From: "Ralph Hempel" 
Newsgroups: rec.toys.lego
Subject: Re: Inside RCX and RCX alone....
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 16:59:07 -0400
Organization: Bruce Municipal Telephone System
Lines: 47

NOTE. I'm an embedded elecronics engineer, but I do not have an RCX. I'm
just going by the pictures on Kekoa's excellent site...

>I believe that the F3055L in the lower-left corner is a 5V voltage
>regulator.

This is actually a 3055 logic level MOSFET. It's used for power switching
and may be used as part of a switching voltage regulator - much more
efficient than a linear unit.

The caps are there to (probably) level out the spikes generated when switching
motors for PWM. They may also probably provide some "backup" during
recharge.

The display is probably custom. It's hard to get exactly what you need
off the shelf.

Some of you may remember me as an engineer taht wanted to make a more
"packaged" version of a controller, then RCX was announced and I shelved
the plans. If you can get a huge pox ful of parts, plus motors, sensors,
and a controller for $200, you can NEVER make it for that yourself.

Having a huge whack of Technic and motors already, how long before S@H
offers replacement RCXs and sensors.

Question? Can someone out there with a real RCX please ask LEGO for a
replacement? I'd just like to see the customer service response...
--

Cheers,

Ralph Hempel - P.Eng

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The train stops at the train station,
The bus stops at the bus station,
So why am I sitting at a work station?
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Reply to:      rhempel at bmts dot com
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