New firmware v.24 released

JandM Retro Chip Tester

New firmware release (v.24) after six beta versions!

There are many minor and major improvements, such as
– a simple clock generator (300 Hz to 8 MHz in 46 steps)
– the identification of unknown logic ICs
– improved support for exotic SRAMs, such as the EMM4200
– a lot of “new” logic ICs have been added

There is also a new adapter for the rather exotic DRAMs Motorola MCM6605
and Intersil IM7505A (the Gerber files have already been released).

The full change log can be found here:
https://8bit-museum.de/rct-firmware-v-24-english/

Vintage Computer Festival East – 2023 Price List

JandM Events

Price lists contain the products that we want to offer at specific prices on VCF East 2023 show:

Retro Chip Tester Professional – Assembled Version – $399.99

Retro Chip Tester Professional – Kit Version – $319.99

Retro Chip Tester Professional – Motherboard – $129.99

Retro Chip Tester Professional – Complete Parts Set – $199.99

Item available by order only!

Sinclair ZX Spectrum 16K/48K Keyboard Membrane Replacement – $9.99

We accept cash, PayPal, and all major credit cards!

ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) surface finish is coming soon!

JandM Retro Chip Tester

We have exciting news to share: ENIG surface finish is coming soon as a standard for RTC Pro PCB

ENIG is quickly becoming the most popular surface finish in the industry. It’s a double layer metallic coating, with nickel acting as both a barrier to the copper and a surface to which components are soldered. A layer of gold protects the nickel during storage. ENIG is an answer to major industry trends such as lead-free requirements and rise of complex surface components (especially BGAs and flip chips), which require flat surfaces. But ENIG can be expensive, and at times can result in what is commonly known as “black pad syndrome,” a buildup of phosphorous between the gold and nickel layers that can result in fractured surfaces and faulty connections.

Vintage Computer Festival East 2023

JandM Events

Vintage Computer Festival East is April 14, 15, 16 at the InfoAge Science & History Center in Wall, New Jersey.

It is a three-day event with Friday tech classes, Saturday and Sunday: dozens of exhibits, a consignment room, a single-board computer workshop, museum tours, learn-to-solder classes, and much more!

We will attend too and you can find us in building

9010-A of VCF Museum!

This year’s show feature talks include :

Streamer Roundtable:

  • David Murray (The 8-Bit Guy)
  • Adrian Black (Adrian’s Digital Basement)
  • Bil Herd (Hackaday)
  • David Lovett (Usagi Electric)
  • Steve Matarazzo (Mac84)
  • Sean Malseed (Action Retro)
  • Michael Stanhope (Mike’s Mac Shack)

IN-PERSON TALKS

Liza Loop

Jerry Crisci (Edtech History)

Jim Hall (Toy CPU)

more to be added …

VIRTUAL TALKS

Cynthia Solomon (Logo co-creator)

Margaret Morabito (editor of RUN Magazine)

Updated schedule is here: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-schedule/

This year’s two themes are:

1) Computers in Education

2) Keeping Vintage Computers Alive

Day 1: VCF University classes

  1. Technical talks.
  2. GlitchWorks workshop XT IDE card build and S100 repair workshop
  3. All day Commodore programming classroom.

Day 2 and 3:

  1.  Exhibits
  2. Talks
  3. Consignment
  4. Vendors
  5. GlitchWorks workshop XT IDE card build and S100 repair workshop
  6. Commodore 64 classroom
  7. VCF Museum tours!

You can find more information about this event and buy tickets on

Vintage Computer Federation webpage.

New beta firmware v.24b4 released

JandM Retro Chip Tester

New beta firmware v.24b4 released

The firmware “v.24 beta 4” for the RCT has been available for a few days now.

There are many minor and major improvements, such as
– a simple clock generator (300 Hz to 8 MHz in 46 steps)
– the identification of unknown logic ICs
– improved support for exotic SRAMs, such as the EMM4200

There is also a new adapter for the rather exotic DRAMs Motorola MCM6605 and Intersil IM7505A (the Gerber files will be released soon).