With all that
in the case of 'shooting a KIM-1 the first tool
I'd grab is the trusty VOM to check power and then the logic
probe (you know those things that run off 5V and have three
leds for logic levels aka logic dart) and proble around for
I have never heard a normal logic probe called a logic dart. The
LogicDart (I think that's the right capitalisation) is a lovely little
instrument, originally HP, then probably Agilent, and I think it's now
made by Fluke under license. It's a handheld tool which can be used as a
logic probe 3 channel logic analyser, or diode/continuity checker.
The most useful mode, IMHO, is 'investigate' In that mode, it works like
a logic probe. You only use one input channel, you have one probe to
tap on the circuit under test. There are red and green LEDs to show 0 and
1 on the probe tip. It displays the DC voltage at the probe tip (good for
checking supplies), and the frequency (determined by number of threshold
crossings per second). It's not a good DVM or frequency counter, it only
displays 2 or 3 figures in each case. But it's good enough to tell if
you're looking at the 5V supply or the -12V supply. It'll tell you if
you're looking at the 10MHz master clock or the same clock divided by 4.
And hit a buttone and it'll sample the signal and display it -- a bit
like a 1-channel analyser. Of course the sampling rate _and the
thresholds_ are user selectable.
I won;t do everything, but as a first tool to start sorting out the
problem it's excellent. The only disadvantage is that it's not cheap...
It's also not available anymore. HP quit selling them several years ago.
I've been watching Ebay for one for over a year and there have been NONE
listed. I guess their owner's don't want to part with them.
Joe