Tony Duell wrote:
There's an
engineering company in Huddersfield (Pennine Radio) that does
There was a mention of a Pennine Radio set in The Radiophile magazine a
few months back. I assume it's somewhat related :-).
Maybe, maybe not...
Err, you could always get the purchaser/constructor to
drill his own
panel. A large number of kits that I've assembled over the years required
you to do that.
Point taken, though I'd rather like to offer a ready-built version
(panels pre-drilled and labelled) for those who just want a "plug in and
go" solution.
Although I suppose the "project kit" is a neat way around the RoHS and
(possibly) EMC regulations, I doubt most folks have the tools to solder
down a QFN chip -- for some odd reason, FPGA power controllers tend to
come in leadless IC packages.
I much prefer thigns to come as kits (toally
unsoldered), since then I
can use solder and techniques that have been used for many years and
which I trust, unlike htis lead-free stuff which is certainly not
reliabel if soldered at too low a temperature (which it often seems to be
on commertical boards...)
So do I -- I've been stocking up on 60:40 solder, and I've got a tube of
60:40 solder paste in the fridge (to use with my homebrew reflow oven --
an Argos mini-oven with a thermocouple, some relays and a
microcontroller bolted on). I've also got some lead-free stuff that I've
been meaning to try, but I'm not going to actually use it unless forced
to :)
Knowing Epson
kit, that "non-factory replacement part" (GRIN) will
probably outlast the rest of the printer.
THis weas an old-ish Epson (An FX-80 or MX-80 or something). It's
actually quite well made. It'll probably end up with an HPIB interface
board in it (which I do have) although I don't have the replacement
firmware ROMs to turn it into an HP82906.
Oh, a dot-matrix Epson? Yeah, those things are tanks. I've got an LX80
sitting in the loft gathering dust -- IIRC it needs a new ribbon, but
besides that there's not a lot wrong with it.
From past experience, it's pretty hard to kill an impact printer...
Unless it's a Citizen 120D+ -- the interface modules on those plug into
the side of the printer, but the guide rails for said interface don't
always engage properly. Net result is that the interface connectors get
smashed to bits.
Did I mention it was a custom part? DIN41612-style dual-row, but with 30
pins and an odd pin pitch... Citizen were extremely hesitant to give out
any form of service documentation or sell any spare parts (even a print
head, which is listed in the user's guide as a user-replaceable part). Pah.
Last time I checked, you could still buy "genuine Epson" print ribbons
and heads directly from Epson. Even things like the M180-series embedded
modules are still supported... (probably because about half of Epson's
desktop impact-type POS printers use that particular mechanism)
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/