+dhe Posted November 22, 2023 Share Posted November 22, 2023 https://store.backbit.io/product/chip-tester/ Any of you folks own one? Do you think the creator would be interested in adding more chip of interest to 99/4a aficionados? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+videofx Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 No, but its Deja Vu! I was just looking at buying one myself! I know the woman who designed the chip tester and she will add any chip as long as she can get a hold of it or someone sends her a chip! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 1 hour ago, dhe said: https://store.backbit.io/product/chip-tester/ Any of you folks own one? Do you think the creator would be interested in adding more chip of interest to 99/4a aficionados? She's got a good list to include some of our favorites, but I can think of a few more, like a TMS9901 test, 74ls612, TMS4500, and others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dhe Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 TMS9900 (if it would fit), TMS9902, TMS9904 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 6 hours ago, dhe said: TMS9900 (if it would fit), TMS9902, TMS9904 Actually, you would need to be able to test the TIM9904 and the TIM9904A, as opposed to the TMS9904, Dan. There are some significant differences between the two chip revisions, so much so that they can't be substituted for each other on boards designed for one or the other of them. It might also be nice to be able to test the NEC upd765, the WD1771, the WD1773, and the TMS9914. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dhe Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 2 hours ago, Ksarul said: TMS9914. Sooo many GPIB cards out there in the wild! (LOL) 🤪 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 4 minutes ago, dhe said: Sooo many GPIB cards out there in the wild! (LOL) 🤪 There are probably more of them than you suspect, Dan. I actually know of about 15-20 of them in collector hands, outside of the pair I have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dhe Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 3 minutes ago, Ksarul said: I actually know of about 15-20 of them in collector hands I mean, like yea, I own one too! 😃 Keeping adding to the list folks, maybe we can get BCT's creator to add chips of interest here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 5 hours ago, Ksarul said: There are probably more of them than you suspect, Dan. I actually know of about 15-20 of them in collector hands, outside of the pair I have. In before an entire warehouse of 'em shows up in an estate sale! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 1 hour ago, JB said: In before an entire warehouse of 'em shows up in an estate sale! Possibly, but the thing with this one is that it was a more-or-less experimental card (worked great as far as the software was developed too). TI almost never made more than 100-200 copies of the circuit card in those circumstances, and a significant portion of them would be tested to destruction. There were probably at least 50 of them that were assembled and had a chance to make it into the wild though, and I've seen close to half that number in my wanderings over the years, so there isn't likely a major reservoir of them hiding anywhere unless I go insane and decide to recreate the board. . . 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+retroclouds Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 7 hours ago, Ksarul said: There are probably more of them than you suspect, Dan. I actually know of about 15-20 of them in collector hands, outside of the pair I have. Have to ask. What is a GPIB card? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lee Stewart Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 3 minutes ago, retroclouds said: Have to ask. What is a GPIB card? GPIB stands for General Purpose Interface Bus. I believe it was developed by Hewlett-Packard for interfacing their laboratory instruments. HP split out their instrument division as Agilent Technologies at the end of the last century—took me a while to get used to the new name. GPIB was also called HPIB for obvious reasons. It became standardized as IEEE-488. I remember having several HP lab instruments that used it to interface the various instrumental components. ...lee 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 8 hours ago, Lee Stewart said: GPIB stands for General Purpose Interface Bus. I believe it was developed by Hewlett-Packard for interfacing their laboratory instruments. HP split out their instrument division as Agilent Technologies at the end of the last century—took me a while to get used to the new name. GPIB was also called HPIB for obvious reasons. It became standardized as IEEE-488. I remember having several HP lab instruments that used it to interface the various instrumental components. ...lee Early (PET era) Commdore disk and hard drives also use the IEEE-488 interface. I have a few floppy drives with the interface on them: 8050, MSD SD-2, and SFD-1001. I also have '488 adapter expansions for C64 and Amiga. But only a few cables. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FALCOR4 Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 On 11/23/2023 at 11:15 PM, Ksarul said: Possibly, but the thing with this one is that it was a more-or-less experimental card (worked great as far as the software was developed too). TI almost never made more than 100-200 copies of the circuit card in those circumstances, and a significant portion of them would be tested to destruction. There were probably at least 50 of them that were assembled and had a chance to make it into the wild though, and I've seen close to half that number in my wanderings over the years, so there isn't likely a major reservoir of them hiding anywhere unless I go insane and decide to recreate the board. . . I have one stashed away and would like to eventually find another one. I heard that they were used by some BITD to connect two TIs together? Any interesting history there, anyone? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+retroclouds Posted November 26, 2023 Share Posted November 26, 2023 If someone has a picture of the card available, perhaps it can be posted here? 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Here is a photo of the Amiga GPIB card in my library. It can run two modules, one port each. The modules, described as "IEEE 959 ([Intel] iSBX)" and are built around the TMS9914. More information on this board at Amiga Hardware Database. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dhe Posted December 15, 2023 Author Share Posted December 15, 2023 Right, and back to the BackBit Chip Tester. A received my unit and have been reading the documentation. I'm even more impressed with the unit, then I originally was. Not only does it test a multitude of obsolete chips, but it also can read PALS, and read and save ROMS, but there is also documentation on doing in-circuit testing vs "loose testing". I can see wanting to test a TMS9901, before cutting it out. I've included the current documentation. BackBit Chip Tester Documentation.pdf 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+acadiel Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 I have one. @evietron is pretty good about answering questions and constantly adds new chips. Make sure you update the firmware too, it also gets updated regularly. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 2 hours ago, acadiel said: Evie is pretty good about answering questions and constantly adds new chips. Make sure you update the firmware too, it also gets updated regularly. This. While I do not have the tester, I have purchased a slew of products from Evie over the past few years. Support is more than stellar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.