Old EPROM questions again, EPROM Programmer

From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
Date: Fri Jul 30 16:52:55 2004

[The Voice of the Crystal amd Instruments of Amplification]

> They sound interesting. I'll see if I can find a couple of copies. You

They are still in print AFAIK. I got mine from Camden Miniature Steam
Services in Rode (near Bath, England). I assume you can get them in the
States.

> might be intersted in this site
> <http://home.earthlink.net/~lenyr/index.html>. He's build a lot of odd
> electronic devices including Tunnel Diodes using the zinc coating on
> galvanized sheet metal and borax rectifiers.

Thanks, I will take a look.

> Same with the devices on the website that I pointed out but still it's an
> interesting education into what can be done with simple materials and the
> characteristics some materials that we seldom use any more.

Exactly.

> So do I but I have to draw the line somewhere and I just choose not to
> spend time on readily available devices. I'd rather spend it on something

It depends. If I think I can build a 'better' device than the one I can
afford commerically, then I build it. If I think I'm going to learn
something useful, then I build it.

Sometimes I do actually buy a modern device, but it has to be well made
(that's non-trivial to find these days ;-(), it has to be repairable, and
it has to work properly. Quite a few modern devices fall down on all 3
points!

> like the homemade tunnel diode where I'll learn more than I would bulding
> EPROM programmers. I've build the programmers and frankly I didn't learn
> much from it but maybe that's because I've done a LOT of work in digital
> electronics.

You or I probably wouldn't learn much from building a programmer (and
actually, the only reason _I'd_ build a programer would be to get one
that actually worked on a computer that I owned, as opposed to an Wintel
box), but for people who've not got the experience, it can be well worth
having a go. Just remmeber that you _will_ destroy a few EPROMs during
testing (I am somewhat proud to say that IIRC I only blew up one chip).

-tony
Received on Fri Jul 30 2004 - 16:52:55 BST

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