Another Eindhoven workshop has come and gone.
It seems a lifetime away though from the launch day for Hermes, where I
had a turnover of getting on for £2000!
I always enjoy these trips in one way or other.
This one was memorable for:
1) Finding that the QL monitor that I kept discovering was 'not working'
was simply a wrongly wired Scart (Peritel) lead. So often only one
sync is wired up - it requires QL Csync to Scart 16 then connected
via low value resistor to 20. I had no resistors, but yet again the
QL pcb came to the rescue - the 330 ohm network pulldown was ideal.
The most memorable cobble from the QL pcb was rescuing a Honeywell
CH timer with a QL microdrive power transistor years ago!
2) Free coffee on the boat because they had 'closed the till'
3) A ride in Roy's new (to him) car. "It is great - the only the
problem is the steering". Car looks very nice though - as we seesaw
up the motorway carriageway (8-)# Nice uneventful journey though.
Despite what seems like hundreds of journeys on the same route,
we still manage a minor wrong turning (roadworks to blame this time).
Took the scenic route in Eindhoven to the show. "It is a cycle
lane" "No it isn't, why have they got a 30 KpH limit?" I reply.
4) Finding that a non-working returned Mplane was probably due to the
owner drilling holes through the pcb. This is a mite silly with
multi-layer boards (8-)#
5) Soldering an SMD 1206 (tiny) capacitor on Bob Spelten's sH
with what seemed like a spade (I only had my 25w iron).
6) Seeing a pretty functional QDT alpha. It is going to be a
very essential addon to the QL. Pity Jim Hunkins is only coding
for SMSQ.
7) Severely testing a Super Gold Card. I have from time to time
connected expansions cobbled for 5v supply to a std QL, but only
briefly. The last thing I did in the UK before the trip was to test
Mplane. I powered up the QL, but then went for a cup of coffee (as
always supplied free, courtesy of Sjef) and got waylaid in a 90
minute chat in a trader's huddle before anyone else arrived.
Got back to my table, and sniff - that is a funny smell.
The SGC was too hot to touch - well the 1810. Jumpered for 5V!
OK - see if the QL is OK. It wasn't - but it was only
the 8301. Ah well - I still have another SGC. OK - plug it
in and swap chips - may only be the 1810. What a pity it is
unobtainable. I couldn't believe my eyes - the SGC was fine,
and worked crash free for the whole day. Unbelievable. I measured
the '9v' line and it was about 10.5 volts. All I can think is that
the 8301 had latched (where signal lines are higher than power rail)
and it had successfully kept the SGC power rail much lower than
10.5 volts. .... but for 90 minutes? Amazing.
What think you Nasta?
BTW what on earth have you been doing in the US - eating Cow Pie (UK
Dandy readers will get the reference). I gather you are all muscle
(8-)#
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