nuclearlighter
@nuclearlighter.bsky.social
I just want to know what's inside the stuff and how it works.
Eastern European, collection of mostly 80's exotic computing and comms hardware.
Same name on X.
Eastern European, collection of mostly 80's exotic computing and comms hardware.
Same name on X.
I thought that this was happening only for a few years, but, no, look at the stamp on the bottom of the phone. It was "produced" in 1998! At least they were being patriotic and changed older "Made in USSR" to "Made in Latvia". So, the parts were not leftovers, but produced already in late 90's.
January 12, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I thought that this was happening only for a few years, but, no, look at the stamp on the bottom of the phone. It was "produced" in 1998! At least they were being patriotic and changed older "Made in USSR" to "Made in Latvia". So, the parts were not leftovers, but produced already in late 90's.
Well, they took the internals of these phones and stuffed into new (or leftover?) VEF TA-D cases. The one I have is this case. Look at the quality! It's awful! And, no, this was not done by someone at home, this was done on industrial scale!
January 12, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Well, they took the internals of these phones and stuffed into new (or leftover?) VEF TA-D cases. The one I have is this case. Look at the quality! It's awful! And, no, this was not done by someone at home, this was done on industrial scale!
At some point VEF stopped producing the phones, but imported used phones from the western countries like Germany. Imported phones were fixed, polished, rebranded, packed and sold as VEF phones. But what can be done with phones that can't be refurbished?
(Refurbished TAp-611, image source - etsy.com)
(Refurbished TAp-611, image source - etsy.com)
January 12, 2025 at 3:35 PM
At some point VEF stopped producing the phones, but imported used phones from the western countries like Germany. Imported phones were fixed, polished, rebranded, packed and sold as VEF phones. But what can be done with phones that can't be refurbished?
(Refurbished TAp-611, image source - etsy.com)
(Refurbished TAp-611, image source - etsy.com)
VEF was a big manufacturer of phones and consumer radio receivers in soviet Latvia. After USSR collapsed in 1991, big factory got split up. Phones were still produced, but they were behind the time. They still used rotary dials while western world used DTMF and didn't needed pulse mode anymore.
January 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
VEF was a big manufacturer of phones and consumer radio receivers in soviet Latvia. After USSR collapsed in 1991, big factory got split up. Phones were still produced, but they were behind the time. They still used rotary dials while western world used DTMF and didn't needed pulse mode anymore.
Today I fixed the self-identification part of the teleprinter. Its original station ID is "Tornyakalns", a neighborhood in Riga, Latvia. The teleprinter comes from the local railway company, so I assume it was located in Torņakalns train station.
(railway station picture taken from Wikipedia)
(railway station picture taken from Wikipedia)
December 25, 2024 at 11:28 AM
Today I fixed the self-identification part of the teleprinter. Its original station ID is "Tornyakalns", a neighborhood in Riga, Latvia. The teleprinter comes from the local railway company, so I assume it was located in Torņakalns train station.
(railway station picture taken from Wikipedia)
(railway station picture taken from Wikipedia)
Right now I'm doing this through this devboard, but I hope to create a useful adapter board in future.
December 12, 2024 at 9:13 PM
Right now I'm doing this through this devboard, but I hope to create a useful adapter board in future.
Today I managed to get to the milestone - transmitting data from computer to the teleprinter. It's just a basic proof of concept, but it works!
December 12, 2024 at 9:11 PM
Today I managed to get to the milestone - transmitting data from computer to the teleprinter. It's just a basic proof of concept, but it works!
Fixed up some minor issues and putting it back together in hopes I won't have to disassemble it again. It comes together nicely and already passes a CAT test.
December 7, 2024 at 3:09 PM
Fixed up some minor issues and putting it back together in hopes I won't have to disassemble it again. It comes together nicely and already passes a CAT test.
Today I did some work on fixing the keyboard issues. One button is just dead, one seems to have a failed diode in diode encoder part (prints wrong character), but the issue of it printing only cyrillic characters is somewhere else. Could be ideological, haha.
December 1, 2024 at 8:35 PM
Today I did some work on fixing the keyboard issues. One button is just dead, one seems to have a failed diode in diode encoder part (prints wrong character), but the issue of it printing only cyrillic characters is somewhere else. Could be ideological, haha.
Fot now I've fixed its PSU, fixed some of the issues in printing mechanics. Next in line is keyboard with several issues. However, there are some signs of life already.
November 29, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Fot now I've fixed its PSU, fixed some of the issues in printing mechanics. Next in line is keyboard with several issues. However, there are some signs of life already.