Welcome to my blog.
This is my day-to-day blog about my work with electronics, including additions to my collection and any repairs or restorations I’ve performed.
1999 Gateway GP7-500 PC & EV700 CRT Display Repair & Restoration
Early last year, I bought a very nice 1999 Gateway GP7-500 PC and matching EV700 17″ VGA CRT display from someone fairly local who got in touch with me via my website. This had been plugged in on a desk in his loft since he got it back in 1999 along with the rest of…
Keep reading
1980 Sharp MZ-80K Repair & Restoration
A few weeks ago I picked up a small haul of vintage computers fairly locally from someone who got in touch with me via my website, including a Sharp MZ-80K in its original box – these are pretty cool computers and I’ve been after getting one for a little while. The computer was in good…
Keep reading
1994 Panasonic 3DO (FZ-1) Repair & Restoration
Last year, a friend of mine very kindly gave me my first Panasonic 3DO, an FZ-1 model, in good physical condition but unknown operational condition – it had been stored in a loft for several years. I hadn’t actually seen one of these in-person before. The Pansonic 3DO is are fairly uncommon, although you can…
Keep reading
2001 Toshiba SD-23VB (3850R-Z243G) VHS/DVD Player Repair
Last year, a colleague of mine very kindly gave me this Toshiba SD-23VB VHS/DVD combi player, which was apparently completely dead, likely a fault with the internal PSU. I tested it when it arrived, and it was indeed completely dead – there was no response to the power button or any other button at all,…
Keep reading
1983 Milton-Bradley Vectrex Repair
Last year, I repaired a Vectrex games console for a friend of mine who runs Re:Wired Museum & Arcade CIC, a community-run project in Teesside which helps to preserve and showcase technology that has impacted society. Apparently the unit worked OK for a while after being whacked on the side, then stopped working completely following…
Keep reading
2003 Microsoft Xbox Crystal Green Repair & Restoration
A couple of weeks ago, I repaired a 2003 Microsoft Xbox for a friend of mine – a very lovely and rather rare green crystal limited-edition Xbox with a translucent case. The symptoms were that the power button didn’t work, but the console could still be powered on with the eject button – a pretty…
Keep reading
1982 Commodore PET 8032 Repair & Restoration
Last year, I repaired a Commodore PET 8032 for a friend of mine. The PET wasn’t working and needed its mains filter can removed, a keyboard service including a new shift-lock mechanism, and a general clean up – it’s matching 8050 dual 5.25″ FDD wasn’t working and needed its mains filter can removed with a…
Keep reading
1994 Commodore Amiga CD32 Repair & Restoration
Last year I got my first Amiga CD32, which was very kindly given to me by a friend – these suffer from bad electrolytic capacitors on the mainboard and need to be properly serviced. The console is pretty easy to take apart for inspection. With the upper case removed, it was clear that the SMD…
Keep reading
1984 Viglen-Cased Acorn BBC Model B Repair & Restoration
Last year I got my first Viglen-cased Acorn BBC Model B, which was very kindly given to me by a friend – these use most of the original parts from the converted Model B except for the top case, so require servicing before powering on due to ageing RIFA mains filter capacitors which like to…
Keep reading
1997 Apple PowerBook 1400CS-166 Repair & Restoration
Last year, I repaired an Apple PowerBook 1400CS-166 for a friend of mine, which required a recap of the mainboard, backlight board and display driver board, a replacement for the leaky original NiMH battery pack, a mainboard repair, and a new power supply. Originally, the system seemed completely dead with no response to the power…
Keep reading
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.