Memoir of a Homebrew Computer Club Member | Hacker News Reader

Memoir of a Homebrew Computer Club Member

bambi.net

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"and I ordered some 2602B 1K X 1 static RAM chips, which DID arrive, but in dip packages with bottom painted part numbers and the WRONG NUMBER OF PINS! I understand the "proprietor" left town"

Humorously this still goes on with ebay today. There are a few trustworthy sources. The real killer is collectible chips like historic CPUs. If you want a CDP1802 for your collection you can get visually indistinguishable fakes. If you want a CDP1802 to build an operational ELF controller in 2017 or to replace a broken part in a working machine, well that's nearly impossible. Then there's the salvage and pull suppliers where the price is about a quarter normal but at least half the parts when tested will be broken.

I would estimate in excess of 99% of LM323K voltage regulators on ebay are 2N3055 transistors with the transistor labeling wiped off with solvent and polishing compound and LM323 look alike markings silk screened. That regulator is essentially unobtainable for the last couple years. Ironically if you're willing to do some ugly rewiring, there are brand new manufacture TO-220 package linear regulators that brand new shipped from the mfgr are cheaper than the ebay fake TO-3 regulators, but the rewiring and hole re-drilling is going to be ugly...

> That regulator is essentially unobtainable for the last couple years. Ironically if you're willing to do some ugly rewiring, there are brand new manufacture TO-220 package linear regulators that brand new shipped from the mfgr are cheaper than the ebay fake TO-3 regulators, but the rewiring and hole re-drilling is going to be ugly...

If you took the TO-220 package, carefully removed the extra tab of the heatsink, then took one of the fake TO-3 regs and "decapped" the can, removed whatever was inside, then glued the TO-220 using thermal heatsink glue to the case and deadbug wired the TO-220 in place and remounted the cap...

...well, I'm not sure how well that could work, but it's a thought!

If you enjoyed this I strongly recommend Steven Levy's Hackers [1]. Also Amazon's recent Halt and Catch Fire, which really captures the spirit of the 80s and what we called the micro revolution at the time.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Compute...

Second this recommendation. Hackers was a great history of early computing. The photos in this post are especially cool as Felsenstein, Captain Crunch, and others are prominent in the book.

I first read Hackers sometime in the 6th grade (1985-ish); reading that book and others, sitting up late at night on weekends typing code and playing games, and other things on my first micro (TRS-80 Color Computer)...well, it was part of what led me here today as a software engineer, I guess.

It was great to read this piece and see faces to fit names. Some I had already seen - but some were new. These guys and their antics were an inspiration for me.

I'm going to try to get in contact with some of these guys, just to say thanks.

Also - if anyone can help, I own an Altair that is missing it's top; sadly, when I contacted the manufacturer about the case, which had been in continuous production, they said that they had stopped manufacturing it a couple years before, and threw away the plans...sigh. If anyone can get me the detailed specs on it so that I can get one custom machined - I would be extremely grateful.

I read Levy's "Hackers..." in 2015 and also strongly recommend it. I also recommend "Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet" [1], which ties in to a lot of the same stories.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/0684832...

Mirror available on archive.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20170510043308/http://www.bambi....

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