[TenTec] Paragon - easy to work on?

[Phil Chambley Sr.]

Geoff....

Thanks for the great info!

Yes, please do let us know more.  Those chips have become scarcer than 
turtle fur.

Phil C. Sr.
k4dpk

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "geoffrey mendelson" <geoffreymendelson at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 12:38 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Paragon - easy to work on?


>
> On May 25, 2010, at 3:38 AM, Phil Chambley Sr. wrote:
>
> Phil,
>
>
>>
>> I was referring to the Dallas MC146818AP Rom/Rom/Rtc chip on the
>> daughter
>> board, which has its own battery and lasts for 10+ years at worst.
>>
>> It is possible some of the Paragons had other than Dallas chips, and
>> some of
>> them did not have on-chip batteries.
>>
>> Check out: 
>> http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=30273&seqNum=15
>
>
> Those I am very familar with. Most PCs of that era had them and so did
> SUN computers. By the time they ran down a PC with one was not worth
> the cost of a new one, and possibly not worth the cost of battery, but
> SUN's were. IMHO they still are. (how's that for a 10-15 year old
> computer?). So over the years, I have rebuilt many of them.
>
> Someone documented how to replace the battery as part of a SUN NVRAM
> FAQ. I'll see if I can locate it, and post a reference to it.
>
> Quite simply, the chip itself is a regular chip with a battery on top
> held in by a brittle potting compound. If you know the proper end of
> the chip to remove, you can carefully do it with pair of diagonal
> cutting pliers, chipping away at it. The only critical thing is to get
> the polarity of the battery correct, an error will destroy it
>
> Any 3v battery will do, and I used to use lithium coin cells with
> wires soldered onto them. In the US, where such things are easily
> found, one with tabs would be easier. Now I would just buy a socket
> (or steal one from a dead PC) , solder it to the chip and use a
> CR-2032 coin cell.
>
> In a pinch I once did one with a flat pack of 4 AA batteries, but I
> doubt it would fit in a radio.
>
> 73,
>
> Geoff.
>
> -- 
> geoffrey mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
> Jerusalem Israel geoffreymendelson at gmail.com
> New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge
> or understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the
> situation. i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found
> in the Wikipedia.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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