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Data General Dasher Terminal CRT Repair

Hello!

In this video I had a to take a detour from my planned projects to fix the Dasher. It had been acting squirrely for a while but I was kicking the can on a deeper restoration until some other projects were done, but it had other plans. It was such a difficult problem to solve that for a while I was really stumped and not even sure I was going to be able to repair it at times.

I went with the scripted summary approach on this one again after the last video turned out so wel...

TT-2: Data General Dasher and microNOVA Serial Adapter Cables

Hello!

This is another simple little second channel video on making some cables for the Data General computer and terminal to make it possible to interface it with other devices. They use a very strange cable connector that nothing else does, so I make some custom cables to use normal DE-9 devices with them.

This was another video in a style more akin to my older videos. I actually filmed this video before that last second channel video but was holding it back since it kinda spo...

Data General microNOVA Almost Couldn't Be Fixed

Hello!

After the stream with Usagi and trying to fix the 6039 floppy drive I determined that there must be a problem with the microNOVA itself that was causing my inability to be able to write to memory. The solution to that problem ended up being as much luck as anything else to fix, because one of the custom Data General parts had failed.

The edit for this video didn't go at all how I initially planned it. After the underperformance of the last couple videos I decided that ful...

TT-2: Data General microNOVA Fan Meltdown

Hello!

This is a simple second channel video on a repair I had to do to the microNOVA after one of it's fans failed. I also wanted to take a moment to shout out bone conduction headphones as a fantastic safety option when working around things like this because the fan problem would have been a lot worse without them.

This is a continuation of my attempts to mix in some more lower effort stuff on the second channel. The production method I'm aiming for with these is completely d...

Supporter Update: March 2025

Hello!

I've wanted to do this update video for a while but every time I did it something changed right after I filmed it! Right now it's all still accurate, though the stream subject I said I was doing changed because the Dasher terminal stopped showing video...I have a very solid lead on the problem so I'm not concerned but this project sure is keeping me busy.

The main thing I wanted to talk about is that it is a really weird position I'm in right now with the vi...

Data General 6039 Floppy Drive Bring Up

Hello!

The work continues on the Data General microNOVA, in this video I decided to turn my attention to the 6039 dual floppy drive unit. The inability to change memory that we found at the end of the last video turned out to not be us not knowing how to use the machine. Something funny is going on. My hope is that getting the floppy drive connected to the machine will either make it work or at least give an indication of what it is trying to do.

I am still all Data General a...

Data General microNOVA Refurb and Powered Up!

Hello!

Sorry this one took longer to edit, it was of course filmed on the same day as the first part of this stream with Usagi Electric but the edit for it was absolutely brutal. I've also been extremely busy with continuing to work on the microNOVA and if you've been watching the live streams you know how much of an adventure that has been! A lot more research and work has been going on off camera as I get up to speed on Data General stuff, surprise surprise, it's not a ...

2nd Channel Vid: Variac Bring up of HP 5245L Electronic Counter (With Nixie Tubes!)

Hello!

A quick little second channel video here that some of you might find interesting. I finally had a chance to try out a Variac I was given when I got an HP 5245L Electronic Counter with an all linear power supply. My goal here was to document the entire bring up process using the variac to give a feel for how it works. So it's intentionally fairly light on the editing.

Also, this counter is gorgeous, I have plans for it that should be pretty cool when I have time for a rand...

Data General Dasher Terminal Refurb With UsagiElectric!

Hello!

Alright, it finally happened. A Data General device has actually been brought back to life on my channel! And with the help of the incredible Usagi Electric!

Seriously though, we tore into this thing on a mission in the stream I announced over a week ago and it went fantastically! This is an edit of the stream and while I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, trust me this one WORKED. I don't think this would have been anywhere near as good if it wasn't live.

This...

The 8086's Last Gasp - Tandy 1000 RL Hard Drive

Hello again!

This week's video is a simple one because I've been prepping for the upcoming stream. I figured I'd take a look at getting a Tandy 1000 RL Hard Drive working. I saved this machine from scrap a while ago and figured it probably needed something. So my main goal on this was just to go through the hardware thoroughly to look for problems (which I found!) and then see if it worked. This also happens to be an 8086 based computer that came out in 1990! Imagine you went to go buy...

UPCOMING STREAM: Data General Dasher Terminal With Usagi Electric

Hello!

I've got a really special announcement, on February 18th (just under a week from now) Usagi Electric will be stopping by the office and we're going to tear into my Data General Dasher Terminal to try to get it working! We're going to live stream the adventure in it's entirety and later I will be editing it into a more digestible video. It should be a fun time and hopefully a positive outcome!

The start time of the stream will depend on your timezone, so I recommend checki...

February 2025 Supporter Update

Hello!

I needed to just sit and work today on some capacitor sorting while waiting for something and I figured it was a perfect opportunity to record an update video. Spoiler, I don't have any news on the office, but at this point I'm fairly confident that whenever a new lease is available it will be fine. But I went over a few other topics that will give you some insight into how I'm approaching some things in some upcoming projects, as a teaser, Microsoft Office 97's Word makes an ap...

GPIB On Linux

Hello!
First, this video is going to be re-rendered tomorrow, my server decided to add a line in the lower middle of this for no reason. The audio is also not great for a chunk of it because my mic lost connection when I wandered outside after we got hour first rain in over 160 days. I didn't notice it for a while , sorry.

The last couple weeks have been very busy for me and I almost delayed the next video by a week. But this project got close enough that I decided to push it over t...

MFM Hard Drive Archiving - MFM Emulator/Reader

Hello!

I'm barely getting this one in under the wire, but things haven't gone according to plan recently. This device has been on my radar for a while but I didn't have a great reason to get it. But after working on that nightmare 5160 system and wanting to image that drive before giving it back I realized it was time to add it to my stable of tools.

This is the MFM Reader/Emulator by David Gesswein, it is a device capable of reading (and writing I think but I haven't tested th...

Every IBM PC Problem at Once - Nightmare 5160 Repair

Hello!

With the holidays messing with schedules I was hoping to do a make a simple video out of a stream. My subject was an IBM 5160 recently acquired by a family member that I offered to help fix because it showed no signs of life. I started this out thinking it might be a quick diagnosis of a dead PSU and maybe a shorted cap, but I was in for a whole lot more than that it turned out.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/...

10G Fiber Home Network and Rebuilding my Sever Rack

Hello!

Depending on how you look at it, this video has been in the works for 3 months, 1 year, or 3 years because I've been planning this for at least that long. I just completed a total rebuild of my home network and server rack to finally solve all of the issues I've had over the years with my setup. The backbone is 10Gb but there are some 40Gb and 2.5Gb runs in there too. I've been working on this off and on for months and as I was finishing the last video I got it to the point wher...

Thermal Camera for Hardware Debugging

Hello!

This is a video concept I've been keeping in my back pocket in hopes of making it to cover a break at some point, but instead I'm using it to cover for a bigger project on redoing my network hardware. Oh well.

I recently picked up a thermal camera after I had some floppy drives blow up in my face...literally. I wanted a method of finding problematic parts and that's where a thermal camera excels. I've been playing around with it since I picked it up and it's already revea...

Apple II HDMI Card - A2DVI

Hello!

This was an impromptu video after I ended up spending most of my recent time on testing new hardware for an eventual 10Gb fiber network project for my editing machines at home.

This video is about the A2DVI, a new Apple II card that outputs video over HDMI! I was sent this card recently and wanted to check it out. My expectations were blown away, it's definitely staying in my II+ from now on!

Video Link: 2024-11-22 17:49:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Software on Paper - 1985 Cauzin Softstrip

Hello!

This is the video I've been working on for nearly a month. Almost entirely in research and testing, and also learning more about the Apple II plus I needed to use it with. This is about the Cauzin Softstrip reader which I don't even remember how I found out about, but it's been something I've been after for years. Finally the perfect listing for me showed up on ebay that was just complete enough to work but without blasting a hole in my wallet and I jumped on it. I...

Apple II Learns to Print

Hello!

The project I've been working on had to take a detour to an Apple II and covered pretty much everything I wanted to in a followup video to my first time with an Apple II from last year. So I figured there was no better time to make this video than now, and it turned out waiting a bit to come back to the Apple II worked in my favor because it's now easier to work with disk images than ever for me!

There were a cascading failure of different audio issues with this video and...

CP/M On a TRS-80 Model 100 - REXCPM

Hello!

When I recapped my TRS-80 Model 100 I had installed a REXCPM with the intention of learning how to use it later. This is a really cool device that allows you to run CP/M on a Model 100! When I went to do that though, the process was a lot more complicated than I expected and the steps weren't explained in a way that clicked with me the first time. So I figured after I finally got it working I would make a more clear set of instructions myself and put this video together showing ...

[Preview] EPYC Server Noctua Fan Conversion

Hello!

Yet again, this one took longer to get done than I expected. But I had another life thing happen in the background I had to scramble to attend to that took up more of my time. I think it accidentally made this video better though and might change how I handle projects like this in the future. I had 5 hours of footage I was going to edit down and I knew that would take too much time, so instead I just wrote a script and then picked only the highlights of the project to touch on. ...

Cataloging and Asset Tracking with a Wiki

Sorry this one took so long and I didn't have any preview time. I ended up changing directions on the next video and didn't have as much time as I thought to get this one done. But the next video is already mostly filmed at least.

In this one I am taking a look at the results of a few months of more intense work on my personal wiki where I've been cataloging software and hardware. I've also got it working for asset tracking after some custom code and getting Semantic Mediawiki working....

Supporter Update: September 2024

Hello!

I finally had things be stable for long enough to make this video. So many paths have been gone down during the last month or so that I almost forgot to mention some pretty huge things that happened. The main point is that I still don't know if I'm moving or not, I'm now just stuck waiting on my new landlord to send me a new lease to know what the cost would be if I stay.

This has been a very mentally taxing time since the building was sold so I want to apologize for the ...

Open Floppy Surgery - Warped Disk Fix

Hello!

A small one here but I needed to image a disk with a sticking jacket and knew transplanting the media itself would be the best option. I'd never done that myself or seen it done so I figured a simple second channel video documenting it might be helpful.

The next main channel video is getting filmed this weekend so I'm not going to have a preview ready tomorrow but I'll get it done as soon as I can after filming.

Video Link: 2024-08-30 15:19:52 +0000 UTC View Post

Video Preview: Mail (August 2024)

Hello!

This is the first video I'm doing the method I mentioned where this is not the final release version. This is missing the printout at the end and I still need to film that to add it (partially because the printer I use for that had to make a cameo in the video). Since this video won't be public I was able to disable ads on it for supporters too which I've never liked having (but I would definitely forget to re-enable them when making it public). This will also allow me to schedu...

TRS-80 Model 4 High Resolution Addon

Hello!

Sorry for posting this one late, a project I'm trying to get into a usable state has been a pain and this slipped my mind.

This video is one I've been wanting to make since I first got my TRS-80 Model 4 but was extremely nervous about it and wanted to wait until I had every possible part I could use all at once. That day finally came and in this video I install a high resolution addon board!

Two things I want to mention about what's happening behind ...

Keypad-Fix Review - Carbon Pad Keyboard Repair

Hello!

Sorry this one is going up a couple days later than I meant, I've been distracted by things right now.

This video was an attempt at a "better" stream edit, making the video was the main goal and streaming was just a timeslot that I could do it. I might make a couple more of these videos to "bank" some coming up but we'll see what happens.

The actual subject of this video is a yet another non-functional Commodore PET graphics keyboard. This one isn't mine though and...

IBM 5154 EGA Monitor Repair...Eventually

Hello!

I recently needed an EGA monitor for a project where I'm trying to get a PCB design package working on an 8088 system. This IBM 5154 was coincidentally just listed on ebay right as I was loosing my mind and giving up on VGA cards, and out of pure desperation, I bought it. I figured I would need to refurb the PSU and it would be back up and running. Well not to spoil it, but that was just the first step in a journey to get it working again.

Video Link: 2024-07-06 14:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Supporter Update - July 2024

Hello,

I need to do a quick supporter update here because there are some unexpected changes with the office that are going to impact whether or not I stay here and upcoming video production.

Nothing is immediately changing, but I have less than four months left in my lease now and I do not know if I will be able to renew it. Information is still coming in but with the short time left I'm beginning to prepare to move again in case I have to. I'm continuing video production as no...