Excuse me if I'm coming off a bit over eager. Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..) I'm bringing a Compaq Portable which has only been owned by my family. It was stored in a guest room of a finished basement since 1993. Not sure where they kept it before that. I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks) I have a fairly decent toolkit for repairing current machines, as well as a soldering iron, and multimeter.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option). So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing? When is the best time show up? Is there anything else I should know or be doing to get ready? Thanks, Doug P.
I know it sounds obvious, but try the brightness control. Exactly which model is it? On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 1:14 PM Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Excuse me if I'm coming off a bit over eager.
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..)
I'm bringing a Compaq Portable which has only been owned by my family. It was stored in a guest room of a finished basement since 1993. Not sure where they kept it before that.
I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks)
I have a fairly decent toolkit for repairing current machines, as well as a soldering iron, and multimeter.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option).
So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing?
When is the best time show up?
Is there anything else I should know or be doing to get ready?
Thanks, Doug P.
After you check the obvious brightness control you can look and see if you could get a look at the CRT neck and the socket, checking if the picture tube filament is actually lit. If it is, the next thing is to check to see if there is high-voltage, (using the proper tester of course) with probe and meter. If it has high voltage you should have a raster or some sort of brightness. I should be at the next workshop on Saturday ( if no hamfest is conflicting with that date) We recently had a person at the last workshop who had a COMPAQ portable and he too had a similar issue we had found that the power supply was not supplying the CRT board properly but with the correct voltages and he was looking up a schematic diagram. specifically it was like a 30 or 15 Volt supply issue Could be bad capacitors on the power supply board, not sure. Mike R. Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Aug 1, 2019, at 1:24 PM, Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I know it sounds obvious, but try the brightness control. Exactly which model is it?
On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 1:14 PM Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Excuse me if I'm coming off a bit over eager.
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..)
I'm bringing a Compaq Portable which has only been owned by my family. It was stored in a guest room of a finished basement since 1993. Not sure where they kept it before that.
I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks)
I have a fairly decent toolkit for repairing current machines, as well as a soldering iron, and multimeter.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option).
So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing?
When is the best time show up?
Is there anything else I should know or be doing to get ready?
Thanks, Doug P.
It is the Compaq Portable 1. Single vertically mounted 5.25 with unused bay and no HDD. One would think that I would have tried using the brightness control but I don't have a clear memory of it either way. I will give it a test tonight to make sure. Thank you. Doug P. On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 1:25 PM Dean Notarnicola <dnotarnicola@gmail.com> wrote:
I know it sounds obvious, but try the brightness control. Exactly which model is it?
On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 1:14 PM Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Excuse me if I'm coming off a bit over eager.
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..)
I'm bringing a Compaq Portable which has only been owned by my family. It was stored in a guest room of a finished basement since 1993. Not sure where they kept it before that.
I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks)
I have a fairly decent toolkit for repairing current machines, as well as a soldering iron, and multimeter.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option).
So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing?
When is the best time show up?
Is there anything else I should know or be doing to get ready?
Thanks, Doug P.
On Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 01:14:12PM -0400, Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..)
Best to bring what you think you will need. Others will bring stuff also which you normally can borrow if you find you need something you didn't bring but can't count on it being around. I propably over do it and try to bring half my basement but I'm 3.5 hours away so not practical to go home and get something I didn't bring. The other would be what you think you may need that you don't have. If you know you need something you don't have if you ask ahead of time people frequently can bring it. The other would be if you will need assistance. Asking ahead you can know if people with experiance think they will have time to help. Some people spend a significant amount of time helping others and some mostly work on what they bring.
I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks)
I have a compaq plus. I had to recap the power supply and had problems with a pot on the CRT board. Tapping pots can sometimes show the ones that are flaky. The power supply caps were obviously bad by looking at them.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I had to replace mine.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option).
I'm not sure where to buy it. I and a number others could make a disk useable to boot your machine. My machine has a mismash dos version so may not be ideal.
So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing?
I like a scope. I always start with checking power supply voltage and ripple before trying to do more. Normally a couple people bring scopes so you may be able to borrow one for a while. I think VCF may have one also. If you have spare parts they are good to bring. My cap stock isn't the best so I have gotten them from others when I didn't have correct one. I would also dig up any available schematics. Tools needed to disassemble your machine.
When is the best time show up?
I never make it right at the start so others can answer this.
It is the Compaq Portable 1.
Single vertically mounted 5.25 with unused bay and no HDD.
The fun of swapping disks a number of times when you wanted to make a backup copy. If I make it I can bring my plus which works to use if needed to compare/ verify what the problem is.
On Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 01:14:12PM -0400, Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..) ... From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
In case you haven't already found them, I highly recommend the keypad replacements from Texelec: https://texelec.com/product/foam-capacitive-pads-keytronic/ She does a really nice job on them. I replaced the pads in a Tandy 6000 keyboard with them. I've tried making my own foam pads, but had inconsistent results. One batch worked fine in a TRS-80 Model 2 keyboard, but the next batch hardly worked at all in the Tandy 6000. At $24.95, the Texelec pads are hard to beat. Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
I don't want to be one to rain on other's parades, but the Texelec pads need improvement. The foam is too thick, so the pads are too close to the sense board. I've bought 2 sets of these, and found they work really well: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Victor-9000-SIRIUS-1-Keyboard-repair-Foam-Pads-for-... I have bunches of extra mylar, and a punch if you need to cut new circles out. -J On Sat, Aug 3, 2019 at 6:32 PM Douglas Crawford via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Get a confirmation from someone that Texelec works on the Compact portable keyboards- I think the last workshop I was at they were found to be too thin for the design. I agree the build quality of the pads looked really good though. The Texelec probably would have worked on the R.S. Model II keyboard I rebuilt. I did a lowsy homemade job. It works but was not pretty, may not last. Good to know they did work on the 6000. I have a 6000 keyboard I will probably have to do too.
-DC
On 8/1/2019 9:32 PM, Mike Loewen via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
On Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 01:14:12PM -0400, Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..) ... From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
In case you haven't already found them, I highly recommend the keypad replacements from Texelec:
https://texelec.com/product/foam-capacitive-pads-keytronic/
She does a really nice job on them. I replaced the pads in a Tandy 6000 keyboard with them.
I've tried making my own foam pads, but had inconsistent results. One batch worked fine in a TRS-80 Model 2 keyboard, but the next batch hardly worked at all in the Tandy 6000. At $24.95, the Texelec pads are hard to beat.
Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
-- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085
think VCF may have one also
Yes. We also have soldering/desoldering equipment for members to borrow. Bring snacks, too! Although we always do lunch/dinner trips and there are plenty of places nearby to get food/drink. If you're planning to stay overnight then bring bedding. There is a bunk area here where some of us stay, but you get a bare mattress.
When is the best time show up?
We start around 10am Saturday and end Sunday afternoon. Me (evan@vcfed.org / 646-546-9999) and Jeff Brace (jeffrey@vcfed.org) are the contacts for when you get here and need to find the workshop location on campus or anything else. On Thu, Aug 1, 2019, 9:14 PM David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 01:14:12PM -0400, Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..)
Best to bring what you think you will need. Others will bring stuff also which you normally can borrow if you find you need something you didn't bring but can't count on it being around.
I propably over do it and try to bring half my basement but I'm 3.5 hours away so not practical to go home and get something I didn't bring.
The other would be what you think you may need that you don't have. If you know you need something you don't have if you ask ahead of time people frequently can bring it.
The other would be if you will need assistance. Asking ahead you can know if people with experiance think they will have time to help. Some people spend a significant amount of time helping others and some mostly work on what they bring.
I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks)
I have a compaq plus. I had to recap the power supply and had problems with a pot on the CRT board. Tapping pots can sometimes show the ones that are flaky. The power supply caps were obviously bad by looking at them.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I had to replace mine.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option).
I'm not sure where to buy it. I and a number others could make a disk useable to boot your machine. My machine has a mismash dos version so may not be ideal.
So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing?
I like a scope. I always start with checking power supply voltage and ripple before trying to do more. Normally a couple people bring scopes so you may be able to borrow one for a while. I think VCF may have one also. If you have spare parts they are good to bring. My cap stock isn't the best so I have gotten them from others when I didn't have correct one.
I would also dig up any available schematics.
Tools needed to disassemble your machine.
When is the best time show up?
I never make it right at the start so others can answer this.
It is the Compaq Portable 1.
Single vertically mounted 5.25 with unused bay and no HDD.
The fun of swapping disks a number of times when you wanted to make a backup copy.
If I make it I can bring my plus which works to use if needed to compare/ verify what the problem is.
I have a Portable 1 I could bring along too, if we need another machine to compare notes with. -J On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 9:54 PM Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
think VCF may have one also
Yes. We also have soldering/desoldering equipment for members to borrow.
Bring snacks, too! Although we always do lunch/dinner trips and there are plenty of places nearby to get food/drink.
If you're planning to stay overnight then bring bedding. There is a bunk area here where some of us stay, but you get a bare mattress.
When is the best time show up?
We start around 10am Saturday and end Sunday afternoon.
Me (evan@vcfed.org / 646-546-9999) and Jeff Brace (jeffrey@vcfed.org) are the contacts for when you get here and need to find the workshop location on campus or anything else.
On Thu, Aug 1, 2019, 9:14 PM David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 01:14:12PM -0400, Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..)
Best to bring what you think you will need. Others will bring stuff also which you normally can borrow if you find you need something you didn't bring but can't count on it being around.
I propably over do it and try to bring half my basement but I'm 3.5 hours away so not practical to go home and get something I didn't bring.
The other would be what you think you may need that you don't have. If you know you need something you don't have if you ask ahead of time people frequently can bring it.
The other would be if you will need assistance. Asking ahead you can know if people with experiance think they will have time to help. Some people spend a significant amount of time helping others and some mostly work on what they bring.
I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks)
I have a compaq plus. I had to recap the power supply and had problems with a pot on the CRT board. Tapping pots can sometimes show the ones that are flaky. The power supply caps were obviously bad by looking at them.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I had to replace mine.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option).
I'm not sure where to buy it. I and a number others could make a disk useable to boot your machine. My machine has a mismash dos version so may not be ideal.
So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing?
I like a scope. I always start with checking power supply voltage and ripple before trying to do more. Normally a couple people bring scopes so you may be able to borrow one for a while. I think VCF may have one also. If you have spare parts they are good to bring. My cap stock isn't the best so I have gotten them from others when I didn't have correct one.
I would also dig up any available schematics.
Tools needed to disassemble your machine.
When is the best time show up?
I never make it right at the start so others can answer this.
It is the Compaq Portable 1.
Single vertically mounted 5.25 with unused bay and no HDD.
The fun of swapping disks a number of times when you wanted to make a backup copy.
If I make it I can bring my plus which works to use if needed to compare/ verify what the problem is.
-- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085
VCF has a few of them, but I don't remember any details of their condition. The last time we worked on Compaq Portables, we focused on the smaller "lunchbox" versions (which we since acquired one or two more of, including one more backpack.) Evan Koblentz Executive Director, Vintage Computer Federation evan@vcfed.org / (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org @vcfederation On Fri, Aug 2, 2019, 1:16 PM Jason Perkins <perkins.jason@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a Portable 1 I could bring along too, if we need another machine to compare notes with.
-J
On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 9:54 PM Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
think VCF may have one also
Yes. We also have soldering/desoldering equipment for members to borrow.
Bring snacks, too! Although we always do lunch/dinner trips and there are plenty of places nearby to get food/drink.
If you're planning to stay overnight then bring bedding. There is a bunk area here where some of us stay, but you get a bare mattress.
When is the best time show up?
We start around 10am Saturday and end Sunday afternoon.
Me (evan@vcfed.org / 646-546-9999) and Jeff Brace (jeffrey@vcfed.org) are the contacts for when you get here and need to find the workshop location on campus or anything else.
On Thu, Aug 1, 2019, 9:14 PM David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 01:14:12PM -0400, Douglas Perry via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Now that I'm signed up for this months workshop I was hoping to get some tips on how to properly prepare (supplies needed, ect..)
Best to bring what you think you will need. Others will bring stuff also which you normally can borrow if you find you need something you didn't bring but can't count on it being around.
I propably over do it and try to bring half my basement but I'm 3.5 hours away so not practical to go home and get something I didn't bring.
The other would be what you think you may need that you don't have. If you know you need something you don't have if you ask ahead of time people frequently can bring it.
The other would be if you will need assistance. Asking ahead you can know if people with experiance think they will have time to help. Some people spend a significant amount of time helping others and some mostly work on what they bring.
I testing I've done so far is to simply plug it in and turn it on (after giving it a week in a temp/humidity controlled room). The PSU and fan came to life nicely, the CRT is making a familiar hum but I get nothing on the screen not even a blinking cursor. I'm not sure if I should expect an error with no disk? I also don't hear any drive noise.(I have no disks)
I have a compaq plus. I had to recap the power supply and had problems with a pot on the CRT board. Tapping pots can sometimes show the ones that are flaky. The power supply caps were obviously bad by looking at them.
From my research I'm going to go ahead and assume the capacative pads for for the keyboard are bad and just order a new set.
I had to replace mine.
I've searched fairly well and have not found a reputable place to buy a 5.25 floppy pre-loaded with MS-DOS 3.3 (which sounds like the best option).
I'm not sure where to buy it. I and a number others could make a disk useable to boot your machine. My machine has a mismash dos version so may not be ideal.
So after that ramble here are my questions. Is there anything else you all would recommend me bringing?
I like a scope. I always start with checking power supply voltage and ripple before trying to do more. Normally a couple people bring scopes so you may be able to borrow one for a while. I think VCF may have one also. If you have spare parts they are good to bring. My cap stock isn't the best so I have gotten them from others when I didn't have correct one.
I would also dig up any available schematics.
Tools needed to disassemble your machine.
When is the best time show up?
I never make it right at the start so others can answer this.
It is the Compaq Portable 1.
Single vertically mounted 5.25 with unused bay and no HDD.
The fun of swapping disks a number of times when you wanted to make a backup copy.
If I make it I can bring my plus which works to use if needed to compare/ verify what the problem is.
-- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085
participants (8)
-
David Gesswein -
Dean Notarnicola -
Douglas Crawford -
Douglas Perry -
Evan Koblentz -
Jason Perkins -
Mike Loewen -
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