new classiccmp.org service

[Tony Duell]

> 
> As many of you have probably seen, the ClassicCmp KnowledgeBase has been 
> announced in Evan's Computer Collector Newsletter.

I've taken a look at it, and I am not yet convinced this is a Good Thing...

In a couple of cases, I disagree with the advice given. I'll give my 
comments below, and to be honest, they probably are personal comments 
_but_ it shows there's always room for an alternative viewpoint. That's 
what's great about this list, we have discussions here, nobody really 
tries to be 'God' when it comes to technical matters. Alternative ideas 
help a lot.

The points I've noticed so far that I disagree with are : 

1) Buy a cheap Dial Test Indicator. My view : I am not rich enough to buy 
cheap tools! The point of buying an expensive DTI is not that it will 
last longer (you will not wear out any DTI with normal use!), it's that 
it'll be more accurate. Don't your classic disk drives deserve to be set 
up properly. 

OK, I use a DTI for other things as well (if you have a lathe it's pretty 
much essential to have one), so perhaps I need a good one. But...

2) Get a digital storage scope. My view : I've never used a DSO 'in 
anger', and I've done plenty of debugging. In fact I don't own a DSO. Yo 
ucan do an awful lot with a good analogue 'scope and the DSO always 
worries me in that you don't know what it's done to your signal before 
displaying it. Good DSOs are going to be alright _if correctly used_, 
cheaper ones may do all sorts of horrors... It's probably like the 
analogue .vs. digital multimeter debate. I use my Fluke DMM a lot more 
than my analogue VOM but if I could only have one I'd certainly pick the 
analogue one. The reason is that for 99% of repairs accuracy is not that 
important (and on that score , just because a DMM shows 3.5 digits does 
not imply they're all meaningful!), but often showing the trend of a 
signal (is it rising or falling, can I adjust for a peak, etc), is the 
important thing. And that's much easier to see on an analouge instrument.

I am a bit worried that the knowledgebase will be taken as the 'gospel 
truth'. I'd much rather have these sorts of things discussed here (or at 
least complete discussions preserved). Many of use have our own way of 
doing things. This doesn't make one of us right and the rest wrong. But I 
feel it's best to present as many views as possible and let the 
questioner decide what to do.

-tony