Alright, now we’re talking technology! Here’s a little LED counter kit that looks like it was designed in 1981 and marketed by Dick Smith Electronics ever since without a single modification. It doesn’t have much to do with Sega, but that hasn’t stopped us from finding a use for it.

We’ve got the thing cycling away at around 50 Hz, which is far too fast for a practical clock but rather entertaining to watch. Silent Nick is here for the experiment too, although you probably wouldn’t know it from the commentary. The miracles of science!

The second video shows the completed counter with pause and reset controls. I’ve hacked up an old Mega Drive controller to operate it, using a couple of the buttons to stop the counter and bring it back to zero. It’s an extremely advanced game for anyone who enjoys watching numbers change.

The counter is powered through a DC converter, which I’m also planning to use in the Saturn external power supply project. It’s not exactly essential equipment for anything I’m working on, but it’s a rather enjoyable little diversion.

In other news, my Sega TeraDrive Model 2 has finally arrived from Japan! I’ve added photographs to the Photo Gallery and will have a proper demonstration once I’ve sorted out the display and power arrangements.

Sega’s specifications list the Model 2 with 1 MB of RAM and two 3.5-inch floppy drives, but no internal hard drive. The TeraDrive was released in Japan on 31st May 1991. This particular machine looks as though it might be an early example, although its serial-number label has been removed, so I can’t establish the exact production date.

I’ve got plenty of testing and disassembly ahead of me once the step-down converter arrives. The combination of an IBM-compatible PC and Mega Drive hardware should make this a particularly interesting machine to investigate.

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