Eprom Question - Victor Engineering (20 yr Old Battery Charger)

[Paul Vernon]

Hi Everyone ,

Some of the people on the forum may remember the US based company Victor Engineering . They made Battery Chargers / electronic accessories for the RC Market from 1990's to early 2000's
The Unit ran from a programmed Eprom (Originally a 27c256 Eprom which had a 64k image file on it) but as the models got better a 27c512 Eprom was the standard chip in the charger.

Modification were done to these units including an Eprom with Multiple Software Versions loaded onto it. First was a 2 firmware one with a 2 way switch that switched between them and then there was one created with a 3 firmware on it that was switched via a 3 way switch.(I believe a little more complex)

My question is I would love to replicate the same setups and I would like to find out how to load 2 firmwares onto one (27c010 - I was told) eprom and all the switch wiring that needs to be hooked up. Also them advance to a load 3 softwares onto an (27c020-?) and all the switch wiring that is needed for it to work.

I would appreciate an help from the EEV Community

Any questions please ask - I'm a newbie to this

Thanks for your time

Paul

[TheSteve]

Added info - the charger/discharger was called a Hi-IQ, and was upgraded over the years to a Hi-IQ Sr, Super IQ, Super 2IQ, Super 2IQ FCC, IQ3 and then finally the IQ3000. It was an amazing box for the day, could charge/discharge at 40 amps. Even NASA had some. The golden days of NiCD and NiMH batteries!

[Paul Vernon]

Thanks for the additional information about the units

In Addition to that project I would love to be able to modify the eprom file to allow a password on it. (I believe it can be done)and maybe more stuff if possible


Again thank-you for all your help
Paul

I have attached a copy of the image file .(will need unzipping)

[Paul Vernon]

Is there any one out there with Eprom Programming / Electronics Background that might be able to assists me please

Thanks
Paul

[BradC]

G'day Paul,

If you are looking to combine a couple of existing program dumps into a larger EPROM and switch between them, then this isn't all that difficult. It's a matter of combining the files, fitting a larger EPROM and knocking up some switching arrangement to toggle the high order address lines.

If you are looking to try and make any modifications to the program, then this is several orders of magnitude more difficult and only really feasible for someone who has the hardware and the will to do it.

[Paul Vernon]

Thanks Brad for your message

I kind of have the concept together in my head but its just making it work.
I would first like to start off with putting 2 Program Dumps (i.e sample on a dump is attached to the other message) onto one 27c010 Eprom (or Equivalent) and have a 2 way switch - one accessing the first half from 0000 and when toggle is will address the other half.(also need to know how to allocated the dumps to first and 2nd halves)
I just need to know how to wire the switch in - I have an idea but not all that confident.

Also then will have 3 program dumps into one (27c2010?) or equivalent assigned the 3 to the 2nd 3rd and 4th Segment of the eprom and then a 3 way switch - and unsure of the wiring and I believe I need a few registers somewhere

Again
Thanks for your help
Paul 

[oPossum]

The software for many EPROM programmers will allow you to load a file to a specified address. Attached is a screen capture showing the software for the popular TL866. Each firmware would be loaded at the appropriate address (0x00000, 0x10000, 0x20000, 0x3000) and then the EPROM can be programmed.

EPROMs with the standard JEDEC pinout have all the data pins and most of the address pins at the same physical location for  the 24, 28 and 32 pin DIP packages. Most of the pins of a 27C512 will line up with the same pins on a 27C020. Attached is a schematic and PCB layout for an adapter (EAGLE v7 files). Selecting the desired firmware is simply a matter of grounding A16 and/or A17.

[Nusa]

Piggybacking on his simple circuit:

For your 3-way switch, all you need is a single-pole double-throw on-off-on switch connected to JP1. off = position 0, up (pins 1&2 connected) = position 1, down (pins 2&3 connected) = position 2.

If you want all 4 positions active, I'd suggest it's easiest to just have two single-pole single throw switches, one for each address line. off-off = 0, off-on = 1, on-off = 2, on-on = 3.

Your other option on programming is simply to package all your firmwares into a single large binary and simply write the entire thing at once. If you needed to UV erase the chip prior to programming, you need to write everything anyway.

[oPossum]

Another option for 4 firmwares would be a BCD thumbwheel switch. Obviously more positions than needed, but it would clearly indicate the selected firmware.

[TheSteve]

Finally had some time to dig out my old Victor eproms and dump them. I have attached a zip file with all of 512k firmware images that I have, all require a 27C512 eprom.

It contains the following:

IQ-Industrial (requires hardware modifications)
IQJunior
IQ8Racer
SuperIQ2
SuperIQ2b (newer version)
SuperIQ2FCC
IQ3
IQ3000
IQ3000 with power on password set to 1234

If you load the IQ3000 with password file into a hex editor and go to address 0x7734 you can see the 4 digit password. The 4 bytes before it are what enable the password. Be aware not all 4 digit combinations seem to work(I haven't looked into why). The password can be enabled on all versions but the addresses to edit varies.

The original Hi-IQ and Hi-IQSr used 27C256 eproms, none of this firmware is compatible with early hardware without a memory expansion board or equivalent hardware mods to the main board.
I have attached a picture of a factory memory expansion board as well as an original serial adapter. The IQ can be fully remote controlled via serial port using a very basic terminal interface. There was also PC control software with basic graphing produced by Victor. Somewhere I also have the original motor com tuner plugin as well.
I had a Victor cell zapper but sold that long ago. That would apply a current pulse to a cell or battery pack of up to 99 volts.
There is also a dead cell revival feature in some firmware versions which hits a cell or battery pack with 40 amp pulses, this only required newer IQ main board hardware. It was a good feature to cook your charge MOSFET's.

I don't believe I have the documents anymore but to go from the earliest hardware rev to the last hardware rev requires a few MOSFET'ss, super capacitor, a diode, a resistor network, and few other resistors. Several PCB traces need to be cut and jumper wires run. It also requires a second current sense resistor. The earliest hardware revs also had a different power supply that wasn't as good.

The Industrial IQ is similar but used a current sense resistor that was 10 times the value(with a few other small changes) which gave it 10 times the current resolution but limited it to a charge/discharge rate of 10 amps. It also had provisions to charge lead acid/lithium cells. I don't recommend using it with lithium as it is missing safety features and has some very serious bugs. It does not support any motor tuning/break-in features.

The IQ3/3000 was introduced by Maxtec after they bought the remains of Victor Engineering. In the firmware I run I have edited out the Maxtec name as I was never a fan. I also run the original black face plate on mine instead of the silver or red.

The IQ was a real blast back in the day, we had Sanyo 1200 mAh SCR NiCads and we tortured them. If you charged them at 30 amps you could get the ends of the cells to bubble out which lowered the internal resistance and would give more capacity. This did shorten the useful number of charge/discharge cycles the cells could provide.
I also recall charging Sanyo 600 mAh AA industrial cells at 10 amps for fun - those were some tough cells!
No other charger could match the power the Hi-IQ could extract from a battery pack, its secret was that it charged with linear constant current. It did not use PWM for charge or discharge which was its huge advantage. NiCAD and NiMH cells never respond as well to PWM charging.

Victor Engineering also made electronic speed controls, and a 4 wheel balance car tuning system. Somewhere in the lab there is an original Victor Engineering racing banner and my decal collection still has many original decals.

Lastly all of the Victor's had the numbers of the chips ground off. Near the end some were produced without this "feature", by this point I had already made a list of all chips.
There is nothing rare or uncommon, the processor can be tough to find today though.

Chip list as they are placed on the main board:

      74ls04 74ls32 74ls74



27c256/ 74ls373 86c71/81/91 UM6116-20 74ls257 74ls257 CD4051 CD4051 CD4051
27c512

                                                      TL082


74ls10 74ls32 74ls390 74ls139 ICL8069/ICL7135

                            LM385-1.2

[Paul Vernon]

Thanks for all that contributed to my question - I will read all the information and let it sink in


Thanks So Much
Paul

[anniel]

Any schematics of that memory expansion board exists?