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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
I have a dozen old blank 3.5 inch floppy discs. They're not much good
for wind chime sounders, anyone got any good uses? I can always scrap and recycle the sliding metal covers, but that's about all I can think of doing. |
#2
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
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#3
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
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#4
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
In article ,
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote: Preparing for a move and significant downsizing, I am going through my old disks and finding about half are no longer useable. Seriously if you are into ham radio you know that as of Jan 1, 2013 it will be illegal for nonhams to use wideband (25kHz channel spacing) two way radios in the US. That depends on the band. The FCC has just announced that it is going to waive the "You must narrow-band your systems" requirement, for licensees whose systems are operating in the "T" block (the 470-512 MHz range). These licensees are going to have to vacate this band within the next ten years or so anyhow... and the FCC has agreed that it doesn't make sense for the licensees to have to buy new narrow-band systems that they'd have to abandon after only a few years. This means there are lots of radios coming on the surplus market which were made in the 1990's. They are programed using DOS software, which will not run on a modern computer, or under any version of Windows. True! People are resorting to the use of old junker AT-bus PCs, or running the DOS softare under Qemu or a similar virtual machine (often with a "slow down, damnit!" tweak). -- Dave Platt AE6EO Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads! |
#5
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
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#6
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
On Apr 30, 3:40*pm, (Dave Platt) wrote:
In article , Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote: Preparing for a move and significant downsizing, I am going through my old disks and finding about half are no longer useable. Seriously if you are into ham radio you know that as of Jan 1, 2013 it will be illegal for nonhams to use wideband (25kHz channel spacing) two way radios in the US. That depends on the band. The FCC has just announced that it is going to waive the "You must narrow-band your systems" requirement, for licensees whose systems are operating in the "T" block (the 470-512 MHz range). These licensees are going to have to vacate this band within the next ten years or so anyhow... and the FCC has agreed that it doesn't make sense for the licensees to have to buy new narrow-band systems that they'd have to abandon after only a few years. This means there are lots of radios coming on the surplus market which were made in the 1990's. They are programed using DOS software, which will not run on a modern computer, or under any version of Windows. True! *People are resorting to the use of old junker AT-bus PCs, or running the DOS softare under Qemu or a similar virtual machine (often with a "slow down, damnit!" tweak). -- Dave Platt * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AE6EO Friends of Jade Warrior home page: *http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior * I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will * * *boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads! Still have a pair pf AMD Athlon XP 3200 machines that can run MS-DOS 6.22 in all its glory. Old Tango PCB ran like a tornado. Also a Pentium 166 and a K6-2 550. The Pentium actually gets fired up now and then for the JDR universal programmer to fix old Tek TV scopes. G² |
#7
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:09:03 +0000 (UTC), Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
There are also people who collect old computers, such as Apple II, Comodore 64, early Macs, etc. Some use 5 1/4 disks, some 3.5. ...and some 8". |
#8
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
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#9
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
I hope to purchase a new computer in the next six months, and it will
definitely have a 3.5" drive. A floppy is a good way to create an additional backup. And I have old software I might want to install on the machine. |
#11
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
On Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:34:28 -0700, isw wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote: I have a dozen old blank 3.5 inch floppy discs. They're not much good for wind chime sounders, anyone got any good uses? I can always scrap and recycle the sliding metal covers, but that's about all I can think of doing. Makes a good coaster for your coffee/tea/beverage of preference. Not here. I drink coffe out of a beer stein. Jonesy |
#12
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
Mark Storkamp wrote:
I work in a machine shop with some 1990's vintage milling machines. The quickest way to load programs into them is with a 3.5" floppy. Since they used custom controllers, there is no easy path to upgrade to anything else. Fortunately I have a stock pile of old disks that had been used for backups, so I don't fear running out any time soon. I'm more worried about someday not being able to get a motherboard that I can plug a drive into. Scrounge the MAC lists for USB floppy drives. I got one with a first generation iMac when the owner upgraded. Geoff. -- Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379 In 1969 the US could put a man on the moon, now teenagers just howl at it. :-( |
#13
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
Mark Storkamp wrote: I work in a machine shop with some 1990's vintage milling machines. The quickest way to load programs into them is with a 3.5" floppy. Since they used custom controllers, there is no easy path to upgrade to anything else. Fortunately I have a stock pile of old disks that had been used for backups, so I don't fear running out any time soon. I'm more worried about someday not being able to get a motherboard that I can plug a drive into. There are replacement 'drives' that use USB memory sticks for some machine tools. Not cheap, but they have a menu system to allow you to store multiple programs on one stick. Some are available on Ebay. They plug into the existing floppy drive data & power cables and operate just like the original drive. -- You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense. |
#14
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
William Sommerwerck wrote: I hope to purchase a new computer in the next six months, and it will definitely have a 3.5" drive. Just buy an external USB floppy drive. -- You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense. |
#15
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
I hope to purchase a new computer in the next six
months, and it will definitely have a 3.5" drive. Just buy an external USB floppy drive. Good suggestion. I could use it on my notebook, too. |
#16
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
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#17
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
On Thu, 3 May 2012 14:36:43 +0000 (UTC), David Lesher
put finger to keyboard and composed: Someone from The Scrap Exchange in NC showed me how to make one into the Enterprise. I wish I could recall how she did it. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Starsh...-a-Floppy-Disk - Franc Zabkar -- Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email. |
#18
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
William Sommerwerck wrote: I hope to purchase a new computer in the next six months, and it will definitely have a 3.5" drive. Just buy an external USB floppy drive. Good suggestion. I could use it on my notebook, too. Keep an eye on Ebay. I've seen well known brands go for $20 in sealed boxes. -- You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense. |
#19
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Slightly OT - What to do with old 3.5 floppy discs?
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
... William Sommerwerck wrote: I hope to purchase a new computer in the next six months, and it will definitely have a 3.5" drive. Just buy an external USB floppy drive. Good suggestion. I could use it on my notebook, too. Keep an eye on Ebay. I've seen well known brands go for $20 in sealed boxes. With plain-brown wrappers. (I almost wrote "rappers"!) I already ordered a new-in-box iomega for $25. Verbatim had a double-speed drive for $40, but that's too much. There are no-namos going for $4 or so, but that's taking too much of a chance. |
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