Gonna upgrade a couple of B&W games to use switchers. I was trying to keep the games original in all the technical aspects, but I'm tired of being defeated by some hack repair that left loose solder balls hidden under components 20 years ago. It's time to make a change.
Some games use a seperate regulated linear supply. They send DC to the boards. For +5V I should be able to simply unplug that and slap the switcher in it's place.
But what about the higher voltages? Is it ok to drive +15V and +18V (and god knows what other weird voltages) using the +12V from a switcher? Those usually only supply the audio. Will I loose too much head room for my amplifiers (or PLLs, or FSKs, or whatever other esoteric audio stuff is there)? Is there anything else to worry about on those supplies other than audio?
Next, I have a lot of early boards where the transformer connects directly to the edge connector to supply AC to the board. It's rectified, filtered, and (linear) regulated on the board. I don't have those magic transformers for my loose Bronze Age boards. What's the standard practice here? Is there one? I can make it work, sure. But I'd like to do it the same way everyone else does to save confusion later.
Some games use a seperate regulated linear supply. They send DC to the boards. For +5V I should be able to simply unplug that and slap the switcher in it's place.
But what about the higher voltages? Is it ok to drive +15V and +18V (and god knows what other weird voltages) using the +12V from a switcher? Those usually only supply the audio. Will I loose too much head room for my amplifiers (or PLLs, or FSKs, or whatever other esoteric audio stuff is there)? Is there anything else to worry about on those supplies other than audio?
Next, I have a lot of early boards where the transformer connects directly to the edge connector to supply AC to the board. It's rectified, filtered, and (linear) regulated on the board. I don't have those magic transformers for my loose Bronze Age boards. What's the standard practice here? Is there one? I can make it work, sure. But I'd like to do it the same way everyone else does to save confusion later.
