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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 »

Changing the subject slightly, our cat Olly seems to find the Atari 400 to be quite comfortable :)

IMG20260209162401.jpg
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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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JezC
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by JezC »

rubber_jonnie wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:25 pm
JezC wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:18 pm

True, not questioning the value of your purchase, just how poorly the eBay suggestions have been for me!
Unfortunately they are all too often bang on for me, leading to depleted funds and waits for the post to arrive...
Both good and bad at the same time then! :lol: :roll:
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

JezC wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:26 pm
rubber_jonnie wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 4:25 pm

Unfortunately they are all too often bang on for me, leading to depleted funds and waits for the post to arrive...
Both good and bad at the same time then! :lol: :roll:
Indeed...
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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mrbombermillzy
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by mrbombermillzy »

And lets not forget how much @rubber_jonnie likes to buy computers...

The algorithm cant really fail! :lol: :hide:
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

mrbombermillzy wrote: Mon Feb 09, 2026 6:24 pm And lets not forget how much @rubber_jonnie likes to buy computers...

The algorithm cant really fail! :lol: :hide:
: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...
Top
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rubber_jonnie
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Posts: 15171
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well that's annoying :dizzy:

My Retrotink 2x has been a bit erratic of late, and this morning it died completely...

I have a cheapo Chineseum composite to HDMI in it's place for now, but it doesn't have SVideo in and image quality isn't brilliant. It will do for now though.

Need to pop the lid off and see if there are any obvious signs of failure.
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...
Top
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well thats annoying, no stock of Retrotink 2x Mini's in their store, or anywhere else I can find...

And nothing is oviously wrong with mine.

That just leaves the 2x Pro which is £40 more expensive and I don't really need it. Meh..
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...
Top
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Hmm, it looks like the Retrotink has a bad VRM, no power at all, so lets see if I can get a new 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...
Top
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rubber_jonnie
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Posts: 15171
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

And I decided to check the voltage from the USB power in on the Retrotink and there was none.

I did a quick bypass of the USB socket and lo and behold it powers on.

Just goes to show that checking the simple things can often lead you to a simple solution. I can either replace the usb connector or fit a barrel jack connector, though I may simply try a reflow of the existing connector before going too far.
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...
Top
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
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Posts: 15171
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
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Re: Stuff and Things.

Post by rubber_jonnie »

USB connector reflowed and the RetroTink is working again, but my HDMI switch has died...

God damn it!!!

: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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