Projects and Stuff

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PaulJ wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:50 pm @rubber_jonnie , I just noticed the picture below in one of your posts. Do you see anything suspectious about this picture? For me it looks like the vicious soldering iron has put out bait. You innocently goto pickup the board up and ZAP !!! the iron will strike and who knows what damage will occur to your remaining fingers. Please exercise extreme caution Rj... you only have ten fingers.
:sigh:

MB_Underside.jpg
It wasn't bait, it was the NC100 pooping out a dead fuse :)

That iron is temporary until I get my workshop back, so I really have to keep an eye on it, as I don't know just how vicious it is yet! Soldering irons are a bit like cats, they lure you in with fluffy cuteness, then when you least expect it, bite the heck out of you!
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...
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PaulJ
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by PaulJ »

@rubber_jonnie , just pay attention.. all those irons talk.. the one that injured you may have put a hit out on ya.:dizzy:
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PaulJ wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:07 pm @rubber_jonnie , just pay attention.. all those irons talk.. the one that injured you may have put a hit out on ya.:dizzy:
Well it certainly won't like being boxed up in storage right now, so I'll keep an eye open for mischief!!
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...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Especially for you @PaulJ

Burny_Burny.jpg
Burny_Burny.jpg (91.68 KiB) Viewed 3370 times
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...
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JezC
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by JezC »

I recognise the BBC...looks like the later video ULA in there as well!

My Beeb originally had the older version with the heatsink on top...but even then it would overheat during the epic Elite sessions, so I had to replace it with the newer one.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by rubber_jonnie »

JezC wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:24 pm I recognise the BBC...looks like the later video ULA in there as well!

My Beeb originally had the older version with the heatsink on top...but even then it would overheat during the epic Elite sessions, so I had to replace it with the newer one.
Sadly it doesn't power on, I just get a click from the speaker....

More to come on my BBC thread.
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...
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stephen_usher
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by stephen_usher »

Oh, that's not good. That means that the sound chip isn't working at all as the initial beep is caused by it powering up in a random mode and unconfigured by the system. It could be the op-amp circuit, check the -5V. I had one of the smaller caps go in the PSU and it sent the -5V into a bad state. It could also be the ULA near the cassette port, which interfaces with the op-amp chip. Try removing it.
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.
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PaulJ
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by PaulJ »

@rubber_jonnie , you f#$% with the bull and you get the horn! Need to be careful Jon.. you're not playing with a full hand of fingers anymore. :dizzy:
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PaulJ wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:17 pm @rubber_jonnie , you f#$% with the bull and you get the horn! Need to be careful Jon.. you're not playing with a full hand of fingers anymore. :dizzy:
Roger that, I've stepped away from the iron!
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...
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PaulJ
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Location: USA

Re: Projects and Stuff

Post by PaulJ »

Well about a month ago I couldn't stand it any longer so I purchased a Mac mini with the Apple M1 ARM processor (SOC), 16 gb memory, and a TB disk. I couldn't believe the hype about the thing but it all appears to be true. It is blindingly fast... sucks the the paint off my 12 core 2012 Mac Pro and trashcan Pro, not a little faster.. it's a lot faster. Its single core performance is very good. If you're looking for a reasonably priced machine the M1 is it. And if you consider the power it's using beating up all the Intel chips it uses a maximum of 35 watts, guess it idles at 3-5watts. When I switched my electric bill went down 40+ dollars a month. It has an x86 emulator that is totally transparent and you can't tell when it's running native or emulated code unlike Java apps which make it obvious with doggy performance on Intel based machines. You can't tell this machine is running by putting your hand on it.. cool to the touch even after re-encoding a number of DVD's...

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The M1 shows well against a 2019 MacPro with 28 cores and costing many times what the mini costs not to mention the power required by the 2019 required to best the Mini is at least 10 times greater.
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