Re: [vcf-midatlantic] How's Everyone Doing
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Anybodyworking on interesting stuff? BillInderrieden
It's kind of a bummer when I look at my phone and it shows the calendar date for VCF East coming up that isn't going to happen. Shortly after the last how's everyone doing email the customer I work for laid off most of the workforce and went into Chap 11. Pretty crazy! They were building a low earth orbit satellite network to deliver internet around the world. Funding issues. Ooops! I still have a job though, and I am thankful for that. NERD WISE... SO.. MUCH.. NERD!! 1. Amiga 600 repair. Years ago a friend gave me an Amiga 600, and it worked and was awesome. Then capacitors leaked and damaged the board. Been working to fix it, kind of hit a wall where I made progress now I'm lost. Found some awesome resources, check out https://www.amigapcb.org/ ... The 600 has a lot of surface mount stuff, that site lets you walk around with the mouse and see the source/destination of every trace and signal line! And English Amiga board, and DiagROM. 2. Repaired a Yamaha Motif midi module. LCD went out. Bought new LCD, didn't fix. Fixed it though. 3. Managed to edit a video for youtube (channel is telmnstr) on Blackmagic Davinci Resolve. This was my first time taking a stab at a modern editing system doing HD stuff. I usually use Blackmagic production switcher so I don't have to edit. But yea, I got the hang of it and really enjoyed doing the project on it. Was quick, and I will do more. 4. Going to fix a APC UPS for a friend. Needs new caps. 5. Trying to track down a driver for my old Yamaha C1 midi portable 286-10mhz computer. I fixed the base functionality but now need to make more progress. 6. Finally finishing a CNC machine I started in 2012. Actually made some progress but then had to order a bunch of parts. No idea how long it will take ball screws to arrive from China. Going to get fasterns from local fastenal. 7. Started toying with OBS, a software video switcher. All the geek video conferences going on -- I had to try it and test out some other capture hardware that I had picked up for an event a friend and I were supposed ot do video / audio / gaming / vintage computers for (B-Sides Charm.) Have been really impressed, to the point that I'm planning to potentially sell my BMD ATEM TVS hardware rig. 8. 3d printing cases and enclosing some hardware for the laser projector controllers. Also hope to get around to rebuilding two laser projectors, but it will probably require a bunch of parts. 9. Listing some crap on ebay. And it's selling? Mostly arcade / pinball parts and broken consumer A/V stuff. 10. rebelted a cassette deck I found at a thrift store in NC. It's working 90%, and there is a random screw left over. 11. IRC, Slack, Discord, etc. I plan to jump int othe IMSAI 8080 again. Have an Atari 800XL to fix. And plan to start pulling out some systems and test thru them / cut interesting software disks to go with them. Mainly Apple IIGS, Apple IIc, Apple IIsomething, NeXT Slab, Atari 8bits (need to mod the floppy emulator with a 74LS07 IC or something so it still works with floppy drives), Atari ST, and maybe sort out stuff on Amiga. Right now the 600 is kicking my butt though. The Yamaha laptop did for 3 years until I had an idea randomly. Also need to recap an Amiga 4000T motherboard. Eeeek! So much to do! Some friends are going SCUBA diving on the weekends near Richmond VA, staying isolated. I might try to get wet soon. Some parts on order for this. The water is like 50F-60F which is pretty cold, though. Would be nice if it was 70's out and not 60's. If anything, I'm getting a lot of stuff done that has been in the backlog!! Hope everyone else is safe and okay and if it's your thing progress on projects!
On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 11:43 AM Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
It's kind of a bummer when I look at my phone and it shows the calendar date for VCF East coming up that isn't going to happen.
Yeah, VCF East would have started today. I'm sad too because it was turning out to be the best one ever, now we have to postpone and hope that everything falls into place.
Shortly after the last how's everyone doing email the customer I work for laid off most of the workforce and went into Chap 11. Pretty crazy! They were building a low earth orbit satellite network to deliver internet around the world. Funding issues. Ooops! I still have a job though, and I am thankful for that.
Glad to hear that! I am on unemployment, so it is sustaining me until I get back to work.
NERD WISE... SO.. MUCH.. NERD!!
1. Amiga 600 repair. Years ago a friend gave me an Amiga 600, and it worked and was awesome. Then capacitors leaked and damaged the board. Been working to fix it, kind of hit a wall where I made progress now I'm lost. Found some awesome resources, check out https://www.amigapcb.org/ ... The 600 has a lot of surface mount stuff, that site lets you walk around with the mouse and see the source/destination of every trace and signal line! And English Amiga board, and DiagROM.
Cool beans! I so want to get into the Amiga, but I have to finish my fetish with Commodore 64s first before delving into the 16 bit world!
2. Repaired a Yamaha Motif midi module. LCD went out. Bought new LCD, didn't fix. Fixed it though.
3. Managed to edit a video for youtube (channel is telmnstr) on Blackmagic Davinci Resolve. This was my first time taking a stab at a modern editing system doing HD stuff. I usually use Blackmagic production switcher so I don't have to edit. But yea, I got the hang of it and really enjoyed doing the project on it. Was quick, and I will do more.
4. Going to fix a APC UPS for a friend. Needs new caps.
Thinking out loud. Does anyone replace the batteries on them or do they just buy a new one? I have two with dead batteries and wonder if the cost justifies replacing the batteries or just get a whole new unit?
5. Trying to track down a driver for my old Yamaha C1 midi portable 286-10mhz computer. I fixed the base functionality but now need to make more progress.
6. Finally finishing a CNC machine I started in 2012. Actually made some progress but then had to order a bunch of parts. No idea how long it will take ball screws to arrive from China. Going to get fasterns from local fastenal.
7. Started toying with OBS, a software video switcher. All the geek video conferences going on -- I had to try it and test out some other capture hardware that I had picked up for an event a friend and I were supposed ot do video / audio / gaming / vintage computers for (B-Sides Charm.) Have been really impressed, to the point that I'm planning to potentially sell my BMD ATEM TVS hardware rig.
8. 3d printing cases and enclosing some hardware for the laser projector controllers. Also hope to get around to rebuilding two laser projectors, but it will probably require a bunch of parts.
9. Listing some crap on ebay. And it's selling? Mostly arcade / pinball parts and broken consumer A/V stuff.
10. rebelted a cassette deck I found at a thrift store in NC. It's working 90%, and there is a random screw left over.
11. IRC, Slack, Discord, etc.
For me binge watching old comedies like "Community", "The Office" with my brother and sister. Also cleaning up and organizing my room. Also teaching Taekwondo in the afternoons via Zoom. Also walking between 4 and 7 miles a day to keep fit and healthy all the while playing a lot of Pokemon Go! :) So much to do!
Sounds like such awesome fun that you are having. I feel sad that all the repair workshops had to be cancelled.
Some friends are going SCUBA diving on the weekends near Richmond VA, staying isolated. I might try to get wet soon. Some parts on order for this. The water is like 50F-60F which is pretty cold, though. Would be nice if it was 70's out and not 60's.
If anything, I'm getting a lot of stuff done that has been in the backlog!!
Me too! I put seat covers on my Hyundai Tuscon that I have meant to do for 2 years. And a screen cover on my phone that I should have done a few months ago.
Hope everyone else is safe and okay and if it's your thing progress on projects!
-- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
I am on second round of watching Community and have been curating episodes to hook my friend. It’s working! #6seasons&Amovie Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Friday, April 24, 2020, 3:16 AM, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 11:43 AM Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
It's kind of a bummer when I look at my phone and it shows the calendar date for VCF East coming up that isn't going to happen.
Yeah, VCF East would have started today. I'm sad too because it was turning out to be the best one ever, now we have to postpone and hope that everything falls into place.
Shortly after the last how's everyone doing email the customer I work for laid off most of the workforce and went into Chap 11. Pretty crazy! They were building a low earth orbit satellite network to deliver internet around the world. Funding issues. Ooops! I still have a job though, and I am thankful for that.
Glad to hear that! I am on unemployment, so it is sustaining me until I get back to work.
NERD WISE... SO.. MUCH.. NERD!!
1. Amiga 600 repair. Years ago a friend gave me an Amiga 600, and it worked and was awesome. Then capacitors leaked and damaged the board. Been working to fix it, kind of hit a wall where I made progress now I'm lost. Found some awesome resources, check out https://www.amigapcb.org/ ... The 600 has a lot of surface mount stuff, that site lets you walk around with the mouse and see the source/destination of every trace and signal line! And English Amiga board, and DiagROM.
Cool beans! I so want to get into the Amiga, but I have to finish my fetish with Commodore 64s first before delving into the 16 bit world!
2. Repaired a Yamaha Motif midi module. LCD went out. Bought new LCD, didn't fix. Fixed it though.
3. Managed to edit a video for youtube (channel is telmnstr) on Blackmagic Davinci Resolve. This was my first time taking a stab at a modern editing system doing HD stuff. I usually use Blackmagic production switcher so I don't have to edit. But yea, I got the hang of it and really enjoyed doing the project on it. Was quick, and I will do more.
4. Going to fix a APC UPS for a friend. Needs new caps.
Thinking out loud. Does anyone replace the batteries on them or do they just buy a new one? I have two with dead batteries and wonder if the cost justifies replacing the batteries or just get a whole new unit?
5. Trying to track down a driver for my old Yamaha C1 midi portable 286-10mhz computer. I fixed the base functionality but now need to make more progress.
6. Finally finishing a CNC machine I started in 2012. Actually made some progress but then had to order a bunch of parts. No idea how long it will take ball screws to arrive from China. Going to get fasterns from local fastenal.
7. Started toying with OBS, a software video switcher. All the geek video conferences going on -- I had to try it and test out some other capture hardware that I had picked up for an event a friend and I were supposed ot do video / audio / gaming / vintage computers for (B-Sides Charm.) Have been really impressed, to the point that I'm planning to potentially sell my BMD ATEM TVS hardware rig.
8. 3d printing cases and enclosing some hardware for the laser projector controllers. Also hope to get around to rebuilding two laser projectors, but it will probably require a bunch of parts.
9. Listing some crap on ebay. And it's selling? Mostly arcade / pinball parts and broken consumer A/V stuff.
10. rebelted a cassette deck I found at a thrift store in NC. It's working 90%, and there is a random screw left over.
11. IRC, Slack, Discord, etc.
For me binge watching old comedies like "Community", "The Office" with my brother and sister. Also cleaning up and organizing my room. Also teaching Taekwondo in the afternoons via Zoom. Also walking between 4 and 7 miles a day to keep fit and healthy all the while playing a lot of Pokemon Go! :) So much to do!
Sounds like such awesome fun that you are having. I feel sad that all the repair workshops had to be cancelled.
Some friends are going SCUBA diving on the weekends near Richmond VA, staying isolated. I might try to get wet soon. Some parts on order for this. The water is like 50F-60F which is pretty cold, though. Would be nice if it was 70's out and not 60's.
If anything, I'm getting a lot of stuff done that has been in the backlog!!
Me too! I put seat covers on my Hyundai Tuscon that I have meant to do for 2 years. And a screen cover on my phone that I should have done a few months ago.
Hope everyone else is safe and okay and if it's your thing progress on projects!
-- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member, VCF East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey@vcfed.org <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
On April 24, 2020 3:16:23 AM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
k, and I will do more.
4. Going to fix a APC UPS for a friend. Needs new caps.
Thinking out loud. Does anyone replace the batteries on them or do they just buy a new one? I have two with dead batteries and wonder if the cost justifies replacing the batteries or just get a whole new unit?
I replace batteries in about twelve APC UPSes. It's definitely worth it. I have one SmartUPS 2000XL that I've had since the mid 1990s that's still going strong. Years ago I bought two Matrix 5000s used from a surplus dealer, and got ten years of service out of one before it was destroyed by lightning, and a solid fifteen years of service out of the other before it died of natural causes just recently. UPS batteries are a consumable. Lead-acid batteries last 2-3 years whether they are being used or not. I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 03:24:31AM -0400, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
Do you know if the Duracell SLA batteries they sell are any good? When the UPS only needs one or two I have been getting them instead of ordering online. Life seems a little shorter than expected but not enoough data points to draw a conclusion.
When Dave said, "Life seems a little shorter than expected...", my mind forgot about the batteries and immediately went to my feelings of being very old. On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 7:45 AM David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 03:24:31AM -0400, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
Do you know if the Duracell SLA batteries they sell are any good? When the UPS only needs one or two I have been getting them instead of ordering online. Life seems a little shorter than expected but not enoough data points to draw a conclusion.
On 4/24/20 7:45 AM, David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 03:24:31AM -0400, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
Do you know if the Duracell SLA batteries they sell are any good? When the UPS only needs one or two I have been getting them instead of ordering online. Life seems a little shorter than expected but not enoough data points to draw a conclusion.
I won't touch Duracell *anything* since the formula change fiasco and the resultant destruction of several things of mine. They've proven that they can no longer be trusted. And all my life I've used Duracell batteries. Sigh. Damn suits. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
I have noticed that after 2013 the Duracell batteries cannot be trusted even in a flashlight, of course that's when you really need it. I literally have checked all my devices that had Duracell batteries in it without any problems and a week later, I would have battery leakage. I have seen batteries leak in a new package, unopened, with a few years to go before expiration. Needless to say Energizer is no better. And of course I'm speaking about alkaline batteries in general. I've been buying the Rayovac alkaline batteries from big lots at less than half the price most of the time and have not had any leakage issues yet. Just my two cents. Mike Rosen Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 24, 2020, at 1:44 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On 4/24/20 7:45 AM, David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 03:24:31AM -0400, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote: I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
Do you know if the Duracell SLA batteries they sell are any good? When the UPS only needs one or two I have been getting them instead of ordering online. Life seems a little shorter than expected but not enoough data points to draw a conclusion.
I won't touch Duracell *anything* since the formula change fiasco and the resultant destruction of several things of mine. They've proven that they can no longer be trusted.
And all my life I've used Duracell batteries. Sigh. Damn suits.
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
On 4/24/20 4:29 PM, Sentrytv wrote:
I have noticed that after 2013 the Duracell batteries cannot be trusted even in a flashlight, of course that's when you really need it.
I literally have checked all my devices that had Duracell batteries in it without any problems and a week later, I would have battery leakage. I have seen batteries leak in a new package, unopened, with a few years to go before expiration. Needless to say Energizer is no better.
I've never seen this with Energizer batteries. The issue I was complaining about is specific to Duracell, and started after the company quietly changed the design of their batteries. This happened maybe twelve years ago, I cannot find a reference for it right now but I've looked it up and found it in the past. Seems the Duracell people are doing their best to bury it, which is unsurprising.
I've been buying the Rayovac alkaline batteries from big lots at less than half the price most of the time and have not had any leakage issues yet.
I've had good luck with these too, as well as Amazon Basics batteries. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Agree with all Dave said. I used to work at an electronic repair place that dealt with industrial test equipment and such. We would frequently get UPS units in, and not always big ones. They usually had minor failures, fuses, capacitors, etc., and always seemed to be repairable and worth the effort. On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 3:24 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On April 24, 2020 3:16:23 AM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
k, and I will do more.
4. Going to fix a APC UPS for a friend. Needs new caps.
Thinking out loud. Does anyone replace the batteries on them or do they just buy a new one? I have two with dead batteries and wonder if the cost justifies replacing the batteries or just get a whole new unit?
I replace batteries in about twelve APC UPSes. It's definitely worth it. I have one SmartUPS 2000XL that I've had since the mid 1990s that's still going strong. Years ago I bought two Matrix 5000s used from a surplus dealer, and got ten years of service out of one before it was destroyed by lightning, and a solid fifteen years of service out of the other before it died of natural causes just recently.
UPS batteries are a consumable. Lead-acid batteries last 2-3 years whether they are being used or not.
I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
And of course I meant "I replace batteries REGULARLY" in my first sentence below. :) Hopefully that was obvious.. -Dave On 4/24/20 9:33 AM, Chris Fala wrote:
Agree with all Dave said.
I used to work at an electronic repair place that dealt with industrial test equipment and such. We would frequently get UPS units in, and not always big ones. They usually had minor failures, fuses, capacitors, etc., and always seemed to be repairable and worth the effort.
On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 3:24 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
On April 24, 2020 3:16:23 AM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: >k, and I will do more. >> >> 4. Going to fix a APC UPS for a friend. Needs new caps. > > Thinking out loud. Does anyone replace the batteries on them or do they > just buy a new one? I have two with dead batteries and wonder if the cost > justifies replacing the batteries or just get a whole new unit?
I replace batteries in about twelve APC UPSes. It's definitely worth it. I have one SmartUPS 2000XL that I've had since the mid 1990s that's still going strong. Years ago I bought two Matrix 5000s used from a surplus dealer, and got ten years of service out of one before it was destroyed by lightning, and a solid fifteen years of service out of the other before it died of natural causes just recently.
UPS batteries are a consumable. Lead-acid batteries last 2-3 years whether they are being used or not.
I buy batteries from refurbups.com <http://refurbups.com>, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
On Apr 24, 2020, at 3:24 AM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I replace batteries in about twelve APC UPSes. It's definitely worth it. I have one SmartUPS 2000XL that I've had since the mid 1990s that's still going strong. Years ago I bought two Matrix 5000s used from a surplus dealer, and got ten years of service out of one before it was destroyed by lightning, and a solid fifteen years of service out of the other before it died of natural causes just recently.
UPS batteries are a consumable. Lead-acid batteries last 2-3 years whether they are being used or not.
I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
Good to know a reliable source, I've been going mostly with Panasonic, but they're a bit pricy; heard good things about PowerSonic ones and was thinking about trying them out. I was recently having some weird intermittent problems where one server in my mini-rack was mysteriously hanging, usually waiting until I was out of town; the problems went away as soon as I replaced the very old batteries in the UPS, so presumably it was getting a brownout during the automatic testing cycle or something. It's worth noting that lead-acid batteries are some of the most recyclable battery technologies we have! The lead, plastic and electrolyte all get chopped up and recycled, pretty much the only thing that goes to waste is the stabilizing substrate between the cells. There are some pretty neat videos of the process if you look around. - Dave
I've used PowerSonic, good quality. On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 9:47 AM David Riley via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Apr 24, 2020, at 3:24 AM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
I replace batteries in about twelve APC UPSes. It's definitely worth
it. I have one SmartUPS 2000XL that I've had since the mid 1990s that's still going strong. Years ago I bought two Matrix 5000s used from a surplus dealer, and got ten years of service out of one before it was destroyed by lightning, and a solid fifteen years of service out of the other before it died of natural causes just recently.
UPS batteries are a consumable. Lead-acid batteries last 2-3 years
whether they are being used or not.
I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now.
Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
Good to know a reliable source, I've been going mostly with Panasonic, but they're a bit pricy; heard good things about PowerSonic ones and was thinking about trying them out.
I was recently having some weird intermittent problems where one server in my mini-rack was mysteriously hanging, usually waiting until I was out of town; the problems went away as soon as I replaced the very old batteries in the UPS, so presumably it was getting a brownout during the automatic testing cycle or something.
It's worth noting that lead-acid batteries are some of the most recyclable battery technologies we have! The lead, plastic and electrolyte all get chopped up and recycled, pretty much the only thing that goes to waste is the stabilizing substrate between the cells. There are some pretty neat videos of the process if you look around.
- Dave
I was recently having some weird intermittent problems where one server in my mini-rack was mysteriously hanging, usually waiting until I was out of town; the problems went away as soon as I replaced the very old batteries in the UPS, so presumably it was getting a brownout during the automatic testing cycle or something.
I used to work for a large music streaming provider and we had thousands and thousand of servers. The data center would put out a notice that they're going to do UPS maintenance or Switchgear maintenance... and usually that night we would have maybe up to 20 servers have issues. Hard hang or maybe a reboot. Meanwhile everything looked okay. I'd imagine if you watched the sine wave under a microscope there was some kind of glitch when the transfer happened, but not enough to effect most of the systems. Pretty wild. - Ethan
On Fri, 24 Apr 2020, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I used to work for a large music streaming provider and we had thousands and thousand of servers. The data center would put out a notice that they're going to do UPS maintenance or Switchgear maintenance... and usually that night we would have maybe up to 20 servers have issues. Hard hang or maybe a reboot. Meanwhile everything looked okay.
At one point, I had a production server in the data center, an IBM RS6000 with redundant power supplies (2). The techs were moving systems to a different power bus and unplugged one of the supplies: my system promptly shut down. It turned out that my system required THREE power supplies before redundancy was in effect. Oops. Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
At one point, I had a production server in the data center, an IBM RS6000 with redundant power supplies (2). The techs were moving systems to a different power bus and unplugged one of the supplies: my system promptly shut down. It turned out that my system required THREE power supplies before redundancy was in effect. Oops.
Hah! Years ago when I worked at NASA Langley we ended up with a single big RS/6000. It looked cool, black and all that. It had 3 redundant power supplies... if any 1 of them lost power the whole machine would immediately power off. It was overpriced garbage hehe. They sent some guy out that spent the better part of a day going through firmware updates to fix "the bug." Our beautiful purple and blue SGI systems never had these issues. And neither did the 2nd place systems... the Sun machines. - Ethan
On 4/24/20 9:46 AM, David Riley wrote:
I buy batteries from refurbups.com, for about fifteen years now. Don't buy the "Werker" batteries at Batteries Plus, they are garbage.
Good to know a reliable source, I've been going mostly with Panasonic, but they're a bit pricy; heard good things about PowerSonic ones and was thinking about trying them out.
PowerSonic has always made very good batteries. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
On Fri, 24 Apr 2020, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
On 4/24/20 9:46 AM, David Riley wrote:
Good to know a reliable source, I've been going mostly with Panasonic, but they're a bit pricy; heard good things about PowerSonic ones and was thinking about trying them out.
PowerSonic has always made very good batteries.
PowerSonic and Panasonic are both very good, and often times the OEM batteries inside better UPSs. -- Jameel Akari
On Apr 24, 2020, at 8:27 PM, Jameel Akari via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Fri, 24 Apr 2020, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
On 4/24/20 9:46 AM, David Riley wrote:
Good to know a reliable source, I've been going mostly with Panasonic, but they're a bit pricy; heard good things about PowerSonic ones and was thinking about trying them out.
PowerSonic has always made very good batteries.
PowerSonic and Panasonic are both very good, and often times the OEM batteries inside better UPSs.
Right, mine are decent APCs. I got a few real replacement battery packs, but these days I've been taking the assemblies apart and putting new batteries in (1270 size). About half the time the batteries from the real ones looked an awful lot like Panasonic ones without the branding. - Dave
Yeah, VCF East would have started today. I'm sad too because it was turning out to be the best one ever, now we have to postpone and hope that everything falls into place.
It will still be great when the next one happens!
Cool beans! I so want to get into the Amiga, but I have to finish my fetish with Commodore 64s first before delving into the 16 bit world!
Grew up Atari 8-Bit then MS-DOS PC but was aware of the Amiga. They're pretty darn cool machines. Really the only downside is that they used a television for a monior and were pretty high priced. But yea, there is a lot going for them.
Thinking out loud. Does anyone replace the batteries on them or do they just buy a new one? I have two with dead batteries and wonder if the cost justifies replacing the batteries or just get a whole new unit?
In this case my friend replaced the batteries, then found out that it needed capacitor replacement. I guess he didn't want to throw good money after bad? It took me less than an an hour, and he always offloads tons of IT hardware on me. It was like, "Can you fix my UPS? Also here is 5 x 2TB Hitachi hard drives and 3 48 port gigabit with dual 10gig uplink switches if you want them...." So it's like, OF COURSE! I give away most of the hardware. One friend was all like "Heeey man my parents are now uncool with the blade center hooked to the dryer outlet... can you take it back?" "NOPE!" Hehehe
For me binge watching old comedies like "Community", "The Office" with my brother and sister. Also cleaning up and organizing my room. Also teaching Taekwondo in the afternoons via Zoom. Also walking between 4 and 7 miles a day to keep fit and healthy all the while playing a lot of Pokemon Go! :)
That... is impressive! Good job on the exercise!
Sounds like such awesome fun that you are having. I feel sad that all the repair workshops had to be cancelled.
Yea. I just wonder what will happen when this is over. Will people be motivated to go back out, or lazy?
Me too! I put seat covers on my Hyundai Tuscon that I have meant to do for 2 years. And a screen cover on my phone that I should have done a few months ago.
Awesome!!!! - Ethan
(jumping in late...) On Fri, 24 Apr 2020, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Yeah, VCF East would have started today. I'm sad too because it was turning out to be the best one ever, now we have to postpone and hope that everything falls into place.
It will still be great when the next one happens!
I had scheduled the time-off already, so my wife & I decided to do VCF@Home, now on day 2 of 4. Working on my SYM-1, taking a break before soldering new memory address jumpers in. We've also been doing some food & drink tributes that we strongly associate with VCF East. :) Posting updates on Instagram & Facebook. https://www.instagram.com/jkakari/ https://www.facebook.com/necoro I might go back and re-post these on my own website, because both FB and IG have been such a PITA to do this on. If nothing else it means I'll have a real solid exhibit by October. ;) UPSes:
Thinking out loud. Does anyone replace the batteries on them or do they just buy a new one? I have two with dead batteries and wonder if the cost justifies replacing the batteries or just get a whole new unit?
If it's a better or bigger UPS, I replace the batteries. I've done so from RefurbUPS and Gruber Power Systems over the past 15 years or so on my: - Best Power Fortress 1450 - Powerware Prestige EXT - Powerware 9125 -- Jameel Akari
participants (10)
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Chris Fala -
Dave McGuire -
David Gesswein -
David Riley -
Ethan O'Toole -
Jameel Akari -
Jeffrey Brace -
laurakid -
Mike Loewen -
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