Hi guys......it's me....AGAIN!!!
I won 12 MTH PS1 circuit boards (top and bottoms - no auto uncoupler section) in a recent Cabin Fever auction, among other parts - diesel trucks, can motors, body shells etc., and I have started "testing" them to determine if they are all "good to go"!!
I have constructed a small "test rig" using the Z1000 board I was able to repair (thank you Gunrunner John & Vernon), one of the MTH can motors (with the tach tape flywheel), an MTH speaker kit, and a potentiometer to control the volume......all attached with the appropriate wire leads and plugs to connect to the new circuit boards.
From my initial test, I found there were only four (4) boards that would get the motor to run both forward and in reverse. Three (3) of these boards were silent....no start-up sounds what-so-ever, but the motor would cycle between forward-neutral-reverse every time I applied power (10V) and shut it down, turned it on again in the usual start-up cycle, and then used the "direction" button to cycle between forward and reverse.
One (1) board did have sound, and went through the normal start-up noises, with the "air release" sound when the power was dropped slowly to zero, and the motor started turning when I applied power again. The sounds were very "staticky" at low power (up to 10V) but improved marginally if the power was taken above 10V.
What I then did was take the "sound chip" out of my functioning AS-616 Baldwin PS1 Premier diesel loco (test mule), and tried each and every one of the new chips in this open chassis I have (no body shell - see my previous post in the "want to buy" section).
One (1) of the chips (the staticky one) started the AS-616 up, and allows it to run properly (clean sounds - no static this time), with a different engine sound/horn/whistle, but the rest of the chips did not get it to move.
I tried my good AS-616 chip in all of the other boards, and got a couple to operate correctly on the test equipment, so I feel some of the issues with these new boards is "ROM" sound chip related.
On the down side....my good AS-616 sound chip has now "died", as it will not get the AS-616 to fire-up at all now.......BUGGER!!!!
My question is.....Can these older PS1 "chips" be re-written/re-coded/restored, or are they "history" now???
I can get new ones from MTH for $30.00 each, but I am looking at needing at least six (6) to get some of the boards up and running, and to also replace the "stuffed" AS-616 chip......then there's the cost of postage to get them to me here in Australia....UGH!!!
LOOKING FOR HELP, GUIDANCE, AND INSPIRATION YET AGAIN!!!!!
Peter.....Buco Australia
