UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Studer / Revox etc BiPolar PROMS! Question and concerns!

SiriusHardware · 25th May 2020, 10:34 pm

Yes, with Bipolar PROMs you have an odd situation where many manufacturers made PROMs which had identical pin-outs and were indistinguishable / compatible in read mode, but each manufacturer gave theirs a completely different part number and usually had a unique electrical programming algorithm which worked only for their PROMs. Some PROM manufacturers such as 'Tesla' in eastern Europe have never been widely supported by programmers, so they are among the cheapest ones to be found - because hardly anyone can programme them.

When it came to EPROMs there was a little more standardisation with all the common types having the same base number (2732, 2764 27128, etc) and there was always a slow 'generic' algorithm through which any manufacturer's EPROM could always be programmed. But then each manufacturer also had their own in-house 'fast' programming algorithm for their parts and no two of these fast algorithms were necessarily the same either. Bit of a minefield.

25th May 2020, 10:34 pm	#49
SiriusHardware Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK. Posts: 11,575	Re: Studer / Revox etc BiPolar PROMS! Question and concerns! Yes, with Bipolar PROMs you have an odd situation where many manufacturers made PROMs which had identical pin-outs and were indistinguishable / compatible in read mode, but each manufacturer gave theirs a completely different part number and usually had a unique electrical programming algorithm which worked only for their PROMs. Some PROM manufacturers such as 'Tesla' in eastern Europe have never been widely supported by programmers, so they are among the cheapest ones to be found - because hardly anyone can programme them. When it came to EPROMs there was a little more standardisation with all the common types having the same base number (2732, 2764 27128, etc) and there was always a slow 'generic' algorithm through which any manufacturer's EPROM could always be programmed. But then each manufacturer also had their own in-house 'fast' programming algorithm for their parts and no two of these fast algorithms were necessarily the same either. Bit of a minefield.