A few classic computer photos

[Philip Pemberton]

Tony Duell wrote:
> And the number of garage mechanics (from main dealers) who do things that 
> are expressly forbidden by the workshop manual (and forbidden for a good 
> reason). 

"'Ere, Bob, pass'us that 'ammer."
"Why, Jim?"
"Bloody oilpan bolt's stuck. Needs sum per-sa-shin!"
"A'ight then.."
*WHACK* *WHACK* *BAM* *WHACK* *CLANG*

At which point Jim realises he's been trying to turn the bolt the wrong 
way, and has now ruined both the bolt-head and the threads. The air 
turns blue...

Then he realises it's a customer's car anyway, and all of a sudden it's 
Not A Problem (tm). The job form is filled out as "Oil change done", and 
the customer leaves happy... until 1,000 miles later when the engine 
seizes up (or the bolt drops out in the middle of the road).

There are some people I wouldn't touch near a paperclip, much less a 
screwdriver.

>> Anyway, the guy arrives and the first thing he asks:
>>    "Have you got a copy of the service manual?"
> 
> Eek!!. I suspect my reply would be something along the lines of 'Your company
> refused to sell me a proper service manaul. If you can get me one, then 
> I'll let you borrrow when you come to repair my printer'

Actually, the "operator level" service manual is included with the 
machine... or at least the Operator Level manual and parts diagram are.

There's (just) enough info in the 570 OLS Manual and Parts/Wiring 
Diagram book to narrow down most faults to a given PCB. There aren't any 
schematics, but you can do PCB-swaps. Better than nothing if you've got 
another machine to cannibalise parts from...

> What is the point of a service engineer who doesn't carry even basic tools?

Consuming oxygen?

Actually, do servoids do that? Wouldn't have thought respiration was 
necessary for droids...


> On the other hand 
> most of my tookit will fit in a sensibly-sized back ('most' includes 
> things like a Weller TCP soldering iron, FLuck multiumeter, LogicDart, 
> screwdrivers, nutdrivers, hex keys, torx keys, and so on.

I could probably do the same -- Fluke 25 DMM, spare battery, CK toolkit, 
Antex 660TC soldering station, and my "cheap and made of monkey-metal" 
'Pro'sKit' mini-screwdriver (good for small devices where the CK kit is 
too big). The CK also includes a full set of "Anti-Tamper" Torx bits 
(which will screw and unscrew both common types of Torx bit), a few hex 
bits and some sockets (VERY useful for realigning Sky dishes, even when 
the bolts have rusted).

I usually bring an ASUS Eee 1000H netbook, Ericsson K800i (GSM triband 
mobile with 3G data and USB) with me as well -- on the basis that I can 
then connect to my home server (or anywhere else on t'internet for that 
matter) and grab any PDFs I might need. Saves dragging reams of paper 
around.


>> Too true. There are a lot of Olympus OM4s that are starting to suffer 
>> from ciruitry failure (read: metering and shutter times go badly out of
> 
> I seem to remeebr you should stick to odd-numbered OM's  as they're 
> mechanical.

So that'll be the OM-1 series then, but they weren't pure-mechanical.The 
aperture priority metering still needs 2x SR44 coin cells to run.
Also, the motor drive (if you have one) needs 4x AAs.

Full-mechanical? A Minox maybe? Or probably a Stereo Realist (which has 
been mentioned elsethread).

-- 
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/