Datentechnik ME2 TD

Restoration Project #52 - Datentechnik ME2-TD

This little piece of Austrian engineering history caught my eye in a 2nd hand electronics store in Vienna. It screamed "take me home" at me and I just couldn't let it sit there on the shelf... not for an almost single digit asking price! But what is it? Beats me... it has "serial transmission testing" written all over it, or at least hinted at it with certain labels.

I tried to find out more about it, but the ineternet was not around when this thing was made and it was only half of what it is today when the company folded... so: nothing useful to be found. This is why I had to look at the circuit myself!

0:00 Intro / Overview
1:35 Cracking it Open
3:57 Recapping / Who is Datentechnik?
3:44 Front Panel Disassembly
6:25 Reverse Engineering / Tantalum
8:05 Explained: Signal Input Stage
9:36 Explained: Clock Generator
10:36 Explained: Front Panel / Signal Processing..? / Code Counter
11:33 Practical Test: Timing Circuit
12:24 Explained: Main Counters and Bar Graph and Latch / Transformer Cleanup
13:25 Rear Panel Compontent Mounting
16:02 Power Wiring and Transformer Test / Front Panel Component Mounting
18:15 Reset Switch Mishap!
19:30 Trying Different Switch? / Glue Up
21:11 Successfully Failed! / Finishing up the Front Panel
22:30 PCB Cleanup / IC Populating
23:28 Power On! Oops? / Bubble LED
24:20 First RS-232 Signal Test / Thoughts
25:45 Testing with "Off" Signal / Case Painting
26:36 Case Assembly
29:12 Explanation: What I know so far
31:12 Summary / Credits / Outtake

Music (in order)

My Train's A Comin' - Unicorn Heads
Nine Lives - Unicorn Heads
Wrong - Dan Henig
Town of 24 Bars - Unicorn Heads
Light Expanse - Unicorn Heads

(YouTube Audio Library)


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