|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,051
Very Senior Member
|
OP
Very Senior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,051 |
I bought a Tandy EC-21 Calculator/Blackjack game ( http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tandy/Blackjack21.htm) because the instruction manual and patent had a few similarities that I thought were more than coincidence. They both automatically shuffle when the 38th card is dealt, and the first example game in the manual is almost identical to the example game in the patent. But the chip in the Tandy unit is an NEC D1021C, and the die looked completely different. I also cracked the die into 3 or 4 pieces, so I pretty much gave up on it.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,051
Very Senior Member
|
OP
Very Senior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,051 |
Nice find. That's the same part #- the chip in Radio Shack unit also had K8X056 on the top. Same VFD as well, but the PCB and keyboards are laid out differently.
I've spent a lot of time on Datamath the past few months....
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,368 Likes: 120
Very Senior Member
|
Very Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,368 Likes: 120 |
Yes, I'm more than OK with this topic being about other antique microcontrollers too.
(articles keep calling them "calculator chips", but seriously, they're the 1st gen. of MCUs)
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,017 Likes: 21
Very Senior Member
|
Very Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,017 Likes: 21 |
Yes, I'm more than OK with this topic being about other antique microcontrollers too.
(articles keep calling them "calculator chips", but seriously, they're the 1st gen. of MCUs) I agree, on both counts. This guy also agrees that B6001 is a PPS-4/1 microcontroller, while others disagree. http://marc.info/?l=classiccmp&m=131921587007366&w=2Keep clicking "next in thread" for more fun We may never know until someone traces out the circuit to compare with the PPS-4/1 pinouts, or decaps a standard PPS-4/1 to compare.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,368 Likes: 120
Very Senior Member
|
Very Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,368 Likes: 120 |
Judging from that calculator/blackjack patent, I don't think it is PPs4.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,051
Very Senior Member
|
OP
Very Senior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,051 |
I traced some of the pins on the Battle Star Galactica PCB. 9v battery negative goes to pin 19, positive (through the on/off switch) to pin 20. Pin 32 has a cap and resistor connected to it, so it seems like that would be the oscillator input. Pins 36 and 39 are connected together and to one side of the movement switch; pin 37 goes to the other side of the movement switch, and the middle of the switch is +9v. The fire button connects pin 38 to +9v. The piezo is connected to pins 1 and 42, and the LEDs to pins 2 and 4-18. That's it- there are 12 pins not connected at all, and 5 pins that are connected to pads that are unused- I guess for testing?
That doesn't seem to match up with any PP4 pinouts I've seen.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,017 Likes: 21
Very Senior Member
|
Very Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,017 Likes: 21 |
That's disappointing. Seems weird that Popular Electronics would be so specifically wrong though.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,368 Likes: 120
Very Senior Member
|
Very Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,368 Likes: 120 |
What's disappointing?
That patent description contains more than enough information to make an emulator for Rockwell B6000.
|
|
|
Forums9
Topics9,320
Posts121,923
Members5,074
|
Most Online1,283 Dec 21st, 2022
|
|
These forums are sponsored by Superior Solitaire, an ad-free card game collection for macOS and iOS. Download it today!
|
|
|
|