Kaypro II

From: Don Maslin <donm_at_cts.com>
Date: Thu Feb 13 15:19:00 2003

On Thu, 13 Feb 2003, Mike van Bokhoven wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Just thought I'd recount some experiences with a Kaypro II and associated
> manuals, kindly given to me by a friend.
>
> First, a couple of requests.
> - Does anyone have any keyboard parts for Kaypro II keyboards, or a complete
> spare keyboard? I'm not sure if the keyboard actually works, but its obvious
> faults are that it's missing the 3 key, and the keyswitch for that key is
> damaged. Also, the 4-pin cable connector on the keyboard is broken, though
> it will still take the plug. This is a common 4-pin telecom-type socket as
> found on a lot of telephones. The keyboard was made by Maxi-Switch Co, model
> Maxikey, keyboard number 2160150, PC board number 630184.

I can provide either spare parts or a complete keyboard for your
Kaypro II. Contact me off list with your desires and we can work
out something for you. "Complete" does not include the sheet
metal housing, however.

> - Does anyone know if it's possible to write Kaypro disks with a PC and 5
> 1/4 inch drive? If not - any hints on where to dig up software?

Yes, I do it regularly. The 5.25" drive should be a 360k unit
though. You will need software such as 22Disk, UniForm, or others
as elsewhere discribed in order to format/read/write material to
the disks on the PC.

> Now, on to my, um, interesting experience with this machine. The friend who
> gave me the machine told me that it had been running fairly recently (within
> the last couple of years, anyway), so I figured chances are it'd start up
> OK. On disassembling it, I found it absolutely spotless inside, so I put it
> back together and ran it up. Everything went superbly for about fifteen
> seconds; long enough for me to get my fingers off the power switch around
> the back. But just then, there was an ominous hissing sound, followed by one
> of the loudest BANGs I've heard from a piece of electronic equipment. Since
> I was completely unprepared for it, it took me a couple of seconds to get my
> hand around the back again and turn the thing off. Most interesting was
> during those two seconds after the explosion, the machine continued running
> fine, not so much as a waver on the monitor. Pulling it apart again, guess
> what - dead capacitor. But, not one of the electrolytics that you'd expect,
> it was the AC filter capacitor that had spread itself all over the inside of
> the case. Having seen that, and performed a quick tidy-up, I verified that
> the machine still ran fine. Now I just need some software for it, to find
> out whether the whole thing is in working order!

If it still displays the initial powerup message on the screen,
there is every chance that it is. Next time you have the cover
off - perhaps to replace the capacitor - look for a couple of
EPROMs that carry part numbers on paper labels. The numbers are
of the form 81-xxx and the one of interest should be one of
81-149/232/292. That determines the revision of CP/M-2.2 that
your machine requires.

Also, if you remove the power supply to replace the capacitor,
take the time to resolder all of the pins on the header along the
right hand edge of the card. These are known to develop cracks in
the solder joint and cause some mischief when they do.

                                                - don

> Mike.
Received on Thu Feb 13 2003 - 15:19:00 GMT