I just increased the size of the capacitor in the emulator and she runs first time, every time now.
I have a 2200uF cap, per the TekWiki. Works fine for the 1503, so I expect there is something else going on in the 1502.
As he said, gotta pay close attention to the "subtleties" of this one! :-)
That's why I'm still scratching my head. I really need to find some (of that rare substance) time to probe with my scope. That way I see what is happening. (At least I hope :-)