Retro and Open Hardware Leftovers
-
Old Computer Challenge v3: day 1
Hi! Today, I started the 3rd edition of the Old Computer Challenge. And it's not going well, I didn't prepare a computer before, because I wanted to see how easy it would be.
-
Acorn Archimedes A5000: Restoration Part 2
In my previous post I managed to get the A5000 to reliably boot. But due to battery damage it cannot use any drives. The restoration continues…
-
Merlin Mann and my Commodore 16 taught me a small step is a catalyst
It’s a silly example, but a couple of months ago I broke off a key from my second-hand 1984 Commodore 16. I knew that replacing it would entail removing the broken stem from the kepcap, desoldering the board to get access to the other broken part, sourcing a replacement stem, adding the stem, testing it, potentially sourcing replacement carbon pads for the PCB if they’re also damaged, soldering it back together, adding the cap back, and testing again.
-
How to make the Watchy vibrate
I am enjoying playing with the eInk Watchy. It is a cute package and is everything I want in a Smart-Watch; geeky, long battery life, and not obnoxious.
-
Kim-1: Memory Problem Resolved
At the very start of the personal computer revolution, there were relatively inexpensive boards with little more than a CPU, some memory, a display, and switches or a keypad. Some of these had expansion ports meant to allow you to build up, and some were just “trainers” to learn about computers. While you could argue that the Altair fell into this category, it had a case and a proper bus. The computers we are thinking about were usually just on a single board and — with luck — had an edge connector for expansion. Perhaps the most famous of these was the KIM-1 and [Old VCR] shows us how he brought one back to life.