Need a PC Jr. Sidecar Identified Please

[Secretarybird]

Hey all! I'm in the process of a massive spring cleaning endeavour and digging up stuff accumulated over the years and trying to determine what gets sold off (either on the eVilBay or my eCrater store or Craigsllist) and what gets sent back to the thrift stores from whence they came.

Anyway, I've got an IBM PC Jr. Sidecar module that I have not been able to get a positive I.D. on. I've done countless searches and can't find anything conclusive.

Here is a shot of the most significant end of this module:

Any ideas what this old relic is? There are no other identifying markings on it. Thanks in advance.

 

[mbbrutman]

How do you feel about gently opening it and taking a picture of the circuit board? I've seen nearly ever sidecar there is for a PCjr there is, and I can't ID that one.

 

[Secretarybird]

I had it opened earlier, and the only notable features were a TI chip labeled TMS5220NL and an IC with a sticker dated 1984: IBM Confidential.

Also printed on the PCB itself is ZDA9067-1

 

[Fallo]

I had it opened earlier, and the only notable features were a TI chip labeled TMS5220NL and an IC with a sticker dated 1984: IBM Confidential.

Also printed on the PCB itself is ZDA9067-1

TMS 5220 is a speech synthesizer chip. I would guess that's what the sidecar does.

 

[mbbrutman]

You should take a picture of the board and read off more markings ...

It looks like a speech adapter, but it is missing a bezel that is supposed to seal the end of the card. There should be a metal plate in that picture that blocks all but the microphone jack, which is what I presume you have in the picture.

I can't find the marking that you found on the PC Board. The IBM Confidential sticker is also interesting - that indicates to me that it's been modified. It might just be a custom EPROM because somebody didn't like the built-in vocabulary.

I'd love to examine the BIOS on that card. Too bad you are so far away ... Sometimes these things turn out to be really neat, and other times it's just a small EPROM change that is not significant.

 

[Secretarybird]

Okay. I'll go ahead and reopen it and get some more pics. Heck, about to do a big photoshoot anyway for a bunch of stuff that is definitely going up for sale (gah. can't believe how much stuff I've accumulated over the years).

I'll have the new pics posted here sometime tonight.

 

[Erik]

And don't forget the Marketplace as an alternative to the venues you mentioned. (/shameless plug)

 

[Secretarybird]

Here's detailed pictures of the bare card...

As you can see, there still isn't much to go on. (and I am still somewhat getting my hopes up that this may be a prototype of some sort.)

 

[mbbrutman]

The PC board looks identical to mine. My card has a few resistor packs installed near the chips that yours doesn't, but that is about it. The sticker that your ROM carries has the same number as the number printed directly on my ROM.

You might have a prototype of the production card, but except for that sticker it doesn't look very different at all. I'm not sure that your card is even completed, as without those extra resistor packs it might not run correctly.

Sorry ... even if it were a prototype you are not going to hit the jackpot with a PCjr speech adapter. In this case 'not common' does not equate to 'valuable'. I'd like to see the card in person and figure out what else is different about it, so I am hoping the price is right.

 

[Secretarybird]

Alright, it's going up on the 'bay tonight billed as a "possible prototype" and starting at $9.50. I won't do any overhyping, and am not going to make any predictions on how this will end. It goes for what it goes for.

It could go for the minimum (or not sell) or one of those insane collectors could lock onto it and make me really really really happy. Pity we are not living like 10 years ago. Then, this would definitely be something to get super excited about. To quote Ted Stryker from Airplane II: "We can't live in the past anymore...or the present. This is the furure."

Oh, and as a little disclaimer, I did not post here with the actual intention of plugging my auctions and sales (I know no one has brought that up, but I do feel a little bad posting about this at a time when I am starting to ramp up my activity on eBay and eCrater, and perhaps the Marketplace here now too, though prolly best for simplicity sake to just plug the 'crater store, since it's all fixed price anyway, with no bidding and no fees other than Google Checkout and PayPal).

 

[mbbrutman]

Well, from my standpoint, I really hate giving free advice about something that might be one of a kind, just to see it go to the highest bidder on ePay. If there is something valuable about it we missed a chance to find out what it is .. it will probably go to some dark closet.

Good luck.