fidelity electronics designer 2100

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yoyo_chessboard
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Post by yoyo_chessboard »

Hi mauben
with the road_map:
Name ..................... Model . Year ... PCB-id ............. ROM-id .......... CLK ..... ROM .. RAM.
Excellence .............. EP12 .. 1985 . 510-1099A01 . 101-1072A01 . 3MHz . 16KB . 2KB
Excellence .............. 6080 .. 1985 . 510-1099A01 . 101-1072B01 . 3MHz . 16KB . 2KB
Excellence .............. 6080 .. 1986 . 510-1099B01 . 101-1072B01 . 3MHz . 16KB . 2KB

your EP12 with a 4 Mhz label is basically ... an EP12.
so it could, in best case, have a PCB id: 510-1099B01
and ROM : 101-1072B01
you can't expect more.

the best way is to open your EP12. there are two screens at the back in the battery place.
And after that there are two small plastic pieces on the front side. You have to push them in the board and that opens the board.
what would be interesting is to see which CPU is used (reference and speed written on it).

the par excellence and designer 2000 have exactly the same program.
they differ in the clock.
5 Mhz for par_excellence with a 'overclocked' 4 Mhz CPU.
3 Mhz for designer 2000 with a 3 Mh CPU.

but EP12 and 6080 , 6080B have another one different program, and older and simpler than the par_excellence one, whatever CPU speed.
why i say simpler:

i measured the time to evaluate X positions with the same physical board at the same clock speed for a given chess position, just by changing the ROM.

in that initial settings,the EP12/6080 evaluates more moves in a given time that the par_excellence, designer 2000 programs.
so we can suppose that the evaluation function is simpler or uses less parameters to explain that faster response at fixed clock speed.

for the next generation (par_excellence/designer 2000) that cames after EP12/6080, the CPU were faster and the sparklen also improved their program over years.
the computed moves by second is smaller but the positions are better evaluated and the level is higher.

regards.
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Berger
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Post by Berger »

mauben wrote:I have a Fidelity Excellence EP12 with a red "4MHz" sticker on the bottom plate. Where does it fit in the Excellence / Designer lineup ?
What is its serial number?
mauben wrote:But as of today I would re-buy both the 2100 and the Polgar, the former to re-ignite hate and the latter since it had a very nice playing style.
LOL :D
Better if you don't buy the Designer 2100: Sad destiny when your user only wants to hate you. Don't you have feelings? ;P

BTW, thank you deni14 for providing this interesting information.

Regards,
Berger
mauben
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Post by mauben »

Very clear,

Thanks.
yoyo_chessboard
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Location: South of France - cote d'azur

Post by yoyo_chessboard »

to mauben

it would be great if you can open your EP12 and collect the main data (or best make a photo):

board ID, CPU ID , clock frequency , ROM ID and date code

sometimes the CPU is overclocked, sometimes it is underclocked :
i have for example a designer 2000 with a 6 Mhz CPU and a 3 Mhz clock.
on the contrary the par_excellence is known to have a 4Mhz CPU and a 5 Mhz clock.

and also the serial number on 8 digits.
if you don't want to give the full serial , can you give the first 5 digits :
ABCDExxx

that will permit to complete our knowledge of that range of boards.
yoyo_chessboard
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Location: South of France - cote d'azur

Post by yoyo_chessboard »

from the code point of vue :

there is a small gap between EP12 and 6080 binaries. (101-1072A01,101-1072B01)

But there is a very big gap between EP12/6080 and par_excellence/ designer 2X00 binaries,

from the opening book point of vue:
the par_excellence/designer 2000 opening book is really bigger

Name ..................... Model . Year ... PCB-id ............. ROM-id .......... CLK ..... ROM .. RAM.
Excellence .............. EP12 .. 1985 . 510-1099A01 . 101-1072A01 . 3MHz . 16KB . 2KB
Excellence .............. 6080 .. 1985 . 510-1099A01 . 101-1072B01 . 3MHz . 16KB . 2KB
Excellence .............. 6080 .. 1986 . 510-1099B01 . 101-1072B01 . 3MHz . 16KB . 2KB
Par Excellence ........ 6083 .. 1986 . 510-1099B01 . id N.A. ...... .... 5MHz . 32KB . 8KB
Designer 2000 ........ 6102 .. 1988 . 510-1129A01 . 101-1077A01 . 3MHz . 32KB . 8KB
yoyo_chessboard
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Posts: 126
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 5:44 pm
Location: South of France - cote d'azur

Post by yoyo_chessboard »

Hi mauben

i have bought an EP12 4 Mhz on Ebay recently and opened it.

i found a new ROM i never saw before :
101.1073A01 with very few modifications compared to 101.1072 versions.

could you open your EP12 4 Mhz and identify the ROM version to see if you have the same content ?
Four.nine
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Post by Four.nine »

Just wanted to respond, that I have 2100 PC (display) board as follows:

510.1130A01
1988
2 x 27C256. i. e. 64 kByte Eprom Total
1 x MS6264L. i. e. 64 kBit or 8KByte RAM
6 MHz crystal

Processor is WDC. 65C02
Four.nine
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Post by Four.nine »

Spent the better part of the today tracking down a DD2000 board that
I just knew was somewhere and finally found it about 30 min ago.

3 MHz, 32kB eprom and 8kB RAM.

-4.9

I didn't join this forum to promote sales (I am pretty much a net buyer), but if someone is in search of Fidelity Designer Display printed circuit boards (2000 and 2100) left over from an upgrade, let me know. I also have a PC board for a Sensory 12B, from an upgrade.
Just the boards, no housing.
When removed: all boards were 100% working.
Four.nine
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Post by Four.nine »

Update:

Prohibitive shipping costs for outside US.

2000 / 2100 / 12B PC boards only, unfortunately can only be sent to US.

My apologies, but thank you, europe for the interest.

Regards,

4.9
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