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From: rthurlow@van-bc.UUCP (Rob Thurlow)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Aerco RAM board experience and questions
Message-ID: <838@van-bc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Jun-87 00:30:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: van-bc.838
Posted: Tue Jun 16 00:30:33 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Jun-87 06:10:52 EDT
Organization: Public Access Network, Vancouver, BC.
Lines: 33
Keywords: RAM megabits sparkle shifter


    Well, I finally had to do it.  I had run out of memory too often, and it
was not going to happen again.  Besides, I had some overtime money!  So I
got an Aerco RAM board from a local dealer*.
	Installation was easy, but when I got it together, the screen was *not*
happy - the grey of the desktop was sparkling.  The RAM test program took
one look at the stuff and promptly threw up three (sometimes four) bombs,
and I thought the RAM was questionable.  No amount of jiggling of the
connectors would affect the screen appearance, so I called my dealer.  He
apologised about not being able to meet me that day (at 5pm Saturday), but
met me Sunday morning at the store (!).  We just swapped boards, since he
did not have a full ST there.  So now, the screen looked worlds better, but
still has some problems.  All my RAM testing programs are happy with the
stuff, but the mottled and decorative desktop bugs me.
	So, my current thoughts are that the power supply at the board is not a
good clean +5V, but is marginal; that this causes the logic levels to be a
bit sub-standard when latched from the shifter, but not bad when the 68000
wants the data.  I'm also wondering whether that other board was just a
little more unhappy with the logic levels than this one is.  A solution to
this would be to run over a wire from the power connector; that would sort
of put a damper on the 'no-solder' solution, but I don't much care. Has
anybody on the net had any experience like this?

(*) - for you Lower Mainland people, the dealer was Gemini Sales in Burnaby.
, and I've had great dealings with him before.
-- 
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"There was something fishy about the butler.  I think he was a Pisces, |
probably working for scale."   - Nick Danger                           |
                        seismo----\                                    |
Robert Thurlow          alberta----!ubc-vision!van-bc!rthurlow         |
                        uw-beaver-/                                    |
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