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For as little time as I've had with the Butler, I'm amazed how much effort they put into making sure a discarded or stolen unit was unusable. A "PIN" is required to unlock the unit whenever it is powered on after a battery failure. That PIN is almost never written on the unit itself and probably hides in a black brick of potting compound found inside every unit. I've taken care of the de-potting process already. After some analysis, here is what I have discovered so far. I doubt Mastervoice cares about me digging into their product like this. At least, not 30 years later. :P
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Remember to follow me on Twitter at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
updated 1 year ago
Remember to follow me on Twitter at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
In this video I will try to explain why if you search for what the first trackpad is you will run into a confusing mix of history, how with no evidence I suspect this was a pet project of someone at PARC and we look at the hardware itself.
I will be truthful right now that while I have attempted to research this and get as much as my information correct, there are many holes in what I could find and I will likely of made a mistake or two. I am more than willing to read anything you wish to add to what I've found in the comments.
For more information on the Xerox 860, the Digibarn has a page on their machine - digibarn.com/collections/systems/xerox860/index.html
Here is a very old (but somewhat recently uploaded) video of the same system. By the sounds of it, the museum's curator, Bruce Damer is behind the camera - youtube.com/watch?v=jybrwHfiV1s
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With California in the rear-view mirror and confidence nothing could go wrong, the 1982 AMC Eagle was once again packed with everything needed and off it went to Schaumburg Illinois for VCF MidWest, stopping briefly in the Eagle's home turf of Kenosha Wisconsin.
This half-hour long video consists of the over 72000 still images taken once every five seconds over the entire trip, played 30 per second.
The Vintage Computer Festival is an annual event that takes place throughout the United States. It brings together hobbyists, speakers and vendors all with one thing in common: We love old tech.
For more information, please refer to the official website of the Vintage Computer Federation - vcfed.org
The Eagle Wagon from the American Motors Corporation is the official vehicle of CelGenStudios. Ask your local Used Car lot for more information today!
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I was lucky enough to stumble across (most of) one and seeing how there's no mention of these kits anywhere online, lets go through what came in the package and how it went together.
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The trip to California is a long one. If you mount a GoPro to your windshield and let it take a photo every five seconds, you end up with over 37000 still images. If you take all of those and play them back at 30 frames a second, this is what you get.
The Vintage Computer Festival is an annual event that takes place throughout the United States. It brings together hobbyists, speakers and vendors all with one thing in common: We love old tech.
For more information, please refer to the official website of the Vintage Computer Federation - vcfed.org
The Eagle Wagon from the American Motors Corporation is the official vehicle of CelGenStudios. Ask your local Used Car lot for more information today!
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
I have scanned and uploaded the manual for the tool to the Internet Archive. you can find it here: archive.org/details/amcet501instructionmanual
The 4 and 6 cylinder diagnostic ROMs have also been dumped and uploaded to the same place: archive.org/details/amcet501romimages
(When burning them to now EPROMs, be aware of pin orientation!)
About ten minutes into the video I mention the later Bendix and Renix computers used in Jeep/Renault vehicles at the time for fuel injection. Neither do I own vehicles that use those systems or the diagnostic tools that were available for those near the end of AMC's life but I have been given access to training laserdiscs which discuss it and the MS 1700 diagnostic tool. You can find that here: archive.org/details/8981-321-171/Side1.mp4
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Cartel Mobile Solution's Website (as of 2016. The last year the site was still up) - web.archive.org/web/20160625043103/http://www.bluecarphone.com/index.php
A simplified guide and the wiring diagram for the CT-1000 can be found here - archive.org/details/ct1000-inst
As far as I can tell, this is the full Users Manual provided by CarTel and submitted to the FCC - archive.org/details/car-tel-ct-1000-user-manual
Here's UselessPickle's finished Bleutooth adapter for the Mitsubishi DiamondTel - youtube.com/watch?v=52AuhS5Jq0Q
Again, I'm not downplaying in the video that he should of done something better or more common and therefore his work is not interesting. (or at least in editing I felt I was sounding too negative) The fact remains nobody has tried this on their own before him and succeeded. 1 is more than 0. I still strongly appreciate and respect the work he put into how clean it is. Good job!
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In this video I discover that a previous (and poorly done) engine installation had the engine broken in and run (part of this is my fault for reasons I explain in he video and I won't deny that) with a mere 5 degrees of spark timing BTDC. On an AMC straight-six with no computer this is "okay" but a 258 with Computerized Engine Control needs 15 degrees (or a few degrees less as you go up in altitude) or as it turns out, the engine runs but wow it feels anemic.
We'll be following AMC Service Bulletin I.S. 12E, instead of the 1982 AMC Technical Service Manual to check and adjust the engine timing. You can find it on the Internet Archive.
archive.org/details/is-12-e/mode/2up
This bulletin is especially important for 1982 model vehicles (not jsut the Eagle!) as I have found the instructions commonly shared from the TSM results in an unacceptably incorrect timing. We'll be using a Sun Modular Engine Analyzer and its variable timing light to more easily show what I'm doing. For you at home all you need is a handheld precision tachometer and a standard induction timing light. I strongly advise against the old fashioned "set the ignition timing with a vacuum gauge" method. A second person to assist is also strongly suggested, especially for in-Drive idle adjustments, which must be done after the timing is adjusted.
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If you have not seen Part 1, you can find it here - youtu.be/un5THZYmqHE
All currently known to exist (as of May 2024) documentation, schematics and component photographs (enclosures, boards, cables etc.) can be found here on Bitsavers - http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/fourPhase
Like I mentioned in the video, archiving everything at this point is essential, considering there is nearly nothing left. If you cannot reach me by email you can always reach me through X, the VCFed Forums and of course there are the countless other old tech gurus who may also be able to assist with many of them also having their own means which they can be contacted.
(Big shout-out here to fellow YouTuber Forgotten Machines!)
I would like to thank the Four-Phase systems Facebook Group for providing photographs and some images in this series along with their insight into the company and they products they made. I would also like to thank the Museum of Information Technology at Arlington (MITA) for additional support, plus a thank you to the other folks who put their two cents in however asked not to be mentioned.
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(PSA: Really this video is just me seeing how well the cheapest lavalier microphone on Aliexpress sounds when plugged into a HERO2. It's actually really good compared to the internal mic!)
Ken Shirriff's blog on AL1 and it's importance in the early world of microprocessors alongside the Texas Instruments TMX1795 can be found here - http://www.righto.com/2015/05/the-texas-instruments-tmx-1795-first.html
More information on Lee Boysel and the early history of microprocessing can be found here along with more details on the famous courtroom demonstration: https://ece.engin.umich.edu/stories/lee-boysel-the-early-history-of-microprocessing
An early brochure from Four-Phase Systems covering their computer, it's optional capabilities and its software options is available here - computerhistory.org/brochures/d-f/fourphase-systems-inc
High-resolution (multi-megabyte) photographs of all the boards seen today in the video are now available on Bitsavers - http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/fourPhase/Pictures/11001131-C_BACKPLANE_and_CHASSIS
(Thank you Bitsavers for archiving this!)
Interestingly, Four-Phase Systems seem to of fallen into a historical black hole. Almost no systems still exist and likewise documentation, software, hardware and technical papers are hard to come by. I have been working on efforts to help locate and digitize items as I can (affordably) come across them before the system becomes completely extinct but I'm always willing to find more. If you wish to reach out to me regarding Four-Phase systems I can be reached by email, an ongoing thread on the VCfed forums or other archival operations such as Bitsavers or the Vintage computer Federation are willing to help in whatever way we can.
Finally I would like to credit the Museum of Information Technology at Arlington and the Four-Phase Facebook users group both for providing information and photos, along with other former employees who wish to remain anonymous. Without your historical momentos there would be much, much less to research about this otherwise forgotten machine.
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Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
I also got to eat waffles and pop-tarts! :D
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Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
Then along comes one day and you FINALLY find something. ANYTHING. SOMETHING that replaces it and peace is restored in the universe again. There is just one last thing to do.
If the audio gets muted, it's O Fortuna. You aren't missing much. Just dub it with another tab or something.
Through this video I repeatedly mention fellow Youtuber and engineer Tesla500 for inspiring me years ago to investigate buying one of these imagers. Since he has already gone through his already, look below for more videos from him:
-His teardown of the image processor and the imager head: youtu.be/PYyF39AnKG0
-A later video in which he does a teardown of the remote control and tests the imager itself: youtu.be/L75LxwbOHVo
-He alludes to a more higher-end imaging processor at one point called the Hi-Spec. Same design but a new durable rackmount enclosure. You can watch his video on that here: youtu.be/FQ76svFv5v8
Finally, his main channel and all of his video are directly available from here: youtube.com/@tesla500/videos
The source of the crash tested footage is available here from CrashNet1 - youtu.be/FQ76svFv5v8
For more information on the Ektapro TR, which was the earlier tape-based system, Mikes Electric Stuff talks about it...and his efforts to reinvent the wheel in an attempt to make everything work again. - electricstuff.co.uk/ektapro.html
The primary source of the Artemis I lunch footage is NASA, however can be found from various sources on Youtube, including NASA themselves. There is a *LOT* of footage.
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Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
Let's go through the very fancy Pelican case and see what kind of a camera and accessories I bought for $350CAD, then lets talk a little on two markets that ended up really making this camera a must-have for top-end Hi-8 users.
(Update: YES I am ware I bungled the zoom factor when mentioning the VL-EOS adapter. It is *NOT* 2x magnification. It is *5x*. Five-times magnification. I wasn't running on a script here, so the numbers got mixed up in my head...)
A review from The Chicago Tribune in 1994 can be found here - chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-09-09-9409090260-story.html
Another fantastic review from a wildlife photographer in 2007 can be found here - http://pawildlifephotographer.blogspot.com/2007/12/important-milestone-in-videomaking.html
Unexpectedly, Dave's Retro Video Lab did a video on the L1 a week earlier. We both ended up pretty much covering the same topics but if you wish to hear more details about the functions of this camera, I recommend you watch his video - youtube.com/watch?v=PC9gYFLx-G4
(Seriously! I was editing this video and only when I was halfway through did I discover he had thrown a video up earlier that morning!)
Cathode Ray Dude also did a good video covering the technical aspects (and a better job explaining for optical differences and zoom caveat) a few years. You should check it out - youtube.com/watch?v=FrqVyLH3f9w
The issue of Popular Electronics seen in the video is form October 1991. IT has a good 3-page review of the L1 that covers most of the L2 as well. World Radio History has provided it in digitized from from their website - worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/90s/91/PE-1991-10.pdf
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Lets go through what's inside and talk a bit more about the quirks from this Year 2000 camera.
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That is to say it was incredibly cheap and tacky. It had also been mostly ruined by the rain.
Lets take a look around and plug it in before I hesitantly send it off again to the Department Store in the Sky.
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Here's a stacked visual indicator I built to help me out.
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A special thanks is in order to fellow creator Adrian's Digital Basement for offering me the chance to work with this neat device and getting the demo vehicle setup and to Mac84 for generously helping on sourcing the software and the documentation. Check out both of their channels below for more neat old tech stuff!
youtube.com/@UCE5dIscvDxrb7CD5uiJJOiw
youtube.com/c/Mac84
Mac84 has also put copies of the documentation as well as both the Amiga and MS-DOS version of the software on the Internet Archive.
archive.org/details/Impulse-digimax-software-disks-and-manuals-for-amiga-and-PC-ms-dos
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Here's how behind the scenes nearly every video starts, beginning with clearing and cleaning to the sync clap.
(This video is also a test to see how the 60p mode works. ;) )
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Yeah, that happens to me too. In this case it was an extremely expensive piece of processing equipment. Lets go through the control unit, eliminate the "usual suspects" and figure out a solution.
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In 2023 there is two or three major vendors selling replacement pads. The most notable of the group is Texelec. Due to the success of their product I have found that availability can at times not be assured. If you are looking to re-pad a quantity of keyboards the cost can also add up quickly.
For those of you who do not mind the extra effort or sourcing the materials and tools here is a method I developed several years ago which initially I used on my Apple Lisa and subsequently another half dozen machines over the years. While the "feel" of the key might be different, I just don't care. I need working keyboards.
Please note that in the video I list sources for the foam and the Mylar sheets. While availability might be a problem where you live and work, these materials should at least be a good reference for you to find a substitute.
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(this time with the audio gain turned down!)
For more information on the Vintage Computer Festival, check out the links below:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_Computer_Festival
vcfed.org/events
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(Seriously, think about how people in 1993 saw the future, then apply it to what I'm doing in this video. This was stuff so fresh it was still hot from the oven. Here I am using the exact same concepts decades later and either they are exactly as they were proposed, or it's a new iteration and we've superseded the original idea with something better)
I sit down at my desk on September 1, 2023. I want to read Popular Science, but I want to look at it 30 years ago
So I open a window on my computer and look through a graphical index of issues, sorted by decade and month within the decade
I choose September 1993. It opens the entire issue on my screen. Now I can scroll through the pages with my mouse. If I was on my tablet I could use my finger.
I find an advertisement for "Beyond 2000". It's on the Discovery Channel. Hmm, that sounds like something neat to watch.
So in the same program I open a "tab" and use a "search engine" to look across the Internet for more information on this TV series. I pull up a description and photographs from various episodes. Finally I choose from a list an entire episode and watch it full-screen
After casually keeping an eye out since 2004* I finally came across a System/32! At this point it's more of a collectors piece (and a big one at that) but this finally fits into the slot that I left open for a 70's era IBM system that is both small and still somehow functional in a residential environment.
Actually getting it in the house is something for another day, but for now lets put this machine back together after I had to pull it apart to transport it. I'll show you around and explain some of the hardware along the way!
The Corestore's FIRST System/32 - http://www.corestore.org/32.htm
The Corestore's SECOND System/32 - http://www.corestore.org/32-2.htm
All the documentation you could ever dream of for the System/32 - bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/system32
*(Don't ask why at 14 years old I wanted an IBM computer like this. It was a weird time for me...)
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I was given a challenge.
In 2019 I took a tube camera and VHS-C tape machine to LTX. In 2023 I was told it's easy to shoot HD, so why not use a MiniDV camera instead?
Alright, lets do this. Here is two days of VCF West in Mountain View California, as seen through a Sony DSR-PD170 fitted with a cheap Century fisheye lens and an excessively sensitive microphone.
For more information on the Vintage Computer Festival, check out the links below:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vintage_Computer_Festival
vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-west
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I'm going to pull out a bunch in inverters (most of then are junk) and find out which one will be "good enough" for this road trip to VCF West.
Keep in mind this video will NOT dig deep into the science of AC inverters and the alternate universes of pure sine wave, semi-sine or chopped.
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In this video We'll just make the connections and perform most of the tests.
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I mention in the video that scanned copies of the manual, service manual and leaflets for the various accessories are available online. Follow the link below to the Internet Archive.
archive.org/details/engine-analyzer-manuals/42-000%20EZ%20Reference%2025763-1
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In this video I do however demo what it *should* look like if it it WAS working. Credit due where credit is deserved to youtuber "Snowhorse420" for uploading those clips.
youtube.com/watch?v=GSUpjyMSIDc
youtube.com/watch?v=HOqDMWbFNFI
A copy of the manual can be found here - archive.org/details/hughes-probeye-650-instruction-manual
Full documentation for the mentioned IR filter assembly can be found here - archive.org/details/probeye-filter-643-d-4111-instructions
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There was nothing fun about this. It was a pile of flimsy plastic, poor design considerations and terrible to clean. This is Joe's Hot Dog Stand. I don't recommend it unless you want a throwaway appliance.
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There are no substitutes for many of these parts. Lets pull several servos apart to repair my cruise control.
Remember to follow me on Twitter at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.
Remember to follow me on Twitter at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.