Hey Birt! What'cha Workin' On? Professional nerd and tinkerer. An eclectic mix of vintage tech, new tech and R&D aimed at the hobbyist/enthusiast.
Joined June 2019
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1,536 Photos and videos
In this video we take a look at two Atari 2600s. A ‘Light Six’ & a ‘4-swtich Woody’. These were a rare local pick up & were all the rage when I was a kid. We’ll see if we can get both units working & perhaps do a composite modification on one. youtu.be/xcvMHWPXBpA
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Two new pocket computer book scans.
Advanced Analysis with the Sharp EL-5100 Scientific Calculator
archive.org/details/advanced…
Sharp RL-5500III Operation Manual:
archive.org/details/sharp-el…
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Found you can use 26pin female IDC to 25-pin D-sub parallel adapters cables for a PC to convert the M100 LPT to standard DB25 LPT. If you happen to have a Centronics cable it makes a cheap adapter. The 'M100 printer cables' are selling for $25~$35 on eBay which seems silly.
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Quiz: What console/version are these boards out of?
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Traveling Software catalogs & Portable Program Newsletter. Converted to PDF and OCRed. Note: for PPN there are two separate PDFs to get OCR to work.
archive.org/details/Travelin…
archive.org/details/Portable…
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In this video we follow up from a video several months ago with repair of a Chipmunk 3.5” disk drive for the M100. These rare & I managed to really screw things up. Follow along as we to unscrew the screw up and finally get it working again.
youtu.be/4RXk67DQ3n0
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Over the past few years more than 1,000 vintage Alps plotter mechs have been saved with these brass little gears. More arrived today, enough to fix 1,000 more Alps mechs!!
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Expecting @DHLexpress shipment. Paid import duties 2 days ago tracking confirms but also shows shipment held because payment not made. Stupid automated chat & phone system both say everything OK, shipment arriving today. No way to talk to real human. @DHLexpress this stinks.
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Well, after showing out for delivery in a different state at 11:45AM it was delivered at my house at 12:15PM.
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@DHLexpress perhaps this is your new 'quantum' shipping service?
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I just used an electric carving knife to cut PU-RAM Polyurethane Foam RF Absorber. I saw this type of tool recommended for this application and gave it a whirl. It works very, very well. Strange using a kitchen tool for electronics work :)
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Some more scans. This time vintage Japanese pocket computer ads.
archive.org/details/Vintage_…
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In this video we demonstrate the process of replacing the battery inside the Sharp CE-160, CE-161, CE-163 RAM modules. It is not a hard job once you figure out how to get the case apart. A link to the battery used is in video description.
youtu.be/jUIjjTDcdGI
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Spent past several weeks scanning, touching up, OCRing almost every issue of Pocket Computer Newsletter including many of the advertising flyers that were included with carious issues. A few missing items detailed in the file "Notes.txt" .
archive.org/details/pcn_2026…
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Recently learned from someone who used to program Panasonic HHC pocket computer for insurance company that Panasonic released an HHC Forth compiler for the Apple II (to make ROMs). Would be interesting to locate this compiler.
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Found out name of package was: System Development Tools (HHC /SDT)
Hopefully will get PDF of manual soon. Program still has not been found.
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Perhaps the last NOS PC-1500 LCD bezel was installed on this day, 10 May, 2026. Now to install a CE-1500T turbo kit and find this fine PC-1500A a new owner.
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In this video we take a look at Bob’s Weller WES51 soldering station; it’s not feeling ‘so hot’. We’ll diagnose the problem & make an educated guess was to what parts need to be replaced. Faults with this model seem common. Hopefully we’ll get’er fixed.
youtu.be/ABgz1_lCSto
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Absurdity of 'alternative energy'. What size battery pack to power NYC for 1 hour? 24 hours? Compare to building nuclear plants? This does not take into consideration cost and short lifespan of the windmills and solar panels needed to power and 'alternative energy' pipe dream.
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While filming a segment for a new Ferengi Friday 2026 video I found 6 video segments from 2022 and 2023 that had never been released. This led to ‘The LOST episode!’, a bit overly dramatic perhaps but still some need vintage computer acquisitions.
youtu.be/qx95I9W8-5U
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