Usagi Electric on Odysee

VTC P.42 – The UE1 Almost Works!

Sun, 15 Dec 2024 14:14:59 GMT

I so, so, so wanted this episode to be the one where we proclaimed the UE1 done, full working and out the door, but sometimes, the cookie doesn’t crumble quite the way you were hoping. Still, we got some phenomenal progress done today, and I do think it actually executed its first instruction, which is a pretty stunning milestone!

Tube Computer Wiki (horribly out of date):
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 My very first homebrew computer
4:05 Finishing off the remaining PCBs
6:15 Building the harnesses
9:01 Getting some power into it
10:21 Almost starting a fire
11:53 “Did not go well”
13:07 Initial tests
15:38 Trials and tribulations
17:50 Unexpected bunny!
20:00 More troubleshooting
21:28 It executes, it just executes the wrong stuff
23:02 A combined two brain cells
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_jpy4vc8cw

VTC P.41 – Paper Tape Reader Done!

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 14:15:20 GMT

The UE1 is tantalizingly close to executing code! The last large hurdle was the paper tape reader, and in this episode, we bring that part of it to a close and get the finished reader mounted to the backing board, and my oh my does it look stunning. All that’s left are a few connection PCBs and a lot of harness building. This is getting exciting!

Tube Computer Wiki (horribly out of date):
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Vacuum tube computer or bust!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8X5wpxXAeI

Reviving a Facit 4070 Paper Tape Punch

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 13:49:05 GMT

Don’t worry, we’re still very much so in the middle of vacuum tube or bust month here at Usagi Electric. But, in order to take both the UE1 and Bendix G15 further, we need to be able to create new paper tapes. The UE1 needs a specific pattern for testing, as I think we have an alignment issue, and the G15 needs new programs so we can push the system harder and test more instructions.
That’s where this Facit 4070 paper tape punch comes in. It’s a little worse for wear, but if we can get it going, it’s going to solve a whole lot of problems!

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 These two vacuum tube computers have something in common
3:01 Welcome to the Facit 4070
5:36 Disassembly and cleaning
8:20 An unhappy power supply
11:27 The RS232 interface PCB
12:45 Is it really going to just work?
15:48 Sending it serial data
18:42 Reloading for 5-level paper tape
20:27 Punching the Diaper onto white paper tape
21:57 Testing Diaper on the G15
24:25 Editing David thought this part sucked, so he changed it
26:26 The G15 doesn’t seem to care!
28:36 That’s a cool kitty
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBaMJcATHHY

This G15 is the Oldest Running Digital Computer in America!

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 14:42:00 GMT

Cat’s outta the bag, it works!!
It wasn’t easy, actually, it was mind numbingly difficult, but this thing is executing code flawlessly. Seriously, there’s not much else I can say, check the video out!

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

And Keysight's epic Oscilloscope made a massive difference:
https://www.keysight.com/us/en/home.html

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 The G15 is surprisingly significant
3:59 Dat Keysight tho!
5:30 I spent way too much time drawing this little diagram…
5:45 Follow the fault from the GO switch in
7:27 Welcome to the bane of my existence, the RC signal
12:41 Grid leakage is a real thing
15:15 That fixed it, but it’s still not working
17:45 Where did we come from and where are we going?
20:26 First test!
21:30 What code did we just execute?
25:49 What if we decided to execute, I don’t know, 75,000+ instructions?!
33:04 I had to show our very first bun, Kono, for such a monumental occasion
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe1wYwGcjlo

VTC P.40 – We Got Squiggles!

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 14:09:47 GMT

It’s (still) vacuum tube computer or bust!
We’re going hard on the UE1 and the Bendix G15 until the end of the year. I want both of those machines executing code. The G15 is already mighty close, but the UE1 needs a boat load of work still. In the previous episode we built a motor for our photodiode block and it actually pulls tape through surprisingly well. But just pulling tape through isn’t going to cut it, we gotta be able to read it. There’s a surprising amount of work left to be done before we’re ready to read bits in, but rest easy, I aint quitting until we see squiggly lines on the scope in this episode!

Tube Computer Wiki (horribly out of date):
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Vacuum tube computer or bust!
1:54 What is this thing we’re building?
3:51 “Why are you not ratcheting the tape through?”
5:33 “Why not make the tape go forwards and backwards?”
7:03 What are we building today?
8:26 Montage baby!
17:08 First test
18:34 Squiggles!!
19:28 It’s not all puppies and rainbows though…
23:11 Happy kitty
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEkxFtYOGUg

VTC P.39 – We Built a Motor Feed for our Paper Tape Reader!

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 13:53:24 GMT

It’s vacuum tube computer or bust!
We’re going hard on the UE1 and the Bendix G15 until the end of the year. I want both of those machines executing code. The G15 is already mighty close, but the UE1 needs a boat load of work still. In the previous episode we built a photodiode block, but we still need to build a motorized feed to pull tape through, so that’s what we’re working on today!

Check out Lovett Sundries and KAD Industries, without their help, I couldn’t have gotten this far!
https://lovettsundries.com/
https://kadindustries.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Vacuum tube computer or bust!
2:53 What is the UE1?
4:45 Where does paper tape come in?
7:14 What are we building today?
9:28 Turning big pieces of aluminum into small pieces of aluminum
13:14 Assembling it all
17:22 Does it work though?
17:54 You know it does! (Because the video is almost over)
20:35 Flop!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsYlEyO6Uac

The Desk System Centurion Lives!

Sun, 03 Nov 2024 13:32:47 GMT

Last time we were up in Cincinnatti working on the Butler Tech Desk System Centurion system, we got it really close, it was actually booting fully into the operating system. However, a dodgy ribbon cable blew some holes through the data on the disk, corrupting our operating system install and hampering the usability of the machine. Without a removable platter, it’s a proper challenge, but we developed a bit of software that should make it properly easy. So of course, nothing goes according to plan…

Check out Butler Tech here:
https://www.butlertech.org/

Centurion Wiki:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Hanging out with good people
3:18 Replacing that dodgy cable
5:26 An extended battle with TOS6
10:38 DIAG card to rescue! Maybe…
13:50 M4nusky’s excellent PC side program
16:35 Finally, actually copying the program over
17:54 Job done, right?
18:39 Nope! A new battle with file formats
22:42 Job actually done this time!
26:56 Kitty (Sue) and puppy (Mei)!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXXeRtxW9XE

I'm on Vacation!

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 11:40:41 GMT

As it says on the tin, I'm on vacation!
Catch y'all next week!

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIXZSBWR4fM

I Thought It Would Be Easy… It Wasn’t

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 13:16:52 GMT

This TI-810 Printer was very kindly donated by BoxcarJim and it was in such unbelievably good shape, I thought it would be a walk in the park to bring back up. But, as I’m sure most of you are keenly aware, printers always throw curve balls. We had all sorts of failures to overcome and then the nightmare of cabling. In my defense on the cabling issue, I had the wrong manual, which made life way more difficult. We got there in the end though, and bent this thing to our will!

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uNl3KO_2zI

Testing Thousands of G15 Germanium Diodes

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 12:48:07 GMT

I can’t fault them, they’re nearing 70 years old, and that’s a big ask from diodes that old! Still, we know for a fact that we have at least two bad diodes, and I suspect we may have dozens more. Which means, it’s time to test diodes. But when the machine has more than 3,000 diodes lurking inside of it, how do you test that many without losing your mind? Well, turns out, Bendix made a pretty awesome little tester to do just that!

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

Come hang out with us at the LSSM on October 25th:
https://lssmuseum.square.site/product/haunted-hardware-fundraiser-ticket-patron-access/1

Check out Lloyd's Diode Tester Manual here:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/blob/main/Reference/The%20Bendix%20G15%20Diode%20Tester.pdf

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 What does 80 million yen buy you these days?
3:54 A problem of scale
7:16 A walkthrough of the tester
12:10 Calibration (if you can call it that)
13:57 Test drive time
16:56 Time to test 3,000+ diodes
18:51 This never happens, I swear!
21:50 Surely, I didn’t make it worse, right? Right?
23:40 Legitimately took me 5 hours to hunt down the fault…
26:53 Bunny is upset there’s no more banana
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_jv15xgfEc

The Bendix G15 Boots!

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 13:06:46 GMT

We did it! We did it! We did it!
Kind of… It boots, and let me tell you, it was an absolute journey to get it to that point. But, it’s still not quite right. It’s trying to execute code, it’s just executing the wrong code. Still, with multiple bad germanium diodes and even a bad photodiode holding us up, it was an absolute battle to get to this point. But man alive was it worth it!

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Who let me get my hands on a piece of history?
3:10 Cleaning the dirty motors
6:32 Giving them a test
7:10 Photodiode problems
9:26 Maybe it’s dirty potentiometers?
11:20 Nope. Okay, let’s learn how the phototape reader works
16:16 Bad photodiode. What next?
18:52 Did that fix it?
20:24 Not yet. Okay, let’s learn how the input system works
23:59 Troubleshooting montage!
32:46 Yoooo, that’s a booted machine!
35:22 Banana time!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P48899B1WA

A Day of Fun With MFM Hard Drives!

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 13:04:52 GMT

Usually, I rotate through about four big projects, but lately, I’ve been falling behind with some basic housekeeping around the shop, so today, let’s do some of that housekeeping. I’ve been amassing MFM drives for about a year now, and it’s finally time to take them out, and see which ones work and which ones don’t. So, let’s bust out the Gesswein MFM Emulator and a screwdriver and make some questionable decisions!

Come hang out with us at the LSSM on October 25th:
https://lssmuseum.square.site/product/haunted-hardware-fundraiser-ticket-patron-access/1

Check out David Gesswein’s emulator here:
https://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/mfm.shtml

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 A day of housekeeping
3:15 How to use the Gesswein MFM emulator
8:46 Speedrunning time
11:20 Programmers make better lovers
16:03 The CDC Wren
19:01 The CDC Wren II
21:22 The Quantum RD52
25:39 The Seagate ST4097
28:04 A little bit of failure management
30:59 Turning a 10-minute job into a 2-day job
33:16 Baby bunny!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C3jAIkz9Z0

Restoring a Model 15 and a Model 14 Teletype

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 12:49:44 GMT

I love teletypes, which might seem like a weird thing for a vintage computing dude to say, but really, teletypes are just electromechanical data terminals! The communication protocol is a little different, and of course you’d have to match speeds, but it receives serial data and transmits serial data, it just does it with motors and contacts and spinny bits. And that makes them awesome.

Check out John’s business here:
https://kadindustries.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 A wild John appears
4:13 Disassembly
6:03 We found the current loop!
6:26 Cleaning
8:29 A very sad dashpot
11:17 Back to cleaning
12:13 What even is a teletype though?
14:01 How to send
17:15 How to receive
21:29 Final assembly
22:14 An oil bath
23:28 Checking the RPM
25:20 First test
26:08 Victory!
27:45 But wait, there’s more!
30:38 An oil bath… again
31:23 It took a while, but we got there
34:20 A gift for John
36:40 Baby bunny!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSiVYgot9SI

VTC P.38 – I Built a Paper Tape Reader from Scratch!

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 12:40:54 GMT

This is it, this is the first real step towards completing the project! And boy what a step, because we step right out of our comfort zone, and right into machining and manufacturing. You can see in the thumbnail that some successful machining took place, but it wasn’t without its frustrations for sure. This is a fun one y’all, so tag along as turn big pieces of aluminum into small pieces of aluminum.

Tube Computer Wiki (horribly out of date):
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 This is a big version of this
2:02 What madness have I built?
6:33 What madness will I build today?
8:15 Aluminum fears me, as it should
16:18 What madness did I build?
20:22 What madness will I build next?
23:40 No madness, just fluffy bunny
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyZEZTv-xg

The Most Adorable Data Terminal Ever!

Sun, 08 Sep 2024 14:03:32 GMT

Hi, I’m sick.
Hi, Sick, I’m Dad.
No, literally, I’ve got some kind of upper respiratory thing going on and it’s no fun. I am coming out the other side of it, however, when you’re loopy and contagious, there are certain things you shouldn’t do, like invite people over or play with heavy machinery. So, today, we’re taking a bit of a break to take a look at an adorable little data terminal BoxcarJim donated!

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 “Get up, come on get down with the sickness”
3:14 “I’m adorable and I know it”
6:46 “Whatcha gon' do with all those ports, all those ports inside your trunk?”
7:57 “It’s getting’ hot in here, so take off all your… CRTs?”
8:48 “The Devil went down to Texas Instruments”
11:26 “What does the Quick Brown Fox say?” “’Hellorld!’ obviously.”
12:37 “No phone, No phone, I just want to be alone today”
16:29 “That’s why I say, ‘Hey man, nice terminal. What a good terminal man.’”
17:18 “Just like the fat orange cat, sings a song, sounds like he's singing”

For the curious:
Disturbed, LMFAO, Black Eyed Peas, Nelly, The Charlie Daniels Band, Ylvis, Cake, Filter, Stevie Nicks
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNMLqabHuY4

Solving the halting problem with my PDP-11/44!

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 12:57:43 GMT

In the previous episode, we got the 11/44 up and running, and it looked like it was trying to go, but we kept running into a problem: we couldn’t halt the CPU. Which seems like a really weird thing to want to try to do, but PDP gonna PDP. At any rate, we need to get the CPU to halt so we can start trying to run stuff on it, as counterintuitive as that sounds. So, today, that’s what we’re going to tackle!

Check out Gunkies.org for awesome PDP information:
https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Solving the unsolvable
1:16 Solving the real halting problem
3:51 Taking care of the basics first
6:26 A little board swap and some progress!
8:40 Getting some help from the past
11:25 An introduction to PDP11GUI
14:22 Loading something from a simulated paper tape
18:02 The two avenues of media
21:28 Slow motion noms!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFoXooShZXc

I Was Wrong… and It’s Awesome!

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 13:03:40 GMT

You guys called me out on it, and you know what, y’all were absolutely right! My understanding of straddle erase versus pre erase was definitely flawed, and I’m so glad you all spoke up about it. This particular drive came from the amazing Dave McGuire over at the Large Scale Systems Museum (https://www.mact.io/) up in Pittsburgh, and in the previous episode, we didn’t get it going. Can we get it going in this episode? Well, at 40+ minutes, I bloody hope so!

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 At this point, I still didn’t think I was wrong…
3:04 The man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Ken Romaine!
6:41 Start with the basics
9:30 Okay, let’s try putting data down again
11:59 A short interlude on why my program failed
13:50 Back to troubleshooting!
16:57 Success!
18:34 What went wrong?
20:04 Searching for a missing Sector Address line
25:09 That fixed it, right? Right?
26:42 Oof
28:11 Success again!
30:50 And introducing, special guest star, my underwear!
32:20 What happened to the mini Centurion?
37:09 We still got problems, naturally…
41:27 Nom nom nom
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5nSVbcZ_lI

VTC P.37 – Learning How to Build a Paper Tape Reader!

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 11:51:14 GMT

The one-bit vacuum tube computer is back baby! Well, kind of. The reason it’s been so long since we last took a look at it is because I’ve been doing some serious thinking about how best to build the paper tape. I experimented with a lot of ideas before finally settling on a “Keep It Simple Stupid,” approach. Fair warning, this episode is primarily to get everyone back up to speed on the project and let y’all know what direction we’re now headed in for the paper tape. The good news is, we have a gameplan, so things should start shaping up real soon!

Tube Computer Wiki (horribly out of date):
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/wiki

Paper tape ideas:
https://maker.pro/pic/projects/diy-punch-card-reader-using-pic-microntroller
http://www.decodesystems.com/ce-punched-readers.html

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 This is almost a computer
1:19 First things first
3:12 Where are we on this thing?
6:23 Just missing a paper tape reader
7:45 What is paper tape even?
9:10 How are we going to read paper tape?
10:27 Idea 1: Mechanical followers
12:21 We need to take a book out of everybody else’s page…
12:52 “Time to go mobile”
14:14 Idea 2: Optical but with big boy photodetectors
16:35 Idea 3: Nipkow disc?
17:32 Idea 4: 5mm photodiodes
19:26 This all seems way too complex, how did Bendix do it?
20:05 Idea 5: This is the one
21:49 Giving the concept a test
24:11 Ideas on how to demonstrate the machine
25:53 30 seconds of bunny noms
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNsV_gKfvf4

The Bendix G15 Inches Closer and Closer to Booting!

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 13:42:31 GMT

The G15 wants to run, I can feel it, but there’s just a few things holding us up. The typewriter is giving us the run around, so first order of business is sorting that out. But in the process, we find all sorts of weird modifications to the typewriter, and then we run into even more troubles with the paper tape reader. But, progress is progress and we’re getting closer and closer to fully booting up!

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Who let me get my hands on a piece of history?
1:03 What stopped us last time?
2:30 Why didn’t I just jumper the SA line to -20V?
4:10 I can’t make sense of these mods, can you?
5:58 Where did my 0Va, 0Vb and -20V go?
8:48 A quick fix to get us up and going
10:17 Did that fix it?
12:40 Nope, try again!
14:56 Serious progress! But why isn’t it reading?
18:51 Let’s take one last swing at this
19:55 The paper tape reader is going to need some proper effort
22:22 Sunny kun!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqaTEwgMwDU

I Repaired This 1970’s Hard Drive, but I Still Can’t Use It

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 13:32:27 GMT

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of spinning rust, and so I’m always going to jump on an opportunity to work on my all time favorite hard drive, the CDC Hawk. This particular drive came from the amazing Dave McGuire over at the Large Scale Systems Museum (https://www.mact.io/) up in Pittsburgh. But, this Hawk Drive is a Straddle-Erase instead of the Pre-Erase I need. What does that mean? Well, that’s what the video is for!

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 This is my forever computer
3:40 Welcome to the CDC Hawk Drive
8:09 Let’s take this thing apart
9:30 Head crashes!
12:34 Head coils
14:09 Straddle erase and pre-erase, an introduction
16:29 Cleaning and rebuilding
19:51 Loading the heads and test drive
23:25 So, why can’t I use straddle erase heads?
28:55 Slow motion noms!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woN4PI3eJR8

An Epic Trip Through Japan!

Sun, 28 Jul 2024 12:52:12 GMT

And now for something completely different. I’ve been going pretty hard at work lately, so it was time for a little time off, and what better way than to hop on a plane for the most wildly perfect country in the world. Hop on along with us as we see some historically significant computers, do some pretty righteous thrifting, and go on a road trip through the most beautiful countryside you’ll ever see.

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

All other music from:
Artist: Ben Prunty
Album: Chromatic T-Rex

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Time to Relax
0:35 Welcome to Japan!
1:29 Heavy metal at the Tokyo University of Science
2:42 The Bendix G-15
5:20 The Facom 201 (and some terrible audio)
7:56 The Univac 120
9:46 A small retro computer get-together
10:40 Sean’s Multi8
11:29 Curt’s TK85
12:29 Tom’s MSX
13:23 Sven’s custom adapter
14:06 Michelle’s NEC PC-9801
14:50 A little thrifting montage
19:29 My haul
22:05 Makidou Caves
22:40 Bihoku Circuit
24:27 Okayama Omurice
24:52 Kurashiki Bikan
25:38 Fukuyama Auto and Clock Museum
27:25 Matsuyama City
28:21 Oda Miyama Gorge
29:24 Nakatsu Gorge
30:13 Awajishima Monkey Center
31:28 Nara Park
33:07 Sunny kun!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooIjO1tpWhg

The PDP-11/44 Lives!

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 12:47:51 GMT

The PDP-11/44 power supply has been giving us the proper run around, but I’m too stubborn and dumb to know when to quit, so we’re right back in the thick of it in this episode. Only this time, I come out of the gates swinging and emerge victorious! Sometimes, not knowing when to quit is a good thing. Once we got all the power rails up, it was still a bit of a challenge to get proper life out of it, but we got there for sure!

Check out Gunkies.org for awesome PDP information:
https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 This is the last intro I’ll film about a dead power supply
2:25 Could it be just a fuse?
4:53 Running down the wrong path
6:56 Finding the right path
12:00 Victory!
13:59 The cards
18:55 Trying to power it fully up
22:09 Life!
24:50 What’s next?
26:38 Ten chan!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCoO0YV4Vo4

The Bendix G15 (Almost) Roars into Life!

Sun, 07 Jul 2024 13:32:29 GMT

This is the big one – we push that tantalizing green button to fully bring up DC and get the machine online! Of course, things don’t quite go as planned, and we didn’t get as far as we had planned. But, lots of exciting things happened and the machine is in a very good state to be brought up fully and executing code soon!

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Who let me get my hands on a piece of history?
1:24 Why has it been so long since the last episode?
3:15 A little bit of capacitor checking
5:48 Pushing the green button!
7:44 Hmm, that’s not great…
10:32 Pushing the green button again!
12:14 Why won’t it start up fully?
18:54 She wants to run though!
23:14 Baby bunny!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_kD3Dr5Im8

I’ve got 5/6 of the PDP-11/44 PSU voltage rails up, that ain’t bad!

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 13:17:14 GMT

This PDP-11/44 power supply is taking me to school, but we’re slowly getting there. In this episode we dive in, make some mistakes, repair our mistakes, and then make a little progress. Actually, I have no idea how many people actually read these descriptions. If you do, you’re a rockstar!

Check out Gunkies.org for awesome PDP information:
https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Welcome to my excuse to play with spinning rust
2:39 How to troubleshoot without killing myself
5:32 Let the testing begin!
7:33 Things go horribly awry…
10:46 Fixing my own dumb mistakes
12:51 Okay, back to where we started
14:30 Wait, wait, wait, check the obvious stuff first
17:37 Hey, five out of six ain’t bad!
21:33 Baby bunny!
22:16 Helps if you plug it in…
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvAyjlQikQE

The Forgotten Usagi: Ep. 02

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 22:49:43 GMT

This is a new thing we’re trying out, I have no idea how it’s going to turn out, but I’ve been wanting to give it a shot for a while, so here goes! This is a podcast/video… thing I’m doing with my good buddy AJ from Forgotten Machines. It’s mostly just two dudes chatting old machines. Minimal editing and a bit longer than my usual fair, let me know what you all think!

Check out AJ’s work here:
https://www.youtube.com/@ForgottenMachines
https://www.youtube.com/@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

Check out VCF Southwest:
https://www.vcfsw.org/
https://www.youtube.com/@VCFSW

For more on the prison laptops:
https://twitter.com/zephray_wenting/status/1761548861896606014
https://hackaday.com/2024/02/26/deep-dive-into-a-prison-laptop/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Introductions
1:05 The elephant in the room
3:20 What happened at AJ’s booth
11:58 What happened at Usagi’s booth
19:55 When to use emulation?
25:21 What about VCFSW 2025?
27:49 What is too new for a vintage festival?
33:05 Can an iPhone 1 be restored?
38:54 What’s coming up next on FM and UE?
41:14 The Usagi was not Forgotten!
41:57 The train left the station, and I wasn’t on it…
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1msLZIPLjQ

FM is RLL, MFM is RLL, RLL is RLL! Fight me.

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 12:06:22 GMT

The EDS PC is a fascinating machine, but where we last left off, it didn’t have a functional hard drive. It has an ST-238R in it, which is an RLL drive with appropriate RLL controller card, but the drive did not seem all too happy last time we spun it up. In this episode, I want to try to rescue the data off the drive using David Gesswein’s amazing tool, but also, I want to learn a bit more about FM, MFM and RLL in general.

For more on the EDS PC:
https://youtu.be/Alsv-v9o4yQ

For more about David Gesswein's excellent emulator, check here:
https://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/mfm.shtml

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 How fast is too slow?
3:38 FM, MFM, RLL and the ever important… RLL?
10:48 Imaging an MFM drive (which is really RLL)
15:42 Imaging a not crap MFM drive (which is still actually RLL)
18:57 Imaging an RLL drive (which is… also RLL…)
23:00 Giving the RLL (not MFM) drive a shot
24:12 Giving the MFM (yes RLL) drive a shot
33:02 How fast is excellent?
36:24 Baby bunny!
37:15 Don’t anger the Youtube Gods…
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BlCGNhzC6w

Only DEC could make a PDP-11 PSU this insane…

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 12:54:03 GMT

In a haze of jet lag, I woke up with a burning desire to get hands on with my PDP-11/44. It’s been sitting on a back burner for an intense amount of time, but even still, it hasn’t been a high priority item. But, sometimes, you can’t help wanting to work on certain things, so in this episode, I give in and have a bit of fun tooling around with the PDP-11/44!

Check out Gunkies.org for awesome PDP information:
https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Who needs responsibilities, let’s work on something fun
1:00 The who, what, where, why and when
3:51 Taking things apart
5:09 Even at first glance I can tell this PSU is gonna whip my butt
6:50 Initial testing
9:06 Fan cleaning and testing one more time
10:44 Okay, it’s broken, but how broken?
14:55 Hands on with the PSU modules
16:38 Swapping different modules in and testing again
21:39 Losing the battle, but still hoping to win the war
23:10 Another rescue?!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpM3Xj2H-Pw

Assembly Programming is Hard…

Sun, 09 Jun 2024 11:56:59 GMT

VCFSW is marching ever closer and to make matters a little more interesting, I’m currently on the other side of the planet. (Though, to be totally honest, I’m actually writing this description on the plane.) That leaves me with just two days before I fly out to get the fixed platter of the mini-Centurion low level formatted. Sounds easy, right? Well, we gotta program a new, bare-metal assembly program to do that formatting for us, and that’s anything but!

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

Come hang out with us at VCF Southwest:
https://www.vcfsw.org/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Schedules man
2:10 Cowabunga it is!
6:19 Will this collection of bad ideas work? (Nope)
8:25 Last chance
11:00 Success!
15:03 Life is tough when you’re dumb
19:09 Koma-san!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBixpyaklxQ

The Forgotten Usagi: Ep. 1

Sun, 02 Jun 2024 03:38:57 GMT

This is a new thing we’re trying out, I have no idea how it’s going to turn out, but I’ve been wanting to give it a shot for a while, so here goes! This is a podcast/video… thing I’m doing with my good buddy AJ from Forgotten Machines. It’s mostly just two dudes chatting old machines. Minimal editing and a bit longer than my usual fair, let me know what you all think!

Check out AJ’s work here:
https://www.youtube.com/@ForgottenMachines
https://www.youtube.com/@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

Come hang out with us at VCF Southwest:
https://www.vcfsw.org/

Check out CommodoreZ's photos here:
https://www.commodorez.com/photogal.html

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Introductions
1:50 AJ with Forgotten Machines
7:57 A talk about weird data
9:58 A question about floppy images
17:08 Floppy emulation is hard, yo
24:04 What are we bringing to VCFSW?
29:45 A special exhibit at VCFSW
32:47 Dragged kicking and screaming into the world of emulation
43:11 Outroductions
44:32 Apparently, the Usagi was literally forgotten…
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3EIbhImXrM

Software Problems? Hardware Solutions!

Sun, 26 May 2024 12:39:00 GMT

VCF Southwest is barreling down on us real fast, and some of my junk works, haha. The CDC hawk drive is almost there, only it’s giving us even more grief now and the data terminal takes a dirt nap everytime we throw data at it. Let’s see if we can coax some of this stuff back into life enough for the event!

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

Come hang out with us at VCF Southwest:
https://www.vcfsw.org/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 A funny story!
1:41 Alright, what’s broken now?
6:39 Swapping heads like it’s Frankenstein’s monster
9:25 Taking it for a test drive
12:10 Shady business practices striking 40 years later
15:33 Finally getting to the data terminal
16:59 Comparing the Regent 100 and Regent 200
19:38 It couldn’t have been easy, could it have?
22:17 Shifting gears and digging into the MUX card
24:45 Building and testing the daughter board
29:01 Hacky hardware solutions!
31:26 Koma!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0wG6CMEq_4

Reviving a 1970’s Hard Drive for the Mini Centurion!

Sun, 19 May 2024 13:29:39 GMT

VCF Southwest is barreling down on us real fast, and none of my junk works, haha. Time to hunker down and start getting stuff over the finish line. The Mini-Centurion is specifically meant for shows and right now, it doesn’t have a hard drive. So, in this episode, we dive in deep to try to bring the old 14” Hawk drive that’s bolted to it back into the land of the living.

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

Come hang out with us at VCF Southwest:
https://www.vcfsw.org/

Check out John’s shop, Kad Industries, here:
https://kadindustries.com/

Check out Butler Tech here:
https://www.butlertech.org/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Carry on my wayward son…
5:56 Power supply shenanigans
12:30 Head cleaning and disk inspection
15:08 Loading the heads and failing to boot
18:18 What went wrong?
20:37 Repairing the drive and aligning the heads
26:14 Test drive
28:08 The good, the bad and the ugly
31:20 ニャラリー
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xJZdkoctm8

The Rarest IBM PC Clone in the World!

Sun, 12 May 2024 13:28:00 GMT

The Centurion is one of my all time favorite minicomputers, but did you know, they also made an IBM PC Clone? Well, they almost shouldn’t have. The story of this thing is absolutely bonkers, and the story of how it got here is just as bonkers. So, tag along as dig in deep with a history lesson, and then try to get this old PC back up and running!

The BIOS has been uploaded here:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/blob/main/EDS%20PC/EDSPCBIOS19.BIN

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 This is not Doug Demuro
0:31 Brief history of Centurion
2:50 Why does the EDS PC even exist?
4:44 How did it get here?
11:11 Cleaning up the monitor
12:42 Does the monitor even work?
15:18 Let’s dig into the PC itself
17:51 A closer look at the motherboard and cards
25:27 Putting it back together and turning the switch
26:49 Let the troubleshooting nightmare begin
31:35 Will it boot?
32:56 I hate foam and foil keyboard with a passion
36:41 All clean and back together, will it get to DOS?
39:29 Plugging the Centurion into the Centurion
42:25 Kitties!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alsv-v9o4yQ

The Mini-Centurion is Back!

Sun, 05 May 2024 13:38:32 GMT

With VCF East all wrapped up, it’s time to start prepping for VCF Southwest, which is coming up very, very soon! The party piece I want to have on display is the mini-Centurion, which we had on display last year at both East and Southwest. But, all the travel has taken its toll. Couple that with us swapping the CPU6, 128k MEM and Hawk drive with the Desk System CPU5, 32k MEM and Hawk drive up at Butler Tech., and we have a serious mountain to climb before we’re ready to display. So, let’s get to work!

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

Check out John’s shop, Kad Industries, here:
https://kadindustries.com/

Check out Butler Tech here:
https://www.butlertech.org/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Time for VCF Southwest!
1:33 Where did all this different hardware come from?
5:42 Woodworking
9:32 And now, the news!
10:38 Paintwork
12:21 Side panels
15:18 Getting them mounted
17:45 Yeah, that turned out alright!
20:27 We love you and miss you Chibita!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GURyfXumgjs

Health Update and a Really Cool Disk Pack!

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 13:30:56 GMT

VCF East was an absolute blast, but it had one final parting gift to give me – an upper respiratory virus of some kind. Usually, I recover from these kinds of things in a day or two, but this one was particularly brutal and put me down hard for eight days! I’m finally starting to literally get my feet under me again, so unfortunately, there won’t be a traditional video this week. But, I didn’t want to leave y’all hanging completely, so hang around for a short little story from VCF that I particularly enjoyed!

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 The video is so short, who needs chapters!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYR53uKcDFs

VCF East 2024 + Museum Tour + PDP8 Fun!

Sun, 21 Apr 2024 13:21:44 GMT

VCF East 2024 + Museum Tour!

One event I’m always looking forward to is VCF East. Not just because it’s a stellar congregation of amazing people, but because there also happens to be one heck of a museum on campus as well. Let’s take a walk through the event, look at some of my favorite exhibits, and then hang out in the museum, and maybe even get hands on with one of their machines.

I had an absolute blast hanging out and learned a ton! Can’t wait until next year!

For more information on the museum, check out this link:
https://vcfed.org/museum-info/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 What is VCF East
1:05 The show
5:08 Usagi’s best in show
7:06 The Museum
9:50 Some of my favorite pieces
16:30 A wild PDP-8 appears!
22:42 Running a proper program on the straight 8
25:59 Bunny!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k3Mb6SSLAk

Co-Op Snake on a 1980’s Business Minicomputer!

Sun, 14 Apr 2024 11:43:17 GMT

The Centurion is an epic piece of hardware – able to support up to 32 simultaneous users and over half a gig of storage, it’s an absolute beast. But there’s once thing it can’t really do, and that’s game. Today though, we fix that! Bu, single player games don’t make a whole lot of sense on a system that can support so many simultaneous users, so something a multiplayer co-op game would be pretty epic to see, right? Well, that’s just what’s in store for today!

Here is the source code for CNake:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/blob/main/Software/New%20Software/Snake/cnake.asm

And here is the complete CPU6 instruction set:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/blob/main/Software/New%20Software/Bible/optest07.asm
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/blob/main/Software/New%20Software/Bible/optest8f.asm

If you want to play around with the emulator, check it out here:
https://eciv.net/meisaka/cen/cen.html

If you want to know more about the Centurion, the wiki is full of just about everything we know:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from: Artist:
The Runaway Five Title:
The Shinra Shuffle https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 What did $50,000 get you back in the day?
1:47 Multi-user and…
2:41 … big storage!
4:31 But, can it play Doom? (No, not even a little)
5:35 Printing out the code listing
7:57 Ran when parked, right?
11:21 The code listing (this is a long one)
17:43 Let’s assemble the thing
20:19 Setting up the terminals
24:18 Multiplayer co-op gameplay!
27:38 Do copy that floppy!
31:08 Printing a label and making it look good
31:42 Vim and an Emulator!
33:20 Sunny-kun!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp7TTvscc3I

Doing Carburetor Work on the Austin Healey 3000

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 13:34:41 GMT

Sometimes, you just need a break. A lot of things that we work on in the room have very similar failure modes, which means it’s easy for your brain to get stuck in a loop. The best way to break from that is to change gears completely and do something wildly different, like working on some old SU carburetors on one of my all time favorite cars!

Check out this video on the Bellett:
https://youtu.be/qgrvf2xLrns?si=H0f3hI_GqBwDKJC8

And this video on the Honda Beat:
https://youtu.be/4S0Q_6VtY0A?si=8wxmhn5awi-cxk8n

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 I need a break
1:19 My first passion
3:57 A very special car
5:22 Carburetor work
10:42 Plug work and a wash
14:28 Let’s go for a drive!
19:12 Kono san!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJKX5FGHTjE

The Bendix G15 Typewriter is Crazy Pants!

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 12:55:37 GMT

As we barrel towards DC full speed ahead, there’s one last large hurdle we have to overcome – the typewriter. This thing is insane on multiple levels. Sure, it weighs about 70 lbs. and some crazy fool slapped a 28” platen on it, but also, it’s been heavily modified by Bendix to send the weirdest collection of data-bits and signals back and forth with the computer. Come on along as we dive down the weird and wonderful rabbit hole of the G15 Typewriter!

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Who let me get my hands on a piece of history?
1:25 The story so far
3:07 A normal typewriter you say?
4:15 5-bits is 5-bits is 5-bits
6:34 But wait, there’s more!
7:16 The Monty Hall problem, if it were switches instead of doors
8:53 Scrub-a-dub-dub
10:24 Madness lies that way
12:00 Alright, back to work you!
13:16 Can we make the platen move like it’s supposed to?
16:17 A little more scrubbing
17:33 “Hellorld!”
18:45 This thing is a marvel of mechanical engineering
21:19 VCF and the Open House
22:02 Sue and Mei
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaqPBd6B4A4

This NEC PC-8001 is Epic!

Sun, 24 Mar 2024 13:49:26 GMT

I’m mostly focused on large scale systems as of late, but that’s not to say that I don’t find microcomputers fascinating. And one such machine I’ve had that’s been on the back burner for literal years is this NEC PC-8001. It’s time to get this thing up and running, and maybe even take it for a proper test drive!

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 I don’t have that many micros…
2:19 Where did this PC-8001 come from?
3:34 A quick look
4:54 Showa era is the best era
6:07 The motherboard
7:57 Japan’s bonkers power grid
10:19 Where that video hiding out at?
13:18 First proper power up
14:17 Let’s go for a test drive
20:22 Final thoughts and Project Euler
23:52 The cutest combo on the planet!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2L8GDUxxgg

Still Broken… but, Different Broken!

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 13:29:22 GMT

In order to have a portable PDP-11, we need a portable data terminal. In the previous episode, we took a bath in rodent feces trying to revive our little ADDS Envoy, which is perfect for this task. But, we didn’t manage to get it up and going. We’re taking another swing at it today, but as is obvious from the title, it didn’t go well. However, it did make some progress!

Check out Gunkies.org for awesome PDP information:
https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Our goal of a portable PDP-11
2:22 Check the power rails first!
5:17 Did that fix it? (Hahaha, seriously?)
6:48 After a full day, where are we?
11:50 Trying to repair the bad FE/GT to compare to the good FE/GT
13:40 Okay, back to the original FE/GT…
16:03 That should have fixed (so why is there still 10 minutes left in the episode?)
16:44 The real smoking gun?
21:06 Still broken, but broken in a different way! Yay!
24:39 Cue battle music
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBF4Nzwzqqk

State of the Usagi 2024!

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 15:12:35 GMT

My fellow hobbyists, welcome to the first official State of the Usagi address, where we’ll talk about all sorts of stuff, from where I’ll be in 2024 to what we’ll be working on, and even a little bit about the channel and merchandise.

VCF East: https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/
VCF Southwest: https://www.vcfsw.org/
System Source Museum: https://museum.syssrc.com/

Come join us on Discord!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 My fellow Usagis…
1:30 Where will I be in 2024?
5:38 What will be working on in 2024?
10:51 Merchandise and microphones
13:12 First lady Koma
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPcVtUK5Q0I

VTC P.36 – Logic Done!

Sun, 10 Mar 2024 12:45:02 GMT

Our DIY vacuum tube computer hits an insane milestone today – we finish up the logic! All that’s left after this is building out the paper tape and running code on it. We’re so close, so come along as we finish off the last little bits!

Ken Shirriff’s article on the MC14500:
https://www.righto.com/2021/02/a-one-bit-processor-explained-reverse.html

Tube Computer Wiki:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/wiki

Logisim file mentioned:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/UEVTC/blob/main/Reference/Logisim/FullSystem_v1.circ

MC14500 Single Board Computer:
https://youtu.be/md_cPxVDqeM

How I cut my PCBs:
https://youtu.be/AB84_vbH_e8

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 The story so far…
4:06 A quick refresher
8:15 Hershey kisses of molten metal
10:46 Plugging in the easy stuff
11:40 Cathode follower buffers
15:25 Cathode follower buffers… again
17:42 Catho… I’m gonna stop you right there…
19:27 Blinkenlights!
21:50 Soft start
24:58 A massive milestone!
26:42 “My name is Sue! How do you do?! Now you gonna die!”
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTaVO-MOyeI

Printing ASCII “Art” Like it’s 1980! (Part 3)

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 14:20:16 GMT

This is it – the Data-100 printer prints in this one! And, if we remember back all those episodes ago when I was looking at the CPU5 data platter, there was a file called “GIRL82.” Well, what better way to test the printer than by printing out some vintage ASCII p… err… science!

If you absolutely have to know what "GIRL82" is, have a quick gander here, you might find what you're looking for:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/blob/main/Software

Centurion Wiki:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 What is a Data-100 printer?
2:36 Can’t touch this. Hammertime.
5:43 Plugging it in and setting it up
7:50 Test prints
9:39 Re-inking the ribbon
12:19 Cleaning up the rest of the printer
14:27 The infamous “GIRL82”
16:43 Curse you Red Baron!
20:00 Now that the printer is done, what’s next?
21:39 Baby bunnies!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_9_UXHitHk

The G15’s Bonkers Optical Reader and Punch!

Sun, 25 Feb 2024 13:59:50 GMT

We’re slowly inching our way closer and closer towards bringing the DC up on the G15. We have just a few more challenges to tackle, namely the paper tape reader and punch. This system is pretty wild looking with all sorts of electrical shenanigans and electromechanical wizardry. In this episode, we take a much closer look at it and try to get it as clean as we can in preparation for the big day!

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Who let me get my hands on a piece of history?
3:27 Money, money, money
5:45 Disassembly
7:50 Preventative maintenance?
10:12 A look at the motor control section
12:01 A look at the optical reader
13:34 The elephant in the room (the punch)
18:44 First, a quick clean
20:15 Much ado about selenium
22:10 What’s next?
24:53 The babies!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK-bPkGQHJ4

I Love this DEC LA50 Dot-Matrix Printer!

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 13:56:34 GMT

Honestly, I was planning on skipping a video this week. It’s been an emotional roller coaster of trips to the vet and struggling to keep animals alive. I’ve been an absolute wreck, and apparently, I was looking so haggard, Mrs. Usagi told me to go outside and do something to reset my brain. So, this week is a bit of a shorter video, but it got the job done and injected a little joy back into my week!

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

The absolute best way to get in touch with me is through Discord:
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 It’s been… rough
2:41 Cleanup
3:47 First power up
5:36 Self testing
6:37 Trying to print from the Rainbow
7:57 Battling baud and data settings
9:25 Actually printing from the Rainbow
10:03 Some interesting quirks
13:47 Sue san!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIxOAdxWkZk

This Data Terminal was Covered in Poop!

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 14:57:09 GMT

We’re still plugging away at our portable PDP-11, and in the last episode we made excellent progress in getting the PDP-11/23 itself up and running. But, a portable PDP is pointless unless we have a portable data terminal to go with it. Enter the ADDS Envoy. This is an awesome little RS-232 capable data terminal that will make the perfect companion for our PDP-11. The only downside is, it’s in rough shape. Or at least, one of them is, it just takes me way too long to figure that out. What am I on about? Well, watch the video and see!

Check out Gunkies.org for awesome PDP information:
https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 This is our portable PDP-11
2:05 A portable PDP needs a portable data terminal
3:45 A virtual walkaround
6:52 Disassembly
9:53 Guess what, more poop!
11:53 Cleanup
14:54 Testing the power supply
16:51 “Everyone knows you never go full send!”
19:15 Properly checking voltages this time
21:14 “I’mma let you finish, but Tool had the best album of all time!”
22:29 The “parts” machine
24:06 Testing goes better this time
26:45 We’re close, but not quite there yet
29:14 Koma-san!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffpFw-Mfido

The Largest Printer I Own Prints! (Part 2)

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 14:24:03 GMT

Ever since I got the Centurion a few years back, that number one requested item I work has been the massive Data-100 chain printer. Well, that time is now! In the previous episode, we double checked the power supply and saw that it was good, so we are clean and clear for working on the rest of this beast. The title spoils it a bit, but we actually throw the switch and get it printing out some test pages today, and y’all were right, this thing is epic!

Centurion Wiki:
https://github.com/Nakazoto/CenturionComputer/wiki

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 Revisiting the power supply and voltage levels
2:39 The plan
3:42 Taking it apart so we can actually clean the thing
5:18 Wait, what even is a chain printer?
8:24 Actually cleaning the thing
10:05 First test
12:19 Second test (actually the third, I put the ribbon on wrong twice)
13:16 Okay, what happened?
15:17 Hammers and plastics
18:17 Third test (actually way higher than that, but you know, narrative coherence and all that)
18:52 Did we snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat?
23:04 Sue!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGrnt4bvmsE

Reviving 65 Year Old Bearings

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 13:33:12 GMT

In the previous episode, we brought up AC on the machine for the first time in who knows how many decades, and it went amazing. We confirmed that we have a good clock track and a good timing track on the drum. But, we also confirmed that none of the cooling fans were happy and the drum itself was grumbly. So, today, let’s pull those fans out, revive the bearings in them, then pull the drum out and try to get the bearings in it happier as well.

Check out System Source here:
https://museum.syssrc.com/

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord!
Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 I love this blue monolith of a computer!
2:54 Removing the door fans
5:15 Reviving the door fans
9:24 Removing the main blower fan
12:10 Reviving the main blower fan
14:29 Removing the drum
16:41 Fixing the drum with a hammer
18:23 Flipping the big switch one more time
20:20 All it took was a little patience!
22:31 Kitty!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzO0tAhIgmE

The PDP-11/23 Plus Works!

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 14:47:51 GMT

Last episode, the PDP-11/23 11/03 Hybrid we were building absolutely crushed me. Well, to be fair, we never even got as far as testing the CPU, we got crushed by the power supply. I threw everything I had at it, and emerged the very opposite of victorious. I retreated to my corner, and armed myself with more knowledge, and now, stepping back into the ring for round 2, I absolutely will emerge victorious! How though? Well, you’ll just have to watch to find out (it was negative voltage).

Check out Gunkies.org for awesome PDP information:
https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

The absolute best way to get in touch with me is through Discord at the link below:
https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 It’s cold y’all
2:29 Revisiting the regulator design
7:00 The negative voltage
8:56 Working on the -15V rail
11:34 A tale of two diodes
14:13 Come on man, you can do this
16:45 Nice, the PSU works. Now what?
19:46 Legen- wait for it -dary
21:38 Let’s get it to misbehave a bit
24:26 Time for a lot of y’all to click away
26:00 If you clicked away, you missed out on this
27:05 Sunny-kun!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce9rY4EGhww

This PDP-11 Power Supply Defeated Me

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 14:42:10 GMT

My PDP-11 story is a weird one. I found myself with too many PDPs, so I had to thin the herd, which left me without a running PDP-11. The goal for today was to fix that by bringing up a PDP-11/23, but the power supply had other plans. After a full week of troubleshooting, I emerged from the room defeated. But just what went wrong? Well, let’s dive in and find out!

If you want to support the channel please hop over to Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/usagielectric

Also, we now have some epic shirts for sale!
https://my-store-11554688.creator-spring.com

Come join us on Discord and Twitter!

Discord: https://discord.gg/p7UsfHD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UsagiElectric

Intro Music adapted from:
Artist: The Runaway Five
Title: The Shinra Shuffle
https://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01847

Thanks for watching!

Chapters
0:00 My PDP/DEC Story
3:54 What problem am I trying to solve here?
5:07 The PDP-11/23 CPU and Memory cards
6:39 The PDP-11/03 AA Backplane and PSU
8:22 Let’s clean this thing up first
11:17 First test
14:05 Second test
14:42 Nothing is ever easy…
17:30 Third test
18:29 Why is this going so poorly for us?
24:07 Fourth test
26:05 “I’m calling it, time of death, probably 30 years ago.”
29:22 Puppycat!
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPBlowv0yAM