ABI Boardmaster 4000

 General  Comments Off on ABI Boardmaster 4000
Aug 122011
 

Been looking for one of these for a little while now and finally managed to get my hands on one.
While this is by no means an essential bit of test equipment, it is a massive time saver when it comes to troubleshooting TTL as it can test in-circuit.
Programs can also be written for it using the built in BASIC language and is very simple to use.

Before This got here I started looking for info on the net and to my surprise I found very little. All I found was the programmers manual and the last software revision.
As mine came with the operators manual I have scanned it in and put it up on here.

The software revision in mine was v3.00. The ones I found online were v3.10 and the changelog showed this was most likely the last revision and had several TTL test fixes so I updated mine. The files are burned on to 2 x 27c020 EPROMs. There is also a third file that is a dump of the LCD software. My version (v1.02) was the same as the one in the file.

The time and date are stored in a Timekeeper RAM in which the battery has died on mine. There is a replacement alternative but taking a look inside I dont think ill bother. It doesnt really gain me anything and cant be bothered removing the board and performing surgery.

Another little problem is the built in cooling fan. It really really loud. According to the specs of the fan, it runs at about 31dB. I have now ordered a quiet fan that runs at 16dB.

Other than that, this thing is amazing and in really good condition too.