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Lost In Translation

A project log for Commodore CHESSmate Reproduction

The plan is to make a reproduction of the dedicated chess computer CHESSmate released by Commodore in 1978.

michael-gardiMichael Gardi 03/06/2024 at 15:210 Comments

My replacement backpack PCBs appear to be lost somewhere between Memphis, TN and me. Sigh. So I decided while I wait to try and use one of my messed up boards after all.

The tricky part was to carefully pry the leads on the ESP-32 apart an additional 2.54 mm. Since they are now at an angle, getting them into the holes on the PCB was tricky and they ended up being pretty shallowly in place, which made soldering difficult. But I got it done and then proceeded to fix the power traces that I had crossed.

I had to install the 90 degree header such that the CPU board would extend straight back from the CHESSmate board so that I could solder the jumper wires.

The alternative is to install the header rotated 180 degrees so that the daughter board tucks underneath the CHESSmate board. I think that I kind of like the setup as pictured above where you can see all of the components including the ESP-32 board. For installing inside the CHESSmate case I will probably go the other way.

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