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This page contains troubleshooting suggestions, schematics, and ideas for Vulcan Trainer.

Documentation

Vulcan Operators guide: PDF File 2M

Vulcan Assembly guide: PDF File 500K

Vulcan Schematic Diagram: Click Here

Getting started with the VULCAN

Ready to start using your Vulcan or Virtual Vulcan? Here's how you get your trainer up and running!

Powering up your Vulcan

To apply power to your VULCAN, connect a 9V battery to the battery clip on the top right corner or plug in the 9V adapter.

You turn on the trainer by flipping the small switch on the left side of the DIP switches DOWN ( Switch 10 ).

Flipping the switch UP turns the trainer OFF.

Outputs and Inputs

The SWITCHED OUPUT connectors on your trainer can produce 8 digital logic levels using the eight switches. The two holes in the black connector below each switch carry the digital level for that switch. When the switch is UP, the digital level at the hole is ON. When the switch is DOWN , the digital level at the hole is OFF.

The LED Inputs show the digital logic levels that exist in either of the two holes immediately below each red light. (LED stands for Light Emitting Diode) The two LED's on the far right are not used.

Try This:

Place a wire connecting the output of the left-most switched output into the input connector of the left-most LED as shown in this diagram.

Now, attach the battery to your trainer and turn on the trainer.. You should see the left red LED come on! You have created a logic HIGH with your switch!

Turn the switch off and you should see the LED turn off. This is a logic LOW level!

Now move the wire to the other switch outputs on the trainer and make sure that they work too!

Move the LED input wire to the other available LED inputs and made sure that they also work!

Clock Output

You might have noticed that small flashing red lamp on your VULCAN, right below the green binding post. This is an output whose digital level always toggles from HIGH to LOW (ON to OFF). It is called a CLOCK and can help to control some digital circuits as we will see later.

Let’s try it out! Hook up one end of your wire output socket labelled "CLK: and the other end into one of your LED logic inputs as shown in this diagram...

You should see the Logic Input flashing ON and OFF in time with the clock lamp.

If you have a tiny screwdriver, try turning the controls labelled ‘T low’ and ‘T high’. You will notice that you can change the time that the digital level is OFF with ‘T low’ and the time that the digital level is HIGH with ‘T high’

This gives you excellent control of the speed to the CLOCK signal..

Logic Probe

Logic probe indicating the two logic levels of the clock output.

This ‘Logic Probe’ input is a more sensitive indicator of logic levels. It not only shows you what the logic levels are, but whether the signal is a true logic level!

Connect a wire from the ‘Logic Probe’ to the ‘CLK’ Clock output as shown.

You will notice that the white ‘logic probe’ lamp will flash Green and Red with the clock. The Green indicates a logic LOW and the Red indicates a logic HIGH.

Now remove the wire. When the wire is removed, the lamp goes out. This means that there is an illegal logic level, not a HIGH or a LOW. In our analogy to breath ( above ) this would be the equivalent of that output neither sucking or blowing.

Try connecting the Logic Probe input to the +5Volts connector (Red). Your Probe indicator shows RED showing the +5Volts is a logic high. Now connect the yellow probe connector to the black ‘ground’ connector. It should change to GREEN indicating a logic LOW.

Try connecting the ‘probe’ to each of the eight switched outputs and see if you can change the logic levels using the switches.

+5Volt and Ground Connectors.

Powering your breadboard

These "+5 Volt" and "Gnd" outputs are a power supply for our digital circuits! Just like any electronic device, digital circuits require energy to operate, and we can use the energy from these connectors to power up our circuits! The TTL Family of logic we will be using all uses 5V as supply voltage.

Your Vulcan get’s it’s energy from the 9 Volt battery ( or adapter ) and reduces the voltage to +5Volts for our digital circuits ( most digital logic operates at 5 volts )

You can connect the 5V and Ground to your breadboard bus by connecting those sockets to the horizontal BUS STRIPS on your breadboard. Once applied, the 5V and ground may be easily brought to any chip by placing a wire from the desired BUS STRIP to the power inputs of your chip.

Connect the BUS strips as shown, and use a long wire attached to your logic probe to verify that a logic HIGH exists on the entire horizontal stip connected to the +5V output. Similarly, there should be a logic LOW found at the entire horizontal strip connected to the Gnd connector.