Case designs (was: New Definiton REQUIRED)

From: jpero_at_cgo.wave.ca <(jpero_at_cgo.wave.ca)>
Date: Tue Nov 18 08:32:45 1997

>
>
> On Mon, 17 Nov 1997, William Donzelli wrote:
>
> > I have what must be the most butt ugly terminal ever made, an old IBM
> > thing from the last of the 360 days. It looks like a mishapen lump of
> > white metal, with a keyboard that can be best described as "thick" The CRT
> > is a strange aspect ratio, something like 1:2. It, however, must be
> > the nicest thing in the world to fix (it seems to work, so I have not had
Real oddball terminal indeed better save it and use it in meantime.

> Nicest thing to work on that I ever saw was a Barco monitor. Access was
> from 3 points - undo 2 screws and lift off the top/sides, undo 3
> quarter-turn clips and remove the back panel, and unlock a drawer under
> the CRT at the front and slide it out.
>
> The drawer contains the 2 timebase generators and the convergence panel.
> All the controls you need to tweak while watching the screen are at the
> front. And as the boards are side-by-side, it's trivial to connect a
> 'scope probe to them.
>
> The video amplifiers and sync cards are in a cardcage across the back. The
> PSU cardcage (and mains transformer) mounts on top of them on the right
> hand side. On the left hand side are the horizontal output module and the
> EHT supply.
>
> Now, cards in cardcages are in general difficult to work on. But Barco
> provide an extender board in the video cardcage (in a spare slot) so you
> can work on them
>
> A Barco TV was nearly as good. Pop the back (4 screws), and there was a
> motherboard mounted vertically around the CRT neck. Pull out any of the
> plug-in cards, hinge the motherboard down, and plug it into pins on the
> solder side of the motherboard. You can now trivially test it.
Is that Barco company gone belly up or still existing making new
monitors and TV's? And also that shows good design! :)
 
>
> > Actually (and I know I am going to get a rotten tomato thrown at me for
> > this one), most modern computers (except the PeeCee) are much nicer to
> > work on than those from 10 or 20 years ago. The attention to details seems
>
> I've never understood this love of screwdriver-less cases. If I'm going to
> be fixing a computer I'm going to have a soldering station, scope, logic
> analyser, cutters, etc with me. So having a screwdriver set is no big deal
> either.

Oh, Tony, we have to deal 5 or 12 computers a day when things get
busy and if the quality is stinker, takes longer to fix so we really
appreciate the least number of screws required or useful devices that
allows you to remove one or two drive cages by letting go a catch to
work on it seperate from case. The low quality cases is so sharp
that you can shave with it and also very wobbly without the cover. (I
could crush the frame with hands. and I'm not that strong-armed like
the weight lifter!) Also some have so bad metal and rough machined
screws chew 'em up in short order. Have anyone noticed many fine
pitch screws getting less defined and more of rough appearance.
Once, I found one blank stem with fully formed head complete with
slot! The older computer typically used well made parts so we
appreciate them also.

Troll
 
> -tony
 
Received on Tue Nov 18 1997 - 08:32:45 GMT