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Atari Cat Box, can we build an emulator ?
BobA:
If you know what you are looking for you can use a PC based scope and logic analyzer to do alot of what the specialized testers do. It is all a matter of knowing how to apply the equipment to the specific board being tested. You can catch specific events and look for specific data strings. I do not think that the amount of work required to emulate one specific tester and design an interface would be warranted with what is commonly available in electronic test equipment.
ChadTower:
I agree, specialized board testers are for testing large amounts of the same item in a short time.
Fozzy The Bear:
--- Quote from: Level42 on April 11, 2007, 02:00:33 pm ---Yeah, but that will only tell you IF the board is running or not. What we want to know (and what a Cat Box can do) is what part of the PCB is defective.
--- End quote ---
An ATARI Cat Box would be of very little use to anybody. They are very very specific to ATARI games from a very short period. That effectively means that you'd really have to specifically be an ATARI collector to want one. That you'd have to only be interested in ATARI games from a very specific period in the early eighties AND you'd have to be looking for those particular games.
The fact is that they really are not much use any more, even to an engineer. As a collectable arcade curiosity then yes buy one .... but to want to emulate a specific cat box like that really is a total waste of time.
Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)
ChadTower:
--- Quote from: Fozzy The Bear on April 11, 2007, 08:40:05 pm ---An ATARI Cat Box would be of very little use to anybody.
--- End quote ---
I am primarily interested in early Atari cabs from around 78-84. There are those of us who would have interest in this item. Not enough to build one, but if it were within a price range I could afford for a test item, I'd sure buy one.
horseboy:
I was really confused for a while here. I thought at first you guys were talking about the CatBox for the Jaguar.