The Blog

Sega Genesis Activator Disassembly

Nix McRetro // 29th January 2015 // Categories: Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Will the excitement never end? Today we’re having a look inside the Sega Genesis Activator, one of the more unusual accessories Sega released during the early 1990s. I don’t remember seeing many of these around Australia when they were current, so this one came from the United States. The Activator... Continue reading

Ants Nesting in an Apple iMac G3

Nix McRetro // 27th January 2015 // Categories: Apple, YouTube

This poor iMac was left in the garage. It already had a bad analog board, but now it had another problem. Bugs… or rather, an entire ant nest inside the machine! Don’t worry, I debugged it by letting the ants gather their eggs and move out before sending the iMac... Continue reading

Baby Willie Wagtail Call vs Parent Call

Nix McRetro // 27th January 2015 // Categories: YouTube

Just a quick video comparing the sounds of the young Willie Wagtail with the parent. They had been living in the backyard until recently, but the youngster has since flown away! Related posts Newly Hatched Willie Wagtail Chicks Continue reading

Pioneer LaserActive Sega PAC-S1 Subboard Capacitor Removal

Nix McRetro // 22nd January 2015 // Categories: Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Time for the other board in the Pioneer LaserActive PAC-S1. This is the smaller subboard, and despite its size it has roughly forty surface-mounted electrolytic capacitors scattered across it. Forty! That’s a fair few little metal cans for one circuit board. Most of them appear to be 10 uF capacitors,... Continue reading

Pioneer LaserActive Sega PAC-S1 Mainboard Capacitor Removal

Nix McRetro // 19th January 2015 // Categories: Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Back to the Pioneer LaserActive PAC-S1, and today we’re removing the capacitors from the mainboard. There’s a rather generous collection of them on here, although the daughterboard looks even worse. Fortunately, I’ve got a video camera and a high-speed recording mode, so you won’t have to sit through every single... Continue reading