RF Generation Message Board

Please note: this is NOT a thread about Rescue Rangers / Gremlins crossover ship-fics. If that's the kinda thing you're into... well, I'd rather not know, thank you very much. For the love of Eon, keep it to yourself.

Nope, this place is for fellow RF Gen tech geeks to show off their latest  scores of various non-vidya & non-toy electronic goodies. And they don't hafta be the latest cutting-edge stuff, either: if you wanna show off your vacuum tube-powered monaural reel-to-reel sound system alongside your new tablet, feel free to do so.

Now I know some of you are saying: He just created this thread as an excuse to show off his calculator scores. Am I really that transparent to you? Well, actually I guess I am, 'cuz for my first small G-&-G score, I present:

[img width=451 height=585]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/CalcScore8-25-2014a_zpsffb8a22a.jpg[/img]

- CIB TI-55, $5.49

- HP 10B financial, $3.99

- Calculated Industries 3415 (Qualifier Plus IIIx) and 3416 (Mortgage Qualifier Plus), $2.99 each


Aaaand, finally:

[img width=486 height=509]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tispellingb_zpsa5fdbccb.jpg[/img]


All right, now it's your turn. Do this thread proud!


'Late

Fantastic idea to create this. I was wondering where the best place to post for this stuff would be since there are so many more finds nowadays for this kind of stuff. Seeing them once in a while on Small Scores wasn't a big deal until you started coming home with calculators on a weekly basis. ha ha

Good idea Zag. Maybe someone can start another one next, for game soundtracks.

Nah. I think anything video-game-related, even if it isn't actual game software, hardware, or accessories, belongs on the original Small Scores thread...

No. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Um... you okay there, bud?

[img width=383 height=263]http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/vader.jpg[/img]

http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

Actually, I'm pretty good after thinking about it. As a matter of fact, thank you for getting the calculators the hell out of the real small scores thread.

https://screen.yahoo.com/calculator-000000188.html

What, so calculators aren't real small scores, is that what you're saying? HUH?! IS IT?!

ANSWER ME, DAMN YOU!!!

[img width=110 height=96]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/MadBil_zps96feb814.jpg[/img]


Wow, that was a pretty silly sketch. They shoulda hired me as a consultant, though; with a few exceptions, almost all Texas Instruments' lines of calculators have the "TI" prefix in their model numbers. The closest thing to an A100 that Texas Instruments has is an Intel CPU that competes with its own OMAP 4 (4430):

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Texas-Instruments-OMAP-4-(4430)-vs-Intel-A100-Series-A110

Kinda sad, really; TI wasted a prime product-placement opportunity there.

Now I just gotta find me one of those Christmas sweaters the twins are wearing. Nope, make that two; Nupoile's gonna want one as well...

Finally: if you really wanna get into TI calcs, check this place out: http://www.datamath.org/


'Late

Found this abandoned in the trash pile at work.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/KODIKLN.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/ftVp1ld.jpg[/img]

As you can see, it's a 19 inch Orion color TV.  It's not flat.  It doesn't have a remote.  It doesn't even have RCA jacks.  But, it's a working CRT TV for the price of nothing.  Notably, it does have a 3 digit tuner, so it would be easy to use with my Famicom.  Which I may just go try now.

LOL that video was perfect

You know what's really sad? I paused that video at several points to try and figure out the calculator's make and model. Sadly, the video quality at full-screen is less than sharp. And yes, this is the kind of stuff I do for fun; I thought you'd never ask.



Wow, Mr. Penfold-- you've discovered a TV with a brand that, in all my days of thrifting and yard sale hunts, I have never heard of before. That's no small feat. I'm looking to get a good CRT set myself one for my old shooter games and early-2000s plug-&-play consoles. Just need to clear up enough free space for it.

Fortunately, these don't take up a lot of space:

[img width=700 height=336]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gizmo8-31-2014_zps00707b7c.jpg[/img]

Nothing new here, just the usual suspects:

- HP 17B business calculator with slipcover: one of the more uncommon second-hand HP business calc finds 'round here.

- Calculated Industries 8305 KitchenCalc Pro, Master Chef's Edition: CI is a somewhat under-the-radar outfit that produces specialized electronic number-crunchers for real estate, mortgage brokers, and (obviously) professional chefs.

I've heard of Orion before...
Have you ever heard of Thorn? My mum has a 14" CRT TV of that brand.

Orion products were big in the 80s Zag. Fairly well built too, as my TV survived 2 lightning strikes.

Can't say that I have. While I can't really name most "off" brands I've encountered off the top of my head right now, I can usually recall them if I hear or read the brand in question. Since neither Orion nor Thorn rings a bell for me, I'm quite certain I've never encountered them in my thrift/charity-shop and yard sale runs.


Can it survive two earthquake strikes, though? 'Cuz that's the kinda TV set I'm lookin' for.

I'm still not sure exactly what we're supposed to put up in this thread, but I figured, pictures! They're always fun.


[img width=640 height=707]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5585/15229031382_29756bd086_o.jpg[/img]
_{The new kid on the block is using his larger brother to charge up before installation}


We're thinking of re-doing our TV/stereo setup sometime over the next few months. Since there might be some dollars spent there I wanted to have a uninterruptible power supply to protect from the occasional power flicker or outage. We already had one for the desktop PC and it works great. This company, Cyberpower, makes the cheapest "pure sine wave" UPSs I know of. Sine waves are the kind of power you want to be sending the more sensitive electronics like computers and game systems. Most of the more commonly used UPSs I see don't actually output a sine wave but a stepped pattern wave........anyways, the kind I got is the better kind. I just got a smaller version of the one we use at the PC since I didn't think we needed the extra battery time for TV use.







[img width=640 height=480]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5588/15229397565_14697a6514_o.jpg[/img]
_{It makes a very satisfying "click" when you go from this......}

The router we've been using at home is second hand and a little problematic. For months my wife has wanted a new one and we finally got one. Home use routers are tough to buy, after reading reviews for most of the current ones, it seems like nobody likes routers, there are only ones that they dislike less. After finally figuring out which one we were getting, I figured I'd make use of it's USB 3.0 slot and buy a speedy flash drive. It claims to be "Read Up To 245MB/s; Write Up To 50MB/s" which seems fast to me, faster than most thumb drives anyways, a lot faster.

For posterity it's the, "SanDisk Extreme 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive"


[img width=640 height=480]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3910/15229056722_099020493a_o.jpg[/img]
_{......to this}


Oh, and to all you guys buying Transformers toys, the new routers would fit right in, with their crazy antennas, wild angles and pretend carbon fiber......

Heya Nupes. Glad to see you making contributions here from time to time... even if I barely understood a fraction of what you just wrote.

Now, my good man, get ready to blow your... er, mind... when you see my latest number-cruncher pick-ups from the last couple days:

[img width=629 height=542]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gadgets9-17-2014_zps5eb1e5a3.jpg[/img]

Mostly the usual suspects...

- TI-82, $3.49
- TI-83 Plus, $5.99
- Clear blue TI-83 Plus, $7.99
- HP 10B II, $2.49

- TI-89, $5.99: A pretty uncommon find among the TI-8X series of calculators in the second-hand scene.

- Seiko quartz metronome: Been finding electronic metronomes here and there lately, and I figured I'd need one to keep the beat when I finally get my NES Miracle Piano setup-- complete with foot pedal-- all ready to go.


'Late

[img width=110 height=96]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/MadBil_zps96feb814.jpg[/img]

[img width=357 height=385]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/HappyNorch_zps27e8c6a7.jpg[/img]

More number-crunching goodness, including my first TI-92 pickup:

[img width=665 height=491]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/TechScore9-24-2014_zpsa8b8389b.jpg[/img]

Also found a couple of TI-85s, and a Realistic SCR-51 stereo cassette tape recorder with faux-leather cover that I plan to use when I finally grab a Starpath Supercharger to play my cassette games on. The player that is, not the faux-leather cover. (Smart-ass.)

Oh, I know, glad you understand as much as you do. It's that writing style of mine, where it makes you wonder if I am going for my own unique 'voice' by breaking odd rules of speech and written English but in a way that is interesting and somehow fulfilling, mostly because it forces you to read it two or three times before it actually sinks in, with all the run-on sentences and liberal use of commas. Or is it that my writing often includes items which would sound strange if read out loud? But then, you wonder, maybe he's simply a bad writer, or a lazy one, or something................wait, you were saying that you didn't understand the items themselves, uh, that was just geeky computer stuff. Don't worry about it.






Oh! A Ti-92! I was wondering when you would get to show off one of those. That is some fine geeky hardware there I tell you. Are you going to get more or less than you do for the 85s and 89s when you sell it? When those were first out they were more.








Finally got to pick up this AudioQuest cable I special ordered last week from a high end AV store the next town over today.

It is a simple stereo mini (3.5mm) cable to upgrade the one that came with my headphones.

[img width=640 height=711]https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2943/15375194525_ebbe3c3446_o.jpg[/img]



It replaces the smaller black one, the new one is only a little longer but way thicker

[img width=640 height=714]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3870/15188614478_6ee572411f_o.jpg[/img]



I tried to do a test where I recorded a bit of a song through the old cable, the same bit with the new one, inverted one track and listened to the difference. If there was no difference in the cables the tracks would cancel each other out and play nothing, but there was something. The new cable sounds different too in the little bit I've tested. Regardless, it will stand up to abuse better with me moving my headphones around from place to place all the time.

The test I did was something similar to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdok0llwVTc

I'm not satisfied that this can be done accurately though. I'll play with that sort of thing more later.

http://www.audioquest.com/bridges-falls/evergreen

NEVER, EVER tell me "don't worry about it," 'cuz it only makes me worry more.



The TI-92 has proven a bit too interesting for me to divest... for now. Gonna spend a few more weeks fiddling around with it before I decide its fate.

Speaking of TI graphing calcs, I just ordered a really cool accessory that should arrive later this week. And in case you're wondering: no, it's not a set of interchangeable face plates. It's a bit more useful than that... I hope.



Must resist the urge to reply with, "that's what she said"-- ah, son of a biscuit eater.


Oh wow, Crabs is branching out into audio equipment and accessories now, huh?  :P

Seriously, though... I'm guessing the sound quality is slightly better with the new cable? Maybe I should consider getting a pair of 'phones with an interchangeable cable, even if I'll just use 'em for listening to my MP3s. While I totally dig my current pair of Sony MDR-CD180s, I know the wires will eventually succumb to metal fatigue and gradually snap, usually at the jack end.

See you all next time when I get that accessory in.


- 'Late

Hey now!

As promised, here ya go:



[img width=617 height=539]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/TIKey1_zps3fa2f7cc.jpg[/img]


Alongside yet another TI-85 and CI Qualifier Plus IIIx, I just got in a complete boxed TI Keyboard for my TI-84 Plus C.


[img width=690 height=530]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/TIKey2_zps79332d0a.jpg[/img]

[img width=526 height=534]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/TIKey3_zpsa38e9448.jpg[/img]


Is this the awesomest thing ever, or what?

[img width=564 height=492]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tikey4_zps32b269fd.jpg[/img]  ;D


'Late

Hey now,

A few of the usual suspects, and a couple new finds:


[img width=557 height=538]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/CalcPickups10-11-2014_zps9427292a.jpg?t=1412970996[/img]


- TI-83 Plus

- TI BA II Plus Professional Edition: This is the first pro edition I've come across in my hunts.

- CI GradeMatic 4000: CI's big on specialized calculators, this one for school teachers.

- Texas Instruments PS-9500 TimeRunner: a relic of the days before mobile phones were able to keep track of your day and time.

I bought this in a charity shop today for £2.95:
[img width=288 height=512]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0297.jpg[/img]
It seems to be working, but there's a problem. :-\
It thinks all the lower buttons are being rapidly pressed, making it near impossible to do anything.
It also makes an annoying beep sound (intentionally) whenever a button is pressed which makes it worse. :evilsad:

I'll take it apart later to try and fix it.

@Zagnorch: I'd love more accessories for my TI-99. Let me know if you can figure out how to plug a calculator into it...

Wait'll ya see what I got you for XMas.


[img width=480 height=430]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/RushFore2_zpsdfa3fcdd.jpg[/img]


In the meantime, I stepped outside the TI/HP paradigm for a moment, and picked up this National Semiconductor Novus Statistician PR calc for $2.99:

[img width=257 height=523]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gizmo11-1-2014aa_zps34c7d022.jpg?t=1414774674[/img]


And now, the usual suspects, with a little something different:

[img width=663 height=515]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gizmo11-1-2014a_zps0ac29f8f.jpg[/img]

- TI BA-20 Profit Manager, $2.49: one of TI's under-the-radar offerings in their financial calculator line.

- Yet another TI-83 Plus, $3.99: Has a few dark spots on the screen. Otherwise, it works just fine.

- Sealed "gamer" calculator, $1.59: I had a loose one of these a little while back.

And ya gotta love the ON-OFF shoulder buttons:

[img width=570 height=226]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gizmo11-1-2014b_zps2c0424f0.jpg[/img]


Aaaand, finally: a USB Zip drive for $3.99. I needed this to transfer a couple dozen Zip disks to a thumb drive. A magnetic-media disk that could hold up to 250 MBs of photos, files, and what-have-you? Oh, how quaint...


'Late

Hello again.

Check this out:

[img width=578 height=549]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/OldDisks_zpsf7bdc2da.jpg?t=1414989348[/img]

What you're looking at is almost two decades of photos, documents, applications, and other stuff on 230 floppies and eight 100 MB zip disks. I've spent the last couple weeks transferring everything you see above onto this...

[img width=576 height=464]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/NewDisk_zps04dc32ba.jpg?t=1414902977[/img]


...an 8 GB thumb drive. And it all takes up just a quarter of the thumb drive's capacity. Just a comparison to show y'all how far data storage has come over the last quarter-century...

It truly is amazing, isn't it? :)

I've had these Palm devices since August, but I've only just got a cable to charge them.
I bought them at a boot fair along with two Windows based PDAs (Both with obvious problems though :() for £2 the lot. ;D

[img width=700 height=393]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0314.jpg[/img]
From left to right: Tungsten T, m515 and Tungsten T.

All of them charge, but they're not holding a charge for long. I guess either the battery's near dead or it's just that it's been a long time since they were last used.
The Tungsten Ts are powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP (ARM) 144 MHz processor. Does that mean I'm in the TI club? ::)

EDIT: I've finally got them all on at once!
[img width=700 height=393]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0316.jpg[/img]

I think it's truly outrageous. Truly, truly, truly outrageous.
[img width=625 height=415]http://s3-ak.buzzfeed.com/static/2014-03/campaign_images/webdr05/22/13/27-times-jems-outfits-were-truly-truly-truly-outr-2-30346-1395507947-2_dblbig.jpg[/img]

Found this thing at Goodwill for only 2 bucks:

[img width=700 height=933]http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz294/Jeremy_Bosco/KIMG0085.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=933]http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz294/Jeremy_Bosco/KIMG0086.jpg[/img]

It's unopened, and almost looks like it was still hanging on a hook at Walmart yesterday.

Hey now,


I'll admit its memory capacity beats the hell outta the sealed Texas instruments PS-3600+ DataBank/Scheduler I picked up from the Mountain View Goodwill for $3.99...

[img width=700 height=446]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/gizscore11-20-2014_zpsda22d8bf.jpg[/img]

...but, seeing as how my pickup is a TI product, I'm automatically the winner of this little pissing contest. And don't try to argue otherwise, 'cuz you're just plain wrong. Salvage what small scrap of dignity you have left by accepting your pwnage and getting on with your day. Thank you.

Oh, and flanking the PS-3600+ to the left is the Radio Shack EC-4014 solar scientific calculator, which set me back $2.49. To the right is yet another TI-83 graphing calc, sporting an asking price of $3.99.

Ha! Nice.

Uh-oh... looks like those burglars stole all the stuff I was gonna send you for Xmas.

Pity...

[img width=700 height=354]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gizmo11-25-2014a_zpse9ae4eeb.jpg[/img]

Picked up a Yamaha RCX RX-1130 remote control transmitter, and a TI-85.

Oh hey,

[img width=700 height=393]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0329.jpg[/img]
Casio fx-7400G (Not working. Not mine) and a TI-80 (Have to hold it at an angle to read the screen. Is this normal?).
[img width=700 height=393]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0330.jpg[/img]
Psion Revo (As far as I can tell, it's only missing the CD).

EDIT: Turns out the Casio does work!

Not sure about the TI-80, since I've never actually seen one "in person." However, you should be able to adjust the contrast of the screen by pressing the yellow [2nd] button, and then either the up arrow to darken the screen, or the down arrow to lighten the screen.

I have yet to encounter a Casio graphing calculator. I did find a Sharp one some time back, but it ended up not working and I exchanged it for something else.

^ What Norch said about the TI-80 - contrast is controlled by pressing the 2nd function key and then Up/Down. If that doesn't help, the batteries are dying or the connection isn't pulling enough power.

Hey now,

More calculator finds for your number-crunching amusement:


[img width=519 height=582]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/TIscore12-18-2014_zpsed23eff5.jpg[/img]

That there's an almost-CIB TI-82, courtesy of Bombatomba. Below that are three generations of the HP 10-series financial calculators. From left to right: The 10B, 10Bii, and 10Bii-plus.


Today after work I discovered the steal of the day:

[img width=465 height=620]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/thrift1-3-2014a_zpsddf1fd9b.jpg?t=1420261196[/img]

A Titanium edition TI-89 and a Casio fx-9750Gii together for just $2.99? These guys didn't know what they had here... but I knew. Oh, the fools... the poor, poor fools.


[img width=700 height=449]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/gizmo1-3-2015_zps98dd7edf.jpg[/img]

Aaaand here they are all freed up and flanking a CI Qualifier Plus IIIx.

Hey now!


[img width=700 height=492]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gizscore1-12-2015a_zps57a20a08.jpg[/img]


On the left: a ClassMate Reader audio book player. On the right: HP 41C financial calculator with removable memory modules.


[img width=469 height=517]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/Gizscore1-12-2015b_zpsf2ee8d41.jpg[/img]


And you thought only sixth-gen home consoles sported memory cards...


Now I just need to clean up the contacts and grab four "N" batteries so I can see if it actually works.

Hey now once again. Been picking up a few more of the usual suspects along with a few surprises:

[img width=318 height=822]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/giz%20core%201-18-2015_zpsk9tim4mw.jpg[/img]

[img width=580 height=540]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/giz%20score%201-21-2015_zpsbbjtoik8.jpg[/img]

[img width=683 height=545]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/giz%20score%201-22-2015_zpscdyacw6y.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=381]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/giz%20score%201-23-2015a_zps29ggkf5m.jpg[/img]


A calculator-shaped bar of soap? Sure, why not:


[img width=294 height=528]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/giz%20score%201-23-2015b_zpspkamp42e.jpg[/img]



Aaaand finally, a VERY retro gadget:


[img width=700 height=373]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/slide%201_zpsw7ubclw0.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=369]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/slide%202_zps7pamuhgd.jpg[/img]

[img width=531 height=533]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/slide%203_zpsesubwxxw.jpg[/img]


Coming soon: pics of this really cool abacus I found the other day. Until then...

...'Late

I have an old PDA(like, black and green digital-watch quality screen old) that's still complete in the box around here somewhere I snagged from Goodwill.

Also, I'm reading all Zag's posts in the voice Weird Al used for Cheese Sandwhich on MLP now.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii241/shobonimaster/Mobile%20Uploads/20150311_160044_zpsy4nhdf9k.jpg[/img] (http://s266.photobucket.com/user/shobonimaster/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150311_160044_zpsy4nhdf9k.jpg.html)

Found this thing for $5(seems to be all there, even the software for it) so I grabbed it to mess around with.

I prefer you read my posts in the voice Eric Idle used as Wreck-Gar in TransFormers: The Movie... which coincidentally features Weird Al's Dare to be Stupid in the soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrMbkbTPrPA


ANYway, time to whip out my latest retro-tech scores:

[img width=700 height=530]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20score%203-11-2015_zpsomb7tufl.jpg[/img]

- Two TI-83 Plus Silver Edition graphing calculators with a carrying case, courtesy of a certain fellow RF Gentleman.

- CIB Hewlett-Packard HP 19BII business calculator with manual, $7.99 $5.59 with savings pass from the local Savers.

And not that you care, but I've picked up and flipped six regular-edition TI-83 Plus calcs in the last two weeks...

UPDATE: While I thank you for the offers to add to my personal "collection" of calculators, I have no need for any more clutter in my household...

...unless it's fully-functioning TRS-80 pocket computers from the PC-1 to PC-4 series along with any associated peripherals, software, manuals, or guides. In that case, knock yourselves right on out. Thank you for your attention.  ;D

Well, okay, maybe I fibbed a little about not needing any more clutter; just take a gander at this:


[img width=543 height=381]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015a_zps3w4h0cgg.jpg[/img]


My very first HP 11C scientific calculator.

But wait... what is that box it's sitting on? Let's zoom out a little, aaaand...


[img width=637 height=465]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015b_zpsswswszbu.jpg[/img]


A CIB overhead-projector edition of the TI-73 graphing calculator! Let's pop this bad boy open and take a look...

[img width=700 height=442]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015c_zpsxf6bdfu8.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=355]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015d_zps5kg0subv.jpg[/img]

[img width=616 height=587]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015e_zpszaeapn3d.jpg[/img]

[img width=683 height=495]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015f_zpsrrc74imp.jpg[/img]

[img width=474 height=622]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015g_zpscnzr25uq.jpg?t=1426280368[/img]


Man, this thing is so neat...

[img width=518 height=580]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%203-14-2015h_zpsh1dblrnf.jpg[/img]

...I got two of 'em!


- 'Late

Hey now,

Pulled off a TI hat-trick at the local Savers:

[img width=620 height=527]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/gadget%203-21-2015_zpsd23w5n6k.jpg[/img]

To the left is a professional-edition BA-II business calculator. To the right is yet another TI-83 Plus graphing calc.

Aaaand front & center: a TI-5045 desktop model that I bought for a certain reason. Take a closer look, and you might figure out what that reason is:

[img width=510 height=597]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/gadget%203-21-2015b_zpsuexhuiry.jpg[/img]
It has a familiar color scheme and design, don't you think?


...'Late

I have another score saved from the trash pile at work.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/gyourxP.jpg[/img]

A Calculated Industries GradeMatic 200 from 1988.  It's a specialty calculator for teachers with functions and buttons designed to make grading easier.  I haven't extensively tested its functionality, but it does still seem to work.

On a whim, I decided to check if Calculated Industries was still around.  They are!  They're still making specialty calculators for a variety of purposes.  The GradeMatic brand seems to be defunct, however.

I pretty much picked this up to make a post about it, so if anyone else is interested in this fine piece of calculator craftsmanship, let me know.  I'll ship it out, free of charge!*

*Shipping free in the Continental U.S.  Those outside the Continental U.S. please contact me for further details if interested.

Hey now,


Yep, CI's made quite an effort to fill niches in finance, real estate, teaching, and even cooking. The only ones that are really flippable, however, are the Qualifier Plus IIIx and the Mortgage Qualifier Plus.

In other news, I've just had my very first "in-person" encounter with a TI-80 graphing calculator:

[img width=333 height=619]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/ti80_zpsi4mmlhkr.jpg?t=1428896681[/img]

'Late

This interested me as soon as I saw the price...

It's a USB Lenovo/IBM TrackPad, TrackPoint and Keyboard (SK-8845)
[img width=512 height=341]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0501.jpg[/img]
Want to guess the price I got this for?
Here's a clue... They seem to sell on eBay for ~£40. This one (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301568344914) sold on eBay for... £107.55!  :o

So, how much did this cost me?
One hell of a mis-price... £2!  :laugh: :nod: :slick:

Welcome to Part 2 of the Magical Coleman Cooler saga!

Check out Part 1 at http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=13169.msg223131#msg223131


Take a gander at these bad boys:

[img width=700 height=440]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%204-23-2015a_zpsarrwympk.jpg?t=1429745705[/img]

From left to right:

- Texas Instruments BA-II Professional with slipcover, $9.99 $7.00

- TI-82, $1.59

- Casio fx-120 scientific calculator with LED display, $3.59

- Radio Shack Spell-'N-Math, $2.49: not content to merely rip off Texas Instruments' Speak-'n-Spell and Speak-'n-Math, Radio Shack ripped both of them off at the same time and combined them!


Aaand finally...

[img width=700 height=536]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%204-23-2015b_zpsz2pbmq3r.jpg?t=1429745727[/img]

[img width=700 height=589]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%204-23-2015c_zpspsq5hi3x.jpg[/img]

[img width=605 height=609]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%204-23-2015d_zps9revuyqj.jpg[/img]


...A boxed Brady I.D. Pro handheld wire marker printer, $12.99 $9.09: not exactly sure what a wire marker printer is, but it was just too cool-looking to pass up.


...'Late

It's what it says - you wrap it around a cable or wire to label what it is while working on it, like such:

[img width=235 height=215]http://cdn-us-cf.yottaa.net/545a363186305e508e0008c4/8dcb3c40474f0132283e12313d08f98b.yottaa.net/v~b.8f/cable-identification/wire-markers.jpg?yocs=_&yoloc=us[/img]

Um... cool, I guess.

You, uh, wouldn't happen to be in the market for one of those, would ya?  ;)

Found this in a dumpster outside. Still works perfectly.

Olivetti D300 Organizer 40KB with a NiteGlo LCD display! This was 50p:
[img width=512 height=640]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0506.jpg[/img]

The case and driver CD for the keyboard I bought last time. Luckily they still had it in the shop.
Didn't mention the keyboard just in case they said anything about it's price being wrong. Was £2:
[img width=512 height=384]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0507.jpg[/img]

Found this at the Mountain View Goodwill on the way home from work today:

[img width=700 height=330]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%205-9-2015_zpstlfbbvib.jpg[/img]

A programmable Casio pocket computer from the mid-80s. Still have to open it up and pop in some new batteries...

Got this at Goodwill.  What the hell am I supposed to do with it?  lol
[img width=700 height=411]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LE0_UprH8L0/VVAHIPtablI/AAAAAAAAA8A/wzfOvzKjSJc/w994-h585-no/2015_05_10_21_34_22.jpg[/img]

If you have to ask, you'll never understand.

Right, Nupes?

Well I know what I "could" do with it but I don't have the right cable. Lol

Well, the first thing you need to do Hungrymoose is to get me impressed. Consider it done :)

As far as where to go from here, well, I'll just leave this video for you to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hErarP8UYB8

When I met my wife she had a TI calculator with Super Mario bros installed. It was pretty much love at first play.

I just ordered the usb cable. We'll see what kind of magic I can make happen when it comes in. Lol

If they've made a color version of Doom to play on the TI-84 Plus C, then-- if you'll pardon the expression-- color me there!

Speaking of which, check out what I recently picked up:

[img width=347 height=625]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/color%20calc_zps0frndp3f.jpg?t=1431833413[/img]

This new find has really hit it off quite well with my first TI-84 Silver C acquisition:

[img width=676 height=615]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/color%20calcs%201_zpszkslkzfd.jpg?t=1431833413[/img]

Actually, I think they hit it off a little too well, 'cuz I accidentally walked in on them while they-- well, maybe I should just show you:

[img width=611 height=1024]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/color%20calcs%202_zpsjti9nvid.jpg?t=1431833409[/img]

And that's how I pioneered the art of calculator Rule 34. Not sure if I should feel pride or shame--

NUPOILE! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW YOU SICKO!

Okay, definitely shame...

No Doom, unfortunately - CPU's not strong enough to do it. However, you can play Flappy Bird on it:
https://www.cemetech.net/programs/index.php?mode=folder&path=/84pcse/basic/games/

[img width=288 height=512]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0550.jpg[/img]

Explains why this calculator is the color it is:

[img width=700 height=393]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ksjPZoEZ7Fs/maxresdefault.jpg[/img]

The faceplates are removable and interchangeable with other TI-84 Plus models, as I will demonstrate:

[img width=700 height=444]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/calc%20covers_zps32nlms78.jpg[/img]

I'm single-handedly blazing a trail through the Rule 34 frontier here. Just don't ask me what the other hand is doing...

[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0551.jpg[/img][img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0552.jpg[/img]
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0553.jpg[/img]
Ok, I'll stop.

Another tragic tale of corrupted youth... my job here is done.

Well, that sucks. Good thing I picked up a TI-89 Titty earlier today so's I can give it a go.

Pics pending... MAYBE. ;D

Hey now!

Broke my thrifting dry spell in a big way in one visit:

[img width=550 height=712]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/giz%20score%206-16-2015_zps9iwzh5nd.jpg[/img]

- TI-83

- TI-86

- TI-89

- CIB Calculated Industries KitchenCalc

Hello again, everyone. Today I uncovered a Hewlett-Packard 41CV programmable scientific calculator with lock-on card reader and stats programming module for just under four bucks.

[img width=360 height=593]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20score%207-15-2015a_zpsn5ufg8xs.jpg?t=1436930884[/img]

[img width=356 height=561]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20score%207-15-2015b_zpswfzcdb3q.jpg[/img]

[img width=342 height=566]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20score%207-15-2015c_zpsdgic6o3p.jpg?t=1436930889[/img]

Now I just have to see if it works properly.

Didn't you find one of those before Zag? Seems like you once showed off some calculator with interchangeable carts anyways.

I don't get what the big module is, it looks like there are three smaller carts and one big one that cover the whole top of the thing?

I suppose I could just use Metacrawler or Alta Vista or Bing or something to figure it out but it seems better if I just guess......is it a camera like on the Game Boy? The display would be about the same.......maybe it's storage space for things you might need, would a Skylander fit in there? Maybe it's simply a counter weight so you can increase your wrist strength while factoring statistics?

You're thinking of the HP 41C I found a little while back:

http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=14483.msg216965#msg216965



The larger lock-on module is a reader accessory for magnetic data cards:

[img width=603 height=550]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%207-23-2015_zpsfsbny6pm.jpg[/img]

The other two unmarked "modules" are cover clips, akin to dust caps for SNES cartridges.

Uncovered a stack of graphing calculators over the last few days, along with a Polaroid 250 land camera:

[img width=550 height=659]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20score%208-14-2015a_zpsx3nwj0ed.jpg?t=1439500929[/img]

[img width=380 height=632]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20score%208-14-2015b_zpsc0ymvwjg.jpg?t=1439500929[/img]

[img width=619 height=550]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20score%208-14-2015c_zpsxlyepfz8.jpg?t=1439500926[/img]

It's been too long since I posted in the Gizmo & Gadget thread.  And that's a shame, because I love gizmos & gadgets.  The gizmo & gadget nature of retro games is a large part of what I enjoy about them outside the games themselves.  And that leads us to the scores...

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/6ZDhA6q.jpg[/img]

The hero shot.  Sorry, for the glare.  This looked better on my phone.  Let's move on to the solo shots.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/OTp9gVn.jpg[/img]

I was surprised to learn that there's still an operating Radio Shack in my area, and pretty close to my house, to boot.  So, I picked up some connectors.  A 2-pack of coax (F) male to RCA (phono) female and a 3.5mm male to coax (F) female.  The 2-pack was a fair price, but I paid a bit of a premium on the 3.5mm to coax.  However, I wanted the adapter now and was willing to pay for convenience (foreshadowing).

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/rZZ12Zc.jpg[/img]

This is the FDSStick ROM loader (with optional case).  I ponied up for the case because the FDSStick must be handled frequently during operation.  I do plan on writing up a review, but long story short is that if you have a RAM adapter, owning this is a no-brainer.  It's like an Everdrive for the FDS, but cheaper.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/aqVCuUn.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/tGtOnE1.jpg[/img]

A Radio Shack RF modulator.  Despite the brand, I didn't get this at Radio Shack.  This was pulled out of a bin at Goodwill for the price of a dollar.  These devices are widely available in my area, likely due to its large population of elderly persons.  They usually run $10-$25 or so.  While I don't have use for it, a dollar seemed like a good price to pick one up, just in case.

[img width=636 height=1195]http://i.imgur.com/PhBbeYm.jpg?1[/img]

My other Goodwill pickup, a GPX Personal Television AM/FM Lantern Radio.  It's got even more onboard gizmos than the name suggests.  Flashlight, weather band radio, thermometer, compass, and battery charger.  You see these fairly often in my area.  Someone picks it up after a hurricane, it sits around for years, then it gets donated just before the next hurricane.  I normally don't pay these things much mind, but I reflexively check any TV I see, big or small, for what kind of inputs it has.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/bKtTmAU.jpg[/img]

A coax input and composite inputs?  I was shocked.  I'd never seen all three on a 5" TV.  Now, you may notice it only has three picture control knobs, meaning it's a black and white TV, but this was perfect, too.  I recently became enamored the idea of going back and experiencing retro games in black and white, especially those made for it, like the Atari 2600.  However, I had no idea where I would find a black and white TV.  I haven't seen one in decades, and all the CRTs I see on the side of the road or at Goodwill are large, high quality color CRT TV's.  Sure, I could fiddle with color settings until I had, essentially, a black and white TV, but I wanted a dedicated unit, especially if I could get it on the cheap.  This was the perfect solution.

Of course, it was only perfect if it worked.  There was no power supply with the unit.  I wasn't going to buy it without testing it, and I knew that replacement power supplies would cost more than I wanted to spend.  Luckily, I found the unit's power supply in a bin.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/BLUj2f9.jpg[/img]

Well, close enough.  It was the right output and polarity.  The unit powered on like a charm, and I had my black and white TV.  I got the TV and the RF unit for $9 and change.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/sOURtbS.jpg[/img]

This is an older score of mine.  I think I talked about it elsewhere, but not in this thread.  This is a Sony Color Watchman FDT-5BX5.  I rescued it out of a local resale shop for $15, with another $15 spent to get a replacement power supply.  I typically have it set up in my bedroom, where there isn't room for a larger CRT from my game room.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/LgHmTXt.jpg[/img]

The back panel, revealing mono composite inputs (perfect for the NES), picture control knobs, and the TV/AV switch.  The coax jack is not built in.  That's the 3.5mm to coax adapter plugged into the external antenna port.

And that's it.  I hope this post was fun and not just a rambling mess.

I hadda pick up a couple RCA-to-RF adapters recently myself, for my ColecoVision. Sadly, all the local Radio Shacks are pretty much kaput. Fortunately, I live near a Fry's Electronics, which is like Radio Shack, but a helluva lot bigger. I let a clerk know what I was looking for, and he led me right to the stuff I needed.

As for the parting out of appliances from their power supplies: that's pretty much business as usual at the nearby Savers thrifts. They seem to take sadistic glee in selling you the items separately so they can get a few more shekels out of ya. And to add insult to injury, they'll put the parts at opposite ends of the store so you waste as much time as possible searching for that missing part. 'Course, when you consider that they likely do this to get you to look at and buy other stuff during your search, it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint...

That's what I bought these adapters for.  The RCA-to-RF adapters are going to friends who have pre-NES consoles, one of which is a Colecovision.  The 3.5mm-to-RF is for me so I can hook up RF-only consoles to the featured Color Watchman.  Radio Shack is really the only place near me where I know I can get these adapters.  Maybe I could find them buried in a Home Depot or hobby shop, but there are no other dedicated electronic supply shops I know of in my area.  So, I was very glad to see this Radio Shack hanging in there.


I've never seen this practice.  When i said I had to buy the power supply for the Color Watchman, I meant I bought a new one online because the resale shop had lost or simply never had the original.  With the GPX, I took a compatible power supply off one of those crappy iHome boombox ipod docks.  Goodwill is similarly lackadaisical keeping electronics and accessories together.  If I walked into a shop that was parting out electronics like that Savers, they would have to have great deals to keep me from walking out.

I owned one of those GPXs. They're actually fairly good.

The GPX is insanely feature rich.  Aside from using it as a B&W TV, I think I might use the adjustable lanterns to light my Small Scores pictures.  I can see why it would have been attractive in 2003/4.  You could really do a lot with it in an emergency situation, assuming you kept C batteries in multiples of 9 to power it.

However, the build quality is incredibly cheap.  The plastic housing bends and creaks when it's lifted by its handle.  The coax port is slightly misaligned and takes a lot of fidgeting to attach a cable to.  I'm more than happy to pay $9 for it, but retail on these things today seems to be $50-$60, which is way too much.

Time to show off another retro gadget/gizmo-thingy: A complete Tecnostyl portable drafting machine.


[img width=653 height=500]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/draft%201_zps5tj4lbb4.jpg?t=1439939059[/img]

[img width=500 height=613]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/draft%206_zpsqeibmtaa.jpg?t=1439939059[/img]


- 'Late

Nice grab, Zag.  I really like the design of those mechanical, pre-digital mathematics and engineering aids.

As for me, well, another weekend brings another small TV purchase.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i.imgur.com/VL3pdq3.jpg[/img]

This time, it's a Jensen J53-BW 5" B&W TV.  This is more what I was looking for when I picked up the GPX, so I bought it.  It was only $9 at Goodwill and had its power supply bundled with it.  I didn't take a pick of the ports on the back, but it's fairly standard stuff.  Mono composite inputs (despite the unit having stereo speakers) and a 3.5mm external antenna port, along with the video adjustment knobs.  I think it's a nice complement to the Color Watchman, and I have the video output of the NES in the picture split so both display at once.

On top of the TV, you can see a Nikon Coolpix 4600.  I've been wanting to get a camera so I can stop using my phone, and this is the first I've seen at Goodwill that wasn't missing critical parts or required a lot of proprietary accessories.  It's only 4 megapixels, but for $5, it seemed worth it.  Of course, next week something better will come in and I'll have to buy that...

Yeah, mine was a purchase from Goodwill in 2004 after Hurricane Charley, Frances, and Jeanne all hit in my area, and I brought it with me down to Palm Beach when we rode out Hurricane Wilma the next year. I didn't really use the coax port much, as I used it more for the radio, but I definitely remember that handle being questionable.

I have solar/hand crank radio options for actual emergencies, so my interest in the GPX was purely as a B&W TV.  However, it was immediately replaced by the sleeker Jensen model I picked up.  However, I have to fix a friend's NES soon, so maybe the GPX will come with me as my "on the go" diagnostic TV.

Welcome all to part two of the Magical-Skylanders-Tote-Bag saga!

(Part 1: http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=15918.msg228444#msg228444 )


All right, time to dig in again. Got me one of the usual suspects...

[img width=400 height=561]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/score%209-2-2015o_zpsqk1u7eob.jpg?t=1441154247[/img]


...and something unexpected.

[img width=700 height=482]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/score%209-2-2015p_zpszbaaqtjj.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=440]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/gear%202_zpsdch122ic.jpg[/img]


Now I know what some of you are thinking: shouldn't that second score be shown off in the Small-Toy-Scores thread instead? Well it's funny you should mention that, 'cuz that's exacly where this little adventure is headed next!

Check it out at

http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?topic=13502.msg228446#msg228446

See you there!

Where have I been? Guess I should post some finds....why not start here?


New calipers arrived today from Amazon. This has been right at the top of my list of "tools to get" for a long, long time. Now I can measure that time, I think I can anyways, I've been measuring everything else.



[img width=700 height=515]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5809/20916522649_b1985ab9ca_o.jpg[/img]





They came with some very helpful instructions in something like English.


[img width=640 height=180]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5755/21093238302_f70a483108_o.jpg[/img]

I got this about a week ago:
[img width=409 height=512]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_0661.jpg[/img]
It's sealed!

Found yet another pocket computer, this time the Sharp PC-1270:

[img width=700 height=360]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%209-11-2015a_zps68s64hwg.jpg[/img]


Sadly, this one doesn't sport alphabetic keys in QWERTY format like the other pocket computers I've found...

[img width=700 height=368]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%209-11-2015b_zpszuabdth2.jpg[/img]


...but it does accommodate pre-programmed Flash cards that can be "updated and maintained" by a professional programmer.


[img width=563 height=550]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%209-11-2015c_zpsggvvwh5d.jpg[/img]


At one time, this particular pocket computer calculated estimated funeral costs and expenses for clients of the Oak Hill Cemetery and Memorial Park, where so-called psychic/medium Sylvia Browne is interred. Boy, who woulda seen that coming?  :P

I found one of these in a charity shop today...
http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/item/m/mcr-cf2/
How did that get over here?

I couldn't resist buying this...
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1199.jpg[/img]
"Maybe you just want a keyboard with big keys because they look cool" How did they know!? :P
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1200.jpg[/img]
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1201.jpg[/img]
Regular keyboard for scale...
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1202.jpg[/img]
I have the wrist rest for it too, but the clips for it seem fragile and a part has snapped off so I won't be using it.

I also have this. I'll be installing it today before this Preview build I'm using expires tomorrow.
[img width=512 height=640]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1206.jpg[/img]
It's so tiny!
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1207.jpg[/img]

Hey now,

I almost forgot about this place... but then a few recent pickups jogged my memory.



Flanked by a TI-83 Plus and an HP 12C Platinum, is a "micro bug detector" set that picks up RF signals from possible eavesdropping devices and hidden cameras.



And now, a little something for the super-hardcore retro electronics mavens...




...a lot of over forty assorted boxed vacuum tubes.




Sadly, unless I buy some fairly expensive test equipment, there's no way I can fully test these to see if they work properly or not. The best I can do is use a multimeter to check if the filament(s) inside are still connected. 

BTW in case you care, I'm old enough to remember when the local Thrifty (now a Rite Aid) drug store still sold vacuum tubes and even had a tube-testing station. While the Thrifty ice cream stand has made a comeback in several local Rite Aid stores, I doubt the tube-tester will any time soon... :(

Wow, nice tube assortment. I remember the TV at my grandparent's house used tubes.

One of my earliest memories was of dad changing out tubes on the old TV.

ANYway, I got them primarily for resale. There's a fairly sizable group of vintage electronics collectors who'd appreciate having fresh vacuum tubes for their stuff...

I found this in a charity shop for £3.50. Those blue enter keys though... Mmm...
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1441.jpg[/img]

Hey now,

Picked up a Psion Series 5 PDA/palmtop PC for $4.99 $3.50:





Some background on the Psion Series 5 PDA:

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/5300/Psion-Series-5/

https://medium.com/people-gadgets/gadgets-we-miss-the-psion-series-5-cc84b6e60942#.ab1u5sbpb



...'Late

I bought this on eBay a few days ago. It arrived yesterday. Now I need a ThinkPad.
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1507.jpg[/img] [img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1509.jpg[/img]
[img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1514.jpg[/img] [img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1523.jpg[/img]
[img width=256 height=455]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1513.jpg[/img] [img width=512 height=288]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1524.jpg[/img] [img width=256 height=455]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_1525.jpg[/img]

Oh yeah... I now have a ThinkPad T420!
I haven't taken any pictures of it myself, so here are the eBay listing photos:
[img width=500 height=420]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/s-l1600.jpg[/img]
[img width=500 height=531]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/s-l1600_2.jpg[/img]
[img width=500 height=507]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/s-l1600_3.jpg[/img]
[img width=500 height=227]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/s-l1600_4.jpg[/img]
[img width=500 height=215]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/s-l1600_5.jpg[/img]
[img width=500 height=283]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/s-l1600_6.jpg[/img]

CPU: i5-2540M
RAM: 8GB
HDD: 500GB
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 3000 + Nvidia NVS 4200M (Optimus)
OS: Windows 7 Pro
Res: 1600x900
Type: 4236-R80
S/N: R8-PE4T1
Other stuff: Fingerprint reader, 9-cell battery

Hey now...

Grabbed me a nice stack of number-crunchers for about $20 all told:



That's four Calculated Industries Qualifier Plus IIImx real estate calculators, and a CIB Hewlett-Packard HP-32SII programmable RPN scientific calculator.

Sooo... whattaya think, Nupes? Don't pretend you don't lurk this page when a new post is added...  ;)

What?!? Pssh....No.....I don't.....uh, I mean those are nice calculators and all..... :ninja:

I've gotten some here recently too.

I was going to wait until a little soldering got done on the red led Ti so I could show it off. It has a loose power connection, no big deal, easy fix, just haven't been around the soldering station much lately. The case, power supply and manual are all there. It's actually my second red led calc, yay! They're so neat. I should put them next to my Vectrex.

Can't actually claim the red "adding machine" is fully mine. It is effectively in my possession though. It works pretty good, though obviously meant for youngins. The correct word is 'vintage.'

The three bottom ones I got today, need to dig up some batteries for the Toshiba on the bottom right. Not the best way to show them off but you did call me out and all Zag   :P

[img width=700 height=825]https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8270/30263900921_f15e2d0b00_b.jpg[/img]


When I was taking this picture, my wife and her grandma were in the other room, I hear wife say, "I'm going to go see what my husband is up to" so I make like I am doing something insidious when she gets to the room and quickly put these all away going, "I'm not doing anything! I'm not playing with my calculators!" Wife says, well you'd better at least be taking pictures of them to show them to Zagnorch."

:D

Love that "vintage" adding machine. I've seen a couple of the red LED calculators around as well. Sadly, anything electronic around my parts at thrifts is auctioned off these days.

Oh, there you are, Nupes! I was worried there for a moment. But hey, no need to worry 'bout me; check out my latest stack of tech-swag!

let's start with the usual suspects: a trio of TI-83-plus graphing calcs...



...a TI-84 plus calc...



... a complete boxed HP-48G...






... a Nurian X3 Korean-English translator thingy...



...aaaand a sealed Franklin electronic NIV Bible.





...'Late

So, after years of checking every multi-CD changer I finally found my first Laserdisc player, a nice Panasonic LX-H670, and Goodwill only wanted $4 for it! Thank you Goodwill.

[img width=700 height=393]http://i.imgur.com/jt8549U.jpg[/img]

I just plugged it in and tested the tray, it works fine. Now I need to hunt down a Laserdisc to really test it. My thrifting trip is going to take me to this little second hand store in a small town around me, saw some LD movies there a few months ago.

Need to fix my tray. It get a message of "Off" when I power it on, so I presume it just needs to be re-aligned.

That's never a hard fix. I assume this unit works. I popped in my copy of Panzer Dragoon to at least test disc reading and the audio channels. They work, so its just the video output that's a question. Unplugging the cable and plugging it back in gets a response. I'll know next week, since I just dropped $60 on a couple ebay LD lots.

I picked up 24 Laserdiscs during a hunting day in Denver. I found a little store that had boxes of them. I had to dance around the lots i already have on the way too. Talked the price down to $2 each.

Here's a sample.

[img width=700 height=862]http://i.imgur.com/4dbGFoz.jpg[/img]

As someone who physically moved their Laserdisc player yesterday, I applaud your finding one. You'll have to show us what discs you got in your ebay lot. Sometimes they are really neat, especially when that version of the movie isn't available on DVD or Blu Ray. Or the packaging includes lots of production notes. One of our LDs of Terminator 2 has a clearly different audio mix than our DVD copy, which is awesome.


Continuing on with the calculator bent of this thread, my grandpa sent me these three things:

[img width=700 height=525]https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/30907554676_117eb41f26_o.png[/img]

A slide rule, kinda basic but has paper instructions, and two flight computers. While they do look like some kind of weird 90's PC game DRM password feature (see below), the are used by pilots. One is for jets as it measures up to mach 3.5 and the other is a military one. The black one says, "Property of US Army Air Forces." Since the US Air Force was founded in 1947, this was prior to that. Sometime between 1941-47 I'm guessing  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Forces









Code Wheel for Jack Nicklaus' Unlimited Golf & Course Design - http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/getinfo.pl?ID=U-016-S-38310-A

[img width=550 height=548]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-016/ex/U-016-S-38310-A_07.jpg[/img]

Now, that's an impressive stack of paper calculators. But now it's time to turn the tech clock forward several decades as I show off a haul of a much more recent vintage:


[img width=700 height=482]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech20112416_zpsuc8gdgbo.jpg[/img]

I picked up this lot of two TI-84-Plusses, a TI-84-Plus Silver Edition, a TI-89, and an HP-15C with slipcase for $85.00.

ANYway, happy UnitedStatesian Thanksgiving, everybody...



...'Late

Found a wire recorder at the antique market for only 20 bucks cause the guy didn't want to put back in his truck after the show.  I didn't understand why till I lifted the thing, it's at least 20 pounds. It's gonna need some love and care to get back to working order but it's at least a cool paper weight if it's not repairable.

That's pretty neat.

Techmoan guy did a pretty good review of those things a short while ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ihiTwJPCc

Another day, another calculator score. This time it's a Sharp ELSI Mate EL-620, a basic arithmetic calculator with a synthesized voice... AKA a talking calculator.




I was surprised when I found out that this hit the market waaaaay back in 1980.  Sadly, I have no way of knowing what this thing sounds like-- or if it even works-- seeing as how the oddball button-cell batteries that once powered it are totally drained.




Fortunately, 625A batteries are pretty cheap to buy online. I'll letcha know if the thingy works as soon as I can...


...'Late

Found this in a charity shop for £1.99
Shame it didn't have a microcassette with it.
[img width=512 height=768]http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll222/mumboking/Photos/DSC_2080.jpg[/img]

I found a spy pen for £1.99 in a charity shop...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bib_9w8UUIw

Hey now,

I just found a couple retro-fantabulous tchochkes for y'all to stare at:



[img width=700 height=456]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20062517a_zps8cds6v6a.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=413]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/tech%20062517b_zpsj55zxvfq.jpg[/img]



On the left is a Sharp EL-5500II programmable pocket computer - calculator.

On the right is the Apple Newton MessagePad 110 with stylus.


...'Late

Hey now,

Had a couple days off, and spent much of both days on thrift runs. As you'll soon see, it was a good time to find graphing calculators:




...'Late

No "HI NUPES"?

I'm happy to see you anyways, hi Zag, how are you?

Hey now,


I'm sorry, who are you again?


I'd be better if I wasn't the only RF Gentleman (that I know of) attending MAGWest as of this posting, but I'm holding up all right. Not to guilt-trip you or anything...

In other news: the last week has seen a remarkable abundance of calculator & tech pickups, especially TI-80's graph-calcs.




Top row: TI-83, TI-84 Plus, TI-86, TI-89: I grabbed all four of these in a 24-hour period at three separate thrifts, three of them in one morning.

Bottom row: Sealed RS-232 break-out box, TI BA-II Plus, HP 10Bii, sealed Ideal LinkMaster data-com cable tester

On a side note: I paid $3.50 for the LinkMaster, which retails for about $60.

And not that you care, but MetalFRO and I have become pretty tight text-buddies over the past year; we're especially fond of texting our biggest thrift finds to one another. ANYway, he was so blown away by my graphing-calc finds, he gave me the nickname, "The Calc Whisperer."





...'Late

Hey now,


If you didn't see them in my most recent small scores thread-- especially you, Nupoile-- here's my latest bunch of TI graphing calculator pick-ups over the past week:




You're looking at Two TI-83 Plus-es flanking a TI-NSpire on the top row. ANd below, from left to right, is a TI-86, a TI-84 Plus, and a TI-85.


...'Late

That NSpire is very zexy.  DOOM and Ultima 3 would be awesome on that thing.

Found on the 19th: Original Pokédex
[img width=255 height=341]https://i.imgur.com/Hmkwjcm.jpg[/img][img width=512 height=341]https://i.imgur.com/cnOx5zv.jpg[/img]

Unfortunately, no keys for these:
[img width=512 height=288]https://i.imgur.com/qr1kF1s.jpg[/img]

In my quest to have more monitors than sense, I picked up a lot of smaller PVMs from a local seller.  I got 5 PVM-9L3s and 3 PVM-9L1s for $70.  I was pretty excited to get such a good deal.  Each monitor was said to be working, and while people seem to chase the larger, 14"+ monitors, I'm more than happy with smaller CRT screens.  Large or small, PVM prices are crazy because people know PVMs are a "thing", so less than $10 apiece was a price I was ready to pay.

I figured the seller was a tech recycler or a government auction buyer from our conversations.  I figured I might be in a small warehouse or someone's actual home picking up these monitors.  Instead, the seller was the owner of a large live event business, with a front office staff and two tiers of warehouse staff.  As I walked from the front office back to the warehouse loading dock, I marveled at the stacks and stacks of road cases and bales of cabling.  This was a serious operation.

The monitors were stacked on a pallet, and the cheerful employee who was helping me out said that I was getting a bonus.  I thought this meant there were road cases or power cables included, but I was mistaken.  The employee picked up one of the 9L3 monitors and said that most of the monitors still had their cards in them.  I couldn't believe what I saw.  Four of the 9L3s had BKM-129X cards in them, which allow the monitors to accept RGB and component signals.  This makes them way more versatile for retro gaming.  Not only that, those cards routinely sell for over $100 on ebay.

I kept my cool and loaded up the monitors while thanking the employee.  Turns out, he did have power cables to throw in, as well.  The deal was concluded with no one running in to stop it.  No one realized just how good a deal I was getting.  So, I drove off and now these monitors are in my home.  I'm looking forward to firing up and putting them through their paces over my extended holiday break.

[img width=700 height=203]https://i.imgur.com/DOjnT4V.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=197]https://i.imgur.com/C2zyL3v.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=209]https://i.imgur.com/n0GyAD6.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=1002]https://i.imgur.com/tEuHykm.jpg[/img]

Wooooahh mama what a deal. Let me know if you want to sell any in person. My cousin and I are both looking for one. (Santa told me we're pretty close by to you)

Let me get them all tested and maybe we can make a deal.  Despite their size, these would make pretty good additions to a retro set up.

Wow, that's awesome.

Hey now,



Now you just need a pallet of security cameras, and you can be your very own surveillance state!


ANYway, time to show off my last tech score of 2017:




Not bad for $5, huh? Though it wasn't without a slight drawback:




Fortunately, it looks a lot worse than it actually was. After a thorough cleanup and a fresh set of batteries, it was good to go...

I did an all-day thrift crawl yesterday, and hit my very first HP calculator hat trick:


[img width=700 height=341]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4729/25631805398_14ce22d222_b.jpg[/img]


Flanking the 27S scientific calculator is a 39g+ graphing calc to the left, and a 39g graphing calc on the right.

So, whatta ya think, Nupes?  ;)


...'Late

I like all the buttons  :D

I have the business version of that 27S which was my dad's when I was a kid. I always liked the way it feels, sturdy and solid with nice buttons.

You should feel it some for me.

That almost feels dirty...

What do you mean, "almost?"

OK, it is dirty.  Did you "feel them up" for Nupoile?

My wife says, "Of course they're dirty, he got them at a thrift store."

Rofl.  Reminds me of my daughter.  Took her in the cleanest thrift store we have in the Metro D (the DAV), and she shouted, "It smells really weird in here!"

Hey now...


You want dirty? Then get a load of these:



Picked up this lot of three TI-85s and twoTI-86es for under $10 all told, of which four turned out to function properly. BTW one of the TI-85s and one of the TI-86es are teacher/viewscreen editions, which features a port to connect to overhead projectors.

Things got even filthier when I found this bad boy for under $15:




Aaaand now, the ultimate in utter depravity: here they are, all lined up (with a new cover plate for the TI-84+):




Think you have enough stamina to push all those buttons, big boy?  ;D

More filthy finds from the local thrifts, featuring an HP-17Bii business calculator:


[img width=640 height=248]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/39806758571_d83be598da_z.jpg[/img]


'Late

And now, an HP business calculator hat trick I scored the other day:


[img width=550 height=690]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/39425065495_e8f944bd66_z.jpg[/img]

[img width=550 height=337]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/25451558617_666e4b2f72_z.jpg[/img]

I now have a new phone. It's currently charging before I set it up.
It's a SONY Xperia XZ1.

[img width=512 height=288]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeYgT5xX0AAxWOr.jpg:orig[/img]
[img width=288 height=512]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeYgU4bW0AAfDb8.jpg:orig[/img]

Hey now,


I grabbed this stack of SD & SDHC cards for $2:


[img width=640 height=568]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1937/45101955951_6e4008a390_z.jpg[/img]



And now it's time to lord it over Nupoile with this week's (so far) calculator pickups:



[img width=358 height=640]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1917/45101955511_d5f184f0a8_z.jpg[/img]


[img width=369 height=640]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1948/45101954741_c6b20d96de_z.jpg[/img]


[img width=434 height=640]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1939/44381708524_666e3f7698_z.jpg[/img]


[img width=466 height=640]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1976/44381707914_0489ffb8ca_z.jpg[/img]



...'Late

Some more calc scores to get Nupey-Dupes all up in a lather, starting with:


[img width=640 height=444]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1952/31401632008_9385ec892c_z.jpg[/img]


I even managed to get out of my Texas Instruments / Hewlett-Packard comfort zone for a bit with these grabs:


[img width=454 height=640]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1960/45226430832_c485a31ce5_z.jpg[/img]


[img width=375 height=640]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1913/45226431452_5e7740cdf0_z.jpg[/img]



Whoah, check out these long-ass cables:


[img width=360 height=640]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1922/31401632868_250894ded2_z.jpg[/img]

[img width=640 height=373]https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1915/45226431842_6c32f550e6_z.jpg[/img]



Until next time...


...'Late

That Commodore one is really cool.

And the hits just keep on comin'.




...'Late

If you're worried that I've been slacking on the calc pickups lately (this means you, Nupoile!), fear not:

I wasn't tooo worried, I mean, you could be doing better....frankly I think...um, actually, I have a lot of gizmos I need to put up here...





here is one of them, the most recent one:






[img width=700 height=525]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4890/45678633934_7a9ddd530c_o.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=525]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4918/45678633534_d27798e872_o.jpg[/img]

It's a key cutting/duplicating machine. I've wanted one for awhile now. It was all of $10. Needs a new belt and new cutting wheels but I already cleaned it up and oiled it good. It came with a few blank keys. Seems like boxes of blanks are $8-15 for the most part, so if you're going to make more than a couple copies of a particular type, might as well buy a box.




[img width=700 height=932]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4869/45678633344_8e42957dc8_o.jpg[/img]

Even has an old timey machine plaque!

I have no idea if it's really from Google, but I found this in a charity shop:

[img width=512 height=288]https://i.imgur.com/OG8XNWR.jpg[/img]

[img width=512 height=640]https://i.imgur.com/P3SOs22.jpg[/img]

[img width=512 height=341]https://i.imgur.com/Lu0nFI7.jpg[/img]

That's a 4 port USB hub, a USB mouse, a flexible USB light, and a 64MB USB stick. All with the Google logo on them.
Oh, and a plain lanyard with a clip on the end...