Great video Peter! Beautiful little computer, great troubleshooting and repair. I had the same question as to why the crystal had burned out and wondered if something else wasn't the problem. I think we're two birds of a feather as I always swear to Mrs. RRG that I'm done buying more retro crap and I don't even need to be inebriated to have those plans go right out the window as I'm simply addicted but after a few 🍺🍺🍺 I admit everything looks more appealing and I somehow justify my need for it or the show to Mrs. RRG. 😂🍺🍺🍺. Looking forward to seeing more of Bob! Have a great weekend!
I probably would have taken the CPC even if I was sober to be honest, the only difference being that I would have noticed the damage in the photos beforehand (but given the price it was a steal anyway). But, as I'm sure you know, a challenge is always fun and it's still a great feeling when a system springs to life. Another one saved from landfill, Have an excellent weekend too ;)
Very nice get for your collection!! I wish we could get those computers here in Canada, we can but very expensive. Excellent troubleshooting and thanks for sharing.
Thanks Rudy, those CPCs are built like tanks and that's why I was sure that despite the damage to the case it would spring to life as soon as I powered it on. So it surprised me that it failed to work first power up. But I was even more surprised when it sprang to life as I simply placed another crystal on top of the existing one. I guess that it shows that the crazy little spur of the moment ideas we get at times can be good ones ;)
I was sure that it wouldn't work. Crystal timings have to be quite precise and I was certain that placing two together in parallel wouldn't fix the system even if the crystal was the fault. But I'm happy that I was wrong and the system sprang to life. Now I just have to find a way to make the broken case look a little better ;)
An oscillator like that is mostly a ceramic disc, you can break it if you whack it. You can open it up, sometimes they might uncrimp but least stress on it is to dremel it open, and you might see the damage.
I was really surprised that it worked too, but I think that it will only work if the crystal is physically broken and not working at all. I would imagine that if it were giving some kind of screwed up or intermittent clock signal piggybacking another crystal on top would make no difference. It is a good trick to know though ;)
Great video, you seem yo be the Saint of faulty things ;) cool repair. I also need to let you know I'm anxiously waiting for episode three of batari programming! (But no pressure ;)
"It's never a good idea to drink and Ebay". Wise words indeed, but you're entitled to the odd guilty pleasure Peter and we got a cool video out of it. Noel is another great guy.
You make an excellent point, and I see the source of the confusion. Once more I have failed to express myself correctly. You see, I use the expression "retro-crap" as more a term of endearment for 40+ year old electronics than a derogatory term towards any particular system or brand. (Am I managing to climb out of this hole I've dug for myself or am I digging even deeper?). The CPC is a great system under any brand name or model and I give it as much time, care and attention as I would to any of the rest of the old crap I have down here in the basement ;)
I find that drinking goes very well with a lot of things, that's why I was so surprised to find that the CPC wasn't working when it arrived here. I was relieved that the crystal was the problem in the end though and not the drinking :) But seriously, I was a little surprised that the only fault the system had was a bad crystal. It would have taken quite a shock to damage it in that way and the fact that everything else worked just great (even the cassette drive) is a testament to the CPC's build quality. Another one saved from landfill ;)
Excellent work. Jumping a crystal is something I never thought of trying. I've used a crystal tester kit I soldered together to check crystals but so far I haven't come across a bad crystal yet. Except for some mislabeled ones I got from Ali Express. My 464 actually has an Aux Jack in it. It's a custom job done by Noel. I had him do it for an episode of his channel. I haven't owned one of those Aux to cassette adapters in forever so the mod works great for loading games.
A good oscilloscope makes fault finding and repair sooooooooo much easier to do. I really had no idea how much I needed that little device, so I'm going to thank you for it again :) The piggybacking was just a quick "I doubt that it will work" try as everything was right there in front of me. I was really surprised that it worked, but I'd bet that the crystal has been broken in such a way that it's no longer attached to one of the legs on its case. That's why jumping it worked, if it was failing for any other reason, I imagine that it would mess with the 16Mhz from the good crystal and jumping it would have made no difference. I remember watching a video of Noel's video where he modded a 464 to take signals from a ipad, was that your 464 he was working on?
Yeah, I'm really happy with my smashed up CPC. It looks like it's been through the ringer but now that it's had a new crystal it's working really great. I really need to stay away from my PC on Saturday nights though ;)
Aw great that it's working again. Yes I agree with drunken purchases, I bought a left handed bass guitar while drunk. I'm right handed, and don't play guitar 🤷
I know exactly what you're talking about and that's why I try keep away from Ebay most Saturday nights. I couldn't resist the 464 looking at me though ;)
Very nice video. So satisfying to see the text when you take the cristal off and on. An excellent addition to your collection. A pity that the corner of the plastic box is quite unrepairable (and currently it probably is quite brittle, as it lost cohesion, but I'm confident you'll come up with something to sort it out.
Thanks, I was amazed when the screen shone blue with the replacement crystal pressed in place. I honestly though that it would make no difference and the only way to really know if the crystal was the problem was to remove it first. Regarding the case, I'm not sure how I could repair it, but the good news is that it's only the bottom plastic part that's damaged, the upper plastics are in good condition. So maybe I might be able to find a 464 lower case somewhere. Otherwise I'll glue all the broken standoffs back on (they're all there along with all the screws) and cover the missing part with some thick card and tape until I find a better solution. The broken clip on the cassette should be an easy enough fix though. I think I'll cut the little clip shape it needs from a piece of hard waste plastic and glue it in place. That should do the trick.
