32,070
edits
Clark Foley 7804: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
Many years past. It was now 2022 and I had resigned from Maxim Integrated Products and had no other demanding obligations. It was time to do something with my stash of electronics; either recycle or build something. I decided to see what I could do with the 7854 carcass. A close examination of the digital mother board revealed a couple of crunched connectors. That was actually a relief to me as I did not want to try to troubleshoot all of the digital boards that I had acquired and try to integrate A-phase, B-phase and pre-production hardware. It wouldn't work with firmware anyway! I decided on something far easier and yet useful. I decided to assemble a 7804, with the classic stroke-style readout from a 7603 and with a new front panel design. I also replaced the bulbs behind the Vertical and Horizontal Mode select buttons with white LEDs. If you look closely, you will see where I repaired two of the Vertical Mode switches with little wire loops to re-attach them to the board. | Many years past. It was now 2022 and I had resigned from Maxim Integrated Products and had no other demanding obligations. It was time to do something with my stash of electronics; either recycle or build something. I decided to see what I could do with the 7854 carcass. A close examination of the digital mother board revealed a couple of crunched connectors. That was actually a relief to me as I did not want to try to troubleshoot all of the digital boards that I had acquired and try to integrate A-phase, B-phase and pre-production hardware. It wouldn't work with firmware anyway! I decided on something far easier and yet useful. I decided to assemble a 7804, with the classic stroke-style readout from a 7603 and with a new front panel design. I also replaced the bulbs behind the Vertical and Horizontal Mode select buttons with white LEDs. If you look closely, you will see where I repaired two of the Vertical Mode switches with little wire loops to re-attach them to the board. | ||
In the end, the 7804 is a bit like Johnny Cash's car from the song "One Piece at a Time," although nothing was smuggled. | In the end, the 7804 is a bit like Johnny Cash's car from the song "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece_at_a_Time One Piece at a Time]," although nothing was smuggled. | ||
As with the work of Dr. Frankenstein, it might be considered blasphemous or merely a good use of scraps. | As with the work of Dr. Frankenstein, it might be considered blasphemous or merely a good use of scraps. | ||