Hello everyone!
I'm glad I finally managed to get logged in here 
I just got the GQ-3X programmer, and I had one purpose for it, one purpose alone - I have a machine, and it has some designed-in bugs in the firmware. It is based around the Z-80 microprocessor, and we have a similar, older machine without these bugs. The manufacturer of this machine no longer supports it, you cannot buy ANY parts for it from them, in fact they no longer make this type of machine at all. I had a EPROM chip from something else that I did not need for anything, my mission was simple: duplicate the 1992 EPROM and put it in the 1996 machine.
Not only do I maintain these machines, I am the one actually operating it as well. This machine has not worked properly since it was new and the manufacturer was never able to figure out what was wrong.
I have never worked with an EPROM programmer before, far too expensive for my limited finances. Until I found the MCU Mall Electronics programmers. So cheap - can this be right? More importantly, will it do what I need? True USB Willem - I understand about true USB, but who is Willem?
I bought it and I hoped I wasn't wasting my money. I had some assorted unneeded 16K and 32K EPROMS (the important one was a 64K), so I experimented with them. so fast! Did it work? Sure looks like it.
The moment of truth. Tried the buggy one, it read it just fine. Save the file. Now, burn it to a erased one - it looks like a match. Tried one of the erased ones again, read it... FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF.
Now the REAL test. Take the GOOD one - let me tell you, I was nervous! If this EPROM is ruined, this machine is dead and out of service, probably forever.
I read it with the GQ-3X - wow, read it in .52 seconds! Saved to a file. Now, burned this program into the blank one...write, test, verify twice - in seconds.
I expected this would take an hour or more, and it would have been OK if it did.
Ah, but will it work? Put it in the machine...worked perfectly!
I have both machines operating with EPROMS I burned with my little GQ-3X
Now I just have to figure out exactly what the coding means and where these chips differ.
Thank you MCUMall for an excellent, reasonably priced product! |
Introducing myself
Posted - 05/28/2009 : 17:03:55
