iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

This Old Computer

@thisoldcomputer.bsky.social

113 followers 126 following 57 posts

Long-time retro/vintage computer nerd. 1990s UNIX machines and anything else I like. Content is my own unless otherwise credited.

Posts Replies Media

This Old Computer @thisoldcomputer.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Apparently, February 2023. Was testing the McIDE MicroChannel to IDE adapter with a CF card on this PS/2 Model 70.

130

This Old Computer @thisoldcomputer.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Did anyone take home Neat Pete?

031

This Old Computer @thisoldcomputer.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Just looking back at some previous photos and thinking I should fire up my NeXT Cube. #nextcomputer #vintagecomputer #vintagecomputing #retrocomputer #itsaunixmachine

NeXT Turbo CPU board being cleaned. It features a Motorola 68040 CPU.

NeXT Turbo CPU board being cleaned. It features a Motorola 68040 CPU. I am using distilled water with Kodak Photoflo as a surfactant, and scrubbing with a toothbrush

NeXT Turbo CPU board being rinsed in the sink with distilled water. Later I will use isopropyl alcohol to assist drying with compressed air.

071

This Old Computer @thisoldcomputer.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Reminded today of this amazingly weird art in the Kaypro II owner’s manual. #vintagecomputer #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #kaypro #8bit #1980s #80sdesign

An illustration from the Kaypro II manual shows the computer displaying a grinning man’s face and extending a human arm with a rolled up shirtsleeve to shake hands with a businesswoman holding a copy of the manual. The page’s title reads “Meet The Kaypro!”

2206

This Old Computer @thisoldcomputer.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

My first "real" computer was a Tandy 1000SX, bought in November 1986. I was 9 at the time. My dad paid the princely sum of $1400 for it, after employee discount. 4 years later, we made the jump to 640kB of memory and a 20MB hard drive. And here are the receipts I've kept all this time.

A handwritten Radio Shack receipt from 1986, for the purchase of a Tandy 1000SX computer, printer, joystick, and software.

A printed Radio Shack receipt from 1990 for a RAM upgrade and 20MB hard disk

350

This Old Computer @thisoldcomputer.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

More on-topic for vintage computing: this past year I rebuilt the computer room racks to put them in a much more serviceable position, upgraded the UPSes, and rebuilt this 1980s power controller into an input power selector with new surge suppression guts. #electronics #datacenter #vintagecomputers

The home computer room so far is two 19" two-post racks. This is before the new power controller was installed.

A vintage 1980s "Marway Products" power controller was refreshed with new AC receptacles, and modified to have a selector between two different input circuits in the house. New GDT and MOV surge suppression devices were installed. The original line noise filter was retained.

The power controller in the rack, flipped over to the primary input power. The UPSes and anything that doesn't need backup power plug into this device.

060

This Old Computer @thisoldcomputer.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

I hadn't posted to my IG for quite a while (VCF East 2024 was... April?) but let's pick up where I left off: the early 90s Ukrainian/Soviet wall clock finally got mod'ed to run on its own power (mostly). #vintageelectronics #sovietaesthetic #electronics #electronicrepair #vintagecomputers

The clock's circuit board is on the bench, doing some trial and error with a resistive voltage divider to get the correct -27 volts for the weird Soviet clock chip.

The clock's board is connected to an oscilloscope while the quartz crystal is trimmed to the correct frequency.

The scope shows the correct frequency (32.768kHz) for the clock, but there's a fair amount of jitter. Over time it averages out to a perfectly good clock.

The Ukranian "RATA" clock, hanging on my office wall

150