Arduino Mega based In Circuit Tester for 2650/Zaccaria games

[PaulSwan]

I've been working on this project over winter since starting work on trying to fix dead Galaxia & Astro Wars boards that would otherwise be very difficult and time consuming without some sort of Fluke-like test equipment. The basic idea is similar to a the Fluke 9010 but simplified and targeting the 2650 CPU (that has no native Fluke pod anyway):

http://www.paulswan.me/arcade/ArduinoMegaICT.htm



An added bonus is that the probe head DIL 40 socket adaptor board can also be used to replace a broken Fluke probe head.

I've used it to repair a few dead boards now and as time goes on I'll update the software to add other Zaccaria 2650 games and additional features as I encounter the need for them. At the moment I have a small stack of Astro Wars boards to work through since I'm currently working on restoring an Astro Wars game.

Regards,
Paul.

[Etienne MacGyver]

That stuff is way beyond my scope, but i do love it !

Looks great Paul 

[Belike]

I understand about 60% of technical stuff, but looks like a smart equipment.
Also have a box of non-working Quasar and Galaxia pcbs, fortunately Marco could repair the Astro Wars.

[anunaki]

impressive

[Luigi]

WOW...just like Etienne, this is faaar beyond my knowledge. I'm very impressed!!

[Laszo]

Nicely done Paul. I'm impressed  keep us posted.

[DarthNuno]

These Arduino can do some 'miracles' and you can see every days new applications for this!
My G-Loc is 'Arduino powered' ... but this was far less complicated to setup than what you've done here, congratulation!

[PaulSwan]

Is there anyone in Europe that does Zac. board repairs? I probably have enough parts for another system if a Euro board repairer is interested in committing to fix Zac. boards for the Euro community...
Paul.

[speleo_de]

I am moderately interested, let me know what the conditions are...

I have had the opportunity to look at Zaccaria Pinball boards and was also repairing a 'Looping' board, both using the signetics 2650.
Some experience is there and also willingness, though PCB repair is not for free, when I do this.
My plan was also to use the Fluke Z80 to 2650 Adapter in their notes, so I am not depending on this item, if someone is deeply interested :-)

 

[Digimon]

I have not the technical skill to repair these zacc PCBs.

but like bela i have enough PCBs that waiting for rebirth.

Cu

[level42]

Amazing stuff....wouldn't it be possible to do it for more processors ? Fluke stuff is expensive....

[PaulSwan]

@speleo_de: Hehehe, not free, no Just someone knowledgeable to use it to offer Zac. board repairs to the community.
Someone in the UK did a PCB for the Z80->2650 pod adaptor but doesn't have any more left and didn't reply when I asked for the plots to make more.

@Level42: In theory, yes. The bus timing is not 100% accurate compared with the Fluke, though, only an approximation so some games might have configurations that can't work with it. However, unlike the Fluke I can program the Arduino with built in game awareness so there is no need to figure checksums & memory maps etc. and I can run a full test of everything on a particular game as a single action. Thus, it's tailored to specific games. The Flukes a bit of a pain to do this with unless you dig into the scripting features to do the same thing. Also, the Arduino doesn't do run UUT of course so to run it up needs unplug and a CPU fitting instead (I use a ZIF socket for testing). That said, total parts is probably <$75 for this setup.

Paul.

[speleo_de]

@ Paul, thanks, then my offer is up for the tester.

I did look at the Z80 to 2650 Adapter, its just a couple of TTLs.
I should be able to make a PCB for that and make the plots public.

[Byte Surfer]

Hi Paul,

your project is very interesting, I'm from Italy and I repaired some ZZZ boards in the past but not 2650 based, I didn't own a Fluke 9xxx and normally use an old SonyTek 308 data analyzer.
My knowledge of Arduino is near 0.1, but that of the ATMEL micros is average and I can write test vector sw... I'm interested in PCBs, if you plan to sell them.

Best
BS

[Laszo]

Hi Paul,

At the moment I do not have much time and space to do repairs  Even the fluke I own has not been properly used since I got it. But I'm planning to do a lot more when my man cave project is done... after the summer. I just want to do repairs for the hobby  but not commercially because I want to have fun doing it and no pressure. So yes I'm interested but just for doing repairs for the fun of learning and helping out friends and community members. Others that have more time on their hands should go first in line.