A Tale of Two Sources: NASA vs. Braben & Bell
Comparing comments (or the lack of them!) in software from 1969 & 1984. NASA’s Apollo Guidance Computer versus Elite for the BBC Model B 🙂
Breaking the Sound Barrier with Maxell Cassette Tapes
As a teenager in the 1980s I was obsessed with Maxell tapes, and the brand Maxell in general. Here’s my homage to Maxell Holdings, Ltd.
Using a 30 year old laptop in 2021: The Psion MC400…
A summary of all the things that are right with my 1991 Psion MC400 laptop, “online” via an attached Raspberry Pi 3B+ and wifi…
My Linux life: a restrospective
As of July 2021 Linux has been around for 30 years. For almost all of that time I’ve been installing Linux on just about anything I possibly can….
Psion MC400 – retro computing via RS232 to Raspberry Pi – handshaking fixed…
Getting the 1990s era Psion MC400 laptop online via an attached Raspberry Pi and some custom shortened Psion serial-USB cables… Tweets, Emails, BBC News & screenshots! All in glorious monochrome and at 19200 baud 🙂
Finding beauty in unexpected places
Some patterns…. the beauty in repetitive patterns, in nature and in art.
40 years later: reflections on 1981 – pop music’s greatest year?
Was 1981 pop music’s greatest ever year? There’s no doubt for me – it absolutely was! Débuts from several of the decade’s biggest names, Eurovision Winners and a novelty No.1, 1981 had it all.
RS232 flow-control & handshaking – Psion MC400 retro communications
Connecting my retro-laptop to the internet via 2 x RS232 serial connections to a Raspberry Pi… and defeated (for now) by lack of hardware flow-control signals 😦
5G on the moon?
NASA has ambitions to build a comms infrastructure on the moon using 4G LTE technology…
dot-com failures, skim.com & obsessive bag collecting
About my Love of bags – this one a dot-com era superstar from 2000/2001. Internet enabled fashion? Oh yes! SKIM.COM a y2k style bubble ready to burst 🙂
“My Life in Laptops” – am I Doug Rocket?
My homage to Doug Rocket’s art installation at Place “MY LAPTOPS 1991-2005”. It’s well Mexico.
Magellan GPS 315 vs. The Future – part 2
Some older GPS receivers can’t compute dates properly thanks to the original GPS system employing an epoch with 10-bit week number… a new epoch starts every 1024 weeks!
Record Store Day 2021 – crooked queuing
Why vinyl is more than the sum of its parts. “Record Store Day” 2021 and queuing for 2 hours to buy a black plastic disc. Independent record shops and teenage memories…
Retro & Online – Connecting Psion’s MC400 & Series 3a machines to “the internet”
Connecting 30-year old computers to the internet in 2021… for the LOLs. Revisiting RS232, null-modems and the like, all at 19200 baud.
Magellan GPS 315 vs. The Future – part 1
Comparing a handheld 1990s dedicated GPS receiver with the GNSS chip in a 2019 smartphone
Psion Series 3a vs. Technics RS-B665
Controlling my 1990s Technics tape deck from a 1990s PDA – Psion Series 3a remote control via NodeMCU
Retrocomputing – getting re-acquainted with the Psion Series 3a and MC400
Retro computing. Getting 1990s era computers connected to modern stuff….
MCMF – MF4 dialling for the Psion MC400
Back in the early 1990s I was a serious Psion-a-holic. If there was such a thing as “Psionaholics Anonymous” I would’ve been there. My first machine was the ground-breaking Series 3 and I was instantly hooked. After that I owned a Series 3a, Siena, Series 5 and later a Revo. These machines had soul. IContinue reading “MCMF – MF4 dialling for the Psion MC400”
“Electronics & Music Maker” – archiving a demo cassette from 1982
“Electronics & Music Maker” (E&MM) was a magazine aimed at home/hobby music makers that started in the early 1980s and was produced as an offshoot of the mighty Maplin electronic component distribution empire. The idea was that it would promote more sales and engagement with Maplin’s component business through projects & DIY features based aroundContinue reading ““Electronics & Music Maker” – archiving a demo cassette from 1982″
Reviving a relic – a time machine from the past – the Enhanced Waveform Generator
Reviving some 1990s era tech …
A Life-long Love Affair with “Compact Cassette”
I was saddened to learn of the passing of Lou Ottens, a Dutch Engineer credited with inventing the humble cassette tape format whilst working at Philips in the 1960s. Crucially Philips had the foresight to licence the format and it quickly became the de-facto standard for consumer audio recording. It made me reflect on justContinue reading “A Life-long Love Affair with “Compact Cassette””
Buying 2nd hand “vintage” Hi-Fi on eBay – buyer beware
Bought an old Hi-Fi from eBay – seller listed it as “used” (meaning it works OK but might have some cosmetic damage). Turns out it was faulty. D’oh.
Reading a 27C512 EPROM with a Raspberry Pi – ROM-dumping!
Using Raspberry Pi GPIO to read the contents of an old 5V CMOS ROM
Minidisc copybit stripper – the Elektor SCMS killer
Defeating SCMS copy-control restrictions in digital minidisc-to-minidisc copies using the infamous Elektor copybit killer from 1998
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About Room 7609
Hi, and welcome to Zed Starr’s compendium of techno-bizzle. Sometimes a bit retro, or getting retro stuff to do things in “modern life”; featuring Raspberry Pi, Linux, GNSS, analogue audio/Hi-Fi, Psion computers and with an overall electronics flavour. And no, I’m not sure what exactly “techno-bizzle” is either… Enjoy!
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Room 7609 