v1 of Halcyon clone ready for testing

 It most likely has defects, but it's good enough for me to get some of these fabricated and start testing it.

COP421 reader finished!

 I finished building my COP421 reader and it seems to work perfectly.

I confirmed that the Halcyon COP421 program is identical to the dump that Mark Broadhead made over 20 years ago of the arcade Thayer's Quest COP421 program.

I uploaded everything (source code, CAD files, etc) to github, which you can find here: https://github.com/rulecity/COP421Reader/

Building a COP421 reader

 

Just to be sure I get every last detail that I can from the Halcyon that I have on loan, I've decided to follow the excellent instructions from here ( http://john.ccac.rwth-aachen.de:8000/patrick/COPSreader.htm ) and create my own COP reader to read Halcyon's COP chip.  Now, I am 90% sure it will be the same one as on Thayer's Quest arcade, but I need to make 100% sure.  I could use the same device as in the link, but I think it will be more fun/challenging to create my own.  I am re-using some parts that I've already used with Dexter since I'm more familiar with them (mainly the FT232 USB IC and the ATMega644p microcontroller at 18.432 MHz).

Building a Halcyon cartridge reader

 Using the Thayer's Quest arcade schematics and the Thayer's Quest arcade 'cartridge', I made a simple PCB adapter so that the cartridge could be read in an EPROM reader.

First test was the arcade 'cartridge' to make sure I didn't damage anything.

After that worked, I tried the actual Thayer's Quest Halcyon cartridge.

Conclusion?  It works!

Bega's Battle - Sync Generator Replacement - Testing with Super Don NTSC decoder

 

I don't have a Data East chroma PCB so I decided to try rigging up a Super Don NTSC decoder.  The colors are a little off, but it works well enough for testing!

Bega's Battle Sync Generator Replacement - How to install

My Bega's Battle / Cobra Command / Road Blaster mod to allow Dexter and other Sony laserdisc players to work with these laserdisc games is almost complete!  Here is the video I've created that shows how to perform the mod.

My Migraine Remedy

Do you hate migraines?  Do you have trouble getting rid of them once they come?  Here’s my "shotgun" recipe to kill migraines:

- take two Excedrin Migraine pills

- drink one caffeinated beverage* (I use Diet Mountain Dew)

- do about 30 minutes of cardio where your heart rate is in the “green” zone (70-80% max heart rate), drinking lots of water.  Migraine will slowly go away the longer you exercise.

- go to bed early and get extra sleep

Sometimes not all of these steps are necessary, but doing all of them almost always works for me.

* - Caveat: I avoid caffeinated beverages almost always _except_ when I am applying this remedy.  If you drink caffeinated beverages regularly, your results may be different.