How is my Robotron is working with only 3.2 volts?

That's an interesting beastie. You clip that on a chip and it carries the signals up those pins so it's more convenient to probe it?

That's exactly it. Typically used with oscilloscopes, they are still handy for probing pins that are difficult to access.

I was wandering around in my local surplus electronics store and saw some laying in a bin and picked up 16, 24, and 40 pin clips.

It sure beats laying on the concrete floor of my basement trying to find the right pin to probe and then see the screen on the oscilloscope at the same time.
 
That's exactly it. Typically used with oscilloscopes, they are still handy for probing pins that are difficult to access.

I was wandering around in my local surplus electronics store and saw some laying in a bin and picked up 16, 24, and 40 pin clips.

It sure beats laying on the concrete floor of my basement trying to find the right pin to probe and then see the screen on the oscilloscope at the same time.

What do you call those?
 
What is this beast you speak of ???!!!????

I know right?

I'm super lucky to be able to get things like ICs, diodes, transistors, resistors, pots, etc during my lunch hour. The prices are comparable to mail order as well.

Unfortunately, I don't think he's going to last much longer. It's really hard to stay in the surplus electronics business.

What do you call those?
They're IC DIP test clips

https://www.google.com/search?q=ic+...&biw=1536&bih=802#tbm=isch&q=ic+dip+test+clip

https://tinyurl.com/y6vxbs3g

Stan
 
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I know right?

I'm super lucky to be able to get things like ICs, diodes, transistors, resistors, pots, etc during my lunch hour. The prices are comparable to mail order as well.

Unfortunately, I don't think he's going to last much longer. It's really hard to stay in the surplus electronics business.


They're IC DIP test clips

https://www.google.com/search?q=ic+...&biw=1536&bih=802#tbm=isch&q=ic+dip+test+clip

https://tinyurl.com/y6vxbs3g

Stan

Thank you! Those things don't squeeze hard enough to hurt the legs on the ICs you're testing? They look like they would.
 
Of course not. This is what they're made for.

That's what I would have guessed but it looks like they have super beefy springs. :)

BTW, the chip packages we want to test for games from this era are all DIP? Is that right?
 
That's what I would have guessed but it looks like they have super beefy springs. :)

BTW, the chip packages we want to test for games from this era are all DIP? Is that right?

yup almost all in that era are DIP packages.
 
I don't think he's going to last much longer

the potentiometer spring/wire is the weakest part of that circuit

you really don't want the game to run forever with all that +5 volts going through that little potentiometer spring/wire and not expect it to fail sometime in the future

you're dead, your kids give your grandkids your games and someday the potentiometer wire fries because it is the weak part of that circuit. your grandkids throw the old game away all because you installed a potentiometer instead of installing a correct value R10 or whatever else is wrong with the PS(cold solder joints)

if I ever run across a certain kind of Williams game that is having +5 volt trouble and I see a potentiometer installed in that circuit, i'll know EXACTLY what the problem is and charge the customer DOUBLE
j/k


good luck
 
Thanks, I'll order a cheap 8 and 16 pin version from ebay. I'd think they would cover most things.

Apparently there's more to it than number of pins and DIP package because my 16 pin version arrived today from China and the pin spacing is wildly off for a 16 pin chip on my NBA Jam board. It's about half the width necessary. :(
 
Apparently there's more to it than number of pins and DIP package because my 16 pin version arrived today from China and the pin spacing is wildly off for a 16 pin chip on my NBA Jam board. It's about half the width necessary. :(

Pretty sure you need .100 pitch spacing, or 2.54mm . That's what almost every chip is. Some of the chips like some of the chips on the newer monitor boards, or the 68000 mpu like used on Double Dragon or something use that smaller pitch, but very few arcade boards will be able to use it.
 
Pretty sure you need .100 pitch spacing, or 2.54mm . That's what almost every chip is. Some of the chips like some of the chips on the newer monitor boards, or the 68000 mpu like used on Double Dragon or something use that smaller pitch, but very few arcade boards will be able to use it.

Ok, thanks.

I'll lay a .100 connector on one of these chips and confirm that's the correct spacing.
 
I've got one of those spring deals with a digital meter soldered to pins 8 and 16. Got the idea from Hatrick here on KLOV.
 

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FWIW, I've seen WMS boards working at 3.7VDC with the 4164 RAMs installed. Didnt work right but it worked.

Also, TTL is SUPPOSED to be able to handle voltages close to 12VDC. I dont dare try it but thats what its supposed to be able to handle.
 
I've got one of those spring deals with a digital meter soldered to pins 8 and 16. Got the idea from Hatrick here on KLOV.

And I got my 2nd one in tonight with the same pin spacing issue. :(

Fortunately that's all I ordered because these are going into the trash.

BTW, I can't see what's in your picture even with max zoom.
 
OK, I'm confused. Here was the Ebay listing for one of the clips that I ordered.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281779921246

Programmer Testing Clip SOP SOIC 16 SOIC16 DIP 16 Pin IC Clamp IC Test Clip

Connector Type:Test Clip
Pin Format:SOIC 16
Contact Material: Copper Alloy
Contact Plating: Gold
Lead Spacing: 2.54mm
Series: 923
Row Pitch: 3.81mm
Mounting Type: PC Board
Case Style: SOIC
IC Lead Pitch: 1.27mm

When I lay a .100 molex plug on top of the 16 pin chip on the board, it lines up perfectly with the legs on the chip.

And yet when I look at the specs for the clip above, .100 inch = 2.54mm which matches the lead spacing description above but the clip is maybe half the size of the chip. Grrr, what am I missing?
 
SOIC 16 is a surface mount IC.
DIP 16 is a thru-hole IC.

The clip is for the former.
You need a test clip for the latter.

SOIC does not equal TH DIP.

This pic shows the relative size and pin pattern difference between the two types of packages:

NLBB-SOIC16-DIP.jpg
 
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SOIC 16 is a surface mount IC.
DIP 16 is a thru-hole IC.

The clip is for the former.
You need a test clip for the latter.

SOIC does not equal TH DIP.

This pic shows the relative size and pin pattern difference between the two types of packages:

NLBB-SOIC16-DIP.jpg

OK, so what does this part of the title mean then?

DIP 16 Pin IC Clamp IC Test Clip


Before I bought it I asked them:

"This does work with DIP chips, right? The title says it does but the description doesn't mention DIP."

And they replied with:

"we have tested this model on Programmer Testing Clip SOP SOIC 16 SOIC16 DIP 16 Pin IC Clamp IC Test Clip, if your device model is line in with out title list, it should be work well.
Thank you and have a good day."
 
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