ScuzzBlog: Diaries January 2019
Entry 26th January 2019: Post 01: Amstrad PC1512 HD20 - Driven daily
Amstrad PC1512 HD20 - Driven daily
It is probably difficult for some reading this blog to appreciate that
I do spend a good time each day switching on numerous computers
and carrying out regular checks to make sure they are working. It
is a truth that if you leave electrical components to decompose
in their own dusty, dry or maybe damp warm or cold environment
they will invariably just stop working. However keep the motor
wheels running, the rubber bands flexing, the circuits warm and
the dust blown out, somehow the lifeblood of the computers and or
electrical peripherals and gadgets just keep working.
That is what I have found. So I have a ritual of switching computers
on and running hard drives and programs. I have monitors on and
images and animations playing in the background. I know the little
idiosyncrasies of each machine and I worry not with the odd checksum.
But, and this is a big but, I can not relax for the day until I know
they are all working.
Mad... 'course I am. I have long stopped caring.
So one of my daily routines is switching on the Amstrad 1512 HD20
running the GEM desktop. I have fond memories of this computer
cus time was it was the most advanced machine in my possession.
When I tell you that I lovingly created a pixel by pixel hand drawn
image that I transposed dot by dot to a colour image on this
computer you can appreciate the dedication I once had. I do have
the colour monitor for this machine. She actually was swapped out
for the double floppy version of this version.
The computer had so many variants in the day what with colour or
monochrome, hard drive or just the floppy. The computer was very
successful because Mr Sugar sold them at a pretty low price.
Anyway, I chose not to move the Amstrad from her normal location
so I squoze the tripod into the confines of the long store area
where she sits and photographed the daily routine. So in the next
blog I show the bed partners of the Amstrad. Suffice to say she
was working just fine. One thing Amstrad got very right and that
was to put the batteries in a compartment just under the monitor
and accessible from outside. And double AA no less. Also the
monitor powers the computer so no noisy PSU in the computer.
She's lovely. Seriously wonderful.
Amstrad CPC 6128 - Three of a kind
|
