Psion organiser II CM

I have a Psion organiser II Cm from around 1986, a lovely blast from the past piece of technology that for a period of time, put the UK ahead of the world in electronic storage and retrieval technology. For an item that is thirty nine years old it was way ahead of its nearest rivals in both looks and capabilities. Let’s be honest the biggest selling data retrieval system prior to this coming along would have been the good old fashioned Filofax. It really was a game changer.

My personal Psion organiser II CM

My personal organiser is in good condition. I’ve had it for about a year now. It has no known faults so I’ve not done this post to show a repair, I have created this post to highlight, just like us all, that the older we get the more care we have to take of ourselves, the same goes for this machine. There is a whole online community still committed to this equipment and the amount of knowledge available to anyone looking at getting one of these items is absolutely immense. Just look here: Psion Organiser II forum

My organiser is a CM version. It has a memory of 8 KB. Data packs can be added, mine has a 16 and a 32k pack so I have a whopping 48k of available additional memory. Extra storage is available between 16-128k again dependant on the limits of your unit.

This version, the CM was a victim of the Y2K bug that you will be more than aware of, if you are of a certain age and possessed a computer on the run up to the year 2000. Panic reigned supreme around this time, the world was about to end. It was a crazy time. For some it was just that, plain crazy and nothing noteworthy occurred, for others they will say it was a whole different story. However it wasn’t all that bad as we are all still here today. That said some units were rendered useless as their date ranges didn’t exceed beyond the year 1999, and that is where this particular model of the Psion organiser slots in to place.

It has that very issue as does the XP version, later editions such as the LZ did not have the issue.

I’ve created a very small video here that replicates exactly what occurred when midnight on the 31st December 1999 finally arrived.

My Psion, replicating the Y2K bug

In a nutshell it resorted back to the year 1900. Some computers freaked out, others that had been attended to had fixes deployed that added extra years to the internal data streams. And we can also do that with this unit today.

All we have to do is visit the site of Jaap Scherphuis who has provided the download to enable users to now extend the date range by another 84 years to 2083. My time on this planet will be done by then so I’m not that worried about what happens beyond this time period. I have quoted exactly what this little fix achieves, below.

When it is installed the main menu item TIME is redirected to the memory resident routine. This routine is identical to the normal one in ROM, except that it adds 84 to the year, making the range of the available years 1984 to 2083 instead of 1900 to 1999. This new range is chosen because these years have the same weekdays.

Jaap Scherphuis

To achieve this fix there are three ways that it can be achieved, either as a direct entry set of commands via a serial cable link to the top of the unit via a computer, direct entry via the unit programming mode, or by using a programmed data pack. I do not have the link, and I possess “Sausage fingers“ so I don’t trust myself to type the detail in correctly, so I will be using the latter option, i am cheating with one of these.

Info and Y2K fix pack

A vendor used to sell these on eBay. They are data packs that contain the very Y2K patch I need, as well as a few other little nuggets of interest all on a preloaded pack. There is an aside to this particular fix. As it is stored in the local memory, should the battery die, or be taken out to be replaced you will lose this fix and it will need to be reinstalled. With Psion, any hard data you wish to keep, has to be saved to one of the data packs, if you don’t you will simply lose your data, no auto save ability here.

So if the battery does die or get removed, with this pack it can be quickly restored to normal use in a couple of minutes with no need to involve other computers or peripherals.

Before fix installed Y2K issue remains
No Y2K issue now

I have now installed the new TIMEINST routine that adds the extra years into the the units memory and it is now usable for the next 78 years (For someone, not me though, as I won’t be around!)

So this is my Psion up and running. I don’t claim to know much about the technical side but I’m learning. If I can assist anyone in any way, whether that is by directing you to someone who knows, or by taking you through what I have done here, then please make contact. I will assist you however I can.

Thanks for passing by.

Stylophone portable organ – you were warned

Earlier in January I posted that I’d brought this retro pocket organ from EBay. Stylophone pocket organ It has now arrived and wow, it is in near perfect condition, the seller did not lie when stating it hadn’t been used since 2008. It is almost mint.

Mint condition

Anyway not being a person to disappoint anyone, I did promise that I’d video myself learning to play the unit. I wanted to prove that anyone can play these “Toys” that were hugely popular over the last 40 years. You lucky people. Here’s the video below.

Enjoy.

You were warned

Using the phone – between rational and irrational

Paul at Techalcoholics hits the nail on the head with this post. Your phone is probably, your biggest addiction.

Pic courtesy of Techalcoholics

If there’s one piece of technology that is universally used and embodies both the positives and negatives of modern advancements, it’s the personal …

Using the phone – between rational and irrational

Weird observation

This is a short post and only an observation I’ve just made whilst sitting on the sofa admiring the winter sun flooding through the window.

I have a model that I made of the Voyager spacecraft, an aspect of space travel that has always fascinated me. It sits pride of place on top of a book shelf alongside a five year old Orchid that seems to be mimicking it with its long budded tendril looking just like the lengthy probe arm of the spacecraft. I guess every youngster has aspirations to be a spaceman at some point in their lives.

Orchid wants to be a spacecraft

Please excuse the blue candle that was a present from some comic “Wag” in the family…. 🤦‍♂️

Happy day everyone.

Sinclair ZX81

Write about your first computer.

Now this is a prompt that excites me as it is a nod in the direction of all that i really like, retro.

I started my first full time job in about 1982. The ZX81 came out in 1981, and I used my first months pay to purchase one, it cost around £70Gbp if my memory serves me well.

Sinclair ZX81

My first real surprise when I opened it was that it wouldn’t do a thing unless you actually programmed it, I really hadn’t done my homework and what followed was a crash course in BASIC programming to get it to do something, but I loved it.

Looking back the best thing about this product was that it got you learning stuff, and I have no doubt that items such as this started many people off on the road of computer technology employment, computing was now available at a good price to everyone, and we youngsters really took to this unit en mass as 1.5 million units were sold prior to it being discontinued two years later in 1984.

I moved on fairly quickly to the Vic20, Spectrum, Amstrad CPC464 and then the traditional home computer and as they say the rest is history. They were fantastic times back in the early days, and I cherish them immensely. In fact I’ve never fallen out of love with this technology and I will soon write a more in depth piece about the ZX81 as I am looking at purchasing another one for my retro collection.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Burn with fire

What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it?

This kind of ties in nicely with a post I wrote a short while back, Just another reason to not go wandering. In that post I wrote about some of my relatives and their constant attempts to get me to travel to the opposite side of the earth and visit them in Australia.

But why am I scared to do it? Quite simply I’m a nervous, trembling Arachnophobic. I don’t like those little eight legged freaks. And they probably feel the same about me.

I can pretty much trace my fears back to my childhood, when my parents in their ultimate wisdom used to force my elder brother to take me out to play with him and his mates and he was never too happy with that. However he and his friends had their fun by stuffing creatures such as spiders down my neck, and it is that point, the fear was born.

If I even see the smallest of critters in my house now, my wife will tell you I go up the wall and won’t settle until the invader is found and removed from the house. This can usually involve hours of furniture moving and me running about like a banshee until the issue is sorted.

I’m not just scared I’m bloody petrified.

So, to get me to Australia I’d have to wear something like a flamethrower, not particularly a very PC piece of equipment in a hot and dry environment where fire spreads so freely, however in a country where every animal and creature wants to kill you I see no other alternative.

Probably just easier that I stay away. Yes that’s it I’ll do just that. Problem solved.

Have a lovely day.

(Flame thrower pic courtesy of Misadventure Lab)

Inside Vacuum Fluorescent Displays

I come across a number of these displays whilst working on old retro items. Good post well worth a read.

VFDs — vacuum fluorescent displays — have a distinctive look, and is generally fascinated with retro displays. So, it makes sense that he’d build a …

Inside Vacuum Fluorescent Displays

Bloody Weather

Being a fully paid up member of the whinging Uk, I have the god given right to complain about absolutely everything that i can, constantly.

(This is Written in Sarcasm font and is just an observation…. Apparently)

No to be honest I don’t think we, (me included) complain enough. We tend to accept our lot and just get on with it. Maybe we should all put our hands up more often and let our voices be heard.

Now though, when it comes to weather, that is a totally different kettle of fish. We all have an opinion, and surprisingly in this island nation it’s the one thing we all seem to agree on. Bloody awful weather. It’s a constant topic of derision.

Have a great day.

Enjoy life..a bit more

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Never been greedy so wouldn’t really need a lot. Enough to see me into retirement and be able to walk out of my job tomorrow would be nice. I’d estimate approximately £250k would see me ok.

If I had a large amount there is no doubt I’d see to my close family and friends, and even my close work colleagues. Beyond that I’d help people and charities as I see fit.

That’s about it really. A good few people would benefit, but as stated at the beginning I don’t really need a lot.

I’m not wealthy financially that’s a given, however I’m as rich as anyone can be with the love and life I have.

Money might just ruin that somewhat. But it would be nice to give it a go.

Peace.

No tradition, totally random

We are not a traditional family, apart from birthdays and anniversaries there’s not much traditional that we do. We are pretty much a day to day gathering of randomness at its best.

We like what we like, we do what we do. And we enjoy each and every minute of it. Let’s be honest there is not a great deal to celebrate at this moment so you have to make the most of what you have.

A lot of people will probably be able to list a whole raft of traditions they adhere to that have been passed down through the generations, that is not so for me, as my family are somewhat dysfunctional in many aspects.

Not bad in intentions though, as we are quite spontaneous. We may pay the price in embarrassment and discomfort however we are able to laugh at our situation and ourselves and that is always acceptable. (In our eyes)

Don’t be too serious, as life will always bite your ass. Laugh and learn, live and love. Don’t take life so seriously, You’ll go far.

Peace to you all.