Slow 'paint drying', prepped case and LED board, found spring for 1053 tab latch and partly reassembled M600 reader

BUSY HALF DAY AT THE SHOP

I took advantage of the time I had at the shop today to take on a number of tasks. Among them were shop organization, 1130 extender box construction, 1053 console printer restoration and Documation card reader restoration. 

I did spend more than one hour just sorting some items into bins - FPGA boards, Arduino boards, disk drive tool boards - to get a bit more organized. I also moved various tools and power supplies over to be in the same area with the bulk of my testers, supplies and tools. While things don't look appreciably neater yet, hunting for items will be easier as I continue to consolidate like items. 

1130 FPGA EXTENDER BOX CONSTRUCTION

While the fab in China inches along, at a pace certain to miss their promised 96 hour construction time, there has been some progress at least. The process is about 1/3 done with just four hours left to go. They are currently imaging the outer layer patterns on the photoresistor prior to etching the outside traces. 

One of the four LEDs on the small PCB attached to the case will be powered directly from the 24 VAC supply that IBM mainframes send out to cause various peripherals to power up. Rather than trying to tie one side of the AC to the DC ground, I want the LED with its series resistor placed across the two floating legs of that sequencing power.

To accomplish this, I broke the trace that took common ground to the fourth LED, drilled a hole and wired up a separate lead. I now have two wires to that LED unconnected to any other LED or the DC ground. The other three LEDs had longer wires added so that I can just hook it into the new PCB when I am putting everything together.

I marked out the locations for the various connectors and power cable to be installed on the rear of the steel chassis. There is a 160 pin signal cable from the 1130, a smaller power connector from the 1130 that brings the 24VAC and confirms successful power up back to the 1130, a USB type B socket, a small connector for the interrupt level 0 and 1 plus prog load signals, and the AC power socket for the new box. 

I drilled starter holes so that I can get tools through the steel to begin cutting out the various shapes I need. I put the case in my trunk so that I can run over to the Melbourne Maker Space to complete the cutting. 

BEGIN REASSEMBLY OF THE DOCUMATION M600 READER

Now that my washer is working to keep the picker arm swinging without jumping up and down on its axle, it is time to put it all together and adjust the reader for solid operation. I finished putting together the top side parts today. Next time I will mount the rotary actuator for the picker arm, attach the vacuum and blower hoses, then re-install the timing belts. 

INTENSE STUDY OF 1053 SELECTRIC CONSOLE PRINTER

I looked over the 1053 with its missing spring for the tab latch as well as the CDC version of a 2741 that does have the spring in place. Based on that I located a spring from my supply of selectric parts that appears to be correct. The challenge will be in how I reach in to attach it to the two ends, but that will wait until I am feeling particularly sure-handed and steady. 

The second issue is the lack of a spring to pull the trip lever forward for the tab clutch mechanism. The TAB button on the front will (mostly) reliably fire off a tab cycle but the solenoid does nothing when activated. I could adjust the link from the solenoid to the trip lever, but first I should reattach a spring that I believe to be missing. Access to this area is blocked by the motor capacitor, the main return spring, solenoids and microswitches, so I need to find a path that I can use which minimizes disassembly and consequential readjustments.