Homebrew PCBs

In a message dated 6/14/2004 7:14:14 PM Central Standard Time, 
dhylands@... writes:
I couldn't help but notice the Commodore Pet sitting next to it.   Do you 
still use this?<<

Dave!  A brief "Yes." would not be UNtrue, but it WOULD be inaccurate, so 
this needs a response.  The scene in the photo is still exactly as it is in that 
photo.  That PET is the first "2001/16N PET" I ever had (new in '78!  The very 
first was an "8K Chicklet Keyboard PET!").  IT still works!  I have another, 
a 4032, on my first-ever home-brew CNC Lathe which I bought for $100 about 
'85, and which still works but for some bits in high-RAM that seem to be doing 
that "alpha particle thing" now and then.  A sudden and totally unpredictable 
unreliability problem.  I had an offer from a local "PC Shop" that were I to 
come take away ALL the old PET stuff, working or not, I could HAVE it all, no 
charge.  I did that.  Two or three of the dozen "kinda worked" and I moved parts 
around until I got two more working, but they all gave out in short order, so 
I now have NOTHING "in the office" upon which to program the PET's.  A newer 
home-brew CNC lathe has a now-obsolete-but-working-fine Compaq "Tower" and an 
old 13" monochrome monitor, and that is totally satisfactory.  So I intend to 
replace the PET on the lathe with another "old PC" as soon as I can find one of 
those round tuits.  I have not used the PET to run the PCB-drill you see in 
about a year, but I DID fire it up the other day to check, and it still 
functions well (I still had an old tape in the cassette unit of a forgotten PC-board, 
for testing it).  I had already begun writing the BASIC programs for the PC, 
basically a word-for-word copy of  the PET programs, except for the 
machine-code patch, CLS, etc.  

Any questions, feel free!            Jan Rowland


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