Archive by Author

The 2801Prog Programmer now supports the NCR 52801 EEPROM

It has recently come to my attention that the NCR 52801 is a drop-in replacement for the Motorola MCM2801 and thus it can be programmed in the 2801Prog programmer. I have thoroughly tested the 2801Prog with the NCR 52801 and have verified that it works. More more information see the 2801Prog product page here. The programmer […]

Updated Device List for the EPROM Programmer Universal Adapter

This update adds support for the following: -TI TMS-2532 EPROM (Was previously incorrectly listed with the 2332 family) -TI TMS-2564 EPROM (Was previously incorrectly listed with the 2364 family) -1702 EPROM Family: (1601, 1602, 1702, 1702A) -2704 EPROM -8332 and 9332 ROMs -MC68764, MCM68764, and 27HC641 EPROMs Get the updated list here.

Repairing Vintage Sunbeam Electric Clock Movements

I have long been fascinated by electric clocks. Before the internet, TV, radio, or quartz crystals, electric clocks were able to keep effectively perfect time by remaining synchronised to the AC power grid, the frequency of which is centrally adjusted so that it can be used as a time standard. You can read more about […]

D’Asaro Designs in on Hackaday

I visited the Hackaday at Artisans Asylum in Boston last week to show off my products and especially a soon-to-be-released paper tape punch interface box. It was all well received and they even included a link to D’Asaro Designs on their site along with a brief description and some photos. Check it out! http://hackaday.com/2015/07/27/the-best-of-boston-hackers-at-artisans-asylum/ -Matthew

Fixing an HP / Agilent 54845A infinium Oscilloscope

Last spring (2014) I came across what seemed to be an amazing deal at the MIT Swapfest. It was a HP 54845A digital oscilloscope, which, although over 15 years old, was still a pretty impressive beast being four channels, 1.5GHz, 8Gs/s! The only problem was it didn’t work. In fast the seller was letting it […]

Schematics for the IBM PS/2 Series (Among Others)

Last Christmas I was browsing eBay and happened upon an auction for a single 3’x4′ schematic for part of the IBM PS/2 model 30-286 motherboard. I have long been a collector of the IBM PS/2 series and while some of the schematics are available in SAMS Computer Facts I had never seen schematics for the […]

D’Asaro Designs is in MIT Technology Review!

I am excited to announce that there is a very nice article on me and my friend Mark Chilenski (who wrote gEEProg, the GUI for the 2801Prog and 2006Prog) in the latest issue of MIT Technology Review. You can read the article online for free here: http://www.technologyreview.com/article/534651/a-dormitory-laboratory/

New Year, New products!

Happy (somewhat belated) new year to all! To help celebrate the start of 2015, D’Asaro Designs is releasing two new products, one updated one, and a new piece of software. New this year: A handy device for testing the power supplies from a wide array of early PC computers including the original IBM PC, the […]