Above is a quick demonstration of my dual-screen setup, with one of my Sega Saturns running alongside the other television. I’ve been doing some burn-in testing on the consoles, so I figured I might as well record a little Saturn action while everything was connected. More screens, more Sega!

I’ve also been experimenting with a picoPSU for the Amstrad Mega PC. The little picoPSU-80 takes a regulated 12 V supply and produces the usual ATX power rails, making it rather handy for testing older PCs once their connector differences are sorted out.

I recorded this one while waiting for my Enhanced Soundtrack for Pier Solar to burn. Unfortunately, the cartridge wasn’t actually inserted properly. Sometimes the simplest part of the entire experiment is the bit that catches me out.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than an evening on the lounge-room floor with a Mega PC in pieces. Although technically the complete Mega PC is sitting elsewhere, and what I’ve got spread across the floor is its 386SX mainboard, power connections and assorted testing equipment. Close enough!

The power comes from a 12 V external brick, through an adapter and switch, into the picoPSU and then out to the board. I’ve also connected the hard drive for a convenient sign of life, and there’s an old ViewSonic monitor doing display duties. The supply is tiny and fanless, which makes it an interesting alternative if the Mega PC’s original power supply ever gives up.

The board actually produces video, so that’s encouraging. I’d fitted some video RAM and wanted to test it, but I couldn’t get far enough into the BIOS to see what was happening. The keyboard and mouse connections are proprietary, and I didn’t have the necessary peripherals attached to this loose board. The machine also complains about its missing system battery and a drive error, then wants me to press F1. Slight problem there!

There’s a coprocessor fitted, and the board appears to have 4 MB of RAM. I’ll probably have to pull apart the other Mega PC to get further with the testing, which isn’t ideal, but I’ve got some ISA controller cards I’d like to try as well. At least this little power supply is doing a convincing job as a portable test rig.

Open the door, get on the floor… Everybody walk the dinosaur? Maybe I’ve been watching too much of that Super Mario Bros. movie.

The floor has certainly seen plenty of the picoPSU testing. For something that takes up so little space, it’s already proving useful around the workbench, and it might eventually save me some trouble with these old power supplies.

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