Programmers
The range of programmers available to the hobbyist is limited, other than buying second hand there are not many affordable new options. Here are the programmers I own/use:
| Watford Electronics ADDER | Use with the Acorn BBC Computer series, plugging into the User Port. It can program 2716 through to 27256 EPROMs with a Vpp of either 12.5 or 21V. |
| Acorn PROM Programmer Board |
The Acorn PROM Programmer Board can program DM74S571 PROMs (not Tesla) and 2758, 2516/2716, 2532 (single rail) EPROMs with a Vpp of 26V. Requires an Acorn System computer. I have written an improved version of the firmware (PROMER3) that also allows programming of DM74S287 PROMs as used on the Softy 1 Programmer. |
| TL866 |
A good budget programmer. There are a number of variants (and copies ?), I have the TL866CS which can program e.g. 2732s, and with an adapter 2532s, with a Vpp of 10.0,12.5,13.5,14.0,16.0 or 21.0. I have made an add-on adapter which enables programming with an external Vpp of 25V, TL866 Adapter. |
| Wellon Range |
Wellon produce a range of programmers starting from around the £100 mark (UK Distributor is kanda.com). I have the VP598 which can program 2732s, and with an adapter 2532s, with Vpp up to 21V |
| Softy 1 Programmer | Softy 1 can program 3-rail TMS 2704, 2708 and 2716 EPROMs |
| Softy 2 Programmer | The follow-on product from the Softy 1 with 2K of RAM but it can only program single rail EPROMs |
| Dataman S3 | A battery powered programmer with 64K RAM which can program a good range of vintage devices, it can also emulate EPROM via its 24/28 pin emulator cable. A range of plug-in adapters are available to support many other devices. It is still well supported by the manufacturers: dataman.com/dataman-s3-resources. |
| Dataman S4 | An upgraded version of the Dataman S3. It is still well supported by the manufacturers: dataman.com/dataman-s4-resources. |
| Tesla PROM Programmer Board | I have developed a variant of the Acorn PROM Programmer Board for Tesla PROMs, this can be used in conjunction with the original Acorn Board and is operated using my PROMER3 firmware.. |