What are my options

Started by Punjanaman, 10, January, 2013 - 19:43:37

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Punjanaman

10, January, 2013 - 19:43:37
Hi Everybody,
After my previous thread i got out the multimeter, jury rigged the fuses with some fuse wire and checked the control box...the problem was several bad connections/corroded switches.The lights now work and the motor switches on and off as it should...however there 2 problems.
Firstly the motor power is intermittent when i wiggle one of the small red wires on the pod (i will check for dry joints or corrosion later on) and i was wondering why ?? I thought the pod only monitored the battery power and motor load how can it effect the power to the motor ??
Secondly and much more importantly the pod does not light up ...what are my options here ???
I understand the ULA is no longer available...does ANYONE sell them ??? The engineer in work suggested an alternate source ...was this ULA used no any other device that i could salvage one from ???
Any ideas ?

kamilb1998

#1
10, January, 2013 - 19:57:52
The ULA wasn't used in any other device. You could try a replacement red wire or send your POD off to Marty to get it checked out.

Punjanaman

#2
10, January, 2013 - 20:16:12
Can Marty repair them ?? Or if the ULA  is done is that it ??

kamilb1998

#3
10, January, 2013 - 20:27:39
Quote from: Punjanaman on  10, January, 2013  - 20:16:12
Can Marty repair them ?? Or if the ULA  is done is that it ??

He can repair anything but the ULA. The ULA is impossible to repair and sourcing replacements in practically impossible too.

danny7147

#4
10, January, 2013 - 20:33:38

Punjanaman

#5
10, January, 2013 - 20:39:03
Yes i have seen that one ...bit pricey, and the boss has put an embargo on spending until pay-day.
I was googling and found a site ..www.cypax.net ...this guy appears to be selling a repair/replacement kit for the ULA !
Has anyone ever bought/used one??

kamilb1998

#6
10, January, 2013 - 20:40:33
Quote from: Punjanaman on  10, January, 2013  - 20:39:03
Yes i have seen that one ...bit pricey, and the boss has put an embargo on spending until pay-day.
I was googling and found a site ..www.cypax.net ...this guy appears to be selling a repair/replacement kit for the ULA !
Has anyone ever bought/used one??

That is the going rate unfortunately. I have never seen the one on cypax.net

Punjanaman

#7
10, January, 2013 - 20:46:03
Just sent an email to enquire if the kit is still available..The site and instructions are extremely detailed and certainly give me confidence this guy knows what he is talking about..
A bit more googling found an e-bay ad from june 2010 of one being sold ...

danny7147

#8
10, January, 2013 - 21:17:04
I'm confused, does he actually sell kits or are they just instructions? I couldn't find a price...

kamilb1998

#9
10, January, 2013 - 21:24:39
Is this maybe the guy who sold them on here a couple of years ago?  :-\

Punjanaman

#10
10, January, 2013 - 21:51:38
Yes.... the site is a little confusing, however he does SEEM to be giving "fitting instructions" which i assume refer to a kit AND as i mentioned above someone was selling one of his "kits" on e-bay in June 2010.
I have sent an e-mail and await a reply.
As for the alternate source question .....the discussion with our engineer revolves around the fact that no manufacturer is going to go to the trouble of designing his own chip and get it produced in what could only have been RELATIVELY tiny numbers( for the electronics business) and as a consequence pay huge amounts for a one-off application...according to him the norm is to use off the shelf components and make them fit,and as a consequence this ULA would have been used elsewhere..i have come across a simlar situation in my other hobby of vintage radios...One particular transistor is infamous within the radio world namely the AF117, these are no longer available apparently !!! a quick discussion with an RS engineer and i was  assured that a raft of transistor had identical spec. and that the id. numbers changed only for their intended use and NOT any internal changes >>>>this was coming from an electrical expert NOT a pub expert i hasten to add ...sorry if iam insulting anyones intelligence but could the same spec ULA be hiding under another id, number ???

C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER

#11
10, January, 2013 - 21:59:00 Last Edit: 10, January, 2013 - 22:27:42 by C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER
Hi there you will not find the ULA anywhere else it was only made for the C5 pod ...Take a look at one .












I also bought 2 of the reproduced ULAs that Phill made up but not used or tested them yet

KarlG

#12
10, January, 2013 - 22:57:24
Hi Punjanaman,

I think you are barking up the wrong tree.

The Sinclair C5 ULA was a dedicated chip produced by Ferranti solely for Sinclair, the outputs would never match the requirements of any other machine.

Phil, the chap you were talking about, did NOT produce a ULA or design his own chip, he produced a replacement using a programmable chip to reproduce the necessary signals for the C5,  with mods to the C5 this could be plugged in to SIMULATE the ULA.

Please read the whole item here
http://www.cypax.net/projects/ula/index?language=en

Phil produced a total of 12 units and all were sold a long time ago, he has no interest or intention of producing any more. Please read here.
http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=140



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