Bun's Lab – Telegram
Bun's Lab
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Electronics projects, vintæg computing, programming and repairs. A minimalist blog of sorts.
@BunsGarden @BunsNook
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Swapping it for my new Terratec EWS64XL
A fresh install on the bench PC. Went for a bit more of a ... classic theme
1. CR2032 is too thicc to fit into the cartridge shell, if you have any sort of soldering blobs on both sides. Use CR2025
2. Soldering onto batteries is doable. Roughen up the surface, use flux, be quick.
Tied them down with tape.
I reverse engineered the PC interface module for the Kosmos Hitec electronics set from the early 90s. The set is built around this PC interface, as well as an extensive software library of small Windows 3.x programs.
The cornerstone is the ADC0838 8 multiplexed channel 8 bit ADC with serial I/O.
The parallel port is used for communication with the PC. Everything is electrically isolated using 3 dual optocouplers, the CNY74-2, aka ILD 74.
The module features two control lines
As well as four input channels for the ADC
An LM324 quad op amp is used to map -10V ... +10V to the 0..5V range of the ADC. The topography is that of a weighted sum inverted adder.
Of the 8 data outputs the parallel port has only 6 (D1 to D6) are actually used.
D2 provides the ADC's clock, D1 its data in, D4 is chip select
This interface does not rely on any bi-directional implementation of the parallel port and instead uses the ERROR status line as a data in for the serial data coming from the ADC. D3 is being held permanently high to provide a current source for the optocoupler
Channel 5 of the ADC is tied back to the +5V supply voltage. I presume for calibration.