Trashbytes wrote on 2024-09-01, 10:39:

The reason the old Varta ones leaked was the coatings and sealants used degraded and let the angry pixie juices out, new batteries wont have this issue.

Really glad you mentioned this. I got a 486 board recently were the previous owner installed a new varta battery. I’ve been In conflict on whether to get rid of it or not. I think I’ll leave it and see what happens.

Reacquired a Roland CM-300 this weekend for a decent price.

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-09-01, 10:39:

Susanin79 wrote on 2024-09-01, 10:21:

H3nrik V! wrote on 2024-09-01, 06:38:

Wow, and a battery that doesn't even look like being close to leaking, nice!

It looks like this board was repaired, mosfet and voltage regulator were replaced, as well as bunch of tantalum capacitors, probably the battery too as it works well, system clock shows the real date. But in any case I'll replace it.

People may take issue with this but I wouldn't touch it, if its in good condition and isn't showing signs of degradation then it can safely be left alone. May even be possible it has a date code on it and if its fairly new then its good for the next 10 - 20 years as itll have been made using a more modern and reliable process to the old Varta batteries.

The reason the old Varta ones leaked was the coatings and sealants used degraded and let the angry pixie juices out, new batteries wont have this issue.

That's a very valid point you've got there. Seems plausible that processes and materials have improved since the 90s. May still be a good idea to monitor it once in a while though 😀

Susanin79 wrote on 2024-08-31, 21:25:

Bought this nice late 486 era motherboard.
PCI and VLB, good point to compare some of my video cards.
It marks as a PCI450-A, and it seems that not linted at retroweb. MB has a cool Phoenix BIOS and non standard Cache solution.

I think we do have it, but with a different name : https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/protech-pm486pa-vip

You know the drill, would you like to share pics and BIOS please ? 😁

Got a haul of SDRAM today!

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. Has the manuals/floppies (probably not usable, heavily warped) seemed like a good bit of screwing around, so I grabbed it (free, huzzah).

Also Picked another wonderful PC-60 for ten bucks! Love these things!

Deksor wrote on 2024-09-01, 13:31:

I think we do have it, but with a different name : https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/protech-pm486pa-vip
You know the drill, would you like to share pics and BIOS please ? 😁

No, this board looks similar, but jumper locations are different. Did the jumpers table, you can find that they are did not match the drawings.
Sure, I'll update pictures, but it would be better to create a new page for this board.
Will create a new topic, just to keep all information in one place.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. Has the manuals/floppies (probably not usable, heavily warped) seemed like a good bit of screwing around, so I grabbed it (free, huzzah).

The attachment 20240901_092850.jpg is no longer available

Wow, that's so futuristic!! Can you imagine never having to manually set your computer's time and date ever again? 🤯

NTP-OTA 😁

Nice card! The 10MHz signal should not be hard to receive with just a piece of wire in the BNC connector. Maybe I can get time synchronization to work with my Winradio WR-1000i.

devius wrote on 2024-09-01, 20:28:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. Has the manuals/floppies (probably not usable, heavily warped) seemed like a good bit of screwing around, so I grabbed it (free, huzzah).

The attachment 20240901_092850.jpg is no longer available

Wow, that's so futuristic!! Can you imagine never having to manually set your computer's time and date ever again? 🤯

Seems the transmitter is still "up" at Fort Collins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWV_(radio_station)

If you can't find software on the internet for it, you can probably try recasing the media from inside the warped disk outers.

I'd get a kick out of messing around with that if I got one for free, but I probably have 6 ways to implement a local time server kicking around the place right now, so couldn't really justify it. (FM RDS, ATSC, GPS, and SDR dongle to VLF, SW or VHF {WX} sources)

PD2JK wrote on 2024-09-01, 20:47:

NTP-OTA 😁

Nice card! The 10MHz signal should not be hard to receive with just a piece of wire in the BNC connector. Maybe I can get time synchronization to work with my Winradio WR-1000i.

Probably an FM broadcast radio antenna wouldn't do too bad, be close to okay fractional dipole length.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. Has the manuals/floppies (probably not usable, heavily warped) seemed like a good bit of screwing around, so I grabbed it (free, huzzah).

The attachment 20240901_092850.jpg is no longer available

that is 110% cool. That's the kind of stuff I get out of bed for. the little, no-name hardware/software experiments like this.

please, for the love of all that is holy, dont give up on saving that floppy disk. Saving that software and manual (if it hasnt been already) is of paramount importance.

We can repair and reverse engi-nerd hardware pretty easy. Software and manuals are neigh impossible.

if you don't trust yourself to backup that disk, I'm sure someone will leave you a message in your inbox offering their services.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Also Picked another wonderful PC-60 for ten bucks! Love these things!

Now that's a beautiful case.

devius wrote on 2024-09-01, 20:28:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. Has the manuals/floppies (probably not usable, heavily warped) seemed like a good bit of screwing around, so I grabbed it (free, huzzah).

The attachment 20240901_092850.jpg is no longer available

Wow, that's so futuristic!! Can you imagine never having to manually set your computer's time and date ever again? 🤯

Modern versions use the gps signal. They're used in some datacentres. Honestly kinda surprised they're not in all motherboards by now.

myne wrote on 2024-09-02, 10:01:

devius wrote on 2024-09-01, 20:28:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. Has the manuals/floppies (probably not usable, heavily warped) seemed like a good bit of screwing around, so I grabbed it (free, huzzah).

The attachment 20240901_092850.jpg is no longer available

Wow, that's so futuristic!! Can you imagine never having to manually set your computer's time and date ever again? 🤯

Modern versions use the gps signal. They're used in some datacentres. Honestly kinda surprised they're not in all motherboards by now.

Or NTP protocol if network is available.
GPS is not super practical in datacenters because GPS signal requires an unobstructed view between the receiver and the satellite. (and datacenters are inside buildings)

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. (free, huzzah).

The attachment 20240901_092850.jpg is no longer available

Aaah, the good old days, when (cheap) quality things were made in the exotic (to me at least) nation of Hong Kong (and not this 'China') 😎
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_in_Hong_Kong

...just me reacting to seeing 'Made in Hong Kong' on that box. Childhood memories. 🥰

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-26, 15:00:

dormcat wrote on 2024-08-26, 13:12:

rasz_pl wrote on 2024-08-26, 12:31:

Most likely its ESS 1869/­1887/­1888 with A3D driver compatibility layer.

its Covington :]

Ouch. 😅 Guess it has such a "fantastic condition" for a reason.

Wow covington, I'm suddenly suspecting the benchmarks were rigged 🤣

It actually still has the disclaimer sticker on the side for the "benchmarks" 😁

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2024-09-02, 15:35:

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-26, 15:00:

dormcat wrote on 2024-08-26, 13:12:

Ouch. 😅 Guess it has such a "fantastic condition" for a reason.

Wow covington, I'm suddenly suspecting the benchmarks were rigged 🤣

It actually still has the disclaimer sticker on the side for the "benchmarks" 😁

I would have expected a K6 with similar graphics to be faster. That "870% faster" claim made me think that the IBM had SiS 5598 "graphics" like my Compaq Presario 2286 (which was apparently $600 in late 1998, not including the monitor).

Compaq liked using an ES1869 with A3D emulation, and my Compaq also has the Yamaha S-YXG50 soft synth for extra marketing BS.

Nothing super exciting I think but it's fun to share. I won an auction for a lot of random cards with a very low bid, I thought for sure someone was going to snipe it but not this time.
I haven't tried them yet, but I think I have identified them with the help of Google Lens. But if someone wants to try their graphic card-identifying skills you are most welcome, I will leave the answers in a spoiler. And if you find something special there please let us know!

In the same lot there was a bunch of NICs, winmodems, TV-cards, usb/firewire cards that I will never use and for some reason not throw away either... But the sound cards were nice and the EISA card and the NIC with an option rom are neat.

luckybob wrote on 2024-09-01, 21:01:

that is 110% cool. That's the kind of stuff I get out of bed for. the little, no-name hardware/software experiments like this. […]
Show full quote

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-01, 16:02:

Found this strange card, CTS-10, as well. Has the manuals/floppies (probably not usable, heavily warped) seemed like a good bit of screwing around, so I grabbed it (free, huzzah).

The attachment 20240901_092850.jpg is no longer available

that is 110% cool. That's the kind of stuff I get out of bed for. the little, no-name hardware/software experiments like this.

please, for the love of all that is holy, dont give up on saving that floppy disk. Saving that software and manual (if it hasnt been already) is of paramount importance.

We can repair and reverse engi-nerd hardware pretty easy. Software and manuals are neigh impossible.

if you don't trust yourself to backup that disk, I'm sure someone will leave you a message in your inbox offering their services.

I'm about to leave a picture of these disks here, too. Quite the lookers, 🤣

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-09-02, 20:23:

I'm about to leave a picture of these disks here, too. Quite the lookers, 🤣

Nothing a little ironing wouldn't fix. 🤣