Broken Atlantic Research Interview 40A Vintage Computer / Data Analyzer
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2024
- This is a gadget I found at FreeGeek, a local computer salvage and recycling outfit (www.freegeek.o.... It's an Atlantic Research "Interview 40A", Serial Data Analyzer. It's from the late 1970s and was designed to test and troubleshoot serial port connections.
Unfortunately, I can't get the darn thing to work! There's no video either from the on-board CRT or the external video out. The most it will do is power on, show some lights on the front, and occasionally beep at me. If anyone has any ideas for how to revive it, I'd love to hear suggestions!
If I can't bring it back to life, then I might turn this into some kind of cyberdeck. I already have a few ideas along those lines.
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A project not working after getting "flooded in an abandoned mine" is very on-brand for this channel.
The sad part is that doesn't narrow it down much 😅
I had one of these before it was stolen. It's a very special piece of equipment for analyzing old modem and RS-232 circuits. If you ever decide you don't want I'll buy it from you. I spent many hours working on telephone data circuits with one of these exact same devices. This was back when 9600 baud was considered FAST!!!
Check the power supply for voltages and ripple with a scope.
Also make sure any clock circuits are running. There might need to be some intiialization for the video to start outputting something or the video circuitry could just not be outputting anything sensical if there's no clock for it.
ok clearly this is the comment thread in which i belong 👍
Just replace the can caps and you are 90% of the way there.
Worth the $5 just for the video content. Really nice hardware back in the 80's.
The day has finally come... a "Don't Care" button. It's beautiful.
That button was part of filtering the data you were trying to capture.
@@rogerp5816 i never needed a button for not caring though...
I'm sitting next to two big late 80s HP devices that have a Don't Care button - a logic analyzer and a digital signal generator - and they're big chunky buttons that are very satisfying to push.
That panel keyboard featuring "don't care" needs to be on a tee shirt
The video out is NTSC composite video.
Check the power supply for +/- 12 volts and 5 volts.
Look for an orange glow at the back of the CRT.
We could do a Zoom call and I could walk you through some trouble shooting steps.
The video output is 99% chance just a BW luminance output - in other words a composite output without the color information (and thus not “composite”). You did everything right as far as getting video out but I suspect there are possibly multiple issues with the unit. One easy/quick thing you could check is see if you can detect a clock signal on the input to the CPU (you could use your NanoVNA or an oscilloscope). If the crystal creating the clock has gone bad the whole thing would act dead. Also you can check the main power supply rail voltages. Chances are it uses standard voltages like +5, -5, +12, maybe +18 or +25V.
Ruel, based on your explanation. I decided to subscribe to your channel as well. You have a plethora of content that looks pretty interesting.
@@iamgriff thanks!! 😊
Yes, I agree. Look for the voltage regulators.
Something like a 7805 is 5V out, so the input to it can be from 7 to 35v..
That would be the starting point, since no voltage means nothing else can be tested until you have the right voltage coming out of the regulators...
7805 5V
7905 -5V
7812 12V
7912 -12V
7815 15V
Then look up pinouts of the CPU and TTL chips.
Most, but not all 74xx series chips have GND and VCC on opposite corners..
If you don't have a clock signal, I am guessing you might be able to input
a 1MHz clock from a 555 or NANO...
Composite means that video, sync and blanking are all combined into a single signal. It has nothing to do with Chroma. This is the way that Analog TV was broadcast. I engineered at both Monochrome and color TV stations. Other than adding Chroma for color, the scan frequencies were slightly adjusted to eliminate a beat frequency in the display, I transmuted a crude color image at that monochrome station by using aa 35mm slide, a color bar generator and the monochrome video keyer.BTW, NTSC means, 'National Television Standards Committee' which was formed before the first commercial TV station and sets were built. There were many non compatible proposal, including one hat used FM fr video which would only allow for three channels instead of 13 It also used a modified single sideband for video to reduce the chanels to 6 MHz to save spectrum. It is called Vestigal Sideband, It transmits one full sideband, the carrier an a small part of the other sideband. This allowed reception with a standard sing diode video detector.
After two way radio became popular, the FCC reallocated Channel One to the low band (30 to 50 MHz) service, leaving the well known 12 channels.
@@michaelterrell you are correct
Now that is really cool. I recently was given an HP serial analyzer that I plan to use for reverse engineering equipment.
Free Geek is great, I donate stuff to them all the time.
I used to know some engineers who used to work at AR in the late 1980's. One of them gave me an old semi-functional chassis which I stripped for parts. Several Z80 CPUs and a 8530 or two. It was a lot of fun to muck about with - I still have lots of 74LS parts from it in my junk box.
I had one of those Sony Watchmans back in the late 80s/early 90s. I drilled a hole in the battery case fed some wires through the hole so I could use a wall adapter.
I still have mine somewhere! It’s great for quick pointing of CCTV cameras or things like this where you just want to see if a video signal is being produced.
If I had space and space $$, I'd have tons of stuff like that to run other things.. What a beautiful piece of history~
We actually had a couple or three of these units back in the early 1980s when I worked for a company that made massive RS-232 data switches (PACX IV and friends). EEPROMs (Electrically-Erasable Read-Only Memory) was invented in 1972, by the same guy who invented flash memory. We used some EEPROMs at work back then, but mostly it was UV Erasable EPROMs. The phrase "firmware" has been around for quite a few decades, and we used that to refer to the code that was running on our hardware, programmed into non-volatile (usually EPROM) memory.
232 serial data analysers, were a thing in the 70’s~80’s, when I was in datacomms. It became a valued tool, when there were intermittent, or unknown data format/command issues, with, “in band” signalling (commands hidden in the data stream).
The little cables, were for making crossover signalling, while debugging. Like spare wheels, seldom used, but a lifesaver, when needed.
$5, what a find! The Z80, is worth more 😆
Here for the cats anyways. No loss here.
I love free geek! I can’t even remember how many computers and other tech I have donated to them and bought from them over the years. They have so much other great tech though, it comes and goes so it’s worth going there often if you live nearby.
Good Lord, fix it!
if you are going to have a "old computer collectors" hobby you really are going to have to get more jiggy with that oscilloscope. Also might be thankful that there is no high voltage going through that. I recall earth straps being pretty cheeky. needs better investigation. Fun thing though. nice find
I used to collect more old computers but just don't have the space for it!
@@saveitforpartsi can relate to that. Pretty sure that thing is like the serial decoder in a modern oscilloscope, a sniffer. not familiar with that unit but safe to say it is well and truly superseded. :D
Is there a key/switch to change between the CRT, and video out. Most stuff back then didn't mirror, you had to tell it where you wanted the output.
Love the B roll with the voice over showing off the box!
Is the CRT's cathode glowing orange?
That was a blast from the past. Good times dealing with RS232 interfaces.
Great video. I would change the storage battery. Some old computers won't start without a battery.
Best regards
Paul
i do also love these "failed" projects. They are just as interesting as all your successful projects :)
and for the CRT-part: in theory, you should be able to hook up a big crt tube, right? So just open up a CRT monitor that is known to work and hook up the cables of the little CRT to the big one.
There seem to be some kind of battery on the add-on board. Check if it has started to leak and remove it. Treat the leakage with vinegar and after that with isopropyl alcohol (99.9% rubbing alcohol). I can be wrong. This won't fix it, but preserve it. Thanks for all your videos, looking forward to your book.
The video output would be overwhelmingly likely to be NTSC composite video -- it was made in the USA, and NTSC was de facto for such things back then.
what an amazing looking piece of gear! definitely seems to have cyberdeck potential :) also i would have clicked the thumbs up but it's currently at 909 and that's just too techno to disturb
Old TV is super neat, I've never seen a crt that you look directly at basically the back of the screen you would normally see
We want it as a cyberdeck!!!
Echt Geweldig dat je daar zo nu nog aan die Dingen kan Komen.
I am getting my HeathKit SB-614 station monitor ready to diagnose a CB radio. It's been in storage for 32 years, looks like it's working fine disconnected. I expect something will need attention. It has a small CRT for the oscilloscope.
At least you got it to bleep. You could turn it into a door bell 😂
Those are some really nice rubber feet on it! You got a bargain!
what a cool score, and thanks for doin' what you do!
I miss my Sony Watchman.
Thanks SIFP
I would suspect the power supply to be the issue. You might see if there's any silkscreen markings on the board as far as voltage goes. It would be easy enough to check with a multimeter. If the screen had been cracked, it would be really dark. Since it's a nice shade of light grey I don't think that's the issue.
very very rare...try first to check the powersupply,these equipment should run!....cool vid, thx.
Looking forward to follow up and hopefully sucess woth this!!
"... show you what it would do... "
Well we did get that bit of information anyway.
Well, i think the signal never left the board . The symptoms fit perfectly for bad capacitors...i would desolder them and check the values.
No need to unsolder them. Test their ESR, and replace the ones that have failed. That reduces possible damage on those old circuit boards. Some made back then easily delaminated. A vacuum desoldering tool was the best choice, to reduce the heat damage.
@@michaelterrell yeah, sorry. Didn't think about that...despite me accidentally ripping off not only the pads, but also 12 traces while desoldering an exploded Chip on the mainboard of an Oszilloscope...laying down traces is a pain...
@@lucyxchan6808I routinely hand soldered 288 pin ICs on embedded controller boards. (MC68340)
The worst board I eve saw were in Philco car radios, in the '70s. They appeared to be made of polystyrene and they melted when you tried to melt the solder.
I started in Electronics at eight years old, in 1960. I went from tubes, to transistors, then the increasing density IC families.
An interesting device, it's a shame that it's no longer working. It can never be a mistake to measure the operating voltages, so that's where I would start. I'm curious to see if you can bring the device back to life.
If both HEX and FREEZE are lit up, that means you can cast an ice spell this turn.
I don’t know if you caught the kickstand on the bottom as well.
Definitely helps with the use ability with something like this.
Gosh I remember using them every day for data testing bask in the 80s, as a young tech.
Have you check the voltage levels?
Is the heater on the tube glowing, it should about 6.3V?
I am picking that the old electrolytic caps have dried out :(
Talking to a friend last night, he said he used to repair them back in the day :)
Good luck in getting that thing going!
Firmware is really a new term for BIOS, the software deeply interlinked with the device it's running. on. So Firmware would be correct to say - the test connector could be used for factory test jigs, the firmware would be burned to the non volatile memory before inserting those chips.
You need a decent oscilloscope. Also, test equipment often used non standard sweep frequencies. Is there a model number on the monitor? They were rarely built in house. Ball made a lot of monitors back the. Panasonic also made a few. Those small CRTs used a low second anode voltage, and the CRT is mounted to the steel chassis, so the only way to se if there is HV is with a proper HV probe.
As always, the first place to look is the power supply voltages. The monitors were typically +12V. The logic needs a clean +5V, and RS232 also needs a low current -12V supply.
After that, you have to see if the processor is running, and if the RAM is good. At that age it could easily be a failed EPROM, with the firmware, There is no 'OS', as in modern computers.
I would use an ESR meter to test every electrolytic capacitor. At +40 years old, many will have defective seal, and dried out. The rubber seals of that era will be in poor shape by now. They do not leak like modern caps, but excessive DC voltage or AC current through them can cause them to explode.,
I was repairing TVs in the middle '60s, when transformerless TVs used a voltage doubler to provide B+ It wasn't unusual to find the doubler capacitor with it's seal blown out and the aluminum foil and paper all over the inside of the set. This is used in modern PC switching supplies to operate at 120VAC.
There looked like a piece of bent steel wire in that Velcro bag of accessories. Could you compare it to the holes in the vertical expansion PCB that's accessible through the door on top of the machine? I think it's a tool for extracting the boards! As for getting the gadget working, first thing to check is the power supply, and after that re-seat all of the chips in their sockets. IC sockets of that era are notorious for having bad contacts.
I'd say a power delivery issue. looking for bad caps or hot spots is always a good place to start. Or so I've heard.
Even a cheap thermal camera works.
My guess is the +12V is missing from the power supply. Devices like these very often run the monitor on 12V, and almost always the video output circuit (like the last transistor before the video output on the back) also runs on 12V so even if the device didn't have some exotic RAMs and ROMs that require 12V, you'd still end up dead in the water with no working CRT and not even a video signal even though the motherboard generates one (or most of it). And of course the MoBo could be very dead, that beep has an analog frequency stability to it that doesn't sound like it was CPU controlled... who knows, who cares (pushes Don't Care button on HP 8175A)
def do a tour of this place please!!!
I don"t know how much it's a museum piece. If it is, at least a bit, and you're interested to save it, this is other channels like @glasslinger which could be interested (or maybe not x) )
Likely works as an old terminal emulator. Try sending it text over the serial connection to see if it displays.
Waiting for the CuriousMarc/SaveItForParts collab…
Great video...👍
Looks like my old data analyzer, basically an ancient a/d data accusition machine. Still easier to use a new pc, but these work fine. Lmk if you wanna fix it. its gonna be the power supply.
maybe an rtl-sdr with a antenna switcher and a bunch of different antenna output connectors?
DO check the voltages to the EHT unit could still be a power supply problem poke around with your multi meter if its getting power ,i very rarely see a dead open crt heater so still think its the power supply of eht flyback transistor
I'm your father, Wireshark! (well, father of Ethereal)
Check the crystal with an oscope, also the reset and address/data lines on the z80
Hi, you could hook up the video output to an amplifier, you should here something. The best way would be an oscilloscope, there cheap ones on Amazon that should be fine for this kind of tests.
Very Cool!!
Examine the video output with a scope... if it's dead, it's dead Jim! The monitor should also have some easily identifiable interface stuff. You might look at the TRS80 Model 1 schematic, just about the same vintage etc... you could find the character generator chip and see if it's being buzzed by the uP. Love this content, good luck!
I just got a scope! From 1946, lol! I'll have a video on that soon, still don't know how to use it.
I
First try reseating all socketed chips and cards. Next check all power rails. See if you can find a schematic or service manual. Next check CPU pins with a scope and it's datasheet pinout. You want to see activity on the data and address buss. Check the CPU's reset, IRQ, and wait lines and make sure they are becoming inactive so that the CPU can run.
If you can find a copy of the ROMs then you can compare what you have with the copy and make sure they are good.
I worked for Atlantic Research Corp from 1975 to 2003 when my division was sold off . My Dad was the Director of Manufacturing of the Teleproducts Division which invented and manufactured these products. I would be interested in acquiring the device if possible . My Dad died of COVID related issues in March 2020 .
That's really interesting! Sorry to hear about your Dad :-( Shoot me an email gabe@saveitforparts dot com, I still have this thing, haven't figured out what to do with it yet.
there is still a "don't care" button on modern devices- is is labeled with an I and an O :)
Still want a keycap lol
Try replacing all the copastors on the power board and VGA CRT board and reflow all the plug connector solder joins.
It likely used a linear power supply, so that isn't applicable
It isn't VGA.
Supervisor shows up @ 3:24 😆
Looks like the most portable laptop, that I've ever seen. LOL.
Check the electron gun pins for voltage, it also may be the display driver that's bad.
If it's not, see if you can find the integration manual for the CRT from Motorola, they may have the required power settings for each pin, and using a power supply you might able to get it to fire (electrons lol)
The only thing I found of relevance (maybe) is that the company was colloquially known as ARC was a company '[that] used to develop and test propellants for various missiles and rockets.' What they have to do with test equipment, I do not know. If I understand they were in Manassas, Va and their site is some sort of toxic problem that eventually went to the supreme court.
OK Crt not lighting up a few things to check , first check the heater is still intact does it light up on powering ? if not do a conductivity test unplug the CRT check the heater with a multimeter if ok Check theres 6.3 V at the heater could be as low as 4 volt on some CRTS , is there EHT HV on the last Anode about 5 to 7 KV if not or no voltage on either i would say ita a power supply problem....i hear a beep when you were pressing a button on the mother board so its got power there ......i could not hear if the units fan was running but seems like the mother board has power .....check for any fuses are open . my gut feeling is a HV Trany is dead on the EHT fly back transformer unit ...if so and eht is dead and can not be fixed those ali express bug zapper HV tiny units 3v 6v from memory to 7KV tiny in resin units work great for EHT and would get it up and running easy a LM317 to adjust what ever low volts you have there to 3 volts it will output clean DC to 7KV only thing the leads out of it are both red so you would need a HV probe for you multi meter to check which one to ground which one the positive to the anode .i can explain more if need be ...Another great video mate ;0 )
When I was kid I used to spend hours fine tuning the family TV. Auto tune didn't work that well.
On the Sony, did you slowly manually fine tune?
Yeah, I tried slowly tuning and got nothing, pretty sure it's just composite video out anyway.
@saveitforparts even if the screen doesn't work, it is still a pretty cool looking piece of kit.
In the 80s I had a computer that had one of those keyboards. At first it was so cool and futuristic, but after 20min man did the novelty ware off 😆
1:16 oh yeah, show us them circuits you naughty thing!
Put a cro on the video out.
Alternately put a composite video into the video out in the hood it’s simply tee off to the internal crt.
Can you identify the voltage supply for the crt and externally power it?
$5 for that, I'd have bought it. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it. :)
If you need help on debugging, you could ask Adrian's Digital Basement (youtube channel name). He repairs these kinds of machines for fun all the time.
Cool
I have a link to a manual for this, i think??
Put a scope on the video output and have a look?
You can just touch the plug to the antenna for the channel 3? 😳
Maybe ping people like Adrian's Digital Basement?
The reason it's not working is simple: You need a barbahexadine lamma convertrix to apply at least 24 ergs of anti rotation colo-vectral non-mogoscopony.
Hmm, Actually really cool for $5. I know you also have SDRs, so if I were you, I would see if any signal pops up there (connecting the video out from that thing to the SDR)
You should get in contact with The 8 Bit Guy. He might know more about that
Adrian Black... Adrian's Digital Basement...
@@thiesenf +2 for Adrian, he's a legend!
Hey I got one of those.
That would be like £200 over here just because it's old..
Looks a bit like my logic analyzer from the same era
Don't care means something can be a 1 or a 0.
0:41 If it's not a display terminal, $5 says it has an 8mhz 286 CPU in it.
wow
1:04 sorting machine from the 80s?
Man,always a good video from this channel. Vitage tech is awesome. If you're interested , i have a really cool 80s satellite phone setup you could review for free,if you're interested.
That sounds interesting! Not sure if it would still work with modern satellites but I could still do a video about it :-) Shoot me an email gabe @ saveitforparts dot com it you want :-)
Don't you have all kinds of radio equipment that can inspect the output of this thing? i imagine at least something that can view some of a composite video signal or VHF or something on a scope or waterfall o rsomething?
Not really sure how to do that yet! I just got a scope but it's even older than this thing :-P
New typing class home row: a, s, d, f, j, k, l, dont care
Still the best key on there 😄
You should really make a video of capturing internet from a satalite
that thing screams packet/tnc terminal, rip the PSU out and put in a battery ;)
A ROM is a way to store firmware.
9:22 Adrian Black could help you with this.
Check the power supply rails before yah go gutting it. Likely some parts have aged out.
Should have let the cat sit on it, that would have made it work but no going back now