[vcf-midatlantic] Jan 30/31 Workshop location update & what's everyone working on?

[Steven Toth]

> As far as 1541's go, what I will start with is a few working drives.  I
> want to set up some measuring equipment so we can take baseline readings of
> the electrical characteristics of the drives.  Then with this info we can
> play doctor 1541 to diagnose non-working drives.  We can line 10 drives up
> at a time, probe targeted points and determine which are the best
> candidates for repair.  We can also swap parts, etc.  I have an
> oscilloscope but if anyone wants to bring a better one, please advise and I
> will leave mine at home.

Good plan. I've never looked at 1541's before, so I have no schematic
/ maintenance docs.... yet.

That being said, I'll happily help anyone.

I plan to bring a modern scope, although I'm only around Saturday, so
you might want to lug something up to NJ anyway.

>
> I am also planning on bringing a few DEC power supplies to test out.
>  h742a's.  These are 115V and can be tested from a regular outlet.  I have
> restored one from the grave, I hope to be able to bring up at least two
> more (I have 4 to be restored).  Restoring the supply was a great learning
> experience for me, I was totally clueless about DEC repairs before I
> started.  I know VCF has at least one h742a power supply in the store room
> we can take a look at, maybe diagnose the condition of VCFs pdp 11/40 power
> supply.

Power supplies (design/debug) I'm weaker than I'd like. I'd like to
help with any DEC stuff - or listen/learn, either way is fine.

Overall, I've never needed to realign a C64 drive, although I have
done some Apple II driver calibration. Sounds like fun.

- Steve