VERAULT
Veteran Member
So I had some time and I thought about what project to get to next. The model III with the badly damaged keyboard matrix seemed a little precise so I decided to pull out the Dead Model II and pop her open and see whats what.
I got the unit from RadRacer203 a couple years ago. It did not have a keyboard and was DOA. Not sure where he came upon it. I was able to find a model II keyboard on eBay about a year or so back but I havent rebuilt it yet.
Someone was obviously inside before. Screws were loose. The plastic case was not on right and all the cables were loose. There is a crack in the corner of the the top cover but its not too bad.
First inspection shows this machine was in a damp environment. Lots of surface corrosion. Nothing horrible, no metal rot... just surface rust and alluminum oxide. There is mold. Black mold in on the CRT labels.. All signs point to a Garage being this things home.
I looked at the card cage next. I could see right away all the cards were not properly seated with the stabilizer bracket (it has notches). I took out all the cards (remembering the order to each other, cleaned the card edge connectors, and reseated all the socketed IC's. The board which looked like a RAM card had rust on alot of the ram chips legs I was careful to not break those legs.
You can see the PSU is looking pretty dingy with the already burst supression Cap [happened before I got it]. External and internal Fuse were both good. Once I was sure there were no visible issues, and the connections were good I decided to fire it up.
The Floppy Drive ran, but that is Mains voltage. The CRT neck was glowing so that was a good improvement. Flipped the machine around and kept turning the dirty brightness and contrast knobs. We got life!
Its asking for a system disk and the image has lots of interference. This PSU needs a complete going over.
I am guessing the large Fan under the CRT is an AC fan. IT does not spin. Should it spin all the time? I would assume it should.
I took a closeup shot of the CRT with the unit off as you can just make out horizontal stripes meaning there is some faint burn-in.. Nothing terrible though and you cant see it when its on.
I am really glad it works. It is going to need a complete rebuild. I dont know if I will paint it yet, I am weary on these metalic toned paints. The paint isnt terrible but there are plenty of scrateches and scrapes. First ill just try and buff it all up. Strip the rust and paint the frame and go from there.
Per the video by Peter Cetinkski on imaging 8" floppy disks
I bought the Dbit adapter. I have two other non TRS-80 computers with 8" drives and I have enough 8" floppy disks so it would be a good idea to get used to writing them. Plus if it all works out I can help out some folks who may need disks made.
Anyway here are photos so far. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gaj54hPgX69W8JBu9
Would appreciate any insight on what the cards are and what the configuration of the machine is. I put the cards back in, in the same orientation but is there a guide to go by for reinserting cards?
I got the unit from RadRacer203 a couple years ago. It did not have a keyboard and was DOA. Not sure where he came upon it. I was able to find a model II keyboard on eBay about a year or so back but I havent rebuilt it yet.
Someone was obviously inside before. Screws were loose. The plastic case was not on right and all the cables were loose. There is a crack in the corner of the the top cover but its not too bad.
First inspection shows this machine was in a damp environment. Lots of surface corrosion. Nothing horrible, no metal rot... just surface rust and alluminum oxide. There is mold. Black mold in on the CRT labels.. All signs point to a Garage being this things home.
I looked at the card cage next. I could see right away all the cards were not properly seated with the stabilizer bracket (it has notches). I took out all the cards (remembering the order to each other, cleaned the card edge connectors, and reseated all the socketed IC's. The board which looked like a RAM card had rust on alot of the ram chips legs I was careful to not break those legs.
You can see the PSU is looking pretty dingy with the already burst supression Cap [happened before I got it]. External and internal Fuse were both good. Once I was sure there were no visible issues, and the connections were good I decided to fire it up.
The Floppy Drive ran, but that is Mains voltage. The CRT neck was glowing so that was a good improvement. Flipped the machine around and kept turning the dirty brightness and contrast knobs. We got life!
Its asking for a system disk and the image has lots of interference. This PSU needs a complete going over.
I am guessing the large Fan under the CRT is an AC fan. IT does not spin. Should it spin all the time? I would assume it should.
I took a closeup shot of the CRT with the unit off as you can just make out horizontal stripes meaning there is some faint burn-in.. Nothing terrible though and you cant see it when its on.
I am really glad it works. It is going to need a complete rebuild. I dont know if I will paint it yet, I am weary on these metalic toned paints. The paint isnt terrible but there are plenty of scrateches and scrapes. First ill just try and buff it all up. Strip the rust and paint the frame and go from there.
Per the video by Peter Cetinkski on imaging 8" floppy disks
Anyway here are photos so far. https://photos.app.goo.gl/Gaj54hPgX69W8JBu9
Would appreciate any insight on what the cards are and what the configuration of the machine is. I put the cards back in, in the same orientation but is there a guide to go by for reinserting cards?
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