Anyone Into Old Tech?

dilettante

dilettante

Well-known Member
Location
Michigan
It is fascinating to see videos on obsolete technology where people attempt to bring it back to life. I know for many it will be boring since so much of it is outside their experience. Even a small electronic schematic probably looks like something carved into an Egyptian relic. :ROFLMAO:


Fran there focuses more on the industrial and aerospace than consumer electronics. But others go the opposite way and attempt to revive things like unusual or obsolete audio gear.


Does anyone follow others making these sorts of videos?
 

Boys and their toys :giggle: Just kidding.
I don't find it boring at all but I do find it to be over my head.
I admire you guys. Carry on(y)
 

Yes. Now and again I get into building electronic circuits for the odd job here and there. I have several unstarted projects, some of which I am still sourcing parts for, and I have parts that are no longer needed _ going into an ever growing storage bins.
 
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reteP said:
Yes. Now and again I get into building electronic circuits for the odd job here and there. I have several unstarted projects, some of which I am still sourcing parts for, and I have parts that are no longer needed _ going into an ever growing storage bins.
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I just donated my collection of old vacuum tubes to our local ham club. A couple of the members are into restoring old radios and equipment. I kept a few of my favorites. I don't know why. Nostalgia?
 
Fran does a lot of interesting projects building stuff and restoring all sorts of old tech from consumer appliances to Apollo-era displays and such.

 
Into it, no way! But this reminded me of something. I had a Tandy... what was it called... TRS 80? Anyhow, there was a magazine called Rainbow that had programming codes... LONG rows of numbers/symbols that needed to be typed in. Made one little mistake? Good luck going back over it all and trying to find it! I sat for hours on end doing that every time a new Rainbow came out (monthly publication if I'm not mistaken)... and I remember the thrill the very first time I did it because I programmed a Christmas tree with sparkling lights and it actually worked. :giggle:🎄
 
CallMeKate said:
Into it, no way! But this reminded me of something. I had a Tandy... what was it called... TRS 80? Anyhow, there was a magazine called Rainbow that had programming codes... LONG rows of numbers/symbols that needed to be typed in. Made one little mistake? Good luck going back over it all and trying to find it! I sat for hours on end doing that every time a new Rainbow came out (monthly publication if I'm not mistaken)... and I remember the thrill the very first time I did it because I programmed a Christmas tree with sparkling lights and it actually worked. :giggle:🎄
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Very cool! I'll bet you enjoyed the sense of accomplishment.

Of course those of us outside the RS/Tandy Camp referred to that as the "Trash-80." :ROFLMAO:

I did acquire a Tandy 200 new myself back in the day. Very primitive by the standards of the day but it was a pretty cheap "laptop" for those times. Runs on AA cells! I'm sure I have it put away here somewhere yet. I should probably let it go to some collector.

trs80-200.jpg
 
dilettante said:
Very cool! I'll bet you enjoyed the sense of accomplishment.
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Yes, there was a sense of accomplishment... but at the same time, the back of my mind (or was it my common sense? :unsure:) was saying "You just spent five and a half hours drawing a Christmas tree?" But it was so new, and we didn't really have a clue back then about what some futuristic date like 2024 would be like when it comes to technology... so it was very exciting.
 
CallMeKate said:
Into it, no way! But this reminded me of something. I had a Tandy... what was it called... TRS 80? Anyhow, there was a magazine called Rainbow that had programming codes... LONG rows of numbers/symbols that needed to be typed in. Made one little mistake? Good luck going back over it all and trying to find it! I sat for hours on end doing that every time a new Rainbow came out (monthly publication if I'm not mistaken)... and I remember the thrill the very first time I did it because I programmed a Christmas tree with sparkling lights and it actually worked. :giggle:🎄
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I did the same thing with my TI 99/4A and Commodore 64. I still have some copies of Compute! and Compute Gazette. I got pretty good at typing numbers. Remember saving and loading programs from a cassette?
 
Grampa Don said:
I did the same thing with my TI 99/4A and Commodore 64. I still have some copies of Compute! and Compute Gazette. I got pretty good at typing numbers. Remember saving and loading programs from a cassette?
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Loading programs from a cassette isn't ringing a bell... from a floppy, yes. And now I'm thinking of that sound my old dinosaur modem made when connecting. Can't remember what the baud was... but hecka slow. My fingers, eyes, or nerves wouldn't be able to handle all that number typing now... no way!
 
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Grampa Don said:
I just donated my collection of old vacuum tubes to our local ham club. A couple of the members are into restoring old radios and equipment. I kept a few of my favorites. I don't know why. Nostalgia?
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I am the newsletter editor for our local ham radio club. I was asked once by one of its senior members to not post anything of valve/tube radios. He considered they were only good for anchors. I ignored that suggestion, and brought up the fact that even though our club members may not use their old valve equipment anymore, I knew that some of our 250+ subscribers did. Once I pointed that out, the club thought differently.
 
reteP said:
I am the newsletter editor for our local ham radio club. I was asked once by one of its senior members to not post anything of valve/tube radios. He considered they were only good for anchors. I ignored that suggestion, and brought up the fact that even though our club members may not use their old valve equipment anymore, I knew that some of our 250+ subscribers did. Once I pointed that out, the club thought differently.
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Good for you.

There are people who enjoy preserving those old boat anchors. I also gave them a small Bakelite radio that was built in the early thirties and a Collins ham receiver from the mid 50's. They were tickled to get them. The Collins has 18 vacuum tubes and it still works great.

I'm getting rid of things I don't want my son to have to deal with.
 
Grampa Don said:
Good for you.

There are people who enjoy preserving those old boat anchors. I also gave them a small Bakelite radio that was built in the early thirties and a Collins ham receiver from the mid 50's. They were tickled to get them. The Collins has 18 vacuum tubes and it still works great.

I'm getting rid of things I don't want my son to have to deal with.
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Same her about getting rid of stuff, but so my friends don't have to deal with (I have no family). All my electronics, test equipment, and radio gear will be given to the club; providing it helps the 'club shack' to be more engaging for newcomers (which it isn't at the moment [too many chiefs and no indians]).

I have been trying to get the club to engage scout groups, and other youth groups, to invole them in technical stuff with fun. Such as fox hunts, ISS, radio astronomy, OTA's, and more outings. It seems they all need a thumb tack. (Blessed is he who sits on a thumb tack for surely he will rise again).

I started as a pirate on CB in the late 1960's (CB was not on the market in Australia then (had to get used radios of the truckies, or convert 28Mhz taxi radios to 27MHz). My best mate (a trainee radio technician) just got his Novice ham radio licence, and a club member loaned him a Yaesu FT-100 (I think), it was a valve job, and I remember how awesome it was to hear my mate talk to people overseas.

However, the ragchews were mainly about radio tech homebrewing stuff, which went over my head at the time, but I did not care. In fact, it made the whole experience somewhat exotic. I am only new to ham radio, it was on my bucket list to get my licence after I retired. I soon discovered that I only like some ragchewing, but more interested in experimenting with test equipment and antenna building. I don't like contesting, it seems like fishing for 'likes' as on some social media platforms. Our club nets are ragchews, and we have them most nights of the week.
 
reteP said:
Same her about getting rid of stuff, but so my friends don't have to deal with (I have no family). All my electronics, test equipment, and radio gear will be given to the club; providing it helps the 'club shack' to be more engaging for newcomers (which it isn't at the moment [too many chiefs and no indians]).

I have been trying to get the club to engage scout groups, and other youth groups, to invole them in technical stuff with fun. Such as fox hunts, ISS, radio astronomy, OTA's, and more outings. It seems they all need a thumb tack. (Blessed is he who sits on a thumb tack for surely he will rise again).

I started as a pirate on CB in the late 1960's (CB was not on the market in Australia then (had to get used radios of the truckies, or convert 28Mhz taxi radios to 27MHz). My best mate (a trainee radio technician) just got his Novice ham radio licence, and a club member loaned him a Yaesu FT-100 (I think), it was a valve job, and I remember how awesome it was to hear my mate talk to people overseas.

However, the ragchews were mainly about radio tech homebrewing stuff, which went over my head at the time, but I did not care. In fact, it made the whole experience somewhat exotic. I am only new to ham radio, it was on my bucket list to get my licence after I retired. I soon discovered that I only like some ragchewing, but more interested in experimenting with test equipment and antenna building. I don't like contesting, it seems like fishing for 'likes' as on some social media platforms. Our club nets are ragchews, and we have them most nights of the week.
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My experience is similar. I never got a ham license, but I listened to shortwave a lot. Now, there is nothing to listen to. The receivers were neat. Now, you can just buy a dongle for you computer and it's all done in software.
 
Grampa Don said:
My experience is similar. I never got a ham license, but I listened to shortwave a lot. Now, there is nothing to listen to. The receivers were neat. Now, you can just buy a dongle for you computer and it's all done in software.
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Agree. I have a RDL-SDR dongle with a ultra low noise amplifier (LaNA). I live in a flat with a large overhanging balcony metal shade; making it very difficult for incorporating outdoor antennas. Anyway, on my bucket list is to do some radio astronomy, and satellite decoding, such as weather information and mapping, etc.

Currently I may now and again, on the computer watch which flights may be comming to our rural airport, or any RAAF planes passing by. Then I scan the aeronatical channels to hear any pilot to pilot, or pilot to control tower talk. I am ex RAAF, and it brings back some fond memories.
 
A rant on human and machine decrepitude:


Most of us can relate to the issue, even if we can't manage to sit through it all.
 
As a teenager, I built a number of Knight Kits (electronic stuff from Allied Radio / Radio Shack). I did a short wave radio, a regular amplifier, a stereo amplifier, and a tuner.

I had an antenna for the short wave run from my bedroom to the peak of the garage roof and got pretty fair reception. So then I decided to hook the amplifier (20 watts I think) to the radio to "get more power". Well, when I went to test it I touched the radio with one hand and the amp with the other. BAMMM, I caught a jolt, was knocked backwards, hit the wall and my feet slid out from under me.

I was dazed but nothing serious, and the family didn't hear me crash. Anyway, I soon decided my experiments were a bad idea and moved on to store bought stuff.
 
I’m not necessarily into old tech. I just never get rid of anything. I still have and old tube tv, record player, vhs recorder/player, 8-track recorder/player, etc.
 

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