1. Not old. Vintage. :)

What's new Pussycat too?

Discussion in 'SIG: General Chat' started by M.D.Baker, May 4, 2020.

  1. by M.D.Baker
    M.D.Baker

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    20210113_174425.jpg 20210113_174821.jpg My Oscilloscope arrived today. The same exact model I had 15 years ago. Though one or two of the interchangeable modules were different. This one is dual beam, with 2 differential amplifiers and one Time Base amplifier.It's in good cosmetic condition, after a good cleaning. I believe this is a Goodwill or Salvation Army charity/thrift store discard. I worked at a Goodwill store with donation drop-off center while I was attending tech school in the early 2000's and they would not sell any electronic donations, beyond TV's because the the Goodwill regional President had heard that electronics contain PCB's and she knew PCB's were toxic! LOL! And this Oscilloscope has it's power cable cut off as they had us do to all electronics before tossing them. I explained the situation to my manager and a regional guy when he dropped by once, to try and stem the tide of vintage electronics going to the landfill for no good reason, but I was a nobody, so...

    There were also some loose wires hanging out the top when it arrived, so I removed the side cover to investigate and there is one board missing from it's spot on that side. It looks like someone was bypassing a bad board that was removed with something external as the loose wires were connected to a wire harness from the PSU board. I'll have to investigate. In the meantime I'll repair the power cord and power her on and see what works and what doesn't.

    Here it is on my workbench, amidst a Sophia 2 and PBI cable install. My little workbench is getting crowded!
     
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  2. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
    Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine

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    MD Baker VS Graham.......Bench warsssssssss

    This time it's personal.......

    :)

    Nice setup there Matt, despite my background I would not have a clue with most of that kit..You have fun now...
     
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  3. by M.D.Baker
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    I had another table that sat next to my DIY workbench (from scrap wood) but I had to let it go so I could fit my audio/video electronics console, with my stereo system, etc., in the room. Things will fall into place and find places once I get paneling up in my room and add in some more shelving.
     
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  4. by M.D.Baker
    M.D.Baker

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    I decided to go for broke with the last of my expendable income and ordered three NOS games, 2 slightly damaged sealed games. But for a small fraction of Mint NOS or even other "good condition" used versions. Continuing to build up my Strategy/RPG/Wargame collection as I can and fine stuff for reasonable prices.

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  5. by Andy Barr
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    FANtastic, Matt.

    I can thoroughly recommend em - hours of superb strategy game play there with informative, historically accurate scenarios, manuals, maps and those "what if...?" variants too to try.

    Brilliant.

    You will not go wrong with these.
     
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  6. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
    Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine

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    Not my sort of games but I'd love to have a library of each machines titles on display, the covers were pretty much always better looking than the games themselves but there were so many just superb boxes from the 2600 era onwards. Some of the Ollie Frey painted stuff on the C64 Thalamus range were just works of art.

    All I have to do now is win the lottery twice and buy a big home for it all, I'll do that on Saturday, bit knackered at the moment..
     
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  7. by M.D.Baker
    M.D.Baker

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    This is my reason for buying original games; for display. I don't even know if I'll become a fan of these type of games. I never bothered back in the day, because I didn't have the interest or attention span for such titles. My interest has changed and we shall see if my attention span has too...I think it has...but I haven't sat down and really got started on any of them yet (out of the couple I already own of this type).
     
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  8. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
    Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine

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    Ha ha...You and I are very similar in many ways...The attention span in my case has changed as well and like you, BITD I never collected real games. Saying that I don't collect them now but that is purely based on situation and money.
     
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  9. by M.D.Baker
    M.D.Baker

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    My ENDER3 3D printer arrived today, some assembly required! :eek: I just got done checking off that all parts were there, and they are, except I was supposed to get 10 zip-ties and they only included 5! Should I return it?:p

    As well as two spools of PLA filament I ordered separately, thank God, as the sample filament isn't much at all! On the other hand, I had no idea how HUGE the PLA spools I ordered would be!:jawdrop: But I got more for my money than I thought!:cool:

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  10. by Andy Barr
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    Nice...
    Christmas (2021) come early, Matt!
    GET INVOLVED!
     
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  11. by M.D.Baker
    M.D.Baker

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    I guess my EARLY 12 days of Christmas started yesterday and continues today! I received the SSI Field of Fire game and my Fujinet! This Fujinet seems a remarkable piece of equipment that I know very little about and need to read up on it all!

    I see that beyond Wi-Fi capabilities and who knows what else, it also has an SD card slot and a mini USB port on it. It plugs into the SIO and has a SIO pass-thru port, which is cool, and pretty much necessary for many people I guess, though since my 800 has a second SIO port now, it's not as necessary for me, but I can still use it to continue to use my original SIO port as a dead-end peripheral port if I ever need it.

    I got my Fujinet from The Brewing Academy, who pretty much sells it piece-meal with options for the bare board and extras like a 3D printed case and Jtag header + power switch for burning experimental code and the extra ability to turn the Fujinet off when I don't want it on, instead of having to unplug it.

    They offer a choice of 800, XL or XE style and colored cases, and I got the 800 style case since I'll be using it strictly with the 800 since the way I have my 1200XL setup I can't have PBI or SIO peripherals that stick up in the back, they have to lay flat. It's also the reason why I'm using the Turbo Freezer with the 800 as it can fit in my new 800 PBI port and the 800 is tall enough, that even with the new monitor stand I made for it, it still fits underneath.

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    I have so many new things I've yet to learn to use I feel like I'm back a tech college learning something new from each class! I still haven't learned most of how to use the Incognito, and the Turbo Freezer, and the Fujinet, and Pokeymax + Covox, and the 3D printer and a bunch of strategy games and productivity software I still haven't gotten around to learning either! I'm just glad that this time of year, for about another two months, is very slow as far as business work goes, so I have lots of free time (which will now be completely filled with learning all this stuff!). I did leave off Sophia 2 and learning it's new graphic modes, but that's because mine is dead and I had to return it. It will be a while before I get a replacement because Simius (who made it) says he has to receive and diagnose the Sophia 2 before he sends me another one, so that's round trip to Poland and back! Which really SUCKS!:mad:
     
  12. by M.D.Baker
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    On the first day of Christmas my true self gave gave to me, one Oscilloscope with frequencies to see. On the second day of Christmas my true self gave to me, one 3D printer for projects to keep me busy. On the third day of Christmas my true self gave to me one Field of Fire and a Fujinet with extra goodies...to be continued...:loopy:
     
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  13. by Andy Barr
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    It sounds very much like you will be tied up for the forseeable future, fella!

    Do come up for air from time to time and report in, won't you, bud.

    See you around Easter, mate.

    You are sincerely sorted in a major way and like you say, have Atari times ever been sweeter in terms of the amazing possibilities out there?

    I think not - grab these goodies with both hands and enjoy, Matt.
     
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  14. by M.D.Baker
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    All three of my war games arrived over the last few days. All were brand-new old stock, but two were listed as "damaged." But really only Field of Fire had some serious damage to the box, being torn in several places, and the original shrink-wrap, while still mostly on it was torn up where the box was damaged. So in it's case I just removed the shrink-wrap which had price and 'Family Computing' game-of-the-year stickers on it, which weren't original and hid the lovely art work, so that was fine. All I could do with the box was just carefully bring the torn areas back together again and tape it up the best I could. The contents inside are fine.


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    Crusade in Europe came still shrink wrapped and in mint condition, and Decision in the Desert, pretty much the same, and the damage was that the box had sort of "caved in" a bit because the original shrink wrap was shrunk too much, so over time it pulled the box inward. But no creasing or other damage was done to it.

    So I slit only the tops of the shrink wrap on both to access the goodies inside, all in perfect condition, except that the glue on the disk labels on both had long since dried up and the labels had fallen off, but still in good condition, so I'll have to glue them back on is all. As to the "crushed box" my solution was to use some sheets of Styrofoam I had laying around for crafts or packing and cut them to size and slip them in the box so they pushed the box out again to where is should be and all is good now, both sitting on my shelves in good order with shrink-wrap intact except slit open at the top, to continue protecting the boxes.

    The disk labels will be re-glued and put back in the boxes for safe keeping after I either copy them with my Happy 1050, or if not successful, I'll just write floppies from ATR's off the net to use. Manuals will remain out and carefully used until I know the games well (I don't like reading PDF manuals on a screen next to me if I don't have too).

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    I now have a total of 6 war games in my collection; SSI's Carrier Force in the big box format and Field of Fire and Wargame Construction Set in the smaller box format. Microprose's D.I.D. and C.I.E in the smaller thin cardboard format. Lastly Avalon Hill's Legionnaire in big box format. I guess it's time to dust my shelves, judging by the picture!:facepalm:

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  15. by Andy Barr
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    Nice round-up there, Matt, of some excellent software titles.

    Hand on heart, over the years, Crusade in Europe and Decision in the Desert have given me hours, days, weeks.... yeah, months of pleasure. I used to play these fab simulations for nights on end when in my batchelor flat between 86-93 and these were always my default strategy games to return to.

    In fact, I'd often ditch my ST and Amiga and fire these up instead, Matt - they can be that absorbing if you've an interest in recent history/wargaming and enjoy reading about the actual campaigns and then like to check them out as regards playing a computer simulated opponent OR getting another human to play the axis/allies - it's very interesting.

    Great artwork, media and accompanying printed materials so glad you've given the boxes and packaging your personal restoration touch and they're now virtually as good as the day they left the Microprose developers!

    Great exhibits in your mega mancave, mate.
     
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  16. by M.D.Baker
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    I'm sure I will really enjoy all aspects of all these wargames, once I'm done messing around with some Atari hardware and my 3D printer some more. But I do think I'll take a break this evening and give Decision in the Desert a go.

    Of all the battles and campaigns for WWII, the North African front and Montgomery vs. Rommel has always been the most fascinating to me.
     
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  17. by Vyper68
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    My UV lamp arrived from Hong Kong yesterday so I spent this morning building my EPROM UV Eraser.
    Consists of a metal biscuit tin ( a M&S Shortbread tin... I’m still a Scotsman at heart :) ) and the UV lamp which cost £7 and Bingo! working EPROM eraser.
    Took 20 Mins to wipe my 27c128’s and 256’s and they all showed as clear on my programmer.
    Who needs to spend £18 on a el cheapo Eraser :)
     
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  18. by M.D.Baker
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    Nice, that's something I have to get too, @Vyper68 . But atm, I don't really need to erase any eproms, I have new ones of sevreal 27XX(x) series that work with my R.D. XL/XE eprom burner. I'll be using it for the first time soon to burn some eproms for OS's and Basic for a couple XL's I'm redoing.

    I don't know if I have and Scot in me, I know I'm mostly Welsh from my Father's side and a bit of English and German from my mother's side. There may be some Scot mixed in there as well, I've never had one of those gene tests done yet. But I LOVE shortbread biscuits! I have some large shortbread tins around here now that I use for electronic bits and bobs. Large size, of course! I'll go through a tin like this in about a week! That's a slightly larger footprint than a sheet of A4 paper. I have three others just like it from Christmas. I only by the top dollar ones that come in tins, no plastic wrap or cardboard brand Shortbread for this boy!

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  19. by Vyper68
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  20. by Vyper68
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    My FujiNet arrived today and I had a quick test and it really is a great piece of kit. If you can get one then I recommend it.
     
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  21. by nysavant
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    Nice Richie :)

    Where did you get yours from again, any import charges?
     
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  22. by Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine
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    Someone is going to be retro brighting...
     
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  23. by Vyper68
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    I bought it from The Brewing Academy in the US and for some reason it went through customs without any charges or additional fees. Not complaining though, but it was probably the only time it will happen this year.
     
  24. by Vulcanman
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    Hi all,

    hope you are all well?

    Does anyone have a complete collection of the Page 6 issue disks that came with the magazine?

    regards

    Andy
     
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  25. by AlexDrito
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    What exactly the FujiNet is for? I mean, what services does it provide? Loading cartridges, disks or cassette images? Network connectivity? Thanks.
     
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