FreeCycle Overload
I've been doing a lot with the Bristol FreeCycle mailing list recently. Now, the majority of stuff on there is out-grown children's toy and clothes, and household stuff. But every so often, computer parts and suchlike turn up. It all started with an iRiver MP3 player, 40Gb size, with no charger. Then I got a couple of in-car power amplifiers, although I wish I hadn't (see later). Next came a rather good 19" CRT monitor from Bedminster, which replaced one that had been getting flakier and flakier on me. In one evening, I made a trip to collect some squares of slate, a PC speaker/subwoofer set and a 400W PC power supply. Finally, all from one generous FreeCycler, I received a FireWire web-cam, a Bluetooth headset and a 21" CRT monitor. But it hasn't all been acquisitions -- I have a PC case, an Apple 17" monitor and some photographic printing paper which are destined for new homes.
Now, the sorry tale of the MP3 player and the amplifier. As far as I could tell, the only fault with the iRiver was its battery -- no surprise there. The machine can record from a mic or line input as well as play back, which I thought was rather useful. Then I got the two dud in-car power amps and set about fixing them. The Pioneer one had a very obvious fault in the DC-DC converter that supplies +/-40V to the main amplifiers. Fixed that, all powers up and things start to work. So I connect the MP3 player to act as a signal source. Fatal move. The amp has something bizarre going on which gives a DC offset of about 12V on the inputs, which promptly blasts the output stage of the MP3 player. So, that's dead and the amp is no further forward. I was kicking myself all the way down the road for not checking before connecting it.
Other FreeCycle stuff has been more productive. The FireWire web-cam works, although I'll need a package called Coriander to get it running on Linux. The Bluetooth headset is charged up, and OK, but has a broken mic boom. Well, that'll most likely end up in an old GPO phone handset anyway. And last night's pickup of a 21" Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070SB monitor has resulted in a 2048x1536 display on the Linux box. With the second monitor attached, I get an additional 1600x1200 screen, and with Xinerama, they merge into a single desktop.
I've been doing some major rearranging upstairs, which has resulted in the landing, bedroom and computer room being clear of odd items of junk left laying about. This is partly due to a couple of things going into the loft, but mainly due to the HP 7550 pen plotter moving from spare bedroom to the computer lab, which a much more sensible place for it to be. Then, with a lot of moving around in the spare room, I've been able to get all those odd little items tidied away in there. Result: I can walk around the upstairs without having to dodge past things.
Now, the sorry tale of the MP3 player and the amplifier. As far as I could tell, the only fault with the iRiver was its battery -- no surprise there. The machine can record from a mic or line input as well as play back, which I thought was rather useful. Then I got the two dud in-car power amps and set about fixing them. The Pioneer one had a very obvious fault in the DC-DC converter that supplies +/-40V to the main amplifiers. Fixed that, all powers up and things start to work. So I connect the MP3 player to act as a signal source. Fatal move. The amp has something bizarre going on which gives a DC offset of about 12V on the inputs, which promptly blasts the output stage of the MP3 player. So, that's dead and the amp is no further forward. I was kicking myself all the way down the road for not checking before connecting it.
Other FreeCycle stuff has been more productive. The FireWire web-cam works, although I'll need a package called Coriander to get it running on Linux. The Bluetooth headset is charged up, and OK, but has a broken mic boom. Well, that'll most likely end up in an old GPO phone handset anyway. And last night's pickup of a 21" Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070SB monitor has resulted in a 2048x1536 display on the Linux box. With the second monitor attached, I get an additional 1600x1200 screen, and with Xinerama, they merge into a single desktop.
I've been doing some major rearranging upstairs, which has resulted in the landing, bedroom and computer room being clear of odd items of junk left laying about. This is partly due to a couple of things going into the loft, but mainly due to the HP 7550 pen plotter moving from spare bedroom to the computer lab, which a much more sensible place for it to be. Then, with a lot of moving around in the spare room, I've been able to get all those odd little items tidied away in there. Result: I can walk around the upstairs without having to dodge past things.