Updates (Page 2)

July 1st - RetroChallenge 2010 begins!

I'm awake. It's 7:17 in the morning here in sunny New York, USA. Today, I WILL build that serial adapter and get the Apple IIe and my Windows Desktop (old enough to still have a single hardware serial port, unlike one of my three computer based on the Intel 440BX chipset/board which seems to have TWO) talking.

Hopefully I will be able to use the Arduino at some point today, it still needs a circuit design to handle RS-232 levels (+/-3-12v, probably +/- 3.3v or +/- 5v since the arduino has those voltages already). Probably going to try using a digital or analog pin and setting one to an input and one to an output and switching them with transistors or something. WAIT, I just looked at the schematic of the RS-232 shifter board sold by Sparkfun (product,schematic) and with the exception of one electrolytic 10uf (cap), it looks like by chance I HAVE the parts. As an aside I bought some of the necessary transistors to build a logic probe (not done yet, link), but at least I have the parts I need for OTHER things.

urbancamo's page is looking good this morning (link), and pukka's desk space (link) is looking like a fine model of simplicity. My thanks to our web page running friend (who ever he happens to be? honestly I'm not absolutely sure that I know for certain), for the lovely twitter updates on the two other participants mentioned here just now. At least HE was AWAKE when it was midnight here to declare the beginning of RETROCHALLENGE 2010! I was not.. I needed my sleep. :| That concludes this first update of the day, over and out.

P.S. I'll try and get some pictures up on here and over at the other page (link) of my adapter and level shifter in progress (my digital camera actually has WORKING batteries at the moment, so there is no excuse not to)

July 1st - No Success. (10:54PM)

Yep, you read that title right, No Success. I attempted to re-use a DB-9F crimp plug. Combine that with an idea involving superglue snd lots of fiddling plus measuring continuity with a multimeter lots and you have... NOTHING. Some of the lines are fine, but I'll need to make another one to have a working serial adapter. I do have a schematic, but I guess I'm up for visiting RadioShack tomorrow to pick some over-priced solder pin D-SUB connectors (DB-25M and DB-9F). In either case, I will insist on having a working adapter tomorrow. Then I will play with files. Needless to say this puts a crimp in my progress and frustates me, but hey isn't that what retro technology does until you become accustomed to it? That's all for tonight folks, over and out.

P.S. On an altogether unrelated note, I got a new watch today. It's the same brand and almost the same model I had over 7 years ago, before I replaced it for a new one because the battery died. The new one has a bigger screen (digital watch) though. My lovely brand new watch even has the same features (time (standard ain't it),chronometer, timer, three alarms).

P.P.S This section of the site only: looks like I've filled two pages already and some. I guess I need a new non-fancy mechanism for less hard-coding to update this page, guess I could let it run on forever instead of making exactly full-screen sized only. Oh and I guess I'll be adding the time who since I'm already editing the page. Good Night or Good Morning to you, whoever you are! Also, pictures of the failed adapter and maybe the working adapter will come tomorrow. Maybe I'll videotape loading stuff onto a disk or bootstrapping the IIe with ADTPro using my camera. Not sure how I'll post that yet(probably as a playable flash video on my main site and as a link to a file on this page and the blog because I don't how to get video in my php blogging software and a file is easier for a retro computer without browser linked video playing utilities). It will also be available as a *.avi file as that is the camera's native format and there may be some retro software that can play that. I'm not so keen on retro yet to shun future technology. I like my new technology, although my Windows desktop is already 6 years old and growing more obsolete by the day (still have IDE drives although the board supports SATA I, which I may need since the primary ide controller seems to have died and gone to hell). Thankfully I can play WoW (well I could until my subsription ran out) and DDO at an acceptable speed and graphics level thanks to my AGP 8x Nvidia GeForce 6200.

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