Page 54 of 287
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 20 Mar 2022 19:16
by rubber_jonnie
stephen_usher wrote: 20 Mar 2022 19:08
The BBC was way out of our price bracket too, at £399. I started the same way as you.
I think it was for many people, none of my friends had either an Apple ][ (The other school computer round our way) or a BBC, it was a mix of ZX's, a TRS-80 (Only one friend had that and that wasn't cheap IIRC), Dragons, VIC-20s and some C64s.
Most, like me, had 48k Speccys. Later I had Atari 8 bit machines as their prices plummeted.
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 21 Mar 2022 13:44
by stephen_usher
The last of the surface mount capacitors and the 68882 have arrived for the Mac LCII, so I can start on the recapping tonight.
I'll first have to desolder the power connector and one of the audio connectors as they're too close to use hot air and not melt them. I'll not desolder the SIMM slot though. I'll just have to use plenty of Kapton tape to protect it.
P.S. Oh, it's not the 68882 arrived, it's a 4MB SIMM. No matter.
P.P.S. The 68882 also arrived, but I didn't notice the jiffy bag in the pigeonhole.
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 21 Mar 2022 18:11
by stephen_usher
Well, the 4MB SIMM doesn't work. Eight chimes.
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 21 Mar 2022 19:11
by rubber_jonnie
stephen_usher wrote: 21 Mar 2022 18:11
Well, the 4MB SIMM doesn't work. Eight chimes.
Rubbish!
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 21 Mar 2022 21:23
by stephen_usher
Yeah. Unfortunately I've nothing else I can test it in.
Anyway, things have conspired tonight to mean that I don't have time to start on the recapping. Probably tomorrow now.
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 21 Mar 2022 22:09
by rubber_jonnie
stephen_usher wrote: 21 Mar 2022 21:23
Anyway, things have conspired tonight to mean that I don't have time to start on the recapping. Probably tomorrow now.
I know that feeling for sure.
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 22 Mar 2022 13:26
by stephen_usher
Off-topic but only sort of as it's DCC controlled...
Something arrived which I pre-ordered a year ago...
IMG_2642.jpg
IMG_2645.jpg
It's a pity that due to planning issues I have nowhere to run it yet.
I used to see the original doing trials up and down the Midland Mainline in the mid-70s.
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 22 Mar 2022 21:48
by stephen_usher
Back to the old computers...
This evening I re-capped the Mac LCII.
Although all but a couple of the capacitors showed no signs of leakage all of them had actually leaked slightly underneath. Thankfully the solder resist on the LCII seems bulletproof, or at least capacitor juice-proof as a quick wipe with an IPA soaked cotton bud got rid of everything. Well, other than on one pad which needed a small amount of work.
I also fitted a PLCC-68 socket for the FPU, and I fitted that as well.
IMG_2646.jpg
I tentatively turned the power on and... Bong! Happy Mac. :-)
So I put it all together, fitted the battery and set it up properly. Then ran Speedometer to make sure it could see the FPU...
IMG_2647.jpg
Success!
Anyway, here are the benchmarks relative to a Color Classic, which is the most similar machine to this.
IMG_2648.jpg
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 22 Mar 2022 23:20
by rubber_jonnie
stephen_usher wrote: 22 Mar 2022 13:26
Off-topic but only sort of as it's DCC controlled...
Something arrived which I pre-ordered a year ago...
IMG_2642.jpg
IMG_2645.jpg
It's a pity that due to planning issues I have nowhere to run it yet.
I used to see the original doing trials up and down the Midland Mainline in the mid-70s.
Wasn't this the infamous tilting train that was eventually cancelled?
Re: General Stuff(tm)
Posted: 22 Mar 2022 23:23
by rubber_jonnie
stephen_usher wrote: 22 Mar 2022 21:48
Back to the old computers...
This evening I re-capped the Mac LCII.
Although all but a couple of the capacitors showed no signs of leakage all of them had actually leaked slightly underneath. Thankfully the solder resist on the LCII seems bulletproof, or at least capacitor juice-proof as a quick wipe with an IPA soaked cotton bud got rid of everything. Well, other than on one pad which needed a small amount of work.
I also fitted a PLCC-68 socket for the FPU, and I fitted that as well.
IMG_2646.jpg
I tentatively turned the power on and... Bong! Happy Mac. :-)
So I put it all together, fitted the battery and set it up properly. Then ran Speedometer to make sure it could see the FPU...
IMG_2647.jpg
Success!
Anyway, here are the benchmarks relative to a Color Classic, which is the most similar machine to this.
IMG_2648.jpg
Very nice, plus the picture on it is super crisp on that display :)
Did you replace the Maxell bomb? I hate those damn batteries, they seem to have molecular acid for blood that eats through everything!! (That's my film reference for the evening :) )