brad
@brad@posiwid.net
It bums me out that the links to almost every project listed on sites like @hackaday are to YouTube videos instead of real websites.
I know some people like watching videos but it’s a terrible format for the sort of random access reads that documentation is used for and we all know that YouTube is a terrible archival store (not to mention that the ads make the videos unwatchable).
Don't suppose anyone has the ability and desire to flash me a Kantronics KPC-3 Firmware chip?
I think the one in mine is v5.0 and 8.2 is the latest (and last) and I can only find them in the USA with shipping costing more than the chip!
@M0YNG Does it use the AM27C512? (From a quick google) I think I have a programmer somewhere that can do it.
@mw1cgg not sure, I keep hitting dead ends on websites that only offer http and suffer bit rot
@M0YNG I was looking here. No idea if it's right as I haven't seen a unit. https://www.freemansgarage.com/index.php/2010/02/01/kantronics-kpc-3-non-plus/
@mw1cgg looks the same to me.
@M0YNG How long have I got to find out if my programmer can do it? I don't know where it is at the moment and I can't remember if it's series or parallel. If parallel it may take some time to get it working.
@mw1cgg literally zero rush. Although if a small amount of time pressure helps motivate then I'd like it working on Saturday
@M0YNG Lol. No way we could even exchange chips by then.
@M0YNG Hmm. i know I have a tube of chips somewhere, they may be them. I think they're in the loft. Remind me tomorrow lunchtime and I'll get up (not easy) and have a look. I think the programmer is up there too rather than in my container.
@mw1cgg I shall forget to remind you. Wait. Mastodon can do scheduled posts.......
@mw1cgg reminder!
@M0YNG It may have to be tomorrow, I've had to go into the office.
@M0YNG Good news and bad news.
I got up into the loft and found the programmer and chips.
Not the right chips, they're only 64k, and the programmer won't do them either. And even if it did, it's parallel and I don't currently have anything with a parallel port.
Soz.
@mw1cgg no worries, I might just set it as a normal packet node for a bit. Not that anyone will use it...
@M0YNG In slightly better news, I've found an old thin client that I know can run Windows with a parallel port on it and someone in work thinks we have an old programmer hanging around somewhere. Neither of us will be in the factory to find it until Monday/Tuesday though.
Reading "The United Fruit Company and Early Radio Development" (Drale, 2010) with interest, about the history of the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company - later TRT Telecommunications.
Commercial radio transmitters and shipboard equipment to support the banana trade, and then a transition over the years into the international telecommunications business.
Curious what my #infosec pals think of this.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/20/politics/biden-administration-bans-kaspersky-software/index.html
The article goes on to say that Kaspersky is banned from providing software to US users, which I guess is possible to enforce to a certain extent.
I'm in Shanghai right now, seamlessly using a VPN to access blocked content (including the linked article), so I'm a little skeptical.
Is there a way to change the default font for component identifiers in KiCad?
I'm asking because I need a professional looking PCB at work and it's quite some work to manually change every label to Comic Sans.
@brad thanks! That's perfect and something I can do on every PCB once the parts are placed! :)
Thinking about getting a #gameDad. Should I get an RG535V? I am familiar with https://gamedad.club but figured I'd ask around.
Mostly thinking about N64-era games, but open to others.
Farmers in Bastrop, TX were hopeful when Elon Musk bought land nearby, but now he’s turning the area into “an environmentally hazardous industrial park.” Authorities won’t do anything because they’re understaffed and “intimidated by their powerful new neighbor.”
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/elon-musk-vs-organic-farmers-bastrop/
What was your first modem? Mine was a 300 baud VICMODEM for my Commodore VIC-20 which included a type in terminal program in the user guide.
You had to manually dial the number with the phone, unplug the coil cable from the handset when you heard the carrier, and plug it into the modem!
@paulrickards I wasn’t allowed to get a modem. 😭 I did borrow a 1200 baud one from work the summer of 92. I guess that was my first.
@ef1j Aww bummer! At least you got a chance to go ⭐️ online ⭐️
@paulrickards Oh… Usenet, ftp, gopher, etc. had me plenty busy in 91 at school! No modem tho’… we had token ring in our dorm. 💾 🕺💣
@ef1j Ahhh the good stuff!
@paulrickards In junior high, I borrowed a 300 baud modem and CompuServe login credentials from a family friend. We got the bill a month later, too. 😅
@Tinrocket Hahaha yeah the online services bill plus the long distance to get to them lead to very uncomfortable conversations!
@paulrickards my first was a generic internal 2400 baud modem in our family’s IBM PS/1. downloading my first file via xmodem from a local bbs was a shocking moment. “i can… just download games and programs for … free? over a phone line?”
@vga256 Yes! Isn’t it amazing that computers screaming at each other over the phone gave us games!? 😆
@paulrickards 😅 i honestly have lost that excitement since broadband became ubiquitous. it’s such a special feeling
@vga256 Yeah, computers were whimsical then.
@paulrickards mine was a Concord Data Systems 224 modem that my dad brought home from work in 1991. The modem was made in 1983 and was 2400 baud which was really fast for its time. The only downside was that it didn’t have autodial, so I had to pick up the phone to dial BBSes by hand.
@polpo Wow that must have been expensive in 1983! That modem looks like it means business. 🧳