exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

I had a "little trip" over to North Norfolk today to rescue an Apricot Xi which would otherwise go to a tip (though it still cost £100).

It's a bit of a trek from Oxford, 3.5 hours and 160 miles to get there.

I arrived just before midday and had a nice chat with the people. Apparently this was the lady's work computer and used to be used to do the accounts at a local farm in the 80s. Anyway, during this chat they remarked that they also had an Acorn Electron in the loft somewhere and would I be interested. Of course I said yes... for £40, fully boxed.

Seeing as I'd almost got to the coast I had to travel the extra few miles to Sheringham, saw the sea from afar and parked in the car park next to the North Norfolk Railway station.


Anyway, I've just got home again and unpacked.



And put the machines into the outbuilding... The Xi needs a good clean and a RIFA removal before I try it out. The PP3 battery in the keyboard surprisingly had a best before date of 1998, quite new really, and hadn't leaked.

I had a sneaking suspicion this would be an Apricot post.

Sounds like you had a grand day out too, nice haul 😁

The system boots...


Well, I had to void the warranty on the hard drive to unstick the spindle but I'm not sure Rodine exists any more. :-)

The programmable function keys work...


But none of the other keys do...

I think I see the problem. ;-)


Yes, awful (not even) foil and foam key switches. Even if it had just been proper foil they'd still mostly work after the foam collapsed. Oh well.

Let's see if I can make some foil key switch pads. I've ordered a 7/16th inch hollow punch and some 3mm thick, self-adhesive, foil faced foam.

Oh, and the RIFA smoke generators? What were they like?...


Nicely ripe and ready for action. :excited: :thumbup:

Always loved Apricot machines...

They were really classy back in the days.

Lucky you.

:D

I've ordered an 11mm open punch from Amazon and some self-adhesive, 3mm thick foam with foil top, apparently for mobile home insulation, so as to make up new contact pads for the keys.

In the meantime.... Who needs key switches when you can use fingers? :lol:


After putting oil on the hard drive it no-longer squeaks when spinning down and spins up a bit quicker. It's also slightly quieter, though this is a mid-80s 3.5" drive so it whines constantly and isn't quiet. But it works.


After a bit of a wipe-down the machine doesn't look too bad. There's some slight burn-in on the screen but that's expected from its life.

And the other fruity computer in the haul, the Acorn* Electron, is a happy bunny too.


* An acorn is also a fruit, at least when in its cup.

Ah, the sound of an old hard drive...

stephen_usher wrote: 25 Feb 2024 21:45 Oh, and the RIFA smoke generators? What were they like?...


IMG_3600.jpeg


Nicely ripe and ready for action. :excited: :thumbup:

Oooh they were about to pop, good catch.