FalconFour has movedNov 16, 2023

I somehow became addicted to repairing 80s Pocket Computers. These things are quite interesting - ahead of their time, a bit... This first model was made in 1980. Yes, 42-43 years old. Has a pocket sized dot-matrix printer.

The TRS-80 Pocket Computer (retroactively named PC-1) is a rebadged Sharp PC-1211; I fixed the PC-1 first, now time to fix the PC-1211 version.

This is the second one I've done. #retrocomputers #tandy

Show threadFalconFour has movedNov 16, 2023
The screen is pretty trashed, but not the worst I've seen. Every one of them suffers from an unknown flaw at the time -- the screen's liquid crystal, which is literally liquid typically sealed between two panes of glass, didn't seal that well. So it does this.
Show threadFalconFour has moved

Inside the printer is a 4-cell AA battery pack, which I intend to replace (as with the last one) with a pack from Amazon that's already on the way. The new pack is 2000mAh (at 4.8v). The original, 42 year old pack? 450mAh (at 4.8v).

I also discovered that battery corrosion carries through copper wires.

Nov 16, 2023 at 4:02amWeb
Show threadFalconFour has movedNov 19, 2023
Wish I took more photos, but after a fair bit of work, it's all back to life. Always a treat seeing the printer mechanism slowly whirr back to life - the motor weak with oxidation at first, then with some torque, it speeds up and remains fast and powerful again - waking from its 20-to-30 year nap. Still need to replace the main computer's LCD (waiting for shipment) but it's readable enough to use for now. Had to patch a broken trace in the tape-load circuit, but now all working!