The shoddiest piece of Apollo hardware we've ever opened
Here are some clips of our opening of an early Apollo Block I inverter, obviously a prototype...
2023-03-02 08:30:38 +0000 UTC View Post
curiousmarc posts
7 orbits with the Soyuz Globus and a landing light
YouTube version:
It's spinning good now! You can see how the longitude equation is not ...
2023-02-20 23:46:09 +0000 UTC View PostOpening a Soyuz Spacecraft Globus Instrument
Thanks to Marcel, we finally got our hands on a Globus from the Soyuz capsule. Enjoy this...
2023-02-11 08:26:48 +0000 UTC View PostDesignCon exhibit footage
All in all, the Samtec-sponsored exhibit was a smashing success. We extracted the whole setup - 650 lbs of it! - out of my basement, and set it up in less than a day. After the usual few scares, we...
2023-02-02 09:16:34 +0000 UTC View PostExhibiting our Apollo comms hardware at DesignCon tomorrow!
I totally forgot to advertise this here, but we’ll be exhibiting our working Apollo comms setup at the DesignCon conference reception, tomorrow Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. If you happen to be near in...
2023-01-31 02:47:01 +0000 UTC View PostFree 8" disk drives available in WI
From viewer Bob:
"Hi Marc,
If you or any of your subscribers would like their very own 8" drives, they can have them. They are a Heathkit with an external enclosure (very heavy)&n...
2023-01-25 23:01:10 +0000 UTC View PostVintage IBM boards
Ken brought some vintage IBM boards from the IBM 360 or 370 era. There is something very special about IBM boards of that period. IBM went its own way with packaging and PCBs, and developed what Fr...
2023-01-23 08:59:52 +0000 UTC View PostGenuine Apollo caution lights
These recently came in through a donation from a viewer (thank you Austin, you rock!). These weird looking gray cylinders are actually lights for the control panels. They are very gray and looking ...
2023-01-18 06:14:42 +0000 UTC View PostFloppy formats I didn't even know existed
I got flack from not having mentioned the hard sectored 8" floppy in my last video, so Eric brought one to straighten things out. But even more interesting, he brought an IBM Demi disk drive, which...
2023-01-16 07:19:36 +0000 UTC View PostLinks to my favorite lab tools
People keep asking me about particular tools or products I use in my videos. For good reason, because it sometimes takes me a while and a few trials to find the right ones.
I just disco...
2023-01-03 00:55:24 +0000 UTC View PostShort video of Carlos post-processing Jennifer's tape
This is a video of Carlos N. at work, while he is post-processing Jennifer's tape recording. I published the resulting sound file in my previous post. Looks like magic and witchcraft to me. Thanks ...
2022-12-31 06:09:22 +0000 UTC View PostJennifer's tape, professionally post-processed
Viewer Carlos N. from Portugal is a professional sound editor that specializes in recovery and cleanup of old soundtracks for the film industry. He volunteered to process the recording and correct ...
2022-12-31 06:04:51 +0000 UTC View PostMIL-spec synchro unboxing
We practice unboxing for Christmas, with these cool vintage MIL-spec synchros. We are planning to use them with our Bendix mechanical analog computer. Now, that's what I call proper packaging. Wish...
2022-12-24 00:00:48 +0000 UTC View PostMike scores an Apollo CDU at auction...
...and gets more than he bargained for. Watch this Patreon exclusive raw uncut footage of our session, as Mike goes in full Sherlock Holmes mode, and figures out what he actually got, by exploring ...
2022-12-20 08:35:56 +0000 UTC View PostIncompatible Baudot FSK machine has great TTY line editor
I have recently collected 3 semi-modern (1970s to 1990s) Baudot FSK machines. They are basically teletypes equipped with a frequency shift keying two-tone modem. The idea is to have a pseudo modern...
2022-12-04 06:34:04 +0000 UTC View PostSony Trinitron Monitor Rejuvenation
I'm loving that new quick video upload feature of Patreon! Here are a few raw takes from the recent Sony monitor repair footage I did with TubeTime. It already tells the story. This free donated mo...
2022-11-21 08:22:46 +0000 UTC View PostHP 5327B Nixie Counter/DVM
Yet another HP instrument rescue. It's a Nixie instrument I picked up at the Nevada hamfest for $15, or it was going to be taken apart for parts scavenging. Gave me hard time (some of it being my o...
2022-11-15 02:58:55 +0000 UTC View PostRecovering a 1965 IBM Executary tape for Jennifer
Viewer Jennifer had an unusual, very wide band tape media. She thought it was recorded in 1965 when she was 4 years old, and may contain her voice. It said IBM on the side of the tape. She wondered...
2022-11-12 21:02:49 +0000 UTC View PostFirst look inside the Bendix MG-1 Computer
Testing the new Patreon video feature some more. Here is another unedited take, where we look at the inside of the computer for the first time.
Marc
2022-11-09 06:26:28 +0000 UTC View PostOpening the Bendix MG-1 Central Air Data Computer
Woohoo, Patreon has a new direct video upload capability, which makes it much simpler for me to upload video updates. Let's try it with the unedited footage of our opening of the MG-1 Central Air D...
2022-11-09 06:21:37 +0000 UTC View PostMike makes an Apollo core rope reader
This is the USB peripheral you were all waiting for: the Apollo core rope reader, another creation of our AGC restoration hero Mike Stewart.
Not only he made it work, but he made it look cool...
2022-10-23 05:39:14 +0000 UTC View PostBringing up the NASA Interface Simulator test box
Quick update on the Apollo comms setup. We revived one more test box: the Interface Simulator. From what we can tell from the switches, it should generate the subcarriers, both in the up and ...
2022-10-16 23:22:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe Cesium clock returns
How can one have more fun than with one Cesium clock? With two Cesium clocks of course!
In my HP Cesium clock explanation video, I left out the explanation of the C-field for a future d...
2022-10-12 06:00:33 +0000 UTC View PostWe fixed LGR's gorgeous calculator
You might have seen LGR's video about the Dictaphone 1680, née Sanyo ICC-0082 calculator, at the time the smallest battery powered calculator:
Visiting the Connections Museum in Seattle
I was invited to film at the Connections Museum in Seattle. This amazing museum is hard to find, hidden in a still active telephone exchange building, and only open one day a week.
2022-09-25 08:27:51 +0000 UTC
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Visit to Seattle’s Museum of Flight
I have spent a few days in Seattle visiting two vintage tech museums: the Museum of Flight and the Connections Museum, both located close to one of Boeing’s former test runway.
The Museum o...
2022-09-10 06:15:55 +0000 UTC View PostMaking Apollo Coaxial Connectors
Me and Eric spent some time re-making Apollo connectors so we can connect our Transponder, CTE and PMP and other upcoming comms boxes.
All the audio and IF signals between boxes go thro...
2022-09-06 06:53:02 +0000 UTC View PostMore playing with CRTs
With our HP high voltage supplies all repaired, it's finally time to play with the CRTs in my collection. In the photo above, they are just lit by the UV light in the front. Note that some do light...
2022-08-27 05:42:56 +0000 UTC View PostThe Apollo control panel boards are in
Our two large boards that Eric designed to reproduce the Apollo control panel section that controls the PMP have arrived, courtesy of our sponsor PCBWay.
Here is the proud dad with his boards...
2022-08-26 03:50:01 +0000 UTC View PostVisit to the USS Hornet (Apollo recovery ship)
I did some combined R2-D2 trooping and Apollo discovery on the USS Hornet last month. Two hobbies in one!
The USS Hornet aircraft carrier is moored in the San Francisco bay, off the Alameda i...
2022-08-14 01:24:16 +0000 UTC View Post