The Blog

Australian Daddy Long Legs Spider Catches Lunch

Nix McRetro // 29th April 2013 // Categories: Nature, YouTube

Here’s an Australian daddy long legs spider (Pholcidae) wrapping up its lunch. Nothing particularly exciting, just a spider going about its business! These little fellows are also known as cellar spiders elsewhere in the world. They’re not to be confused with harvestmen, which are also called daddy long legs in... Continue reading

Apple IIc Internal Quick Look

Nix McRetro // 28th April 2013 // Categories: Apple, YouTube

Hop aboard for a very quick look inside an old Apple IIc. Sure does look antique! Better off in a museum than on a shelf. My camera battery was about to go flat, so I thought I’d record the machine quickly while it was in pieces. I’ve never taken one... Continue reading

Nixie Clock 3.6 V NiCad Battery Replacement and NiMH Upgrade

Nix McRetro // 23rd April 2013 // Categories: Guides, Repairs, YouTube

A quick and easy repair to my Nixie clock. I hate NiCad batteries with a passion, so today I’m replacing the original 3.6 V battery with a nice peaceful NiMH replacement from element14. Enjoy the back of my hand for half the video while I block what I’m doing due... Continue reading

Sega Saturn Sophia Programming Box Mainboard Repairs

Nix McRetro // 6th April 2013 // Categories: Devkit, Repairs, Sega

After the A-Bus capacitor replacement failed to improve Sophia’s condition, I moved on to the mainboard. I’ve now replaced most of the electrolytic capacitors there, and the results are considerably more promising. The Hakko 808 works wonders on these old boards, although I’d been operating on very little sleep when... Continue reading

DreamShell 4.0.0 RC1 Boot Attempt with SD Adapter

Nix McRetro // 6th April 2013 // Categories: Hacks, Sega, YouTube

Some progress with DreamShell 4.0.0 RC1, but this setup is still behaving unpredictably. I’ve been trying to get the Dreamcast booting from an SD card using one of those serial-port adapters, with varying degrees of success. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it just sits there complaining about... Continue reading