Taito TC0220IOC - group buy

[olin]

Hi, I'm planning to buy few TC0220IOC chips. These are reset & IO chips on several Taito boards and they can be easily damaged if the jamma connector is incorrectly plugged in.
I found the ICs for sale on WinSource electronics, which seems to be a reputable seller. Their page is here: https://www.win-source.net/products/detail/others/tc0220ioc.html

Since I only need 2 or 3 of those chips I'm wondering whether somebody from the UK would be seriously interested to buy one or two as well. Minimum order quantity is 3 pieces (from Winsource), I do not want to pay more than 200£ for the whole lot, so probably will limit my order up to 11 pieces in total. That is up 8 or 9 interested people (or less if you'd want to buy more than one piece).

As you can see the price per chip varies from 24$ to 19$ plus taxes and postage from Asia. I think the final price per piece (not counting UK postage for redelivery within the UK) could be between 25-28£ per piece, but could be a bit more as well. If it is less it well be cheaper for everyone - I do not want any commission. I know this is not cheap, so please voice your interest only if you are a serious buyer. The final resale to you can be arranged either via PM/Conversation and paypal donation, or if you prefer more secure transaction via ebay listing I can do that as well, but the price will reflect ebay fees. Feel free to ask questions. The end date for my order is 22/04/2023.

BTW. I also considered designing a replacement circuit board, but the final cost for me would be higher than the selling price from Winsource.

Apology if I'm in the wrong sub-forum, repairs seemed like a good fit.

 

[caius]

If you ever get them from this supplier, great chances are that the parts are pulled therefore already dead/faulty.IMHO it's better to think about designing a proper replacement.In the past I analized the part and managed to reproduce some functions with simple TTL gates but this custom chip does more so I think decapping is needed to reveal the internal structure and reproduce its functionality.

 

[olin]

I'll give it a try anyway. At least I'll have a direct experience with the supplier.

Reproduction: true, if you'd like to have 100% feature complete reproduction then decapping might be the only option to achieve the goal. As I wrote earlier, the costs would be too high for an ordinary arcade fan like me.

Functionality: as I undesrtand it, there are 2 main tasks the chip does. 1) Provides reset line (I assume with a strong pull down to drive several other ICs on the board), and 2) multiplexes several inputs based on the 4 bit address. I guess the second task can be done with transceivers placed in between the peripherals (joysticks, dip switches etc) and the data bus. The transceivers would be enabled by an address decoder implemented in a GAL chip. The first task would probably need a voltage monitor and a mosfet (I might be too niave with this one).

Anyway, apart from the high costs, I think the construction of such device would be problematic. The TC chip poses several challenges:
a) It is quite small to fit individual replacement parts/components on the available area.
b) The lead pitch is very fine, so a replacement PCB with castellated holes might not be possible. I can see only one way how to construct it - to create some sort of 'sandwiched' solution consisting of 2 PCBs. The bottom PCB with castellated holes (might need specific producer) would have only a high-count pin connector leading to the upper PCB. The top PCB would host the other ICs required to do the job. There might be other solutions (speedy MCU perhaps with programmable HW logic?), but if the TC chips are still available to get (from donor boards, or via vendors), I'm not going to spend time working on a replacement.

 

[caius]

I'll give it a try anyway. At least I'll have a direct experience with the supplier.

Reproduction: true, if you'd like to have 100% feature complete reproduction then decapping might be the only option to achieve the goal. As I wrote earlier, the costs would be too high for an ordinary arcade fan like me.

Functionality: as I undesrtand it, there are 2 main tasks the chip does. 1) Provides reset line (I assume with a strong pull down to drive several other ICs on the board), and 2) multiplexes several inputs based on the 4 bit address. I guess the second task can be done with transceivers placed in between the peripherals (joysticks, dip switches etc) and the data bus. The transceivers would be enabled by an address decoder implemented in a GAL chip. The first task would probably need a voltage monitor and a mosfet (I might be too niave with this one).

Yep, more or less this is the functionality

Anyway, apart from the high costs, I think the construction of such device would be problematic. The TC chip poses several challenges:
a) It is quite small to fit individual replacement parts/components on the available area.
b) The lead pitch is very fine, so a replacement PCB with castellated holes might not be possible. I can see only one way how to construct it - to create some sort of 'sandwiched' solution consisting of 2 PCBs. The bottom PCB with castellated holes (might need specific producer) would have only a high-count pin connector leading to the upper PCB. The top PCB would host the other ICs required to do the job. There might be other solutions (speedy MCU perhaps with programmable HW logic?), but if the TC chips are still available to get (from donor boards, or via vendors), I'm not going to spend time working on a replacement.

Exactly, you hit the point.The original package makes a reproduction very hard if not impossible to think about.About 'sandwiched' solution, I used a similar design when I made a replacement of the 'infamous' 4Mbit QFP MASK ROM used on some Capcom CPS1 games, here are a couple of pictures :

 

[olin]

Nice one. I like you did not actually use any connector at all (saving on costs and reduced production complexity), just used plated holes and let the friction between the pins and holes to keep a good contact. A tiny offset between the holes in a zig-zag pattern helps the pins to be tightly pressed against the holes.

 

[myPinballs]

Does anyone have any info on what this chip uses for inputs to set a steady reset line output on pin 8? Is it just the reset line from the normal reset monitor chip (pin 6) and the video blank signal (pin 7) , or is it wanting to check other inputs to.??

Bloody shit design having the reset system in an I/o chip. what was Taito thinking???

 

[olin]

Just a follow-up of my purchase. I made an order, it was confirmed, but after a few days it was cancelled. The reason of the cancellation was an oxidisation of the parts. I asked for photos of the parts and then decided to buy the IC as they seemed fairly OK. The IC were delivered in a bout 5 days and came well packed in a padded plastic box, ESD sealed bag and outer paper box. The parts look new, no pins are bent and there is no traces of previous (de)soldering. I'll clean the pins and will test the IC on a custom proto board to check the ICs are functional.

 

[myPinballs]

I will take 2 of these if you have spares. I tried to order myself and they said no stock ! Weird I wanted to order maybe 10/20 through my business as I can reclaim the vat.

 

[olin]

> I tried to order myself and they said no stock !
Well, as I wrote they did not want to send them in the first place because of the pin oxidisation. They realised the parts are not up to their standard and did not want to risk returns. The link to the web page now shows a different contents than before. Unfortunately I did not take a screen shot, but as far as I remeber there was more than 2k pieces available, minimum order quantity 3, prices from $23 to $18 for 10+ quantity. It's a shame they stopped selling them, it will be harder to find these chips in the future from a reputable source.

 

[Ace`]

They didn't think they were good enough to sell but I bet they didn't reduce the price lol. These sellers always put they have 2k, 5k etc in stock but in reality it's usually less than 50.

This is from an old aliexpress listing, so there's a 'few' out there. Mostly horded by now never to see the light of day I'm sure.

 

[vsl]

Hello ,
I need to buy 2 pieces of this chip. Does anyone sell it ?

 

[myPinballs]

Hello ,
I need to buy 2 pieces of this chip. Does anyone sell it ?

I have some spares, ill
Pm you

 

[DaveR]

ah this chip... forgot... i need to reserve one too

 

[Georgian2]

I have some spares, ill
Pm you

Do you still have some to sell?

 

[myPinballs]

Do you still have some to sell?

I think I have 1 or 2 left, I will need to check

 

[Georgian2]

I found some for 27$/ piece. Anybody want to organise an group buy again?

 

[Hexen]

Hi, I'm planning to buy few TC0220IOC chips. These are reset & IO chips on several Taito boards and they can be easily damaged if the jamma connector is incorrectly plugged in.
I found the ICs for sale on WinSource electronics, which seems to be a reputable seller. Their page is here: https://www.win-source.net/products/detail/others/tc0220ioc.html

Since I only need 2 or 3 of those chips I'm wondering whether somebody from the UK would be seriously interested to buy one or two as well. Minimum order quantity is 3 pieces (from Winsource), I do not want to pay more than 200£ for the whole lot, so probably will limit my order up to 11 pieces in total. That is up 8 or 9 interested people (or less if you'd want to buy more than one piece).

As you can see the price per chip varies from 24$ to 19$ plus taxes and postage from Asia. I think the final price per piece (not counting UK postage for redelivery within the UK) could be between 25-28£ per piece, but could be a bit more as well. If it is less it well be cheaper for everyone - I do not want any commission. I know this is not cheap, so please voice your interest only if you are a serious buyer. The final resale to you can be arranged either via PM/Conversation and paypal donation, or if you prefer more secure transaction via ebay listing I can do that as well, but the price will reflect ebay fees. Feel free to ask questions. The end date for my order is 22/04/2023.

BTW. I also considered designing a replacement circuit board, but the final cost for me would be higher than the selling price from Winsource.

Apology if I'm in the wrong sub-forum, repairs seemed like a good fit.

Have you actually seen the pictures of the item, TC0220IOC from the link you provided? It's not quite the IC you need, it has too few pins which have screw terminals. Same part number, totally different item.

 

[Hexen]

Have you actually seen the pictures of the item, TC0220IOC from the link you provided? It's not quite the IC you need, it has too few pins which have screw terminals. Same part number, totally different item.

Damned years-old thread.

 

[Georgian2]

Have you actually seen the pictures of the item, TC0220IOC from the link you provided? It's not quite the IC you need, it has too few pins which have screw terminals. Same part number, totally different item.

I'm talking about the Taito I/O-Reset chip. I don't know what ist that thing in your picture.

No, I did not see any picture of the actual item. I just trust the asian cheap dealers.

 

[myPinballs]

I'm talking about the Taito I/O-Reset chip. I don't know what ist that thing in your picture.

No, I did not see any picture of the actual item. I just trust the asian cheap dealers.

Unless you are buying from proper suppliers who can show you the actual chips and with proper Original taito packaging do not waste your money on unknown suppliers and no photos/its fine scenarios...

My chips were verified as originals with proper history trial of where they came from trusted supplier and also verified supplier beforehand

Also add vat and shipping for $ items into uk...

But anyway, good luck