Many people wonder how I do my programming and erasing of EPROMS for the Apex firmware. It isn't all that hard if you have the right tools. These are my "tools of the trade"

The left picture is my EPROM programmer and the right picture is my EPROM eraser.

These are not the only type of programmer and eraser you can buy. They come in all different shapes and sizes. You can even make your own eraser and programmer and there are many sites on the Web explaining how. You may even know someone close by who can program your chip for you, or a University/College may have one.

It is really simple to program an EPROM. If the EPROM is blank then the eraser is not necessary and only the programmer is needed. The EPROM goes in the special ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket in the middle. It is called a ZIF socket because like a CPU socket on a computer motherboard you just place the chip on to and close the handle. This way there is no chance of bending the pins of the chip. Once the firmware you with to program your chip with is loaded you then instruct the programmer to program the chip. The chip is automatically programmed and verified in about 5 minutes.

If the chip is not blank the EPROM eraser is used to blank the chip. An EPROM eraser works by exposing the chip to an Ultra Violet (UV) light source which blanks all the memory cells. That is why an EPROM has the glass window in the top so the UV light can get through.

My Eraser has a drawer in the front (as shown) and the EPROM goes in there and then the drawer drawer is closed to expose the chip to the UV light. It takes about 15 minutes to fully erase an EPROM with my eraser.