Rick Swartz
@swartz.bsky.social
swartz_de everywhere else. Ur-Pälzer. Hi there, I'm an old ex-Californian living in Germany since '82. I tend to discuss retro technology with a focus on Pocket Computers. #ポケコン
A picture of our old water tower & the absolute explosion of greenery happening right now. I pass by here daily on the way to work and shout a picture before you can't see anything through the trees. We should finally get some much needed rain today, but at the moment, it's still quite nice.
April 15, 2025 at 5:04 PM
A picture of our old water tower & the absolute explosion of greenery happening right now. I pass by here daily on the way to work and shout a picture before you can't see anything through the trees. We should finally get some much needed rain today, but at the moment, it's still quite nice.
"Yeah, it has a touch of patina, but cell phone reception is phenomenal."
January 19, 2025 at 6:31 AM
"Yeah, it has a touch of patina, but cell phone reception is phenomenal."
6/6 Well, that looks quite a bit less orange. I have a PC-E500 that is in need of a case, so let's give it a new home. And there it is, a PC-E500 living in a E550 case. Since the E-550 was one of the few Pockets Sharp did in a 'light' theme, I'm happy I was able to salvage the case. #ポケコン
January 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
6/6 Well, that looks quite a bit less orange. I have a PC-E500 that is in need of a case, so let's give it a new home. And there it is, a PC-E500 living in a E550 case. Since the E-550 was one of the few Pockets Sharp did in a 'light' theme, I'm happy I was able to salvage the case. #ポケコン
5/6 ...and now each piece of the case goes on the tanning bed. PSA, you might want to periodically open the ziplock bag to let the oxygen buildup out before the bag pops open and spills hydrogen peroxide everywhere. Just saying. #ポケコン
January 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
5/6 ...and now each piece of the case goes on the tanning bed. PSA, you might want to periodically open the ziplock bag to let the oxygen buildup out before the bag pops open and spills hydrogen peroxide everywhere. Just saying. #ポケコン
3/6 Vinegar and a fiberglass pen have taken care of most of the leakage on the back of the display mask. The front side was pretty much unscathed. #ポケコン
January 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
3/6 Vinegar and a fiberglass pen have taken care of most of the leakage on the back of the display mask. The front side was pretty much unscathed. #ポケコン
🧵1/6 Back in December I acquired a "Junk" #Sharp PC-E550 through Mercari. It turns out, it truly is junk. The battery leakage has even destroyed the keyboard traces. RIP, my little pocket computer friend.😢🕯️
Although the insides can't be saved, all isn't totally lost. #ポケコン #Takethedamnbatteriesout
Although the insides can't be saved, all isn't totally lost. #ポケコン #Takethedamnbatteriesout
January 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
🧵1/6 Back in December I acquired a "Junk" #Sharp PC-E550 through Mercari. It turns out, it truly is junk. The battery leakage has even destroyed the keyboard traces. RIP, my little pocket computer friend.😢🕯️
Although the insides can't be saved, all isn't totally lost. #ポケコン #Takethedamnbatteriesout
Although the insides can't be saved, all isn't totally lost. #ポケコン #Takethedamnbatteriesout
When encountering strange behaviour trying to port a program, you might want to check if some fundamental function has been changed between versions. And Sharp, why did you change the 254 character unDIMed string length we had in the E5xx series back to 7 in the G85x? #ポケコン #twitterarchive
January 1, 2025 at 9:07 PM
When encountering strange behaviour trying to port a program, you might want to check if some fundamental function has been changed between versions. And Sharp, why did you change the 254 character unDIMed string length we had in the E5xx series back to 7 in the G85x? #ポケコン #twitterarchive
Happy New Year from downtown Germany!
December 31, 2024 at 11:05 PM
Happy New Year from downtown Germany!
7/7 When I'm satisfied everything is working, I put everything back together. In this case the smaller ribbon cable is physically damaged, so I'm going to have to live with that missing horizontal row, other than that, everything is peachy. #ポケコン
December 31, 2024 at 7:44 PM
7/7 When I'm satisfied everything is working, I put everything back together. In this case the smaller ribbon cable is physically damaged, so I'm going to have to live with that missing horizontal row, other than that, everything is peachy. #ポケコン
6/7 Now we carefully(!!!) heat both cables without melting them. We just want to get the glue sticking again, not spot weld the ribbon cable. I have the board hooked up to an AC adapter while doing this so I can check my progress. #ポケコン
December 31, 2024 at 7:44 PM
6/7 Now we carefully(!!!) heat both cables without melting them. We just want to get the glue sticking again, not spot weld the ribbon cable. I have the board hooked up to an AC adapter while doing this so I can check my progress. #ポケコン
5/7 What we're going to do is reheat the ribbon cable to make that adhesive 'sticky' again. I use a soldering iron at the lowest setting (on my iron, that's 200°C) with a wide bronze tip that works great for this, but I admittedly have no idea what its actual purpose is. #ポケコン
December 31, 2024 at 7:44 PM
5/7 What we're going to do is reheat the ribbon cable to make that adhesive 'sticky' again. I use a soldering iron at the lowest setting (on my iron, that's 200°C) with a wide bronze tip that works great for this, but I admittedly have no idea what its actual purpose is. #ポケコン
4/7 Now that both halves are free we can get to work repairing the display problem. Over the years, the adhesive that glues the display ribbon cable to the contacts on the board has loosened up and is no longer making a good connection. Let's fix that, shall we? #ポケコン
December 31, 2024 at 7:44 PM
4/7 Now that both halves are free we can get to work repairing the display problem. Over the years, the adhesive that glues the display ribbon cable to the contacts on the board has loosened up and is no longer making a good connection. Let's fix that, shall we? #ポケコン
3/7 Pry open the unit by carefully working around the middle case seam with a spudger. Don't (!) immediately pull the case halves apart. There are two battery contacts you need to carefully push through the case holes to free both halves. #ポケコン
December 31, 2024 at 7:44 PM
3/7 Pry open the unit by carefully working around the middle case seam with a spudger. Don't (!) immediately pull the case halves apart. There are two battery contacts you need to carefully push through the case holes to free both halves. #ポケコン
2/7 First up, we take the unit apart by removing the screws from the back of the unit. There are 4 directly visible, and two further ones in the battery compartment. Also remove the batteries, system bus and port covers. #ポケコン
December 31, 2024 at 7:44 PM
2/7 First up, we take the unit apart by removing the screws from the back of the unit. There are 4 directly visible, and two further ones in the battery compartment. Also remove the batteries, system bus and port covers. #ポケコン
🧵1/7 Hello friends! I finally got around to taking a closer look at a Sharp PC-G850 I got as part of a job lot. It powers on but the display has some missing pixel columns; a typical problem on these units. It also has 1 *row* of missing pixels near the bottom that has a different cause. #ポケコン
December 31, 2024 at 7:44 PM
🧵1/7 Hello friends! I finally got around to taking a closer look at a Sharp PC-G850 I got as part of a job lot. It powers on but the display has some missing pixel columns; a typical problem on these units. It also has 1 *row* of missing pixels near the bottom that has a different cause. #ポケコン
#Casio really loved this case design and used it for quite a few products. I agree with them, it's compact and the clam shell design protects the screen and keyboard. The membrane keyboard they used is probably as good as they get. The four pictured here : fx-7500G, FC-1000, SF-4000 and DK-1000s
December 31, 2024 at 10:05 AM
#Casio really loved this case design and used it for quite a few products. I agree with them, it's compact and the clam shell design protects the screen and keyboard. The membrane keyboard they used is probably as good as they get. The four pictured here : fx-7500G, FC-1000, SF-4000 and DK-1000s
Ever since I ordered medicine boxes on Amazon Japan to use as hardcases for my PB-1xx/FX-730P/PC-14xxs (thanks to my Twitter friend @umipi for the tip!), I've been wondering what to do with the dosage boxes. Well, I've found one use for them. Coin cell storage!
#ポケコン
#ポケコン
February 9, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Ever since I ordered medicine boxes on Amazon Japan to use as hardcases for my PB-1xx/FX-730P/PC-14xxs (thanks to my Twitter friend @umipi for the tip!), I've been wondering what to do with the dosage boxes. Well, I've found one use for them. Coin cell storage!
#ポケコン
#ポケコン
Hello there! Here's a post just to let people know this account isn't dead! A Casio FX-850P, Japan only FX-860Pvc and an FX-880p for your early morning pleasure.
February 9, 2024 at 1:33 AM
Hello there! Here's a post just to let people know this account isn't dead! A Casio FX-850P, Japan only FX-860Pvc and an FX-880p for your early morning pleasure.