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Article #15750Re: "The Glob" Atari 2600 processors ???
From: gordon hlavenka
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:12
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:12
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kennehra@craft.camp.clarkson.edu (Rich"TheMan"Kennehan) writes: >Hi. I opened up one of my atari 2600 games, and instead of a regular >chip inside, there was this small plastic glob where the ROM chip >should be!!!! what is this? Simple -- It's the ROM. If you're building a _lot_ of something, it's cheaper to simply mount the IC die directly to the PCB. The bondout wires are then tacked to PCB traces, and a drop of epoxy is put over the whole thing for environmental protection. Most cheap digital clocks and watches are also built this way, also those musical greeting cards, the "Pocket Terminator", etc. Obviously, if the thing doesn't work you can't fix it. But this assembly technique is only used where the volume is so huge that you can afford to just toss the rejects. -- ---------------------------------------------------- Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us Vote straight ticket Procrastination party Dec. 3rd!
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Newsgroups: sci.electronics Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!newsserver.pixel.kodak.com!laidbak!tellab5!vpnet!cgordon From: cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) Subject: Re: "The Glob" Atari 2600 processors ??? Message-ID: <1992Dec17.181207.26799@vpnet.chi.il.us> Organization: Vpnet Public Access References: <kennehra.724560313@craft.camp.clarkson.edu> Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 18:12:07 GMT Lines: 21