classic-computers.org.nzNews and UpdatesRecently it was bought to my attention that some people visit the top page on this domain to see if there has been any changes in any of the sections. Updates can be hard to find. Some of the sub-sites here have RSS feeds but not all are equipped with these. Also, some people just like to browse rather than subscribe. In response to this feedback, I've started this News and Updates page. Here you'll find any changes or additions to the material on this domain starting from late September 2009. The newest change will be at the top. Enjoy! |
19th January, 2012. Added a blog article titled Software for a Sinclair QL : From microdrive to disk drive |
9th January, 2012. Added a blog article titled Macintosh Classic II shows vertical stripes and won't boot. A safer alternative to the "Dishwasher" solution |
4th January, 2012. Finished the "disk images back to floppy" articles. |
23rd December, 2011. Started a series of "how-to" articles for writing disk images back to real floppy disks. The first ones are for CP/M machines, the Apple II and the Amiga. |
14th December, 2011. Added information on a floppy disk file extraction and recovery service. |
11th December, 2011. Added a blog article on an RCA CDP1802 (COSMAC) trainer of unknown origin. |
5th December, 2011. Added a blog article on reparing a BBC (b) Power supply . |
20th November, 2011. Added a blog article titled TRS-80 Model 4 file transfer. |
30th October, 2011. Added an article by Garry Howarth on a System 80 repair and ROMDOS/80 to the System 80 site. |
29th October, 2011. Added a blog article titled TRS-80 Model 1 RS-232 - The puzzling case of the burnt-out baud rate generator |
17th October, 2011. Added a blog article titled Commodore disk drive emulation with PETdisk - A modern-day storage and file transfer solution for the Commodore PET |
26th September, 2011. Added a blog article titled The NEC PC-8281a and The Personal Application Kit - A cassette drive plus software for the NEC PC-8201a |
6th August, 2011. Added a blog article titled Deleting At Ease on a Macintosh Classic II |
20th July, 2011. Added a blog article titled Black and white monitor blank out: An easy fix (I think) |
18th July, 2011. Added a small section on the Dick Smith Green Screen Monitor (X-1198) to the Hardware Accessories page of the System 80 site, together with a PSU schematic. |
16th July, 2011. Altered the article on the RX-8800 to mention its manufacturer |
15th July, 2011. Added a blog article titled Repairing two faulty Commodore PET mainboards - Part 2 |
14th July, 2011. Added a blog article titled Repairing two faulty Commodore PET mainboards - Part 1 |
4th July, 2011. Added a blog article titled Upgrading ROMS with EPROMS in a Commodore PET |
2nd July, 2011. Added a blog article titled Exidy Sorcerer BASIC ROM-PAC repair (Part 2) - ROM replacement with EPROM |
26th June, 2011. Added a blog article titled Exidy Sorcerer BASIC ROM-PAC repair (Part 1) - Diagnosis |
23rd June, 2011. Replaced the System 80 Networking ROM binary with the full dump from 3000H to 37FFH (the old one went to 35FF) |
8th June, 2011. Added a blog article titled Welcoming an Exidy Sorcerer and added the Sorcerer to my Collections Website. |
5th June, 2011. Added a blog article titled A massive 5.25 inch floppy disk haul. |
17th May, 2011. Added a new Micro-80 scan to the Dick Smith System 80 site. |
28th April, 2011. Added a blog article titled Another Apple 8-bit adventure: Restoring two Apple IIe units (Starts with Part 1 but has 5 parts). |
24th April, 2011. Added a blog article titled Removing graffiti and marks from computer cases: An IBM 5151 Monochrome Monitor. |
25th April, 2011. Added some new material to the System 80 site. |
11th April, 2011. Replaced the IBM PS/2 photos on the Model 70 and Model 30-286 pages |
4th April, 2011. Replaced the Lisa photo on the Lisa collections page |
3rd April, 2011. Added a blog article titled Repairing Apple Lisa 2 512k Memory Boards (Error 70) |
5th March, 2011. Added a blog article titled Repairing and Rejuvenating an Apple Lisa 2/10 (Macintosh XL) |
4th March, 2011. Added a blog article titled Downloadable games and other software for the Commodore Pet |
26th February, 2011. Added an interview with Murray Balchin, inventor of the System 80 networking schools modification to the System 80 site. |
3rd February, 2011. Updated parts of the System 80 website. Added the last two "missing" Micro-80 issues (Vol 1 #5 and #9) to the Micro 80 download section and added some more Dick Smith advertisements. |
21st January, 2011 - Added a blog article titled De-yellowing computers with laundry whiteners (i.e. sodium percarbonate) only |
11th January, 2011 - Added a blog article titled Time and Date fixes for an IBM XT, a Kaypro 4 and a Pentium 1 |
11th January, 2011 - Added a blog article titled Salvaging an Apple Lisa 2 |
3rd January, 2011 - Added a blog article titled A games library for a Spectravideo 728 |
2nd January, 2011 - Added the Spectravideo 728 to my collection page |
29th December, 2010 - Tweaked the previous blog article Fixing an Atari 400 "garbage screen" issue to include the keyboard fix |
29th December, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Stocking up a Model 4 with software |
20th December, 2010 - Added a blog article titled A Christmas Kaypro 4 |
25th November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled A new Spectravideo 728 |
23rd November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Wellington haul - The aftermath |
21st November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Sussing out a Shimasu 286-16 and also added a Planned Projects page to the blog site |
20th November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Exploring a Commodore PC-10 III |
14th November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Impressions of the Commodore PC-5 |
13th November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Checking out three IBM PS/2 30-286s |
9th November, 2010 - Added the Telecom Computerphone to the collections site |
9th November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Firing up a New Zealand Telecom Computerphone (aka ICL One-per-desk or OPD)! |
6th November, 2010 - Added an IBM XT page to the collections site |
6th November, 2010 - Added a blog article titled Repairing and Restoring an IBM XT |
30th October, 2010 - Added information about a networking modification to the System 80 site |
28th October, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Dick Smith System 80 video problem: Another one! |
27th October, 2010 - Made the X-4020 expansion unit technical manual available on the System 80 site and made several tweaks in text pertaining to the expansion unit elsewhere. |
22nd October, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Frustrating floppy controller fix in a Dick Smith System 80 X-4020 Expansion Unit |
21st October, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Mysterious RAM problems in two Dick Smith System 80 X-4020 Expansion Units |
2nd October, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Restoring a second Dick Smith System 80 Part 4: Removing the yellow from the keys |
2nd October, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Restoring a second Dick Smith System 80 Part 3: Instability and a CPU board swap |
30th September, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Restoring a second Dick Smith System 80. Part 2: Cassette repair |
28th September, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Restoring a 2nd Dick Smith System 80. Part 1: Missing memory fix |
14th September, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Restoring three Dick Smith System 80 drives |
12th September, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Wellington vintage computer haul |
6th September, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled TRS-80 Model III fails to boot |
6th September, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Kaypro II boot failure fix. A lesson in making assumptions |
5th September, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Fixing an Atari 400 "garbage screen" issue |
30th August, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article titled Faulty RAM traced to power supply in an Atari 800XL |
27th August, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on A wavy video fix for a System 80 / Video Genie. |
27th August, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on A Dick Smith System 80 / Video Genie parts haul. |
30th July, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on Restoring a System 80 / Video Genie/ PMC-80 Part 5: Adding a switch for sound |
27th July, 2010 - Uploaded a blog artcle on Restoring a System 80 / Video Genie/ PMC-80 Part 4: Another cassette issue fixed |
11th July, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on restoring a System 80 / Video Genie/ PMC-80 Part 3: A replacement case, keyboard, RF cable and a cassette toggle switch |
7th July, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on restoring a System 80 / Video Genie/ PMC-80 Part 2: Fixing a cassette deck problem |
2nd July, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on Restoring a System 80 / Video Genie/ PMC-80 Part 1: Repairing a screen flicker issue |
30th June, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on repairing a Dick Smith System 80/ Video Genie/ PMC-80 power supply unit. |
29th June, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on fixing a disk corruption / reboot / no-boot problem on a System 80. |
29th June, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on a Tandon TM100 -2A disk drive alignment on an IBM-PC (5150). |
28th June, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on adjusting the radial alignment a Tandon TM100 -2A drive without an alignment disk. |
17th June, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on Replacement rechargeable NiCad batteries for an Epson HX-20 |
12th April, 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on Repairing a Remex disk drive for a BBC (b). |
4th April 2010 - Changed the TRS-80 Model 100 entry to include the NEC 8201a |
24th March 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on Stocking up software for a Kaypro II. |
6th March 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on the limitations of some replacement EPROMS. |
4th March 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on diagnosing an apple IIe screen issue. |
26th February 2010 - Uploaded a blog article on fixing a Kaypro II keyboard problem. |
24th February 2010 - Uploaded two blog articles. One on fixing an NEC 8201a and the other on errors in the NEC 8201a service manual. |
19th February 2010 - Uploaded two blog articles. One on a Kaypro keyboard substitution with a Model 100 and the other on getting CP/M disks written in a 1.2Mb drive on a P4! |
10th February 2010 - Uploaded a blog article - Tips on buying a vintage computer |
2nd February 2010 - Uploaded the original Kaypro II users guide for download |
15th January 2010 - Uploaded a blog article "Smoke from a Kaypro II - The fault and the fix" |
1st January 2010 - Uploaded a blog article "Maintaining an Atari 8-bit software collection using the Atarimax Universal SIO2PC Interface" |
22nd December 2009 - Uploaded issue 4.3 (Nov, 1985) of NZ Bits and Bytes |
21st December 2009 - Uploaded issue 4.1 (Sept, 1985) of NZ Bits and Bytes. |
20th December 2009 - Uploaded issue 3.11 (Aug, 1985) of NZ Bits and Bytes. |
13th December 2009 - Uploaded a service manual for the Micro Peripherals Model 51 and 52 Flexible Disk Drive (MPI-51, MPI-53) |
9th December 2009 - Added two blog entries. One on cracking open a Compaq SLT/286 laptop computer, and the other on fixing the Dallas battery in that same machine. |
14th November 2009 - Added Issue 4.4 (December 1985) to the New Zealand Bits and Bytes site AND wrote a blog entry describing a keyboard replacement for my Commodore Pet |
4th November 2009 - Added a blog entry on my new NEC 8201a |
5th October 2009 - Added Issue 4.2 (October 1985) to the New Zealand Bits and Bytes site. |
4th October 2009 - Added Issue 3.9 (June 1985) to the New Zealand Bits and Bytes site. |
3rd October 2009 - Added impressions of OS/2 2.1 to the blog site. |
1st October 2009 - Added a new model to my collection, an IBM PS/2 Model 70. Also added a blog entry on the restoration of this machine. |
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