Recreating TechStep ROM cartridges

Elemenoh

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
384
374
63
Bay Area
I recently got a TechStep working and of course am interested in getting the full set of ROMs. They're quite hard to find, so it might make more sense to just recreate them. The enclosure geometry is a bit complicated but should be fine to print in resin. The PCB is quite simple too. It consists of:

  • (1x) 02x20 right angle through hole connector 1.27 horizontal pitch and 2.54 vertical pitch.It has holes for mounting to a board or case, but they're unused.
  • (1x) X25C02P SPI Serial E2PROM. I'm assuming this contains logic for how to transfer data from the paired main EEPROM. Does that make sense? These don't seem to be readily available and are quite expensive on eBay.
  • (1x) AM27C512 512 Kilobit (64 K x 8-Bit) CMOS EPROM in a rectangular 32-pin PLCC package. New old stock is available for not crazy prices.
  • (1x) 10k SMD resistor about 3mm x 1.5mm

Are the ROMs already posted somewhere?


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Elemenoh

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
384
374
63
Bay Area
Top enclosure draft done. Will hopefully get the bottom done later today and will attempt a print shortly after.

Screen Shot 2022-03-07 at 10.46.32 AM.png
Screen Shot 2022-03-07 at 10.46.51 AM.png
 

Elemenoh

Active Tinkerer
Oct 18, 2021
384
374
63
Bay Area
I've corrected some stuff on the top enclosure and created the bottom enclosure model. I'll try to make a test print in the next day or so.

Screen Shot 2022-03-07 at 2.58.22 PM.png

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Last edited:
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