Explaining compatibility issues between USB and retro Psion computers that use RS232 when using USB-RS232 adapters like FTDI & Prolific
Tag Archives: maker
On CyberDecks…
Battery powered, portable – Raspberry Pi cyberdecks with tiny screens & keyboards…
Tiny oscilloscopes – revisiting the JYETech DSO138 and trying the Raspberry Pi Pico based “scoppy” on Android
Back in Jan 2021 I built the DSO138 tiny oscilloscope kit. Thought I’d dig it out and compare it with the more recent Raspberry Pi Pico based “scoppy” that uses the Pico’s A2D and an Android phone app to display the data
Raspberry Pi Supply Chain Issues – saying hello (again) to the Original Pi Model B Rev 2 512MB
If you’re struggling to find Raspberry Pi Zero (or Zero 2) boards for light IoT applications then an old Pi 1 512MB from 2012 might be the answer…
Old Meets New: Analog (1G) TACS Cellphone meets Lime SDR
Bringing an old analog (1G) Cleartone CTN9000 mobile phone handset back to life with the aid of a software-defined radio (Lime SDR) and osmocom_analog.
Hacking up the Psion SIBO SDK DOS debugger
Poking around in the old Psion SIBO SDK debugger – which looks like it’s based heavily on the MC’s GUI…
Repurposing an old Psion MC400 laptop keyboard with Teensyduino & USB
Re-purposing an old Psion MC400 laptop mechanical keyboard from 1989 to work with USB via a Teensy LC (Arduino compatible) microcontroller
Grafana, Influxdb & DS18B20 based home temperature monitoring with Raspberry Pi
An update on the Raspberry Pi/Grafana/Influxdb/DS18B20 home temperature monitoring network I first put together in 2020…
10 years of Raspberry Pi
So the Raspberry Pi has been around for 10 years… everyone’s favourite credit-card-sized computer does just about everything
Emulating the Psion MC400
I read an online post about creating an “MC400 emulator”. That got me thinking about the ROM, and the 28F010 flash chips that realise it…
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…
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 😦
“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!
Psion Series 3a vs. Technics RS-B665
Controlling my 1990s Technics tape deck from a 1990s PDA – Psion Series 3a remote control via NodeMCU
Reviving a relic – a time machine from the past – the Enhanced Waveform Generator
Reviving some 1990s era tech …
Reading a 27C512 EPROM with a Raspberry Pi – ROM-dumping!
Using Raspberry Pi GPIO to read the contents of an old 5V CMOS ROM
Room 7609 