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JimDrew
LHC, AZ

Posted Fri Jul 05, 2019 10:41 pm

So, I am going through all of my Commodore stuff, and cataloging everything in preparation for selling everything off. I literally have hundreds of original Commodore related products and I really don't need the stuff anymore. I have had a storage unit full since 1996, and it's time to get rid of it. :)

So, today I found something I had been looking for! The original EMPLANT board that was used for FCC testing. You can see from the pictures that there were many traces cut and added. The FCC let you (back then) do this as long as you secured every trace. If your board passes, you were allowed to make the changes on the PCB itself without having to re-test it. That is not how it is today.
Attachments
IMG_5713.JPG
Back side - lots of work!

IMG_5712.JPG
Front side


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McTrinsic

Posted Sat Jul 06, 2019 1:22 am

Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece of history!

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Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:44 pm

Nice. Are you going to be selling any of these emplant boards?

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Dynamic_Computing

Posted Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:43 pm

Wow! An original! I have two Emplants I think that I got in a haul back in the early 2000's but I have never used them. I suppose I should hook one up and see if it works.

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JimDrew
LHC, AZ

Posted Sun Jul 07, 2019 10:43 pm

I have 30 or so EMPLANT boards that are brand new. I have tubes of all of the chips to build them. I found my PEEL programmer. A PEEL is like a PAL/GAL, but can be erased and re-programmed. PAL/GAL are one time program only!

I need to setup an old IBM XT (or clone) so I can run the ICT Place PEEL programmer software. It runs under DOS and requires the exact timing of a real hardware parallel port (won't work with a modern PC or an emulator unfortunately). So, I am searching eBay right now. If I can put together a setup then I will build the 30 boards, which will be the last of EMPLANTs ever created.

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Christian

Posted Tue Jul 09, 2019 8:08 pm

I have a Commodore PC-20III. That would probably work to program the PEELs when running at 4.77 MHz.





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