The Blog

NetComm Roadster II 56 Ultra (AM5693) Serial Modem Unboxing and Disassembly

Nix McRetro // 17th July 2022 // IBM PC, YouTube

This is my favourite modem so far. Is it the breakneck speeds it can provide? Is it the blue translucent case? Is it the Conexant chipset? Maybe it’s all of the above! In this video I unbox an AM5693 and compare the internals with an AM5690. Some interesting comparisons can... Continue reading

Fever in 2022!

Nix McRetro // 4th July 2022 // Linux, News

It was late Wednesday afternoon, I was at work. It was boring. Sniff, sniff. Allergies? Hopefully. Fast forward 24 hours. Fever! I was under attack by a foreign body. Temperature peaked at 39.5°C at which point I ruled out allergy as a reason and stayed home from work. It’s around... Continue reading

NetComm AutoModem 2400 - CONNECT 2400

Nix McRetro // 20th June 2022 // IBM PC, Repairs, YouTube

A very brief video of the NetComm AutoModem 2400, model AM1500, dialling out at 2400 bps to my Acer AcerModem 56 Surf, model AME-MU00. I’ve found that my AcerModem can be a little picky and drops a lot of packets with some modems when I use it server-side. The Acer... Continue reading

Avtek MegaPlus V.32bis - Carrier Detect

Nix McRetro // 13th June 2022 // IBM PC, YouTube

Success! The handshake completed and we have carrier detect active. I’m not quite sure what speed we’ve connected at, but we have connected and that is all that matters for the moment. Avtek MegaPlus V.32bis Modem (Model CD950) is back online in the 2020s. We are going through the Linksys... Continue reading

High Dynamic Range (HDR) Video Upgrades

Nix McRetro // 5th June 2022 // News, YouTube

Just a quick little update. I’ve started using HDR on videos now, fairly consistently. They should really pop when viewed on hardware that has HDR support. I’m noticing the change from non-HDR to HDR far more than I used to. I’m also trying to keep all footage in 4K at... Continue reading