General Stuff(tm)

[stephen_usher]

Back home again. This afternoon replaced the last of the polarised electrolytic capacitors in the B&W TV and tweaked the adjustable inductor to reduce the screen wobbling. I think I've got it as good as I'll ever be able to get it now. The wonders of old analogue circuits.

[stephen_usher]

Well, one more capacitor (3.3uF bi-polar) and the headphone jack socket left to fix now on the telly. I've also found the location I can inject composite video into to make a composite input mod, the base of Q302. If I lift that and put a (co-ax) wire to a switch I can then switch between the inbuilt tuner and an external source, without sound unfortunately.

Anyway, it's on soak test at the moment. I should really get a video player hooked up rather than a static image.

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[stephen_usher]

Hmm... Just tried it with a video recorder...

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The picture is fine but the audio is extremely distorted, unlike that from the Memotech, which I used to tune it. Very strange.

[stephen_usher]

Back to getting things ready for the Retro-Computer Festival in Cambridge next weekend (eek!).

Brought the MTX500 down from the loft and tried to get the telly to accept the output from the VDP2RGB board to display via the SCART connector but couldn't, so reverted to composite video. Oh well.

Anyway, the girls look resplendent in all their brushed aluminium goodness and they're still operating nicely so I can pack them away ready for the event.

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I've now got to design and print all the signage as it needs to be special for the 40th anniversary. I should really have designed a t-shirt to wear as well. Oh well, other things on my mind such as Cyber Legends and my Dad's affairs to deal with so I couldn't be focused on the event properly this year.

Oh, and I fixed my Dad's Tomtom GO 60 satnav by swapping the battery out. Apparently they have a lifetime of 2 to 3 years and Tomtom don't support replacement, funnily enough. The clips holding the case together were a bit of a sod to release but once you get into the device replacement is easy. It's only a 3.7V 1100mAh battery but when it dies the thing won't boot and it also keeps the RAM (and installed firmware) alive.

[stephen_usher]

Well, the signage is done. Hopefully not too cluttered. I used the "Eurostile" font for the text to match the font used on the machine itself.

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Checking the VDP2RGB cable, I think that I must have wired it up incorrectly somehow as it doesn't work with any of the SCART cables I have, only the RGB2HDMI cable. Strange. Anyway, no time to look into this now as I drive over to Cambridge on Friday.

[stephen_usher]

Seeing as I have the Memotechs effectively ready bar documenting the software on the CF/SD cards I turned back to my Mac IIci VGA adapter which is suposed to split the composite sync into H/V sync and output it to a VGA connector.

Re-designed the board tonight and then submitted the Gerbers to PCBway.

I'll need to order the LMH1980 chips and surface mount resistors before I can build one. I already have the VGA and DB15 connectors.

[stephen_usher]

All packed for the Retro-Computer Festival. Swapped the 4:3 Dell monitor for a 16:10 one as this gives the correct aspect ratio on the VGA output. It's also bigger and brighter (but heavier).

Even with the slimmed down set of equipment this year the monitor had to go on the back seat. Next year I should be able to use the SAAB with its cavernous hatchback boot rather than the small BMW one.

[rubber_jonnie]

All packed for the Retro-Computer Festival. Swapped the 4:3 Dell monitor for a 16:10 one as this gives the correct aspect ratio on the VGA output. It's also bigger and brighter (but heavier).

Even with the slimmed down set of equipment this year the monitor had to go on the back seat. Next year I should be able to use the SAAB with its cavernous hatchback boot rather than the small BMW one.

Hope the festival goes well

[stephen_usher]

Thanks!

[stephen_usher]

Arrived, set-up and back at the hotel for a bit before going out to the pub.