Stuff and Things.

Blogs & guides and tales of woo by forum members.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

I was sorting through a drawer yesterday and found this:

PXL_20231123_110740935.jpg

I've had this calculator for a very long time and it still has a note stuck on its cover from when I worked in a metalwork shop that tells me the growth of a piece of sheet metal when you fold it 90 degrees.

I left that job in 1996!!!

I powered it on, and the display was faint, but working, so I went to change the batteries and found Duracells from 2003!! No leakage though, so it's now got new batteries and I'll be putting it in my desk drawer as my ready use calculator :)
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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: Stuff and Things.

Post by stephen_usher »

Old Casios seem to be bullet proof. :-)

I do prefer the older 1970s/80s calculators to the newer ones, which seem to make adding 1+1 a major task.

My original 1979 calculator is still working fine, other than a slightly dodgy power switch.

IMG_3081.JPG
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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: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 24 Nov 2023 10:51 Old Casios seem to be bullet proof. :-)

I do prefer the older 1970s/80s calculators to the newer ones, which seem to make adding 1+1 a major task.

My original 1979 calculator is still working fine, other than a slightly dodgy power switch.


IMG_3081.JPG
Nice, I seem to remember I had an fx-2500 at school.

They are most definitely bullet proof.
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: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well, after the issues with my desolder gun during the Saturn recap, I bit the bullet and decided to replace the 'gun' end of my desolder station since it seems to have a bad heater:

PXL_20231127_111700044.jpg

At £24 they aren't too expensive. The new one in the picture has a much improved design for the release of the glass capture tube, which is good, and seems to be reaching the desired temps, as I can happily desolder large and small stuff with no problems now.

It's a little annoying I couldn't just get a replacement heater element, and I did try to find one on ebay and AliExpress, but they were all too small. I'll take a proper look at some point to see if I can figure out if it's just a bad connection, or if it's truly a bad element.
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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: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well my wife told me to order 'whatever you want for Christmas' so I have a GD Emu on the way. 😁

Looking forward to going disk less in the Dreamcast as its a favourite of mine along with the Saturn which is living its best life with the Fenrir and PSK cart.
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: Stuff and Things.

Post by stephen_usher »

:lol:
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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JezC
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by JezC »

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Nov 2023 11:34 Well my wife told me to order 'whatever you want for Christmas' so I have a GD Emu on the way. 😁
There's a lovely Apple II you could order as well...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

JezC wrote: 29 Nov 2023 16:15
rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Nov 2023 11:34 Well my wife told me to order 'whatever you want for Christmas' so I have a GD Emu on the way. 😁
There's a lovely Apple II you could order as well...
Just stop it!!!!

To be fair I just bought a working Electron Mainboard and internal PSU to get my spare one working, so leave me alone :dizzy:
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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Joined: 28 Aug 2017 23:44

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by JezC »

rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Nov 2023 20:28
JezC wrote: 29 Nov 2023 16:15

There's a lovely Apple II you could order as well...
Just stop it!!!!
Okay, I won't mention that Apple II again...well, not today anyway ;)
To be fair I just bought a working Electron Mainboard and internal PSU to get my spare one working, so leave me alone :dizzy:
Well, I just missed out on another Mega ST...went for way beyond my budget - otherwise I'd be in more or less the same boat...
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rubber_jonnie
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Location: Essex

Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

JezC wrote: 29 Nov 2023 21:26
rubber_jonnie wrote: 29 Nov 2023 20:28

Just stop it!!!!
Okay, I won't mention that Apple II again...well, not today anyway ;)
To be fair I just bought a working Electron Mainboard and internal PSU to get my spare one working, so leave me alone :dizzy:
Well, I just missed out on another Mega ST...went for way beyond my budget - otherwise I'd be in more or less the same boat...
I have 3 Megas, but just the one keyboard. Thank god for Eiffel.
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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