Jump to content

Amstrad PCW 9256 Service Manual

From RetroTechCollection
Revision as of 07:10, 2 October 2026 by Josh (talk | contribs) (Add the pages that cite this document)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The PCW9256 Personal Computer Word Processor Service Manual is Amstrad plc's service manual for the PCW 9256. It has 16 numbered pages and is undated with no part number. This scan has 17 PDF pages, the electrical parts list being spread over the last two, and an OCR text layer.

Contents

[edit | edit source]

Amstrad's contents list, with printed page numbers:

  • Technical specification, p. 2; safety tests, p. 2
  • Alignment instructions, p. 3
  • Monitor/CRT PCB component layout, p. 4
  • Printer PCB, top and bottom views, p. 5
  • CPU PCB component layout, top view, p. 6; bottom view, p. 7
  • Keyboard exploded view and parts list, p. 8; keyboard PCB, p. 8
  • Monitor schematic diagram, p. 9
  • CPU PCB schematic diagram, p. 10
  • Keyboard PCB schematic diagram, p. 11
  • Printer control PCB schematic diagram, p. 12
  • Printer exploded view and parts list, p. 13
  • Printer mechanism exploded view and parts list, p. 14
  • Monitor cabinet exploded view and parts list, p. 15
  • Electrical parts list, p. 16 (PDF pp. 16-17)

What it settles

[edit | edit source]

Specification (p. 2)

[edit | edit source]

The PCW9256 has 256K of RAM, one 3.5-inch 720K drive with provision for a second, a paper-white 12-inch monochrome screen showing 90 columns by 32 lines, and a full-size 82-key keyboard. It came with LocoScript 1.5, CP/M Plus, Mallard BASIC, GSX and Dr Logo. The printer is a 9-pin dot matrix unit giving up to 20 cps in high quality and 90 cps in draft, with a detachable tractor feed and single-sheet loading; the specification notes that no other printer can be used with the PCW9256. The machine measures 310 × 360 × 350 mm (W × D × H), weighs 14.5 kg and draws 93 W at most.

The safety tests are a 4 kV flash test between the joined mains live and neutral and all accessible exterior metal, and an insulation test requiring at least 4 MΩ.

Alignment (p. 3)

[edit | edit source]

The monitor alignment chart starts with the power supply, measured at connector A with CP101 disconnected and the outputs loaded (Fig. 2-1): check the 24 V output is within 1 V, set 12 V with VR502 to ±0.01 V, and set 5 V with VR501 to ±0.05 V. It then covers vertical size (VR405), linearity, horizontal hold at 15.625 kHz (VR404), sub-brightness (VR402), and the printer strobe timing (VR701), adjusted until the RP3 printer test reports "OK". The equipment list is a digital voltmeter, oscilloscope, frequency counter, test pattern generator, and the RP3 or a pattern disc.

Electrical parts list (p. 16)

[edit | edit source]

Selected entries:

  • IC101 µPD65030GF-044-3B9 (AMS 40028-1), 272769; IC102 Z8400APS processor, 40080; IC104-111 KM41C257J-10 DRAMs, 272770; IC203 Z765APS floppy controller, 40018; IC301 Amstrad 40027, 171043; IC701 Amstrad 40026, 171038
  • F501 mains fuse 3.15 A time-lag, 250 V, 171531
  • FDD201 floppy disc drive UODC-45A, 272508
  • V801 CRT 310GNBWD, 272814
  • X101 crystal 32.000 MHz, 171063

What this manual does not contain

[edit | edit source]

There is no floppy drive service section, no flow chart and no fault-finding procedure. There is no memory map or I/O port list; for those see Amstrad PCW Hardware Reference (John Elliott). The PCW 9512+, with its daisywheel printer, has its own manual, Amstrad PCW 9512+ Service Manual.

Download: Amstrad PCW 9256 Service Manual.pdf

Pages that cite this document

[edit | edit source]
[edit | edit source]


Retrieved from "https://wiki.retrotechcollection.com/index.php?title=Amstrad_PCW_9256_Service_Manual&oldid=22342"