Chicago trs-80s

From: Steve Robertson <steverob_at_hotoffice.com>
Date: Tue Apr 6 16:34:47 1999

On Tuesday, April 06, 1999 4:24 PM, Mike [SMTP:dogas_at_leading.net] wrote:
> My vacation/computer-rescue-mission has come to a close and there is now
a
> big honkin pile of trs-80 6000 and 16b toys on my living room floor. :)
> Several of them have broken this or thatsz but the first one I pulled, a
> 6000hd 15mhd, booted into Xenix 3.0.1 I think (Microsoft '84). the 68k
in
> it crashed after about 20min of xenix frolicking. She's resting now.
 I'd
> like cc and tcp for this if anyone can help me out? I 'm sure some
parts
> will be available as soon as I figure out what I have. Software, give
me
> software or give me death.
>
> ;)
> - Mike: dogas_at_leading.net
>

Mike,

Nice haul...

A couple of weeks ago, I got a Model 2 and a Model 16 sans keyboards. Both
machines had been in storage for a long time and were absolutely filthy.

After careful disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly, the Model 2 returned
to life. Another list member has located a keyboard for me (thanks) so,
that one is complete. I haven't found a boot disk for it yet but, I'm sure
it'll work just fine.

Last weekend I opened up the Model 16 to see if it could be resurrected.
The hard drive had been previously removed but it looks like everything
else is there. After the ritual cleaning, I applied power to the computer
and promptly smoked the floppy drive. One of the traces on the PCB lit up
like a freakin Christmas tree. DAMN! I'm surprised it didn't blow a fuse or
something. I haven't looked at the drive too closely so, I'm not really
sure what happened there.

If it is a power supply problem, the whole machine could be history. I'm
hoping it was a problem with the floppy and didn't kill anything else.

I have not been able to get a trace on the CRT and really don't have the
enough tools to properly diagnose the problem. I did however notice the
filament on the CRT was glowing and the cooling fans were running. I
believe the fans get power from the 110AC primary and the filament could be
from an unregulated source. So, this doesn't totally eliminate a Power
Supply problem. Can anyone tell me what voltages should appear on the PS
connectors?

Is there an easy way to determine if the processor is alive?
Unfortunately, I don't have a scope or logic probe :-(

If anyone can suggest a good source for a Logic Probe, I'll consider
buying one?

If I'm unable to get this thing working, I'll make the parts available. The
case and CRT are in really good condition so, don't trash any of the Model
16 parts yet. Between us, we should be able to put another one together.

Good Luck,

Steve Robertson - <steverob_at_hotoffice.com>
Received on Tue Apr 06 1999 - 16:34:47 BST