Stuff and Things.

Blogs & guides and tales of woo by forum members.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10467
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

@JezC Yeah, 6850s are normally soldered in and have a very nasty ground plane. I will post some photos once I have the chance to pull it apart.

Once I know what mainboard it is then I can decide on upgrades. Usually for this sort of machine I'd go for 1MB, but really depends on the mobo.

I really like the long button job as it just seems nicer and much slicker from an eject POV. It'll be my second long button, the first being an STF like your original, so a 1040, with the same TOS and LEDs.

Luckily it also came with an original mouse, so I'll need to get that sorted too, and both are very grubby and in need of a good scrub,
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10467
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

If the mouse is anything to go by, the ST is going to need a lot of cleaning!!

IMG_20210914_131500.jpg
IMG_20210914_131500.jpg (173.95 KiB) Viewed 1808 times

Barf!!
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
stephen_usher
Posts: 5578
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Oxford, UK.
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by stephen_usher »

Hose it down outside with disinfectant? ;-)
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10467
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:59 pm Hose it down outside with disinfectant? ;-)
That's not a bad idea!!

It's making me think of buying an ultrasonic cleaner again!
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10467
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

I have to say that despite its very grubby initial appearance, functionally the mouse works very well now the layer of dust and grime, not to mention the 'stuff' on the rollers, is gone!! The bugs are now gone too - the actual bugs, thanks to an IPA wash and scrub with an anti static brush. Buttons are still nice and clicky too :)

:girldance:
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
JezC
Posts: 2081
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2017 11:44 pm

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by JezC »

Great...onto the accompanying ST next?

Waiting for the piccies of the stripdown!
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10467
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

@JezC Yep, might even get onto it today :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10467
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Wow, so what a difference 8 years makes.

This is my tiny workshop from 8 years ago:

8_years_ago_Workshop.jpg
8_years_ago_Workshop.jpg (137.43 KiB) Viewed 1691 times

It was also 2 houses ago!!

Compared to today:

Workshop_Latest.jpg
Workshop_Latest.jpg (88.19 KiB) Viewed 1691 times

I feel really happy about the upgrade, I'm really lucky.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
Icky
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2017 10:57 am
Location: UK

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by Icky »

Very nice @rubber_jonnie. I bet it was a nightmare packing the kit up that has accumulated when you moved. I have been gradually packing my room up for the move but its taking a long time with all the kit. One thing though the room currently is looking pretty empty. Well in my mind it is :)

EDIT: Are you thinking of display cabinet or system for your completed kit as I see some lurking under the desks.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10467
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Icky wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 10:39 am Very nice @rubber_jonnie. I bet it was a nightmare packing the kit up that has accumulated when you moved. I have been gradually packing my room up for the move but its taking a long time with all the kit. One thing though the room currently is looking pretty empty. Well in my mind it is :)

EDIT: Are you thinking of display cabinet or system for your completed kit as I see some lurking under the desks.
It was, I had something like 30 boxes of stuff from my workshop in the last move, and even then it still seemed to be full!! A lot is still in boxes in what we have dubbed 'The Box Room' for obvious reasons!

Eventually the box room will have some proper shelving in it and it will be a sort of store/work room, with my other half intending to sew in there. I'm not sure what is going to happen regarding display etc, though I do intend to recreate my old retro corner where I had multiple machines set up or quickly available to use, all via a single TV, composite switch and OSSC. I have a bit more space ATM so have my BBC B, 800XL, Apple ][e and Mega ST4 all out and ready to use. In fact, I have my SGI Octane set up now too, though that does need a space of it's own due to it's size.

I saw on Adrian's Digital Basement he had a load of 3d printed wall mount brackets for C64s etc, so was wondering if I could find or make similar for some of mine, or at least have shelves as I have quite a bit of wall space.

We'll see, but sorting the box room is next.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
Post Reply

Return to “MEMBER BLOGS”