Arrghhh! Did you spot my "obvious" mistake?! I've just noticed I say "16 individual 16 Megabit RAM chips". Megabits should of course be Kilobits!

@fffUUUUUU

3 жыл бұрын

I did 😂

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Congratulations, you've passed the interview and are now forever my official fact checker 😁 I think I can trim out that part seemlessly. I hate giving wrong information!

@fffUUUUUU

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage oh nevermind. We all do mistakes from time to time. And this is not a factual error just a tongue slip. Thank you for your hard work!

@jackobyuk

3 жыл бұрын

i wonder if that dragon64 will run that flight sim game better.. i hope you can test it on the dragon64 and include it in your video :)

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

I do have access to Dragon 64's so I'll see what I can do.

Lovely bit of fault finding Keith, enjoyed that fix thank you.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers Neil! As I'm sure you'll agree, a nice interesting problem is fun, just so long as it's solvable and doesn't take too long to figure out.

Really enjoyed this update, particularly the inside of the crystal oscillator; which I’ve never seen before. Have renovated two 32K and two 64K Dragons and loved every minute of it. Very satisfying 👍

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers Mark! I wasn't sure what I would find in the can, but I never thought it would look like that! I was expecting something that looked more like a crystal at the least.

@RetroRelixRestorer

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, most disappointing 😆

You have no idea how great these videos are in these times. And a great way to wind down as well at the end of the day. :) Thanks!

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you, that's really lovely to hear. I know what you mean! Take care.

I love the way these are put together, definitely reminiscent of the BBC Micros in their design and build quality. Like you mentioned, it's obvious that they were aiming for the education market where robustness (is that a word?) and serviceability are so important. That keyboard mechanism is genius! Some great fault finding here - fascinating to see the inside of the crystal oscillator - and I think I'm going to get myself a logic probe now too! I tend to use the oscilloscope for that but it is a faff.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Robustness is definitely a word and perfectly describes these beasties!

Really nicely put together video :-). Great work!!

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers Howard, I think I'm learning! :-) Annoyingly I've just noticed a minor mistake (I say megabit instead of Kilobit in one part), that'll bug me now LOL!

You're developing your own style, Keith. Well done on the close-ups. Very nicely done.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'll always be developing and trying new things, so it's great knowing what works and what doesn't.

Great video with some fantastic close ups and lighting. I have that same TV but with a built in VCR.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! You've convinced me I need to hook up my SVHS JVC and watch some films 😁

Thank you for making such a great video. I've repaired a few micros from the '80s and agree with you that the Dragon is really nice to work on. Maybe on the next video you could try Chuckie Egg or The King, as they are probably better at showing off what the Dragon could do back in the '80s.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I love Chuckie egg so a comparison to the BBC version would be interesting. Not heard of The King so I'll check that out. I was wondering yesterday if there are any modern "demo scene" demos that show off what the hardware is capable of.

@80sSumpy

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage The King, or it's earlier title of Donkey King by Microdeal was a Donkey Kong game (They had to change the first title as it was a little too close to the original) I generally stick with the software that was available during the '80s, but if you head over to archive.worldofdragon.org/ there are a number of people still writing games and demos for the Dragon that stretch the Dragons capabilities far more than the software of the time(Flagon Bird springs to mind), along with some new stuff coming from the CoCo side as well.

Great video and great tips Keith, Thanks.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! 🙂 How's the A600 going? I've finally got my own but it needs a little bit of work, joining a long queue...

@Flamelily-IT

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage hahaha yeah join the club. Lots in my queue too..

I remember my dad getting one and buying a racing car game only to be presented with a oval track and a dot to represent the car . how disappointing. I did like the look of the Dragon 32 although it did not compare to my Spectrum which i still have . My dad later bought the Acorn Electron i liked that one too. Thank`s for sharing i did enjoy watching this one.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Stephen! The Dragon was a well constructed computer, it just needed to be a bit more powerful and with better graphics.

No dragon is complete without a wrinkle in the Dragon label - for some reason, many of them left the factory this way.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Really? OEM wrinkles! I suspected as much, there's no way the label would have grown bigger than the space it's meant to fit in.

@debatabletruths6687

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage Indeed. I'm not sure if this happened before their Kenfig plant was fully automated, but the early models all seem to exhibit the same issue; being Welsh, this was the Xmas gift of choice in the early 80s, and nearly all of them came with this very unique wrinkle.

Thank you for another soothing video Keith!

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers Franko! I might throw in the odd, more energetic video to make sure my audience doesn't fall asleep though 😉

@fffUUUUUU

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage Do whatever you like Keith :) But in these turbulent times I like your mild voiced videos as a therapy 😁

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

I'll be like the mild-mannered janitor in Hong Kong Fuey 😁.

@fffUUUUUU

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage Hong Kong Phooey? I have to watch this animation series now 😁

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Hopefully it's aged better than I have.

More Dragon please!

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

They are positively queued up waiting!

Matthew Short is a friend of mine.. that is a blast from the past.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Wow, does he still code? What other games did he make?

@robbyxp1

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage I think that was his only one. He's now a choclatier so no he does not!

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Now there's a profession I think we can all admire! :-)

Hi Keith, thanks for these lovely videos on the Dragon! You gave some good tips to maintain and fix mine :D May I suggest you try some of the latest developments such as Flagon Bird and Return of the Beast? Also, I'd like to ask you if you know the name or how can I order the red connector that goes from the power board to the motherboard. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Roberto, thanks for the software recommendations, they look really good. I'm not sure what exact connector they used on the cable and can't find a name for it on the circuit diagrams. That said, the connector on the motherboard looks to be a 9 way, 1 row, straight PCB connector with a 3.96mm pin pitch (like this PCB header uk.rs-online.com/web/p/pcb-headers/6801862/ ) so I wonder if a modern connector for one of these would be a good fit.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

This might be what you're looking for www.fclane.com/product-group/mas-con-idc

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

This could be a close match uk.rs-online.com/web/p/idc-connectors/7100015/

@robcfg

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage Thanks for taking the time to look at those, I think they are spot on! I did experiment with an atx psu connectors and the crimped cables do match the pins on the Dragon’s motherboard but the spacing of the connector is a bit off. So I managed to cut out a row of five and have some cables for the remaining four pins. I have tested a meanwell RT-50B switched mode psu and it works flawlessly.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

I did wonder about using an old PC power connector so that's interesting to know. Great to hear you've got it working well.

I never knew I wanted to know what was in a crystal. :|

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Was it what you thought it would look like? I thought it would at least look like a crystal. 🤔

@MrCalldean

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheDigitalOrphanage Nothing like I expected - I had two thoughts; some kind of see-through diode/'resistor type "thing", or something potted.... never entered my head that it would be a disc, but now I think about it, it makes sense.

13:45 Several of the solder connections on the power connector appear to have radial fractures around the pins. It's a good idea to wiggle the connector while observing the solder joins with a magnifying glass or microscope, if there are radial fractures you're likely to see slight pin movement.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Yes I thought that, but they didn't move a bit. Maybe the best advice is to reflow just in case!

can u give me your email please? i want to send u a file ? program. i want to see if the same error occurs on the real dragon 32 thanks. cos i typed in a wordprocessor for the dragon 32 from a magazine and it crashes when i try to save a file to disc. thanks. have u got a disc cartdge???? thanks.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

I haven't got a SD or Disk setup yet, so it might take me a while to get around to trying.

Well made machine, but the graphics modes and lack of lower case letters is an absolute deal-breaker for many people. Didn't make a good first impression at all.

@TheDigitalOrphanage

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed, compared to the BBC it was definitely lacking in the graphics department.