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Socketed CV PCB Mod (Z80, BIOS, RAM, etc.)

Yurkie · 201x · Memory Expansion
Platform, category and status for this entry were derived automatically from the source list and have not yet been checked by hand.
No photographs catalogued for Socketed CV PCB Mod (Z80, BIOS, RAM, etc.) yet
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Catalogue IDCVH-0205
ManufacturerYurkie
Year201x (approximate)
TypeMemory Expansion (Expansion)
PlatformColecoVision
StatusReleased
SourceHomebrew Systems & Mods 96-19

Notes

A ColecoVision whose main chips have been fitted into sockets instead of soldered directly to the board - and probably the most valuable modification in this catalogue for anyone who intends to keep a console working.

Why it matters

  • The Z80, the BIOS ROM and the RAM are soldered in from the factory. Replacing any of them means desoldering a chip from a forty-year-old board, which risks lifting a pad or a track every time.
  • With sockets fitted, a failed chip is a two-minute swap. So is trying a fast-boot BIOS, or putting the original back.

What it enables

  • The BIOS replacements, DRAM-to-SRAM converters and F18A video upgrades elsewhere in this catalogue all involve removing a soldered chip. Socketing is what turns each of those from surgery into a swap.

It is preventive work rather than a repair, done while the board is open for something else - which is exactly when it should be done.