@f_dion@mastodon.online
@f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

f_dion

@f_dion@mastodon.online

Data lead @ stealth semiconductor startup, R&D @ Dion Research #Artist, #coder, #datascientist, #hacker, #historian, #mentor, #musician, #photographer, #polyglot, #polymath, #soundengineer In the past: FM Radio DJ, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Videoway Multimedia / Videotron

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f_dion, to retrocomputing
@f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

help!

Looking for Toshiba L50utils.exe - laptop pcmcia drivers for Windows 95. It is long gone from the Toshiba website. Anybody with a floppy with this on or know where to find a copy?

#win95 #Toshiba #pcmcia #drivers #retro #retrocomputing #retrogaming #DOS #floppy #laptop

flockofnazguls, to SynthDIY
@flockofnazguls@mastodon.flockofnazguls.com avatar

deleted_by_author

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    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @flockofnazguls @Number1SummerJam resistor burnt to a crisp. Looks like its twin is on the other side of the power connector.

    vwbusguy, to random
    @vwbusguy@mastodon.online avatar

    RAID5 is not a backup.
    RAID5 is not a backup.
    RAID5 is not a backup.
    RAID5 is not a backup.
    RAID5 is not a backup.
    RAID5 is not a backup.
    RAID5 is not a backup.
    RAID5 is not a backup.

    I haven't said it enough times, but I hope someone who needs it will get this message before it's too late.

    • Someone who has had to troubleshoot 3 failed RAID5's in the last week in his dayjob

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @vwbusguy plus the raid 5 write hole issue... https://www.raid-recovery-guide.com/raid5-write-hole.aspx

    Not a problem with ZFS raid with one or multiple parity and ZIL.

    kbob, to synths
    @kbob@chaos.social avatar

    I got a new keytar as a gift yesterday. It's a MIDI controller only. I want to play this thing in band, but don't know what to connect it to. What's your favorite softsynth for playing live? Name presets, if you use them. Mostly classic rock. I prefer poly -- I can't keep myself from playing chords, even in lead lines. MacOS or maybe iPad.

    Thank you.

    @synths

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @kbob @synths not a soft synth, but would work well with a keytar: a Behringer Deepmind12D desktop module.

    It is flexible enough to do pretty much any sound you would need. More reliable than software on a laptop and plenty of polyphony.

    I use it alongside legendary synths like the Roland D50, Roland Super JX10 and Yamaha SY77 and it fits in.

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @kbob @synths if you go down that path and need some help with it, let me know.

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @kbob @synths good question. I have an Arturia keystep that has usb, I'll try it and see if it works this way. Never tried before.

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @kbob @synths so... the Arturia has a microusb and the Deepmind has a type B. I don't have a cable for that. Not sure if it would work. Manual is vague, talks about pc, Mac and Android apps.

    Are you sure the vortex doesn't have a standard midi out? There were a few versions. One even had an AIR synth built in (I have an alesis optical controller with AIR synth that is related) which rev do you have?

    amadeus, to diy
    @amadeus@mstdn.social avatar

    #workinprogress #roland #boutique #diy stand(s).
    They are coming along quite well but are a bit steep at 45°.
    And I have absolutely no idea why, but the threads I made (which are M5) do not fit either M5 (too big) or M6 (too small) screws, so I am thinking of glue as a possible "fix" for this. 🤔🫣

    Back view of TR-08 on self made stand (wood side panels with brass tubes).
    Side view of TR-08 on self made stand (wood side panels with brass tubes).

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @amadeus was it the same thread pitch?

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @amadeus do you have a caliper to measure the bolt?

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @amadeus there is such thing as M5.5 too

    nfgusedautoparts, to random
    @nfgusedautoparts@en.osm.town avatar

    a shipping mystery resolved, tangentially related to
    i typically have any shipment that includes water based products (e.g. fountain pen ink) sent to my PO Box; living in upstate NY, i don't want some things sitting in my mailbox on the road waiting until i get home 1/

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @nfgusedautoparts how does UPS deliver to USPS POBox? Been told they cant

    obsoletemediauk, to random

    I've been asked if I can identify these audio cassettes that are in a university archive and I'm stumped.

    They have two playback cutouts, and in one of the spools I can see 'Japan'. It would appear to be 30 minutes of tape.

    Anyone got any ideas what machine they might have been used in?

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @obsoletemediauk a cartridge for a Dictamite Recorder by the Dictamite Corporation. Proprietary format, from the 1960s. Dictamite switched to microcassettes later on.

    f_dion, to photography
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    One of the rarest Topcon accessory is the UV mount adapter. If you look at a UV mount lens, it has no aperture control ring. Works on a UV mount camera as the camera has an aperture ring on the mount. the other Topcon cameras used the R or RE mount (based on exakta) so they made an adapter. Not that many were sold, or maybe they got discarded as people though it was just random lens parts… at any rate they rarely show up for sale anywhere.

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    So imagine my surprise when i stumbled upon this lens. Looks like an exakta or early tamron adaptamatic lens, then you recognize the silver band and focus ring as Topcon UV topcor. that’s what the seller tells you, based on the beauty ring. But the mount is wrong. Then, 💡

    There is a UV adapter mounted on it. But it is stuck and wobbly, possibly damaged. The aperture ring is also stuck. So maybe it wont be of any use… or perhaps i can repair the adapter…
    #photography #lens #adapter #topcon

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    After partially disassembling the lens, I was able to free the adapter. No wonder it was wobbly, it was held together with only one of 3 screws. And, I doubt this is original, but there was a o-ring in the sandwich of parts making up the adapter. My guess is that the o-ring was added to compensate for the 2 missing screws, leaving a path for light to enter without it.

    The aperture stop spring and bearing was also missing.

    #photography #camera #lens #lensadapter #topcon #topcor #exakta

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    It was a cost effective design, in that they used a Topcon RE mount from one of their R lenses or macro adapter, and the bayonet mount and aperture ring from a UV camera (stock down to the 3 screw holes position) and all they had to make for this was the spacer between the Topcon RE mount and the aperture ring.

    The challenge in fixing this is going to be finding the right screws. For the aperture ring, I have a good one from a camera with a crashed leaf shutter (unrepairable).
    #photography #diy

    f_dion, to Wyze
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    The equalizer.

    Not Queen Latifah, just a camera. At launch, the Auto 100 came with a 53mm f2 lens and 2 optional lenses, a wide 35mm f3.5 and a 100mm f4. Not long after that they added a 135mm (a massive affair) and a 200mm f4 (the Topcon RE version was 5.6). With the lauch of the Unirex, they would later add a 28mm for the UV line (wink, uni / auto 100, unirex, ic-1). They are called UV #topcor because the glass is coated to block UV, making a uv filter superfluous. #camera #topcon #lens

    f_dion, to photography
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    The Greek grill by night

    A little local restaurant. A few tables and booths.

    Shot with my Fujifilm XT-20 and a Tokyo Kogaku topcon RE Auto 35mm 2.8 manual focus lens in Topcor RE mount, adapted with speed booster for a true 35mm field of view and great night time performance.

    #photography #fuji_xseries #fujifilm #xt20 #tokyoKogaku #topcon #topcor #speedbooster #adaptedlens #lens #urbanphotography #NightPhotography

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    This is the lens I used for that night photo. The lens finish matches well with the satin aluminum finish of the #fujifilm #xt20. Also seen here is a speed booster and adapter, as the xt20 is a crop sensor and I want to use the 35mm lens as a 35mm lens.

    #photography #camera #lens #fujifilm #xt20 #fuji_xseries #topcon #topcor #tokyoKogaku

    f_dion, to Leica
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    So far, no other UV Topcor (Topcon) lenses tested positive for thorium. This is a different series of lenses / system than the Topcon RE lenses. They are still high quality but have no built-in aperture control, which helped reduce the cost. low chromatic aberration, nice contrast & sharp. Topcon made lenses for before this.

    Cameras for this system include the Auto 100, uni, unirex and IC-1. Pictured below is a 35mm 3.5 with hood on helicoid and 28mm 4.0

    vga256, to technology
    @vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

    wayYyyYyy back in 2000, just after @somafm launched, i listened to Groove Salad for the first time - their downbeat channel, which iirc was broadcasting via Shoutcast to my hot little winamp install

    groove salad was my introduction to many of the downtempo bands i listen to today.

    but back then, i was left breathless by this very obscure track by Solid Doctor - consisting of samples taken from an interview with an academic talking about the natures and risks of technology - "Faustian Bargain".

    it was the peak of 2000s technofuturism and techno-utopianism. i was a young university student back then, and i had never heard critiques of technologism before.

    those sampled interview snippets set me on a career path that led to systems theory, maturana & varela's re-imagining of cognition, and eventually to martin heidegger's question concerning technology... which prompted completing a doctorate in that field. it reshaped the entire way i thought about technology.

    but i never figured out who the heck that person was in the samples. until today.

    thanks to a youtuber's good eyes/ears, it turns out to be none other than Neil Postman speaking in a book interview about cyberspace in 1995.

    (note: they're not the exact same samples but the words and topic are the same, so presumably Solid Doctor found another interview around the same time)

    postman interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDdTtouuenQ

    solid doctor track: https://soliddoctor.bandcamp.com/track/faustian-bargain

    #technology #music #2000s

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @vga256 @somafm wasn't it Terence McKenna?

    f_dion, to photography
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    On a whim, I decided to measure the radiation level of this Tokyo Kogaku (Topcon) lens. It is an unusual lens in that it doesnt have an aperture control ring. There is an aperture mechanism, but if is controlled by the camera (like a Topcon Unirex or Topcon IC-1). It is a sharp lens, but given it was the more affordable line (the RE was 50% more expensive), didn't expect Thorium was used for the lens. Then again, it is a 50mm from the 1960s.

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    Measured at front element: 0.1 uSv/h, normal background level (fluctuates between 0.08 and 0.1 in this Piedmont area - there is Radon found in the rockmass.

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    Measured at rear element: 5.51uSv/h instant, 5.4 avg. Not background noise. So some front element (there are 6 glass elements in total in this lens) definitely was made with Thorium. It explains the sharpness. Also means I will have to keep it isolated for long term storage, and not on the shelf right next to me... I'll have to check the other Topcon UV lenses...

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    You'll be surprised to know that the relatively common Fujinon 55mm f2.2 in m42 (fujica st) is also radioactive. I know I was, as that has never been identified before, AFAIK. This is without EBC coating, just regular coating. Front shows 13.64 instant, 13.2 avg. Btw, that is not insignificant.

    f_dion,
    @f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

    @alter_unicorn I'll look but it wasn't that much. Not a calibrated lab device, but good enough

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