(This was originally a Twitter thread from November 6, 2017.)
November 6, 2017
A huge box has just arrived! And inside are lots and lots of packing peanuts. Wait, wait, there’s something else in here. It looks like it’s from the future.
Say 10 PRINT”HELLO WORLD” to the Commodore PET 2001 from 1977, one of the “trinity” personal computers. Big thanks to @FozzTexx!
(This was originally a Twitter thread from November 15, 2019.)
November 15, 2019
Say 10 PRINT “Hello, World!” to my new Radio Shack TRS-80 PC-2 pocket computer with printer cassette docking interface. Has BASIC and “2640-character program and data memory”— so a little over 2.5K of RAM. Many thanks to @FloppyDays, it’s all in tip-top shape!
Did you know there were typewriters that used ball point pens to draw not just text but also graphics? I’ve collected several of these over the years. Read on to discover a world that you didn’t know existed.
(This was originally a Twitter thread on September 23, 2018)
September 23, 2018
On the bench today is a Commodore 64 picked up from @Recta_Pete at Atari Party East 2018. This revision is the cost reduced long board because of the sparse components around the VIC-II. I already spot several problems.
(This was originally a Twitter thread from September 26, 2018)
September 26, 2018
Next on the bench is an early #c64, 1982 original motherboard with 5 pin video out and a lovely ceramic VIC-II. These tend to be tricky in my experience.
(This was originally a Twitter thread from March 24, 2020)
March 24, 2020
The Epson HX-20 is on the bench for some TLC like a new battery, new capacitors, cassette tape belt, and possibly more. Maybe I’ll eventually dial a BBS with it.
(This was originally a Twitter thread from May 26, 2022)
May 26, 2022
Today I’m going to recap the LCD display on this PowerBook 160. It has a passive matrix LCD display capable of displaying 4-bit grayscale (16 shades of gray). The display was dim before with some severe artifacts (after adjusting the contrast slider) but now it will only show a black screen.
@mac84tv has an excellent page that lists the capacitors needed for this recap along with the links to Mouser to purchase.
(This was originally a Twitter post from September 4, 2021)
September 4, 2021
On the bench today: I’ve had this Sony PS-F9 turntable for a few years but haven’t been able to fix it. Power LED lights in button held down. Otherwise, nothing. Any ideas?
Note: Own a Sony PS-F5 or Sony PS-F9 and missing the dust cover? You can purchase new 3D printed reproductions!
(This was originally a thread posted on Twitter on June 30, 2022)
June 30, 2022
On the bench for recapping today is a Mac Classic II, the last of the b&w compact Macs (1991). I forgot how small the motherboard was.
July 31, 2022
Welcoming a new (old) printer (back) into my fleet: a LaserWriter II. It’s a workhorse of a printer from 1988 dressed in Snow White design language. #RetroComputing
(This is an experimental post to attempt to convert a Twitter thread into a WordPress post).
