THE MUSEUM GIFT SHOP
SC-02 / SSI-263 / 78A263 Tester Board
Arduino-compatible diagnostic tester-board kit for exploring and testing SC-02, SSI-263, and 78A263 speech chips.
Buy on eBay
Hear your vintage chip talk
This Arduino Uno diagnostic kit supports the Votrax SC-02, SSI-263, Artic 263, and 78A263 speech synthesizer. It provides a practical platform for testing a chip and experimenting with its voice controls.
What the diagnostic software exercises
The supplied test pattern checks audio output level, plays all 64 phonemes, exercises inflection settings, varies the clock rate, and tests all I/O lines. Listening across these settings helps reveal problems that a single spoken phrase could miss. These are functional exercises; the listing does not claim an automatic calibrated pass/fail measurement.
Make the tests your own
The Arduino software is open source. You can modify its test sequence, add control functions, or adapt it to an experiment. With the Arduino connected over USB, a PC or Mac can control the speech chip. This makes the board useful beyond an initial diagnostic run. All of the chip’s control lines are connected to the Arduino, giving you access to experiment with different combinations of control signals and operating modes—including undocumented combinations. Together with the editable software, this provides a platform for full experimentation with the chip’s control interface.
Schematic
What you need
The kit includes diagnostic-board components and the Arduino test software. The speech synthesizer chip and Arduino Uno are not included. Assemble the board and use the supplied files for the software and setup details. The current eBay listing provides the purchase information.
Feedback
“Another fantastic experience. Thank you!!!!” — c***o, eBay