General Stuff(tm)

[stephen_usher]

More stuff arrived for the QL and ICL OPD as I continue to prepare for November's "QL@40" display.

IMG_3770.jpg

I'll need a phone line splitter so as to use a phone to dial as the QL modem doesn't do tone dialing.

[rubber_jonnie]

More stuff arrived for the QL and ICL OPD as I continue to prepare for November's "QL@40" display.


IMG_3770.jpg


I'll need a phone line splitter so as to use a phone to dial as the QL modem doesn't do tone dialing.

Nice. I have one of the original stacking modems, it's a bit whacky.

[stephen_usher]

Nice. I have one of the original stacking modems, it's a bit whacky.

Those Tandata ones go for good money on eBay, per unit!

The two of these things, the QL Modem and the OPD support Microdrive pack, cost about £30 inc. delivery, which is good value from eBay.

[rubber_jonnie]

Nice. I have one of the original stacking modems, it's a bit whacky.

Those Tandata ones go for good money on eBay, per unit!

The two of these things, the QL Modem and the OPD support Microdrive pack, cost about £30 inc. delivery, which is good value from eBay.

Yeah, that's not bad. Hadn't realised the Tandata units had gone up in value :)

[stephen_usher]

I'm having a bit of a morning this morning...

A cable on the garage door broke so it's stuck open at a jaunty angle, so I had to move all the valuables into the back garden...

I can't take time off work to get it fixed because my colleague is off with COVID, and I don't know when she'll be back...

I'm having to drive down to Cornwall this evening for Dad's house sale stuff, so it's going to be open at least all weekend and possibly all of next week too. Who knows?

Oh, and I'm dealing with the repercussions of the security news about TeamViewer at work. I'm having to find all systems (running scientific instruments and library book check in) where the supplier has installed TeamViewer for remote diagnosis and support and make sure it's removed ASAP.

Aaaargh!

[HigashiJun]

:dizzy:

Good luck...

[rubber_jonnie]

I'm having a bit of a morning this morning...

A cable on the garage door broke so it's stuck open at a jaunty angle, so I had to move all the valuables into the back garden...

I can't take time off work to get it fixed because my colleague is off with COVID, and I don't know when she'll be back...

I'm having to drive down to Cornwall this evening for Dad's house sale stuff, so it's going to be open at least all weekend and possibly all of next week too. Who knows?

Oh, and I'm dealing with the repercussions of the security news about TeamViewer at work. I'm having to find all systems (running scientific instruments and library book check in) where the supplier has installed TeamViewer for remote diagnosis and support and make sure it's removed ASAP.

Aaaargh!

I remember the same thing happening with our garage door once. It's a proper nightmare to fix quickly, especially as the roller that the cable goes round (At least on ours) was tensioned. They are nightmare, but happy to say the garage door at our current house uses rails to keep the door even, and it's so much better.

As for Teamviewer, just a horrible security hole. I work for a bank, so security is very tight and things like that are banned. Not that most folks have the ability to install software at all...

Coming from a supplier thats very off.

[stephen_usher]

Back from Cornwall again.

On Friday the AP6 upgrade for the Plus 1+ arrived and I quickly fitted it before leaving but it wasn't working. I didn't have time to troubleshoot as I had to leave for the long journey.

Got back at about quarter past six so went straight out after I'd unpacked the car.

Still couldn't get it to work, until I spotted that the 74LS30 on the board had what I originally thought was a whisker of solder on the socket. Hoiced the chip out and... Pin 8 was bent over and touching pin 9.

Straightened the pin and the board is working.

Installed a couple of 32K SRAM chips and...

IMG_3775.jpeg

Happy expanded Elk.

[rubber_jonnie]

More Elk goodness 😁

[stephen_usher]

Trying to get the QL to talk to Telstar Viewdata via a modem today.

Failed to get the Miracle Systems QL Modem to talk to anything really. It's just dumb electronics so I'd probably ned a terminal which allowed for split baud rates.

So, got the US Robotics Courier out. Although it mentions in one place in the manual that it supports V23 (1200/75) there's no way I can see for it to connect to such a remote modem. So, I set up another virtual extension with a virtual V22bis (2400 baud) modem at the end.

The Courier can connect properly but the Viewdata terminal software is not showing the the correct data. The frames are pretty corrupted. (That's supposed to be the Telstar landing page.)

IMG_3776.jpeg

Tried changing down to V22 and no change.

I have noticed that the terminal software is trying to run the serial port at 9600 baud which, even with the Hermes upgraded keyboard processor, iffy on the QL. With the normal IPC even 2400 baud is pushing it and you'll get framing errors.