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Jess B's Tech Dept.
Austria
Приєднався 22 сер 2021
Old Computers, Old Games, Old presenter. Welcome to the Tech Dept.
Welcome to the Tech Dept, or as my partner calls it, Jess’s home for out-of-date technology, here in Vienna, Austria. The Tech Dept is a place where I get hold of old computers, and game consoles and explore, restore, upgrade or simply clean up. They then go into the collection, with a view of someday putting all these old machines on display.
I’m not a professional, though I do have some electronics training, so come and watch me re-learn an old skill, and have fun while I’m doing it. Oh and likely screw up as I go.
There’s a Patreon account if you like what I do and would like to help the channel out, but if you watch the videos, then that's what counts.
Either way, welcome.
Jess B
patreon.com/Tech_Dept
Welcome to the Tech Dept, or as my partner calls it, Jess’s home for out-of-date technology, here in Vienna, Austria. The Tech Dept is a place where I get hold of old computers, and game consoles and explore, restore, upgrade or simply clean up. They then go into the collection, with a view of someday putting all these old machines on display.
I’m not a professional, though I do have some electronics training, so come and watch me re-learn an old skill, and have fun while I’m doing it. Oh and likely screw up as I go.
There’s a Patreon account if you like what I do and would like to help the channel out, but if you watch the videos, then that's what counts.
Either way, welcome.
Jess B
patreon.com/Tech_Dept
Visiting the Home Computer Museum, Helmond
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information.
www.pcbway.com/
The Home Computer Museum in Helmond, the Netherlands is one of the best museums for retro computers in Europe, at least in my opinion.
Holding over 1000 machines plus accessories, peripherals and more, it's an absolute must for any Retro enthusiast looking to spend a few hours amongst old tech.
Today I'm going to take you on a somewhat long (Sorry about that) tour of the museum, as well as talk about some of the great exhibits found there, and why it's very much my 'goto' happy place when I need to destress.
If you'd like to know more about the museum or fancy offering a little support, check out the links below.
www.homecomputermuseum.nl/
patreon.com/computermuseum?Link&
You can follow the Tech Dept on
Facebook: techdeptwien
Instagram: @techdept_wien
And if you feel like supporting the channel, You can check out our Patreon account, where you'll find the usual extras and perks.
Patreon: patreon.com/Tech_Dept
www.pcbway.com/
The Home Computer Museum in Helmond, the Netherlands is one of the best museums for retro computers in Europe, at least in my opinion.
Holding over 1000 machines plus accessories, peripherals and more, it's an absolute must for any Retro enthusiast looking to spend a few hours amongst old tech.
Today I'm going to take you on a somewhat long (Sorry about that) tour of the museum, as well as talk about some of the great exhibits found there, and why it's very much my 'goto' happy place when I need to destress.
If you'd like to know more about the museum or fancy offering a little support, check out the links below.
www.homecomputermuseum.nl/
patreon.com/computermuseum?Link&
You can follow the Tech Dept on
Facebook: techdeptwien
Instagram: @techdept_wien
And if you feel like supporting the channel, You can check out our Patreon account, where you'll find the usual extras and perks.
Patreon: patreon.com/Tech_Dept
Переглядів: 3 357
Відео
Mac Plus and a Mac SE/30. Test and Inspect.
Переглядів 388Місяць тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ Summertime is always something to look forward to. I'm lucky to have my summers off from work, so I have plenty of time to spend in the Tech Dept. That said, there's always a chance to do something fun. When the chance presented itself to grab two classic Macs for a great price, I jumped at it. The...
The Dragon 32. New Power supply, New Century
Переглядів 7232 місяці тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ The Dragon 32 is one of Wales's only home-produced Computers. this 1980s 8-bit micro though is an unknown entity. It doesn't have a power supply, there are no cables and fall I know, this little Welsh wonder could be little more than a display item. Let's change that by fitting a modern power suppl...
ZX Spectrum Plus 3. Keyboard Fix, Audio restored.
Переглядів 5573 місяці тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ Welcome back to the ZX Spectrum Plus 3, the computer I was sure was all but dead last time. As it happens the plucky Plus 3 wants to live and I accidentally fixed its keyboard. Join me as I explain what this issue was, how I fixed and how I repaired and upgraded a few other bits and pieces on this ...
ZX Spectrum Plus 2 and Plus 3. Strip down, inspection and more.
Переглядів 9484 місяці тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ Finally, The ZX Spectrum has arrived at the Tech Dept. Why deal with just 1 Speccy when You can have 2! Both machines have come from the same place, but one of them has not held up as well as the other. Will they work? and if not, can they be saved. Let's find out and dive into the ZX Spectrum Plus...
New computers, Bargains galore, and Plans!
Переглядів 3375 місяців тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ I love a bargain, and while the world of Retro computing can throw up ridiculous prices if you're lucky, you can find a machine or two for cheap, if you know where to look. Today I'm checking out a few recent purchases, and talking about the future of what the Tech Dept should be. Why not join me a...
BBC Model B repair. Blank Boot screen, and it's not the RAM. #bbcmicro #retrocomputing
Переглядів 7225 місяців тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ The BBC Model B is a familiar face to any middle-aged Brit. Appearing in schools in the early 1980s, the BBC was seemingly in every classroom. Even in the early 90s, my school library had several BBC's still tucked into a corner. I hated the BBC. It was the school computer, the software was always ...
Atari STfm - Fixing the Memory
Переглядів 2,9 тис.6 місяців тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ The Atari ST is a great computer. From the Era of the 16-bit wedge machines, the ST did battle with the Commodore Amiga A500 in schoolyards all over the UK and Europe. This ST was picked up for just €30 with the monitor, and while it worked, it didn't work well. It looks like there's a memory probl...
Mac G4 CUBE DVD drive fix #marchintosh
Переглядів 4517 місяців тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ The G4 Cube is one of Apple's Most beautiful creations. It also suffers from DVD issues. Over time the DVD drive belt stretches, the rubber rollers fill with dust and eventually, you have a stuck DVD in the drive you can't get out. Today I'm going to fix my G4 cube drive, and hopefully, we'll have ...
Apple's G5 Power Mac. Testing and Fixing. #marchintosh #retro
Переглядів 6 тис.7 місяців тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ The Power Mac G5 was a monster of a machine compared to the G4. The Heavy aluminium case was a huge departure from the curvy plastic case it replaced, but it was not a cool as it seems, quite Literally! When I set out to buy a second machine to complement my first G5, things went sideways quickly. ...
Evercade Handheld Review. The Retro Switch?
Переглядів 4408 місяців тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com/ The Nintendo Switch is one of the best Handhelds short of a SteamDeck. It's trendy but not without its issues. I got one for my birthday and was disappointed to discover I'd need a subscription to access the Nintendo back catalogue of retro games. So for Christmas, My wife bought me an Evercade Han...
Atari 800XL, Replacing the Basic ROM and more.
Переглядів 9798 місяців тому
This video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com The last time we saw the Atari 800XL, we had a black screen but a working cartridge port, and in turn, a working system. Diagnosis, broken Basic ROM, or is it. In this video, we'll replace the original Basic ROM with a new one made with a community project found on PCBWay. You can check out the deta...
Atari 800XL. Adding a missing power supply.
Переглядів 2,1 тис.9 місяців тому
This Video is sponsored by PCBWay. Check out the link below for more information. www.pcbway.com Happy New Year everyone. It's time for a new system for me, the Atari 800XL. I don't know much about Atari's 8-bit lineup of machines, So when I spotted this 800XL with accessories for sale at the Annual Retro Börse, I grabbed it. While the Accessories are nice, the machine is missing its power supp...
Mac LC. Is this Low cost machine worth the price?
Переглядів 502Рік тому
Mac LC. Is this Low cost machine worth the price?
Power Mac Quicksilver - Zerlegen und Aufbereiten
Переглядів 549Рік тому
Power Mac Quicksilver - Zerlegen und Aufbereiten
Abandoned eMachines PC - Will it even work?
Переглядів 671Рік тому
Abandoned eMachines PC - Will it even work?
A500 Plus Cartoon Classics. Revisiting my youth!
Переглядів 1,2 тис.Рік тому
A500 Plus Cartoon Classics. Revisiting my youth!
Fixing a Old Dell to play a classic 2000's Game
Переглядів 662Рік тому
Fixing a Old Dell to play a classic 2000's Game
Amiga A500 Restoration. Does it still work
Переглядів 596Рік тому
Amiga A500 Restoration. Does it still work
Commodore Plus 4. Recap and Re-Assembly.
Переглядів 841Рік тому
Commodore Plus 4. Recap and Re-Assembly.
Commodore plus 4, The oddball Commodore?
Переглядів 1,8 тис.Рік тому
Commodore plus 4, The oddball Commodore?
Nice vid. One comment if your TV supports it RGB to scart gives a far superior picture, than composite.
Hmm, that little red Alice looks like it has a Sinclair keyboard on it, cool, and BTW, resubscribed, I guess YT decided to Unsubscribe me.
Thanks, very helpful
My dad still has a Holborn terminal (with the light pen). I will take him here for a lovely day out. We donated the washing-machine-sized compute, data and terminal units back in the day to a museum (it went defunct). 2 units containing 4x 8inch floppy drives if I remember correctly, one bank as the working data store, the other as the backup. And a mainframe unit that Holborn would develop an upgrade path for (they went defunct before they could do so). At 1:06:25 your musical talents gave me an EVE Online (and/or Dune (2000)) flashback for a moment, haha
darn you late 2000's thoshiba compny RW-HD dvd drives disk feeding slots issues on the g3 imacs stike agien. this is why super drive for newer apple mac laptops and desktops of there comptuers are now bascly sold speralty and can be reasy replaced besue it a extrnal usb plug in perfral drive that don't have this bulit in hardwired crap that thoshba compny put in those apple g3 imacs on the later modles suck realy bad. they are super duper INFERATING!
That Philips P2000's power switch doesn't latch on (typical Philips. You either can't turn them on or you can't turn them off because the switch is stuck). If you hold it for half a minute, you might get a picture. The screen has cataract, that's usually not fatal, it just ruins the looks and legibility (there's a plastic safety screen glued over the real screen and the glue hasn't aged particularly well. On the Holborn, it just started. You can get that plastic screen off, but I've never done it, I've seen it done and it's a PITA) Those VCRs chillin' next to the Amiga 2000... I bet nobody knows what they're worth, these are quite special machines! What's that blinkenlights box next to the Archimedes at 1:03:13? That PS/1 was my first computer or at least the first one I remembered using. Played a lot of Blockout, Grand Prix Circuit (the C64 version blew my mind 10 years later) and Crystal Caves (uses the same engine as Keen 1-3) Do you need someone helping you fix those old computers? I'm pretty good at it!
What a great collection. One day I have to go to Helmond and visit this wonderful museum🥰
I have almost the same problem,this might be the cure for mine,except mine does not show anything when I type but does run a program in the background if you run anything except no text on screen and a few cursors,but when I put jumper 25 south or removed they both show 16k ram so I think the ram banks are fine,it might be the same IC 39 problem that you shown here on my beep..
That museum probably has no idea of how much some of those computers are worth today. In the future, when everyone else has broken or thrown their out, the museum will be the only ones with them left in existence, which will make them worth a hell of a lot more. I'd love to visit that place, I'd be there all the time. We need something like that here in the UK
I don’t agree. The 20th anniversary Mac was very revolutionary, not evolutionary. It’s definitely beautiful and very forward thinking in terms of design.
Oh I think the Mac’s are cool of course NeXT is definitely cool, NeXT Step is a precursor to Mac OS X and everything Mac today including iOS.
For me the Amiga is the spiritual descendant of the Atari 400/800 8 bit. I owned a 1000. The Amiga (originally the Lorraine project) became a Commodore product instead of an Atari one due to financial struggles and a change in ownership at Atari. After Warner sold Atari’s consumer division to Jack Tramiel, who prioritized his own projects, Amiga Corporation sought new funding. Commodore stepped in, purchasing Amiga Corporation and securing the rights to the technology, leading to the Amiga becoming a Commodore product but Atari funded development throughout.
52:22 - L.M. Ericsson Diavox Telephone
48:33 ORIC \o/
Thanks for this extensive video! It was great to have you over!
The museum has very much become one of my ‘Happy places’. I’m already planning a trip for next summer. Plus Helmond is a nice place to relax.
1:27:21 Thank you for reminding me that Perifractic is an annoying idiot.
Now I have a strong urge to lick a large capacitor. Never felt one before!
Thanks for sharing. Lots of memories there, like teaching myself how to program by keying pages upon pages of code from a book of games on the TRS-80, riding my bicycle 28 minutes each way, unbeknownst to my parents, to learn to program the color computer at Radio Shack, tons of time on the Atari 2600, buying my buddy's dad's old Apple IIe complete system with color monitor, 2 drives, parallel port, and serial port with modem for BBS downloading all night long when everyone was asleep, trying the black Osbourne my dad brought home from work, the original Mac at work, a friends C64, owning a Sinclair for 24 hours before returning it, my dad's TI99/4A, buying a Mac LC, a Performa 5200, using the Quadra 840AV at work & finally arriving at the Amiga 2000 (of which I bought 3) one with the Toaster/Flyer, one with a 486 bridgeboard and Mac Shapeshifter emulation, and the other with five sound cards for multitrack audio, all running an AV production studio in the Chicagoland area that appeared in a full page newspaper article. Some interesting times for sure. We've come a long way with multicore processor laptop workstations for Lightwave 3D and high-end video/ audio work.
Yeah, I find the same thing when wandering around the museum. Remembering my dad bringing home a ZX Spectrum for ‘us kids’ to use. Enjoying seeing a working Amiga set up like I had back in the 90s, and way more besides. It really is a fantastic museum.
Great memories of this pack. My friend got it and I was very envious. Eventually got a 1200 though, so all good.
It was my 16th birthday present and I loved it.
Nice video keep up the work. BBCs are great fun to work on never one the same fault. Well apart from the rifa caps.
This is true. I’m getting a nice appreciation for the machine.
@@techdeptme 2 I’m working on fitting a 68008 cpu board now 😊
The "Missing" screws holding the motherboard ??? - You just took 2 screws out when you opend the cabinet - those are the missing screws ;-)
Damn it! I missed that! Now where did I put them!
the DB is a neverending dystopian nightmare at this point... goodness gracious... at least you got two very cool machines?
Yeah, I knew it was a calculated risk, but I hadn’t counted on all the ways it could go wrong happening anyway.
@@techdept I shared the events of your journey with a german friend who doesn't drive and uses the DB a lot and he was really not surprised that this much went wrong... this is depressing :(
I'm sorry about your travel misadventures, but it was a very entertaining video!
Thanks John. The plus side is I have two great machines.
Great score a Plus and SE AND.... and Apple SC DRIVE!!! LUCKY LUCKY!!!
That journey was such a nightmare! But hey, at least they gave you such a generous (ahemm... not) reimbursement! Great video!
I’m not sure what to spend it on. Maybe I’ll save it just in case….lol.
26:30 I'd say it's a nice way to keep it inside the machine to not loose it while not having it ramble inside the case 🙂
You girls had quite an adventure there! Nice Macs too.
Oh it was quite the adventure. I might do it again…..maybe.
Well done on getting them back. You've a couple of missed edits in there, but I think after that journey we can forgive you!
Well bugger. For sure I was tired when I edited this so yeah.
I’m gonna buy me a tech department cushion asap !
That museum policy is brilliant. Some others could learn from that.
'Die Bahn kommt' (a German TV ad in the 90s)... on time once or twice a year. 😅
a thing to remember with the early mac models is the keyboard cable is NOT the same as a telephone handset cable, if you use one of those you will fry the keyboard. The socket on network card is for a 68881/68882 FPU.
The FPU socket is only if you use the card in a SI - The SE/30 already have a cpu
I enjoyed your look at the Dragon 32, I've never used a "real" one but I have put in a lot of time behind the old Coco 2. If you wanted to you could make or buy an Atari to Dragon/Coco joystick adapter or buy a Dragon analogue joystick (the other option is to convert a PC analog joystick to work with the Dragon, shouldn't pose a problem to someone who can solder). Then you could play all the great games that the Dragon has to offer. Keep up the great work. Subbed I have :)
The 400 and 800 were replaced by multiple computers with the same technology and different presentation. The 1200XL was released in early 1983 to supplant the 800. It was discontinued months later and succeeded by the 600XL and 800XL. After the company was sold and reestablished, Atari Corporation released the 65XE (sold as the 800XE in some European markets) and 130XE in 1985.Yes, the Atari 65XE can load Atari 800XL games using the Translator Disk, a floppy disk that loads older OS versions into the XL/XE computers. The XL/XE models have OS revisions that can cause compatibility issues with certain software. The Translator Disk can load the older 400 and 800 Rev. 'B' or Rev. 'A' OS into the XL/XE computers.
I have some love for these old machines by the Mac mini released just a few years later had same or better power especially when it went intel and only took up space of 5 CD's on your desk whilst being silent ! ;-)
Funny the furry pots there... I have a few BBC Micros and the analogue port connector (only) also suffers from white fluff. Perhaps a certain type of plastic grows fur over time. Best wishes, Dafydd.
One more thought on the voltages - I've never seen it comes back from a failure but the final part of the video circuit typically has 3 transistors in it (TR2,3,4) that in failure mode nearly bridge +5V to -5V. There is always a resistor in the circuit so it should never bridge completely. The side-effect of a failure is the +5V rail drops to about 2.4V. Annoyingly some of the boards came with an op-amp instead of the three transistors and I didn't clock which version of the board you have
I will check and get back to you. But I do I know it’s an issue 2 board with a low 5000 something serial number.
@@techdept That means it could be one of three different designs... OKI32, Siemens32 or SA2120
The dragon 32 was my first computer as a kid ( briefly before I got a commodore ) I have a lot of affection for these machines and it really is a strange hybrid of a superb cpu and crap graphics chip...... I too have done the psu to mine ( think I did a vid on it too ) The video output on a dragon is universally diabolical, and that's largely because the video signal is bastardized ntsc which is mercilessly hammered into being PAL...... an interesting side effect is the phase based artifact colours, I severely recommend using a RGB2HDMI with the dragon for perfect video........
Yeah I’m thinking I’ll add the RGB2HDMI to the machine. It’s such a weird but cool computer.
That video was proper tidy! Diolch yn fawr.
Diolch indeed. I really do love the old dragon. And I had a lot of fun playing a few old games once the camera was off. Pub crawl was a weird one!
if you purchased the sd box it in the last 6 months it will work with your MSX with reflashing if you set the baud to 3600 not 3850 ... Also supports Sinclair, Amstrad, Coco and a bunch of others..
Thanks for the update. I’ll check it out to make sure which version I have. But it’s a great but of kit. That extra preamp makes a difference. :)
I like you said “we make robots “
Yeah, it had been a long 72 hours prior to me recording the voiceover. A lack of good sleep was definitely showing.
The furry resistors are common to all machines - it comes back fairly quickly but doesn't seem to be anything more than a cosmetic problem. The boards are actually quite robust - I've only had one that lost a pad out of "a lot" of repairs for other reasons (mostly memory). That said excess heat will delaminate the board same as any other (ask Andreas Zahrl about his D64 - that took some serious fixing). The *only* parts on that board that are problematic to obtain are the SAM, cartridge port and the VDG. There is a modern replacement for the SAM, I'm working on a modern replacement for the VDG and there are compatible parts for the cartridge port but they lack the mechanical fixings (or cost a small fivetune to obtain due to minimum order size)
Forget to mention the LM1889N modulator in that list of problems - plenty of them in dead spectrums but then the chip tends to be dead too. The lack of colour initially (when the voltage is low) is likely to be the modulator failing to build the PAL signal properly - the +5V and -5V need to be pretty closely matched otherwise it all goes either very muted (low -5V), fails to run at all (low +5V), or it just fails to drive the crystal for the carrier frequency. The DragonPlus RGB board bypasses the modulator, as does my VDG replacement
Awesome explanation Julian. Again I really appreciate the insights you have with the Dragon. Please keep in touch with updates to your projects. I’m really interested in seeing how you do.
I would have gone my usually panicky route and try to re-solder the sound chip (and messing up everything on the way). 😅
I tend to get confused at first if something screws up, before getting weirdly methodical in testing all the things. Mostly though I just need time to work the problem before I find the cause and/or a solution. :)
Lovely power supply! Keep the old one, in case you want to restore the unit to its original state. Apart from the strange dust (almost reminding me of asbestos, but I can't see a way that crap could end up there, especially on pots only), there was hair inside too - I'd blow some compressed air at it. LM309K is a linear regulator, a counterpart of 7805 in a TO-3 package. It will dissipate power equal to (Vin - 5V) * I, which means the higher the input voltage and the higher the current, the more heat it dissipates and the lesser its efficiency. Modern switch mode power supplies run at 70% efficiency at least and the losses are proportional to output power rather than input voltage. That's why I used a switch mode counterpart of a 7805 in my Commodore 64 supply that I built into the original enclosure.
Don’t worry. I always keep the boards that get replaced, just in case. And thanks for the tips sweetie. Much appreciated. :)
How primative is that serial bus
They shouldnt of produced the plus4 instead they should have made a commodore 32 for junior school kids for $99 and stuck at it until the amiga arrived
yay! that's a happy spectrum!!! \o/
Thank you for a great video.
Reminding me why I used dual Xeon workstations with Nvidia Quadro cards for my 3D animation. Now the workstation I had at the time of the G5, the case was not nearly as cool as the G5 Power Mac. I couldn't even use its case when I upgraded later around 2009 because it just had a few tabs that didn't except it's motherboard. The next tower looked even less cool, but was even more utilitarian as having multiple bays for RAID with SATA/SASS HHDs, having just enough space to allow "quiet" fans with the dual Xeon processors, and a bus system that could allow multiple Nvidia cards. From then onto now, it seems Apple just charges way too much of a premium if you're looking for the best workstation performance. However, I have just gotten a M3 Max 16" MacBook Pro. Compared to some of the PC laptops I have used for video compression, I have found it could have a huge advantage in speed when it comes to faster hardware encoding with Dolby Vision. I just recently upgraded to Apple Silicon and it looks like it was a good decision because there is enough software that utilizes it.
Good Work 👍