New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Certainly looks like with some TLC it is recoverable.

I've seen worse restored, and there doesn't seem to be any battery leakage, so I expect the majority of the corrosion will come off, though you might need to replace a lot of the sockets if they are single wipe and look nasty.

Looking forward to seeing the write up.
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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by stephen_usher »

The ROM and CPU sockets are turned pin ones. The only other socket I can see is on the replaced chip at the front of the board. I didn’t look closely at that socket.
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.
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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Sat Apr 24, 2021 2:53 pm The ROM and CPU sockets are turned pin ones. The only other socket I can see is on the replaced chip at the front of the board. I didn’t look closely at that socket.
I'm not personally a fan of the turned pin sockets, I find that sometimes contact can be poor, especially if you have chips with legs trimmed where they were previously soldered in.

The corrosion looks worse around the edges, but not terrible. What's the PSU like? Or did it not have one?
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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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by stephen_usher »

It's a bit spotty rusted on the outside but inside it looks clean, just a bulging RIFA smoke generator. There are no fans or really cooling slots in the steel Aztec PSU case so water didn't get in. The frame it sits on is a bit bent, which would have taken quite a force to do as the steel's not thin.

The most important thing is that it looks like none of the weight reached the PCB. The underneath of the PCB is clean with just a couple of bits of dried leaf litter between the PCB and the case bottom.
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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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by stephen_usher »

Oh, and I did get a chance to look at the floppy properly before I left home.

Surprisingly, internally it doesn’t look bad. All the corrosion is on the top of the steel top cover and the front of the aluminium frame but not inside. However, this Sony drive has suffered the same problem as my old Chinon drives from the STs in that the adhesive holding the top head to the finger has failed, so the head has dropped off and is hanging from its wire.

The drive should be serviceable enough for the machine to get through the POST sequence test.

One good thing though was that I found the floppy eject button in the drive! (It’s not attached to the drive itself.)
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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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Cool, sounds like it looks worse than it actually is, hope your trip away goes smoothly and look forward to seeing the repair blog.
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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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by stephen_usher »

I got home this evening and immediately swapped the RIFA 0.1uF X2 smoke generator. I didn't have a 0.01uF X2 in stock, merely a 0.047uF, which was good enough.

I had a hell of a time cleaning the fuse and the fuse compartment but with the help of a file and some sand paper I got continuity there.

So, after a quick test to see that there weren't any bad voltages coming out of the PSU when powered up I put the machine back together as much as necessary to boot up, flick the power switch and...

IMG_2277.jpg
IMG_2277.jpg (67.74 KiB) Viewed 2978 times

Wow! It's mostly working!

The display is glitching, looking like a RAM fault but the RAM test is passing. I'm guessing that it may be the video RAM reading stuff which is having issues. The bus arbitration is done using a 256 byte EPROM, which has been replaced in the past and is rather corroded. A bad contact on that chip could be causing video access issues. Still, given what it's been through I'm amazed that it's getting this far!
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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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by PhilC »

Well done, what's after that? Fix the floppy?
If it ain't broke, test it to Destruction.
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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Wow, considering its overall state, that's quite a win, good job sir.
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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Re: New project: An ACT Apricot F1 "barn find"

Post by stephen_usher »

Here's a video of the boot. The floppy is glitchy too but that's expected.



I'm wondering if the problem is a capacitor as there are a smallish number of electrolytics on the board. I may also try building an RGB to SCART adapter in case it's purely the composite video which is picking up noise from the system.

As for fixing the floppy, I'm not sure it's fixable. I'll probably create a converter board to convert from the Sony cable to a standard Shugart used on a Gotek. This will at least allow me to test things.
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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