11 Jun
2006
11 Jun
'06
3:59 a.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
Not EVERYTHING is a "classic computer device" :>
Tony Duell
wrote:
[equipment manuals]
Yes, though this is frustrating. It helps if you have some
spare/disposable units that can give their lives for the cause! :>
Why> Apart from HDAs, I can't think of any classic computer device that service
manual for a simple thing like a mouse ;o)
Actaully, I don't have a mouse on
this PC (probably the only PC in the
world not to have one, but...). But for things like mice it's often
quicker just to trace out the scheamtic than to do battle trying to get a
schemaitc from the manufactuer. I know I included schematics of the
appropriate mice when I traced out diagrams for the PERQ AGW3300 and the
HP IPC> can't be dismantled non-destructively. Mind you,
desoldering the HP9100B
I note that most of Votrax's products are troubling to dismantle
non-destructively (lots of potted "hide me so the user doesn't
know the secrets of my design" stuff).
Also, any maritime equipment I designed was always conformal
coated (several of those being "classic microcomputers" :> )
ROM board from the address decoder and sense amplifier
boards was a
stressful exercise. Since the internal track layout on that board is
critical (it's what determines the bit pattern of the ROM), if I'd ripped
out a via I'd have ruined the machine. I didn't....
It adds a level of stress and risk that I chose not to add.
My goal is to get a nice clean PCB that I can scan and then
convert to a photoplot. From there, I have tools that will
help automate reconstructing a schematic.
Since I have LOTS of these phones (far more than I would use
in my typical nightmares :> ), it seems smarter to destroy
components in the hope of recovering a good (photographable)
PCB from the exercise. I'd like *not* to waste the components
but wasting/disfiguring the foil patterns (even from scratches
with the soldering iron tip) is more important.
If this approach works well, I have a great way of doing
this in the future! :>
But, even then, it can be difficult...
I have to sacrifice a couple of telephone sets in order to
figure out what's inside them so I can modify them for
Why? Can't they be taken apart without damage?