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Posts by Andrew's Tech Break

Fédération Canadienne des ordinateurs d'époque

Did you know cvcfed.org works with old browsers, too? Give it a try!!

3 weeks ago 5 2 0 0
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The old SCSI Quantum needed a little physical help to get spinning. But even after spinning up the drive is not detected. So I guess this SE/30 is getting a BlueSCSI going forward.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh #bluescsi

1 month ago 12 3 0 0
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Evidence of broken solder points on the Analog board. So a pass across all them is a good idea to get this SE/30 restored.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh

1 month ago 3 0 0 0
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The SE/30 board is re-capped. Time to move on to cleaning and re-assembly. Definitely this Mac was well used.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh

1 month ago 6 1 0 0
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Most of these caps just popped off the board. All pads look good and tested to their respective vias. So time to re-cap this SE/30 board.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh

1 month ago 6 1 0 0
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Looks like I scored with the board in the SE/30. It is a survivor with no battery leakage and no battery damage. And other then a little fuzziness around the caps it looks good. Time to clean it up and change those caps.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh

1 month ago 6 1 0 0
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Got a new toy in the mail today!
#retrocomputing #c64 #c64u #c64ultimate #commodore

1 month ago 1 0 0 0
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Just in time for #MARCHintosh I picked up a system I’ve been looking for a while – a Macintosh SE/30. Fingers crossed the motherboard is a survivor and not eaten away by leaking battery and caps.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac

1 month ago 19 1 1 0
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Manufacturers of laptops back in the day really didn’t give them much of a chance with minimal plastic reinforcements to hold the screen. The pegs were completely cracked past the reinforcements. These plastic blocks should hold the screen a lot better.
#retrocomputing #pc5700

1 month ago 0 0 0 0
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Yup. But when they're working they're still one of the fastest ways to get data off these old machines.

1 month ago 1 0 1 0
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Grabbing a backup of this Sharp PC-5700 while the HDD is still working in case there is any original software on it. This hard drive has a had a tough past.
#retrocomputing #pc5700

1 month ago 1 0 1 0
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Another hole in one of my classic computer keyboards filled. My Commodore CBM now has a proper Shift Lock key.
#retrocomputing #commodore #commodorepet #commodoreCBM

2 months ago 2 0 0 0
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2 months ago 1 0 0 0
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A few games

2 months ago 0 0 0 0
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Gotek assembled and installed. CPC6128 buttoned up and cleaned up. And I got a proper SCART cable and converter. Time to explore this machine.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

2 months ago 0 0 2 0
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Although tape loads might be nostalgic for some people, they are unnecessarily painful these days. So first upgrade for the CPC 6128 is a Gotek. For this the 3” drive is going away. Finding a CPC on this side of the planet is rare. Finding a 3” disk is close to impossible.

2 months ago 1 0 0 0
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SUCCESS!! One dead memory chip and a dodgy socket for the PAL replaced and this CPC 6128 looks to be all fixed. All tests good and program loads from tape still work.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

2 months ago 2 1 1 0
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IT’S ALIVE! I used the jumper trick to bypass the PAL and hardcode only the first 64k and the machine works. I was even able to read some programs from tape. So this basically means I have a failure in the upper memory or the PAL.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

2 months ago 25 2 0 0
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I figured since the CPC 6128 output is RGB the easiest way to get video out for now is a VGA cable. So wired one up. Unfortunately first power on and I get a grey screen. So the system is outputting something. Let the diagnostics fun begin.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

2 months ago 2 1 0 0
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Just noticed they kept the board edge connectors under the bulky connectors but no fingers on the connectors. Too bad it’s going to make it more difficult to use any CPC add-ons.

2 months ago 0 0 0 0
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Inside is just as clean. Except for a little dust everything looks really good. I don’t see any worries to try and power it on. Time to tackle the video output.

2 months ago 0 0 0 0
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Exterior inspection of this Schneider CPC 6128 looks good. Very clean and no signs of wear.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

2 months ago 2 1 3 0
Preview
VCF Montreal 2026: Post-Event Survey

VCF Montréal 2026 Survey Results:
English: bit.ly/vcfm2016post...
French: bit.ly/vcfm2016post...

2 months ago 3 1 0 0
Let's Chat VCF Montréal w/ Nicolas Maillouski and Friends!
Let's Chat VCF Montréal w/ Nicolas Maillouski and Friends! YouTube video by Ron's Computer Videos

Did you attend Vintage Computer Festival Montréal? Non? Let's chat with Nicolas Maillouski and friends about this new VCF event in Canada! www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpiI...

2 months ago 11 4 1 0
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Ya SCART is always a challenge in North America since it was never a thing here. I'll have to try one of those SCART -> HDMI converters.

2 months ago 0 0 1 0
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Wow! Surprising local pickup – a Schneider branded CPC 6128. I know very little about these computers. Looks like I’m learning some German for this one. Now to figure out how to power it and get video out. Time to watch some Youtube videos.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

2 months ago 15 1 1 0
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My Apple III is complete! I wasn’t sure I was ever going to find a 9 key for it. But the gaping hole is now plugged. Combined with a proper Monitor III it’s looking good.
#retrocomputing #apple #appleiii #apple3

2 months ago 5 1 0 0
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Series of pictures took on Sunday during #VCF #Montreal

2 months ago 26 8 1 2
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BBS'ing on a Hyperion like it's 1983 at VCF Montreal
#retrocomputing #vcfmontreal #hyperion

2 months ago 7 1 0 0
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Setup for VCF Montreal
#retrocomputing #vcfmontreal

2 months ago 4 1 1 0