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Andrew's Tech Break

@andrewstechbrk

Spending free time taking a look at, fixing, and conserving Retro and New Tech.

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03.02.2024
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Latest posts by Andrew's Tech Break @andrewstechbrk

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The SE/30 board is re-capped. Time to move on to cleaning and re-assembly. Definitely this Mac was well used.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh

08.03.2026 21:58 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Most of these caps just popped off the board. All pads look good and tested to their respective vias. So time to re-cap this SE/30 board.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh

08.03.2026 00:48 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Looks like I scored with the board in the SE/30. It is a survivor with no battery leakage and no battery damage. And other then a little fuzziness around the caps it looks good. Time to clean it up and change those caps.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac #MARCHintosh

07.03.2026 01:52 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Got a new toy in the mail today!
#retrocomputing #c64 #c64u #c64ultimate #commodore

04.03.2026 17:50 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Just in time for #MARCHintosh I picked up a system I’ve been looking for a while – a Macintosh SE/30. Fingers crossed the motherboard is a survivor and not eaten away by leaking battery and caps.
#retrocomputing #macintosh #se30 #vintagemac

04.03.2026 00:36 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Manufacturers of laptops back in the day really didn’t give them much of a chance with minimal plastic reinforcements to hold the screen. The pegs were completely cracked past the reinforcements. These plastic blocks should hold the screen a lot better.
#retrocomputing #pc5700

23.02.2026 00:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Yup. But when they're working they're still one of the fastest ways to get data off these old machines.

22.02.2026 01:14 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Grabbing a backup of this Sharp PC-5700 while the HDD is still working in case there is any original software on it. This hard drive has a had a tough past.
#retrocomputing #pc5700

22.02.2026 00:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Another hole in one of my classic computer keyboards filled. My Commodore CBM now has a proper Shift Lock key.
#retrocomputing #commodore #commodorepet #commodoreCBM

21.02.2026 18:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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12.02.2026 00:14 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A few games

12.02.2026 00:14 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Gotek assembled and installed. CPC6128 buttoned up and cleaned up. And I got a proper SCART cable and converter. Time to explore this machine.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

12.02.2026 00:13 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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Although tape loads might be nostalgic for some people, they are unnecessarily painful these days. So first upgrade for the CPC 6128 is a Gotek. For this the 3” drive is going away. Finding a CPC on this side of the planet is rare. Finding a 3” disk is close to impossible.

08.02.2026 20:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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SUCCESS!! One dead memory chip and a dodgy socket for the PAL replaced and this CPC 6128 looks to be all fixed. All tests good and program loads from tape still work.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

08.02.2026 20:46 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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IT’S ALIVE! I used the jumper trick to bypass the PAL and hardcode only the first 64k and the machine works. I was even able to read some programs from tape. So this basically means I have a failure in the upper memory or the PAL.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

07.02.2026 20:26 πŸ‘ 25 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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I figured since the CPC 6128 output is RGB the easiest way to get video out for now is a VGA cable. So wired one up. Unfortunately first power on and I get a grey screen. So the system is outputting something. Let the diagnostics fun begin.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

06.02.2026 22:05 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Just noticed they kept the board edge connectors under the bulky connectors but no fingers on the connectors. Too bad it’s going to make it more difficult to use any CPC add-ons.

04.02.2026 22:18 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Inside is just as clean. Except for a little dust everything looks really good. I don’t see any worries to try and power it on. Time to tackle the video output.

04.02.2026 22:18 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Exterior inspection of this Schneider CPC 6128 looks good. Very clean and no signs of wear.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

04.02.2026 22:17 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
VCF Montreal 2026: Post-Event Survey

VCF MontrΓ©al 2026 Survey Results:
English: bit.ly/vcfm2016post...
French: bit.ly/vcfm2016post...

03.02.2026 22:33 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Let's Chat VCF MontrΓ©al w/ Nicolas Maillouski and Friends!
Let's Chat VCF MontrΓ©al w/ Nicolas Maillouski and Friends! YouTube video by Ron's Computer Videos

Did you attend Vintage Computer Festival MontrΓ©al? Non? Let's chat with Nicolas Maillouski and friends about this new VCF event in Canada! www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpiI...

03.02.2026 16:07 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Ya SCART is always a challenge in North America since it was never a thing here. I'll have to try one of those SCART -> HDMI converters.

02.02.2026 14:40 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Wow! Surprising local pickup – a Schneider branded CPC 6128. I know very little about these computers. Looks like I’m learning some German for this one. Now to figure out how to power it and get video out. Time to watch some Youtube videos.
#retrocomputing #amstrad #cpc #cpc6128

02.02.2026 00:20 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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My Apple III is complete! I wasn’t sure I was ever going to find a 9 key for it. But the gaping hole is now plugged. Combined with a proper Monitor III it’s looking good.
#retrocomputing #apple #appleiii #apple3

31.01.2026 00:02 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Series of pictures took on Sunday during #VCF #Montreal

28.01.2026 14:44 πŸ‘ 26 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
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BBS'ing on a Hyperion like it's 1983 at VCF Montreal
#retrocomputing #vcfmontreal #hyperion

23.01.2026 20:26 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Setup for VCF Montreal
#retrocomputing #vcfmontreal

23.01.2026 18:46 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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NABUs are prepped and ready to join Leo’s NABUs at VCF Montreal for some networked retro gaming.
# retrocomputing #VCFMTL #VCF #vcfmontreal

14.01.2026 00:41 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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So what you made you grumpy little guy that you blew your top.

13.01.2026 00:04 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Unpacking a NABU computer like it’s 1983. Check to see all is good for VCF Montreal.
#retrocomputing #nabu #nabupc #nabuca #nabunetwork #vcfmontreal

11.01.2026 22:28 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0