIL header to give you a 'new' IC: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-Pin-Dil-Gold-Plated-IC-style-header-plug-5-pieces-/390783546925?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item5afc83b62d You can then desolder the remains of the pins individually from the PCB, which is a lot easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 You might even be able to rescue the two E/A GROMs you have now using Stuart's idea--GROMs are pretty tough, as long as all of the legs are still present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 (edited) well, project is on hold till I get some more E/A GROMs. the first GROM, I de-soldered it but broke a pin pulling it out. (Need more Jedi patience) The second I did a rather good and quick job of de-solder but it just froze up the computer when I put it back in the holder on the E/A board to test it. It was a old GROM and didn't look too good to begin with. It was already discolored on the legs so who knows. I'm going to keep an eye on ebay for some good and cheap E/A cartridges. While I'm waiting I'm going to invest in a good quality solder station. My old Weller just ain't gonna make the grade for something like this project. An idea I had was to just cut the board from around the GROM then clean it up. The solder connections on the E/A look fairly small. Edited December 23, 2014 by hloberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 (edited) another thought from another post of prying it out. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232932-ea-cartgrom/?p=3136383 I'm not sure that would work on that really old E/A GROM, it was soldered in there fairly tight. The first GROM was from a beige E/A and looked rather loosely fitted. Edited December 23, 2014 by hloberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Speed is definitely of the essence when it comes to removing components, which is why the vacuum desoldering tools are so useful. They minimize the time on each lead while maximizing the solder removed. The chop it out of the board idea might actually work well, if you have the right type of cutters. . .flush cut is definitely your friend here, along with a lot of patience--because it will be very slow going if you want to avoid damaging any pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 There are a number of desoldering stations available on ebay for someone looking to get a reasonably good deal. The two below caught my eye, primarily for price and components, though I haven't done any research to determine how well either performs. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Desoldering-Station-CT-859-/221407698553?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338ced5e79 http://www.ebay.com/itm/110V-US-CA-Plug-Electric-Vacuum-Desoldering-Pump-Solder-Sucker-Rework-Station/330739517850?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D90cdf47854b04f2b9bb9e8a59b80e7c1%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D20131003132420%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D221407698553&rt=nc If you do buy one from ebay or elsewhere, be sure you are getting all the necessary components. Many ebay sales are for only the base station or replacement guns, meaning you need to buy both pieces separately. Also be sure that you get the tips and any removable solder cleanout traps. Multiple tips, extra filters, and cleanup needles are a plus. Watch out for missing especially the glass ones the prior owner may have broken My desolder station is multi-piece unit with a gun activated by a foot pedal, which works well for removing multiple components in one sitting. For less intense work, an all-in-one gun will suffice. The main difference is the all-in-one units start to "get heavy" over time as your hand and arm begin to fatigue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKRetrogamer Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 (edited) This is the model I bought. It's branded as Duratool but I think it's a generic de-soldering tool. I've seen a matching soldering station sold by Maplin here in the UK, branded as a Maplin product. I've been able to source replacement gun assemblies from a few places. This is always the worry when paying for a tool like this. Availability of spares. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-De-Soldering-Rework-Station-ZD-915-DURATOOL-D00672-Iron-Gun-UK-WARRANTY-/291204457185?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item43cd2362e1 I don't remember mine being quite as expensive as the one above, even when I bought it new, a few years ago. It works a treat for removing ICs though, which (as I mentioned above) is pretty much the only use it gets. For everything else, I use a de-soldering pump with a high-temperature, flexible nozzle. In hindsight, a hot air workstation might work just as well for desoldering ICs - if not better. Edited December 23, 2014 by UKRetrogamer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBoy Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I am using this "gun" http://www.amazon.de/Digitale-professionelle-Entl%C3%B6tstation-ZD-915-Vakuumpumpe/dp/B005CHA7IG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419366960&sr=8-1&keywords=zd-915 Sorry, german link .... should be available in U.S. too ( ebay etc. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKRetrogamer Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Looks to be the same as mine but with alternate branding. Good tool for removing ICs without damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 I just purchased 2 of these boards from arcade shopper. I noticed on the PCB it says a 2035 battery, but the parts list shows 2032. I believe these models are essentially the same but the 2035 is a bit thicker. Do I need a 2035 or can I use the 2032 as stated in the parts list? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 A 2032 should work fine, Chris--I think I may have fat-fingered the designation when I was doing the layout and I didn't catch that (and the Mainbyte page also shows a 2032 for the board this is derived from). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 cool, just waiting for my two to arrive so I can build them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Instead of chopping up EA Cartridges, it would really be nice if someone could design a pseudo-SuperCart that used one of the EA variants burned into an EPROM. But then, there might be some space considerations. It would certainlt be easier to pop an EPROM into a socket than to desolder and re-solder an EA Grom chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Instead of chopping up EA Cartridges, it would really be nice if someone could design a pseudo-SuperCart that used one of the EA variants burned into an EPROM. But then, there might be some space considerations. It would certainlt be easier to pop an EPROM into a socket than to desolder and re-solder an EA Grom chip. Wont work.. a eprom would exist in the 6000 memory location the same as the ram Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKRetrogamer Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) Wont work.. a eprom would exist in the 6000 memory location the same as the ram ..but what if Gazoo/Ksarul came up with an AVR-based GROM-emulator board? Like the one used in the 632K XB v2.7 boards but with a lower-capacity AVR. I'm pretty sure a 512K AVR would be overkill in this situation. Small-footprint AVR, 32K SRAM, a coin-cell holder and a few passive components? It would certainly save the last remaining Assembler cartridges from being culled and solve the problem of removing the AE GROM without killing it! Now they can emulate GROMs in an Atmel AVR, there'd be no need to harvest GROMs. Their development could lead to new generations of these old cartridges. AVR-based Supercart and/or mini-memory? Edited December 31, 2014 by UKRetrogamer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 The current AVR we are using has 120K of GROM space, the 512K portion is the external ROM. There isn't a lot of real estate on a cartridge-board sized layout, and to keep the project worthwhile to the majority of users, I keep everything through-hole. The code will run in the smaller ATmega chips, but you are still dealing with a 32-pin DIP here. Add a 28-pin DIP for memory and the coin cell and you start running out of room fast. That said--I have a solution that I am working on using a larger footprint board. Once I get a case design in place for it, it will solve this problem permanently (and the case is one of the things on my list of many projects, one for which I have multiple plans). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) The current AVR we are using has 120K of GROM space, the 512K portion is the external ROM. There isn't a lot of real estate on a cartridge-board sized layout, and to keep the project worthwhile to the majority of users, I keep everything through-hole. The code will run in the smaller ATmega chips, but you are still dealing with a 32-pin DIP here. Add a 28-pin DIP for memory and the coin cell and you start running out of room fast. That said--I have a solution that I am working on using a larger footprint board. Once I get a case design in place for it, it will solve this problem permanently (and the case is one of the things on my list of many projects, one for which I have multiple plans). Good. I'm having problems finding another E/A @ a good price to hack. Edited December 31, 2014 by hloberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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