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[Sir Morris]

Would you please have a look at this picture and perhaps help me
identify the function of this loose wire that't been dangling around
on my Atom's board since I got it. I'm too scared to cut it in case it
needs to be there :) I can't imagine it's original as wire links just
weren't Acorn's style :)

C

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/bbmmc/web/whats-the-wire - or
copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't work.

[Phill Harvey-Smith]

Sir Morris wrote:
> Would you please have a look at this picture and perhaps help me
> identify the function of this loose wire that't been dangling around
> on my Atom's board since I got it. I'm too scared to cut it in case it
> needs to be there :) I can't imagine it's original as wire links just
> weren't Acorn's style :)

Looks like one end goes to the end of R12, which in turn is connected to
the emitter of Q2, which is part of the video circuit. The other end
looks like it connects to the tape din plug. So as a guess I'd say that
at some point someone put that wire in to enable them to get the video
signal out of the mack of the machine without having to use PL4.

As such you can probably remove it, anyway it's not on either of my
machines Issue 4 and Issue 5.

Cheers.

Phill.

--
Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric !

"You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge" -- Rush.

[KC]

> Would you please have a look at this picture and perhaps help me
> identify the function of this loose wire that't been dangling around
> on my Atom's board since I got it. I'm too scared to cut it in case it
> needs to be there :) I can't imagine it's original as wire links just
> weren't Acorn's style :)

I can not see where the copper track leads to because I have to
disassemble my Atom to have a look at that part.
It looks like a connection for a colour board. The Atom colourboard
had a wire connected to the + side of C2.

Can you see if R11 has been removed or resoldered, and the copper
track has been resoldered because the Atom VDU-40 board needed that.

Kees

[KC]

Hi Charlie,

once a month I have a meeting with 3 other Atom owners. One of them
has an unused motherboard Issue 5!!
We have checked the position of the wire and it is definitly a video
out signal used for a monochrome monitor.
The same signal with the right impedance is on pin 9 of PL4 (resistor
82 ohm in series).

Greetings
Kees

[Charlie Robson]

.. Would this person consider selling it??

:)

Thanks for checking the wire!