A peek inside the T2!

[Ed in SoDak]

Since I was a little kid in the 50's, when my dad was a Ham and worked for Motorola, I've been involved in electronics.

It's inevitable and irresistible that I open up almost any electronic item. It didn't take long this time!

I was looking for weak solder joints on the wires to the coil and battery box, but everything looked pretty good. Maybe on one wire the insulation was a bit close to the solder, which can sometimes melt in soldering and contaminate the joint. I did move a wire or two for a little more clearance, as one of the battery wires was pretty close to an adjacent battery terminal.

In order to get the photo, I removed the pinpoint switch and noted it had two stacked nuts on the inside of the case. These were loose. I removed one, tightened the other and reinstalled the switch. Now, a lot more threads were exposed on the outside. The leftover nut I added on the outside portion of the switch.

Here's what the "T2" board looks like. Mine's dated Sep. 26 of last year, rev. 3. But, check out the bottom center of the pic!

hh-Ed

[attachment 21179 t2board.jpg]

 

[BuckeyeBrad]

I like your idea of reversing them. That'd be a good thing for FT to start doing in their assembly I would think.

 

[Eddie Currents]

[quote Ed in SoDak]But, check out the bottom center of the pic!
[/quote]

T

 

[mtdoramike]

n/t

 

[Spiff]

Rats! No socketed EEPROM. Updating the firmware (if necessary) won't be a home project.

PS - It is cool to know your machine's birthday!

PPS - When I get mine... I may see about connecting my trusty Atari 2600 joystick down there where it's marked "JOY 1".

 

[Ed in SoDak]

...since I can't read them in the pics because of a magic marker streak.

The Momma Chip looks like a custom dealybob, sourced from Texas Instruments. I suppose any eeprom's on-board. There is a socket tapped into its lines. The other chips are routine comparators, etc. Noting to speak of on the back side. Two adjustments are evident, which I noted were near center but I didn't dare fool wth anything on this puppy! The insides of the case are conductive coated with an attaching ground lead to the board.

The battery box is pure simplicity. One small circuit to transfer and buffer the wires from the control box, a speaker and the volume/switch. I did note it is wired to provide 6 volts in series from the 4 AA's.

And, yup, I could not help but notice a little naming difference going on inside. Mine came direct from the factory when I ordered in February, if that matters.

hh-Ed