Guess what I did about that.?Ībout the only thing which bothered me was the lack of a circuit diagram Guess what I did about that.?
About the only thing which bothered me was the lack of a circuit diagram given I assumed I'd find one on the 'net or at least get one with the programmer. The CD-R contained Windows software up to version 98D11 including versions for PCB3B, a (mostly comprehensible) manual and a circuit diagram for PCB3B.īut for £20 I'm not complaining. (I think it's a copy of one previously available from Sivava, specifically the older PCB50 version the current version being PCB50B.) So it would seem that it's been 'taken over' by Sivava and now isn't the 'open' design it once was.Įventually, a squashed box arrived containing a programmer marked "2010 PCB 50", a parallel cable, a USB cable and a mini CD-R. Sivava seem to be the primary source of them now I noted several references to "Our Copyright® Hardwares" on their site and couldn't find any diagrams.Converting Willem Programmer PCB3b to PCB4.5 on the website of Luciano, PY2BBS suggested that it wasn't now as 'open' as I thought.WayBack Machine has an archive of but hasn't archived the downloads. While I waited for it to arrive, I searched the 'net. I figured that as an 'open' design it didn't really matter where I bought it, I could get software and a diagram off the 'net and if there was a problem with it I'd just fix/modify it myself. I ordered one from a supplier in China for about £20 including P&P. It can be a bit slow with larger devices, configuring it involves fiddling with switches and jumpers, but it's perfectly acceptable for 'hobbyist' or perhaps 'light commercial' use.
The Willem Programmer can handle a lot more devices than my trusty old Stag PP41/41M100 higher-capacity 32-pin DIL and PLCC EPROMS, several PICs, a few types of serial E2PROM it looked like it'd come in handy. It's pretty simple, mostly comprising circuitry to interface devices to a PC parallel printer port, most of the work is then done in software. It appeared to be an 'open' design I could build one from scratch, buy a PCB and assemble it or buy a complete one. Something I liked was the availability of circuit diagrams and (I think) the source code for the software. I've known about the Willem Programmer for several years but never got around to buying or building one.
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