Mclaneinc Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Loving these stories, being a pillock is very easy but often very destructive... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 38 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: It was not, fortunately. That's good news ? . In that box of parts you should find one of these in an unassembled state. Link to Schematic Link to MIDI products So if you want to at least play around with the MIDI Synth, this will give you an easy way to do that utilizing your 1088XEL. Although you might still need to run a jumper to pick up the SIO CLK-IN line if your XEL is of the pre-production design, which I believe it was. Getting back to dumb things I've done. I also plugged 9VAC into my first 1088XEL instead of the 5VDC it required, which blew out a number of things in a very similar way to what happened on your XLD build . The silver lining was that it forced me select a different size power jack than the one Atari used for the 9VAC, thus probably saving many other people from the same catastrophe. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 9 minutes ago, mytek said: So if you want to at least play around with the MIDI Synth, this will give you an easy way to do that utilizing your 1088XEL. Although you might still need to run a jumper to pick up the SIO CLK-IN line if your XEL is of the pre-production design, which I believe it was. Thanks - I will add that to the list of things to do when I get some free time. 10 minutes ago, mytek said: Getting back to dumb things I've done. I also plugged 9VAC into my first 1088XEL instead of the 5VDC it required, which blew out a number of things in a very similar way to what happened on your XLD build . The silver lining was that it forced me select a different size power jack than the one Atari used for the 9VAC, thus probably saving many other people from the same catastrophe. I think I remember that episode. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 1 hour ago, mytek said: Getting back to dumb things I've done. I also plugged 9VAC into my first 1088XEL instead of the 5VDC it required, which blew out a number of things in a very similar way to what happened on your XLD build . The silver lining was that it forced me select a different size power jack than the one Atari used for the 9VAC, thus probably saving many other people from the same catastrophe. That didn't save me from doing the same with my XEL. ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 1 hour ago, DrVenkman said: That didn't save me from doing the same with my XEL. ? Can you elaborate? Was your build also based on the original jack or the new one that's the current spec? Because unless you used a hammer, the Atari 9VAC plug will not fit the jack specified in the official BOM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 13 minutes ago, mytek said: Can you elaborate? Was your build also based on the original jack or the new one that's the current spec? Because unless you used a hammer, the Atari 9VAC plug will not fit the jack specified in the official BOM. Oh, it was the original. I got my kit of parts put together before the BOM change. Very fortunate I only lost a CF card and the XEL CF2 interface. Everything else was perfectly fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 45 minutes ago, DrVenkman said: Oh, it was the original. I got my kit of parts put together before the BOM change. Very fortunate I only lost a CF card and the XEL CF2 interface. Everything else was perfectly fine. Yes I think I remember that now. But that wasn't a dumb thing on your part. It was really my fault. Anyway glad to hear all turned out pretty much OK for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) The DUMBEST thing in the universe I did (which I still resent to this day) was.... NOT buying EVERY single 1400XL that appeared back in the day, when they were thought as disposable relics that no one really thought what to do with them.... That was so stupid.... One thing I am getting ready to fire heavy ammunition for, when the right time comes.... Edited March 4, 2021 by Faicuai 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 About ten years ago I decided to resurrect Old #26, my rare pre-production 800. When it didn't boot up I tried the usual chip reseating bit. Those lovely, precious, white chips would not budge from their sockets. I pried harder, even though I feared I might snap one in half. I got lucky and it finally came loose, though it left half of one gold pin in the socket. Idiot! I left the other one alone and fashioned a way to make contact between the socket and the remaining stub. This happened after I took the photo below. After much troubleshooting I found the CPU was bad (the big black chip below) and the rest of the old girl worked fine. Hmm, it's about time to fire her up again. I hope I'll be a better curator this time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200XL M.U.L.E. Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Compared to what I did in my personal life, I look like a genius in my Atari life. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazzspeed Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) When it comes to electronics I'm not too bad (touch wood 'knocks head'). However, in my previous role as a mechanic there was that time I reassembled an auto trans after replacing all the clutch packs and put the one way clutch (which I actually marked before removal for correct orientation on installation) in backwards. Needless to say I went first, second, third and....Nothing. Burnt out all the clutch packs I'd just replaced. Frying an EPROM is one thing, auto transmissions are bloody heavy to lug back out again. Needless to say, I only ever made that mistake once. Burnt auto trans fluid...Ugh. Edited March 4, 2021 by Mazzspeed 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 I like to learn new things and I'm usually pretty good at doing that but I mostly know my limitations (which are many), my most proud thing was learning to make furniture, right down to the staining and lacquering of it, my first bits had mistakes (bad sanding) but within 2 weeks I was making what I was told were perfect cabinets etc. One thing I'm rubbish at is car work, mostly due to the lifting but I always find that the manual and the car I'm working on don't tally up Electronics I'm ok on but there's stuff I'd not do myself or I seek help on (one reason I watch FJC's video's so often) Better to see it done right and well than do it without knowledge.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 48 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said: One thing I'm rubbish at is car work, mostly due to the lifting but I always find that the manual and the car I'm working on don't tally up Every Haynes manual is based on a complete teardown and rebuild. Of course, the teardown and rebuild will not be of the exact model you're trying to work on 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, ClausB said: (...) Gotta love those sexy-looking ceramic / gold chips... ?? They make look everything else toy-like.... Even the CPU looks like it does not belong in there! ???? Edited March 4, 2021 by Faicuai 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 3 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said: Every Haynes manual is based on a complete teardown and rebuild. Of course, the teardown and rebuild will not be of the exact model you're trying to work on The Haynes book of lies ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 13 minutes ago, mimo said: Every Haynes manual is based on a complete teardown and rebuild. Of course, the teardown and rebuild will not be of the exact model you're trying to work on Just done fuel filter and both track-rod end ball joints (no Haynes Manual Involved), now aching all over, not as young as I used to be 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 (edited) 2 minutes ago, TGB1718 said: Just done fuel filter and both track-rod end ball joints (no Haynes Manual Involved), now aching all over, not as young as I used to be I feel your pain. Back in October new radiator , underfloor pipes, alternator, ball joints, break pads , cam belt and water pump on my MG F. Just about got over it now And there isn't a Haynes manual for it either Edited March 4, 2021 by mimo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivop Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 Shorted a whole motherboard on the shielding: check. Misalligned a chip by 1 pin in a 40 pin socket: check. Or the keyboard connector: check. I never got beyond a bicycle But I once I could really have used some help of The Bicycle Repairman. You know, you fix a tire, forget to check the outer tire, put it all together, inflate it, and pssssssssssssssst 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StickJock Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 8 hours ago, mimo said: The Haynes book of lies ? The classic "Re-assembly is the reverse of disassembly." ? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 Can we get a Haynes manual for the Atari? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 8 hours ago, Mclaneinc said: Can we get a Haynes manual for the Atari? There's one for Apollo, so we need to wait another 8 years or so. https://haynes.com/en-gb/apollo-11-50th-anniversary-edition 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 I've got the Concorde one...Really nice.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Memory Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Just today (yes, today) I was trying to debug a bad keyboard. It has a dead row 3 - U, I, O, P, etc. So after figuring that out, I took it out of the machine and did some physical inspection and realized I was going to have to disassemble it further. I took off the 4 tiny screws holding in the function key assembly first. *SPROING* I did not find all of the springs. I did get it apart and still don't see what is wrong. There are a couple of pretty corroded traces in the mylar cable but the one going to 3 looks fine, which I knew before disassembling things. Oh well, maybe it's time to get a TKII or an AKI. Trying to figure out which is better now. Anyway, I managed to get the keyboard out without breaking or warping anything, but still screwed up. I'll post a much older anecdote or two after I calm down from this. Nobody to blame but myself - I should have researched the mechanics of the keyboard more thoroughly before touching it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Memory Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 I have a couple of incidents that don't belong here because they don't involve Atari, though one does involve lightning! Oh well. My biggest (or at least most memorable) Atari error was when I brought home my brand new 130XE from Fedco and tried to install an Omnimon/Omniview in it. I probably learned about that thing from either a BBS or a magazine article - this was before the Internet really took off. Anyway, I failed, and killed the XE. So I ended up having to buy another 130XE (which was pretty stressful, I wasn't making much in those days and was living on my own for the first time) and pay someone to install the upgrade. At least the chip was salvagable. I only got over my fear of going near a motherboard with a soldering iron very recently. That took, what, 30 years? 35? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Memory Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Oh heck, I have to tell the lightning story. So I was still in the Atari scene, still the president of my local user's group and a well-known SysOp and even an ST developer, but I was also getting into PCs. So there's the Atari link for the story. *cough* The day came to upgrade the hard disk in my development PC and I sprung for the largest Hard Drive I had ever seen at that point that wasn't attached to a mainframe or minicomputer - a 100MB Rodime. SCSI FTW! If I remember right it cost me a cool $1200 bucks. It wasn't my first upgrade. I was already building systems and setting up my own networks and such. I powered everything down, grounded myself, added the new hard drive to the system (screwing it to the side rails on the drive cage, which was pretty standard back then). I wired it up. I still think I wired it correctly - Molex power connectors are certainly polarized and SCSI-1 usually had a notch or at least a red wire on the cable. Attached power, turned it on - and ZAP! Lightning! Huge sparks! Magic smoke! To this day I don't really know what I did wrong. All I can figure is maybe Rodime drives didn't ground their cases. It didn't come with documentation... Anyway, it sucked, and I had to eat it. It didn't put me off computers but it did put me off Rodime. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.