This is the first prompt for days that I’ve been able to answer as I’d already answered those others previously. I’m going to make a slight change to this prompt and remove the word “Hate”. I never use this word as it’s such an awful one, and unfortunately it’s too prevalent in our world at present. I’m going to use the word “Dislike” as dislike can always be improved upon rather than the other word that is just so final. Once Hate is in place. There really is no turning back. So here we go.
What is one question you dislike being asked? Explain
Anyone that keeps an eye on this blog and reads the content will know I’m an individual who likes to keep himself busy. Just look at the projects and stuff I’ve posted recently, and the fact I still have 18 posts still in draft mode and you will see I’m a busy guy. On top of that I am a full time employed individual with a house to run a garden to look after and a wife who loves spending (Bless her x)
My time is quite well planned, so when that phone call comes in asking me, “Are you busy?” That’s when I have a sharp intake of breath. Normally it involves fulfilling tasks for friends and family, giving time that is precious to me and in many cases already accounted for. Now don’t get me wrong, I do not mind helping anyone, there is no greater pleasure in seeing someone’s face light up at the end of a well done project. The thing is I take so many on, that it normally means the same job at my own home is being neglected, it’s always more fun doing the job at someone else’s property for some unknown reason though.
The reason I dislike being asked is that I just can’t damn well say no. Saying no makes me feel guilty but that’s just the guy I am. I guess to me it’s just like that word “Hate” it’s just not in my vocabulary.
So that’s why I dislike being asked this question as I’m just not wired to say “No”.
One day I’ll learn to say it. But that’s not today. And probably even tomorrow.
This will be post No:1 of a series, where I attempt to buy parts of a damaged camera system to repair, reassemble and get back into working order.
I have chosen this particular camera as it was one that featured prominently in my career when leaving school and starting in the Photographic world. I’m going to buy this camera in bits, as it is modular. I’m going to try and buy parts that are for spares and repair for me to fix, to see if I can get a half decent working example. So expect a bit of a Frankenstein project here.
Bronica SQ-A
Just like my post on the Canon A1 that I previously published, this was another loan camera in my early years of photography back in the 80s. When money was sparse, colleagues usually allowed the loan of their equipment under certain conditions, one of those being,”Don’t break it”. I used this camera when I did my first studio session when a friend of a friend was setting up a business selling Teddy bears. She wanted good quality portrait photos of her work and this camera enabled me to do that. This was the first medium format camera I had ever used, and for that reason alone it will always sit as my favourite. Many people favour later models and other equipment, but this is my personal favourite. It has its flaws as some do, however this camera was significant in me learning a profession, as well as it triggering many treasured memories for me personally.
Now I want one of my own. 41 years after I first used one. But I don’t want to pay a premium price for it. In fact i wish to pay as little as possible, and that’s where it’s going to be difficult.
You can read more about the camera here: Bronica SQ-A
Requirements
As this is modular camera unit, I will need these parts to form the most basic camera, no bells and whistles as they say, just the basic version:
Lens – obviously
Main body – got to be the SQ family
Viewfinder – a few to choose from
Film back – I’m after the standard 120 roll film back
I’m looking at this being a medium term project so these items will be purchased over a currently undefined period of time, I’m hoping to buy items that require attention so I can keep the costs down, something that needs attention and repair would suit, as I can create a post regarding its repair. Individual spare parts do command some high prices so I’ll look at maybe purchasing some beat up stock that I can use as spares. I’ll keep a running total of the spend, I know I could buy a working complete unit for around £6-800GBP second hand, but that’s damned expensive in my eyes, I believe it was only £400Gbp (Minus lens) back in the mid 80s. I want to prove that a good usable unit can be built with just a little attention at a much lower and more realistic price. On the cheap if you like, as good quality photography does not need to be expensive. It might not look pretty, but it will be practical, and it will work. Most working cameras look beaten up. Most of the ones I used whilst working for a photo agency were total wrecks but took great photographs. I want to run a roll of colour and one of Black and white through it to prove i have made a working practical camera. It’s probably going to be a lengthy project, it’s going to be hellishly tough, but one I’m very much looking forward to.
From now on it will be known as….
The Frankenstein project.
And more posts will appear as the parts start to arrive and are assessed. Each part will have its own post dedicated to its purpose and repair, and a final post where it will be finally assembled and tested.
Thanks for passing by, please be sure to check back as this exciting project comes together, using the links below:
This is a jest post as all the prompts that have appeared recently courtesy of WP, are repeat suggestions, and there is no point in answering them if nothing has changed.
I know a female who has succumbed to the dreaded manflu (pic: courtesy of Happythreads)
For the last 7 days now me and the good lady have succumbed to a quite nasty cold that we believe was obtained from a trip to the south of Iceland. A couple of inconsiderate souls behind us on the bus were coughing and sneezing throughout the trip and I believe they wanted to share their misery with us. Well it has worked. Thanks for that.
We’ve been through massive ups and downs in illness this week, and the thing the common cold does brilliantly is to give you the impression you are getting better and then the next day hit you with a more ferocious, and violent second infection. That was on day three and four this week and the second wave was when the sore throat from hell hit, it did give me a lovely husky tone though.
Normally as a couple it is usually only the one of you that goes down with it, and the other partner who signed that invisible contract looks after you and makes you feel more comfortable. That is where the Manflu accusation usually comes in as the Female of the relationship undoubtedly ends up attending to the needs of the mortally wounded male in the partnership. There has been none of that this week as we both Cough and splutter around the house, with zombie like motions both sounding like honking geese with our constant barking coughs.
Now this was a real show of love and commitment and we have both gotten through it.
And the wife has not been able to use the Manflu tag against me once, as she has suffered it too. I may use this post as a reference for her to look back to during any future discussions regarding how this situation developed 😂
I haven’t missed work though. “How selfish” I hear you say, but you are wrong. I work mainly alone and the only contact I normally have with anyone is when I hand over at each end of the shift. I have contacted my colleagues prior to handovers and these have been carried out as they were in Covid times in the carpark. I haven’t used the office, I’ve stayed mobile in the van. The last thing I want to do is to pass this on to my colleagues and their families.
Day 7, today we are both a bit better, another day indoors will probably see us well, we have been drinking plenty, eating as best we can, and taking many potions and lotions to get us through. I think we can finally remove the “Unclean” sign from the front door, and ask that guy with the barrow who keeps passing by to stop shouting “ Bring out your dead!” In the grand scheme of things we are fine though and as stated this post is a jest post.
It could be the first documented case of Manflu transmission to the Female species, and I witnessed it first hand. I wonder if our fickle governments should consider a lockdown?
Not working not powering on, the vinyl case has some marks and scratches.
EBay
Amstrad NC100Screen Vinyl peeling
I’ve been after one of these for a little while, I’ve just been awaiting one at a good price and this one became available, post included at £30GBP, they retailed for £199Gbp back in 1992. It says it is not working but that’s good in my eyes as it makes these posts more appealing, as it gives me something to repair. I don’t know what the issue is off hand as the post didn’t state that, but I do know these items have suffered with capacitor problems over time, but that is not necessarily the case here. We will just have to wait until we do the assessment on its arrival. And as it comes from around the early 90s it fits right in with my modus operandi. And this little cutie dates from 1992.
Here’s a little history behind this unit courtesy of Wikipedia:
The Amstrad NC100 Notepad is an A4-size, portable Z80-based notebook computer, released by Amstrad in July 1992. It featured 64 KB of RAM, 256KB of Rom, the Protextwordprocessor, various organiser-like facilities (diary, address book and time manager), a simple calculator, and a version of the BBC BASIC interpreter. The computer’s design, evocative of the TRS-80 Model 100, features a screen with 80 character columns by eight rows, and not backlit, but this let the NC100 run for up to 20 hours on four standard AA cellbatteries. There was an RS-232serial port, a parallel port for connecting a printer, and a PC card socket, by means of which the computer’s memory could be expanded up to 1 MB.
Assessment
The unit has arrived and cosmetically it is in very good condition apart from the peeling plastic screen cover. A little bit of dust and grime, all keys in good order and no dinks or dents. the vinyl bag is a little tatty but that’s not a problem, it’s obviously done it’s job over the years due to the good condition of the unit.
The unit on its arrival, generally in good condition
So down to testing. First thing I’ve done is check the power supply is giving a 6.5 v output and this is ok.
Power supply doing what it should.
Secondly I’ve put 4 AA batteries in place and turned the unit on but then it abruptly stops, displaying a lithium battery issue.
Lithium battery warning
The lithium battery is an old CMOS type battery, a CR2032 coin battery. This is the battery that keeps the info in the system when you turn it off. I thought I’d run this through the multimeter and was surprised with the voltage I saw, the battery seemed fine to me at 2.8v, so I replaced it with a new one measuring 3.4v. And the issue came up again…..head scratching time!
Old batteryNew battery
Looking on line it seems there is an issue with the lithium cell battery contacts on these units when they are being resurrected to modern day usage, time has not been good to them. The coin contacts have now been cleaned and slightly bent to ensure a better contact and hey presto it’s operational with no further issues.
Battery contacts needed cleaning and repositioning
The main AA battery contacts are fine and the external supply is doing what it should. Now let’s look at sorting that screen issue.
Quite simply there were two options, use a bit of heat to try and stick the plastic down, but I decided against this as it would not lay flat, it had too many kinks in it. So the only other option was to remove it and this is what I did, it peeled off with no issues. In time I will see if I can get a suitable replacement but to be honest it isn’t really required as I’m not going to be using it that often.
Let’s get that screen cover off
Looking goodAfter screen cover removal
I’ve tried every function and keystroke of the board and all is good there are no issues and I now have a perfectly acceptable unit for my collection. It looks like i have had a second win against the “Untested” brigade who sell on EBay. This was the simplest of repairs and the issues are readily available to research on line. There is no excuse for not looking into the issues, when a good unit like this can now sell for up to three times the amount that I paid for it.
Your loss my win. Another one kept from landfill.
I’ve given the unit a good polish and I think you’ll agree that the project has come up good.
PouchFront viewRear viewWorking as it shouldProfileLook at that screen
Now to just go and read the user manual on line to see if I’ve missed anything. Thanks for passing by, as always it’s most appreciated.
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
I’d like to be my father for the day. Not because he was someone who could be admired and loved and cherished, he was none of that. He was a nasty evil man that made my mothers, my younger sisters and my life an absolute misery.
I would like to know what made him tick, what was his reasoning and did he ever consider getting help for the way he was.
I’d kick start that change even if I could’ve been him for a day. He has ruined my life and still haunts me in nightmares to this day. Never was I more pleased when someone passed away, it’s a horrible thing to say but my life began in earnest that day. However my faith and beliefs tell me we will meet again one day and that is what bothers me now, I’m not prepared for that..
His evil ways, I carry as a burden everyday.
As a child it is not right that you have to be protecting your mother from abuse and a little girl for being downright petrified of her own father. As for what I endured it goes to the grave with me.
I’ve always said to my wife I want to be a better man and be nothing like him. I’ve managed that well, I have never raised a hand to woman in my life and will never do so. My mother was a punchbag and far too many times it was me that absorbed those punches as I tried to protect her.
I have moods occasionally and I put them down to being like him, and I dislike it when someone says I look like my father, there is no one I’d rather be.
It’s a curse to be honest, and here I am just a few small years away from retirement still paying the price, and very much afraid.
It’s not fair. Domestic abuse is not acceptable, it affects lives for longer than you can imagine, it’s probably going to be with me way into the afterlife. It’s a life and death sentence. And he is the winner. It’s wrong.
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.
I’ll always attempt anything, but when it comes to plumbing or high voltage electricity, that’s when I get the professionals involved.
In my current home the most ambitious DIY has probably been landscaping the garden. We purchased a rickety old house that’s been a constant project since it was brought, back in 2018. So really that could be the most ambitious couldn’t it?
Anyway, the one I’ve enjoyed most is landscaping the garden, not concreted over with no concerns for wildlife, my garden was designed around the needs of the Hedgehogs and birdlife we have that visit throughout the year. They have easy access to the whole garden, a part that is wilded for them to forage in and plenty of food and water stations as well.
One of our visitors
We also have a feral cat “Tabs” who has lived in our garden longer than we have, she gets on with us, we feed her and she has plenty of weather protection in and around the garden, and she tolerates the hedgehogs, so that’s harmonious.
Some colours in our garden
The garden has been a big project taking about 6 years to reach a maturity with flowers, shrubs and trees all planted to create a little bit of the country side in a city urban environment. I am so proud of my garden come spring time when all the new buds are breaking through, and it is a riot of colours come summertime. And it took a lot of planning as it’s a north facing garden.
The gardens the place i’d rather be, it’s like producing art, art that changes on a weekly basis.
It fires up and turns on, then get a black screen. Every time I press a key on the keyboard it makes a beeping sound, so it is registering something.
EBay
From a distance, and in my opinion, the fault could be a simple one such as adjusting the contrast by using the Psion key and either of the <> keys. This was often an issue when first turning on the Psion II, you had to turn the contrast wheel. However it could be a terminal one requiring a donor unit. In layman’s terms it could be knackered, (to coin a phrase). But hey, what do I know 🤦♂️
Psion 3a – Faulty
Fingers crossed 🤞 as usual.
I have a what looks like a nice tidy little unit here obtained for a very reasonable price £17:69Gbp including postage. These units retailed between £179-£249 when they first appeared back in 1993. However, there is only the one picture in the advert so the rear, sides and hinges could be wrecked. “Caveat emptor” as they say. It does have a problem that will need some investigation. It runs off of two AA batteries and a CR1620 coin battery as a backup, and these will be the first items to be changed, I’ll also check the voltage of that coin battery and replace that if necessary. This is an early version with 256KB of internal Ram. 3a versions from 1995 either had 1Mb or 2Mb of ram. You can also use an external power supply if required, but the batteries in these units have an excellent long life span, so external power is rarely necessary. I’m looking forward to this project. I’ll make a more detailed analysis when the unit arrives shortly.
The Psion Series 3 range of personal digital assistants were made by Psion PLC. The four main variants are the Psion Series 3 (1991), the Psion Series 3a (1993), the Psion Series 3c (1996), and the Psion Series 3mx (1998), all sized 165 by 85 by 22 millimetres (6.50 in × 3.35 in × 0.87 in). Further, a Psion Series 3a variant with factory installed software for the Russian language was called a Psion Series 3aR, and Acorn Computers sold renamed versions of the Psion Series 3 and 3a marketed as the Acorn Pocket Book and Acorn Pocket Book II.
Wikipedia
A little history:
This particular unit dates from 1993 and was the next in the series of Psion organisers that succeeded the extremely successful Series 2 models. It was a massive step forward in design as the whole PDA market was kicking in big time in the early to mid nineties. More info regarding the series 3 organisers can be found here: Psion series 3
And the strange fact for today is this:
Manufacture of Psion 3s was discontinued in 1998 shortly after the launch of the Psion Series5 (a Psion Series 4 does not exist, due to Psion’s concern of Tetraphobia in their Asian markets)
Wikipedia
What is Tetraphobia?
The fear of the number four: Tetraphobia is mainly suffered in China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, because the word for the number four is similar to the word for death in their languages. Tetraphobia results in many people avoiding referring to 4 in phone numbers and so on.
Cambridge dictionary
There you go, question answered and that was why there was no Psion 4.
Onwards…
What has arrived, and what’s the diagnosis?
The unit has arrived and despite my suspicions it is in an excellent cosmetic condition. Just some very light signs of usage, needs a light clean, all hinges are in place and solid. Everything is as it was all those years ago and all the warranty labels are in place, this unit has never been opened.
Front goodRear goodPower adapter port goodOutput port good Drive A goodDrive B goodNo back up battery in place
I placed the new AA batteries in and it came up with the black screen as the seller had stated. Using the contrast adjustment at this stage had no effect but the buttons were sounding so something was happening. Whilst looking in the memory card doors I could see one glaring issue, there was no backup CR1620 battery, so I dropped one in place . When I started the unit up again the screen went from black to clear, over a few seconds and then I operated the contrast buttons, and hey presto it worked. Watch this little video to see what happens.
We have life
I can only surmise that not having the correct batteries in for god knows how long, and then livening up the circuitry must just be like giving Frankenstein a fresh transfusion of blood. “It’s alive!” Well, that’s all I can think it would be.
I’ve run every function on the unit and it all works fine apart from the voice recorder function that seems to have a lot of feedback on the recording. I suspect this might be as I’m using the already full internal memory. It’s not a real problem, I’m just going to have to read up on it, as I could be doing it all wrong. (I have since done a hard reset and deleted old files from the system and this has cured the feedback issue, the voice recorder works fine). However it would still probably work better using an additional drive in the unit, and not the low internal memory.
OffMenu screen Data screenAgenda screenYearly agendaWorld time Sheet tab
Just as you could on the Psion II you can write your own programs using OPL language. And it is a lot easier on this unit as you have a full Qwerty keyboard and a much bigger display. There are more applications on this unit than the series II, including word, spreadsheets, DTMF dialler, calculator and others that can be purchased as plug in additions.
I’m really happy with this, if the seller would have just taken a little time to run the unit and have some patience he’d have realised there really is nothing wrong with this unit. Big negative for him, big bonus for me. He could have charged more than double the price for this item, or more, considering current prices on the selling platforms.
Another strange thing i have noticed is that when I’ve left it overnight and started it up the following day it takes a minute or so for the screen icons to appear, just like putting on an old valve radio. So it maybe that a repair is necessary, I’ll have to ask around and see if any else has had this issue.
Valve powered Psion3A
Edit: A few days later and I’ve looked into this a little more. For some unknown reason, probably my rank stupidity, I’ve checked the coin battery and I’ve installed a CR2032 instead of the required CR1620 and have tonight corrected this and installed the CR1620 coin battery. I don’t know if, or why this would have an effect, but after putting the correct battery in place the unit started up in a couple of seconds even after sitting unused for at least a couple of days, instead of the usual 2 minutes as per the video. I can only think it must be something more related to the capacity rather than the size, unless for some reason the contacts were not sitting true. (There is a slight difference of 4mm in width) I remain puzzled as I thought the battery was just for backup purposes, maybe it does perform more as a computer CMOS battery does, but I’m pleased it’s now operating as it should. I can now stop monitoring the sale sites for units to use as spares.
Sometimes your suspicions pay off, and on this occasion I was spot on. EBay untested items can swing either way and most of the time the sellers use it as an easy get out for not accepting any responsibility. But this time I win, and that makes me happy as I have a very good item for my retro collection.
If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?
We are now on a WP quote repeat cycle. This question was last asked on the 2nd of March 2023.
Back then the answer to the question from me was “Impossible” and I include the link to it here Thoughts 2/3/23
It’s pointless blabbering on about it again when it’s already out there. It’s only a short piece and I can’t think of any other words to add to it apart from a couple used by the younger set being, “Babe,” I hear that word and I cringe, or the word “Like” used as an informal adverb, though it is used so often in that context it’s now quite formal and swamping conversation.
adverb
1. INFORMALused in speech as a meaningless filler or to signify the speaker’s uncertainty about an expression just used.”there was this funny smell—sort of dusty like”
2. INFORMALused to convey a person’s reported attitude or feelings in the form of direct speech (whether or not representing an actual quotation).”so she comes into the room and she’s like ‘Where is everybody?’”
Oxford English dictionary
Oh well, that’s me moaned out for the day.
Have a great day out there today. And if you have sun – enjoy 😉
This is a great blog from Hackaday that shows how old iPads that are no longer usable can have their screens used as standalone monitors. Since Apple are openly criticised for their throw away culture it’s a reasonable way of keeping these old units out of landfill, and saving you some money as well. I love the example of using an old screen as an additional screen for an iMac.
Turning surplus LCD panels into stand-alone monitors with the help of a driver board is an established hack, and a search of eBay or AliExpress will …
What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?
Well there’s a question.
I think my biggest personal challenge is going to be health related, things that have concerned me in the past, that were under control, have now started to raise their horrible little heads above the parapet again. But there is always hope, and if you have a modicum of hope then you are in a good place. Anyway I’m not going to bore anyone with my issues.
Let’s look at what other challenges I’m liable to face in the next six months. I know that within the next few weeks my wife will be saying that the house needs to go up for sale, that’s because we’ve been looking around a little town on the outskirts of where we live and we’ve seen some nice properties, ones that remain warm in winter unlike our old 1930s semi that we currently reside in. And when that day comes where she says it’s happening, I’m then going to be fully employed getting the place spruced up and dealing with those little diy projects that I’ve put on hold for sometime. That said, we also have a plan if we don’t decide to sell, where we are going to extend the property that will also keep me occupied for many a month.
So I anticipate being challenged to work as much outside of work as inside it, but hey that’s nothing new!
I think in the Uk as general though, we are all going to be challenged over the next few months especially with the ever increasing cost of living, and a wage structure that is not rising commensurately. Businesses, especially those smaller ones that are failing miserably as there is no support from a system that is systematically strangling the life from them, I know of this first hand as friends in such a business are really struggling.
So forget my little struggles, as a society the next six months, will probably make or break us as a collective, it’s getting to the point that one more little straw will break the camels back. I sincerely hope I’m very wrong and everything will miraculously change, but it’s just that my realistic head thinks it’s not going to be, but as I said at the very beginning this is where “Hope” comes in to play.
I Hope that things improve for everyone in the next six months, as it cannot be allowed to decline any further.
Foxes Den 
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