General Stuff(tm)

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:55 am Hmm... Looks like I may be picking up a Faclon030 in a little over 3 weeks time.
Very nice :D
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: General Stuff(tm)

Post by JezC »

stephen_usher wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 12:13 pm I'll keep it as stock as possible I think.

It'll need the clock chip looking at. I'll probably just grind the top off the case and solder a CR2032 holder to it. It'll probably also need the clock patch.
I'll be interested to hear how the RTC mod goes, tempted to try something similar on my Falcon.

Good luck & lots of photos please!
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

I've done it a couple of times on the Dallas chips on Sun workstations.

e.g.
IMG_2341.jpg
IMG_2341.jpg (321.73 KiB) Viewed 1117 times
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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mrbombermillzy
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by mrbombermillzy »

stephen_usher wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:55 am Hmm... Looks like I may be picking up a Faclon030 in a little over 3 weeks time.
Wow! Great find! :D

Did you have to pay dearly for the privilege? (I wouldn't dare guess what these go for nowadays).
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

I'll post more once it's in the bag, as it were... I don't want to jinx 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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PeckPeekPoke
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by PeckPeekPoke »

mrbombermillzy wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:31 pm
stephen_usher wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:55 am Hmm... Looks like I may be picking up a Faclon030 in a little over 3 weeks time.
Wow! Great find! :D

Did you have to pay dearly for the privilege? (I wouldnt dare guess what these go for nowadays).
There were a couple under $2k last night on Ebay. :ugeek:
FOR GREAT JUSTICE. TAKE OUT EVERY ZIG
800xl+U1mb, STfm, STe, 030
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

I had a heating "engineer" contracted by British Gas Homecare come today to replace the 3-way valve and main PCB in the boiler.

Well, he left in a hurry after an hour and a half and now the system ignores the timer, with the pump running continuously. Thankfully it's taking note of the wall thermostat.

The problem is that I can't report another fault as it's still showing that the engineer is due to visit!

This is the third time I've had to take time off work, the first for the "annual boiler service" where the "engineer" arrived, took the front off the boiler and rested a gas probe on top of the fan unit and then declared that everything was working well, without actually turning on the boiler. If he had tried turning on the boiler he would have noticed that the lock-out light was flashing. I had to point this out, after he'd ticked all the boxes. He then scribbled that I needed a new PCB for the boiler and 3-way valve, before he asked to use my loo and left.

A week ago Wednesday another "engineer" (the same one as today) came. I'd booked another day off work. He arrived at 8:45am, declared that it can't be the PCB because the boiler wasn't totally dead, then quickly ran through the diagnostic path, which led to... bad PCB. At which point he ordered the parts and left, by 8:55am.

Anyway, I can see why this is happening. Last year British Gas fired all of their engineers and forced them to become contractors. From what I understand they get a fixed sum of money per call. So, for the first "engineer", stuffing as many "annual service" calls into a day makes it more profitable (or just enough money to live upon I imagine). Similarly, doing a bad job, meaning that you have to come back to fix the problem that you created in the first place, or just having an extra visit to order the parts, means that you get extra money. I'm guessing that the reason that the "engineer" ran away before doing proper tests is that he ran out of time and had to go on to another call so as to make enough money to break even.

Anyway, it seems that British Gas Homecare is structurally broken.
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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rubber_jonnie
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by rubber_jonnie »

British Gas as a whole is failing.

We have both gas and electricity from them, but despite having smart meters for both, the gas one doesn't work so we have to do manual readings, and although the electric meter does work and they automatically get the readings, we are still not getting any statements for electricity, and the gas statement isn't itemised as its supposed to be.

Trying to call to sort out anything is just a nightmare, then you get told its sorted on the system, and later it turns out that nothing has changed.

All together a total shambles.
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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exxos
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by exxos »

Sounds like mears https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.mearsgroup.co.uk

I've probably ranted about all sorts of tradesmen relating to them. Though they lost the contracts now thankfully. So next month we will see if things start getting any better. Can't get any worse.
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
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viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
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stephen_usher
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Re: General Stuff(tm)

Post by stephen_usher »

I managed to get another "emergency" visit on Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully I didn't lose any more vacation time as I'd booked the afternoon of for a structural engineer visit to discuss my outbuilding project.

He checked all the electrical connections, he was puzzled until he found that it was being caused by the timer. Purely by coincidence one of the relays in the timer had jammed whilst he was doing the other job. So he's going to come back with a replacement on Friday. Again, I won't lose vacation time as I'd booked off the day as in the afternoon/evening I'm off to Lavecon with a whole lot of machines to display (if I'm feeling well enough, more of that later).

Anyway, after he left I pulled the timer off the wall, opened it up and pulled the top off of the relay. Yep, the contact had welded itself in the "on" position. A quick lever with an electrical screw driver and it was free again, so I sprayed it with contact cleaner and then put it back together. All working now.

Anyway, back to some more Sod's Law stuff... My Crohn's has flared up again, just in time for Lavecon! :-(

I attended an internal IT support staff conference a week ago Tuesday and the caterers hadn't been informed about dietary needs. For lunch it was "OK" as they had an egg sandwich available but for the evening BBQ it was a major issue. The caterer thought that the kebab was free of onion or garlic, and that was the only food they thought was OK, so I had that. A day or so later and the symptoms started. It's quite normal for there to be a delay of a couple of days after eating something for things to start. Usually things die back down to just a few cramps for a couple of months but this time I'm getting the full running to the loo experience, feeling slightly sick and pains. I'm going to have to call the IBD "hotline" at the hospital on Monday. :-(
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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