MacCanyada - Jose Gavila´s Mac Pages
From time to time I find another electronic related hobby... and just on 7th July 2002, while attending a local fleamarket, I found my very first Mac, a PowerMac 6100. It attracted my attention among lots of other (PC type) computer gear because of its nice Apple logo.
I have fond memories of my first Apple, a IIc I got back in 1986 (it was my second computer; first one was a Commodore VIC-20, bought in 1982 which, by the way, still have). On that IIc I wrote my first commercial programs and spent lots of time with it. Do you remember Nibble magazine?. I read it from cover to cover each month...
But then, in 1988 I bought my first PC and, since then, all my computing needs were filled with PC type computers... until that 7th July. In just some months I managed to get a nice Mac collection and, what is more interesting, to enjoy them.
My 1st Mac
As I have told you, first one was a PowerMac 6100/60. I got it with no idea about Macs at all but that same day I converted it in a puzzle:
It was dirty inside but, after a careful cleaning, it shined like new. I got with it an Apple Keyboard II but no mouse nor monitor. This was my first encounter with the nice HDI-30 connector. Yes, very close to a VGA connector!. So I was just able to reassemble and power it to hear the startup chord, some HD activity and then, after a couple minutes, nothing else. I needed an HDI-30 to VGA adapter so I looked at eBay for one and had it at home in just a week (remember I am in Spain)
My 2nd Mac
Meanwhile, I got a nice gift, a Quadra 700 upgraded to 64Mb along a 14" Apple monitor, keyboard, mouse and an unworking Personal Laserwriter NT. In just few days I was starting to get short on space... and this was just the beginning.
Next time I attended the fleamarket I was fortunate enough to buy a 20" ColorSync monitor. It was just 40 Euro but, of course, didn't work fine. But as electronics is my hobby I could fix it (a three hour job to replace a 1 cent part) and it works now really fine. Hooray!
My 3rd Mac
Soon I realized that I needed a faster Mac... so I looked at eBay and found a seller in UK who sold me a PowerMac 7500/100. It was upgraded to a 180 MHz 604e processor and had 128Mb RAM installed. It took some time but, finally, arrived to Spain. I was delighted!. I found the case very user-friendly and so easy to expand that I couldn't resist to add a Sonnet G3/400/1Mb upgrade card. This is by now my fastest Mac. I have it running Mac OS 9.1 and have added an external 9.1Gb SCSI hard disk.
My 4th Mac
Next trip to the fleamarket ended also in a very nice way: I found a lightly used SE 1/20 (1 Mb RAM, 20Mb HD) for just 20 Euro. It worked fine and I found that more recent files where dated 1993... so it was used perhaps three years and then stored for 9 years!. It was so lightly used that it didn't need of an internal cleaning. And it was my first compact Mac.
My 5th Mac
I was missing an important Mac type: portables!. So I bought a PowerBook 1400cs/117 with 16Mb RAM and a 750 Mb HD.
My 6th Mac
I got another compact same week, a SE/30. It had a faulty floppy disk unit and the hard disk needed some software put on it. It came with 4 Mb RAM and an small 20 Mb HD.
My 7th and 8th Macs
While looking at Internet for Mac information, I learn about the Duo system. I found it interesting so I bought a Duo 270c and a Duo 210, along a Duodock. It was the beginning of a great Duo collection!
My 9th Mac
This time, another Duo found its way to my lab... a Duo 230 along a Duodock, Minidock and some other items.
It needed a battery rebuild for both batteries (main and clock). I did both and results were splendid!.
My 10th Mac
As portables don't use much space, it was a logical step to get another one. I bought a PowerBook 180 (4 Mb RAM, 120 Mb HD).
My 11th Mac
I liked the PowerBook 1400cs/117 but wanted to get a TFT model and some more RAM... so I got my next one, a 1400c/166 with 64 Mb RAM and 2 Gb HD. It was in great shape and arrived in a nice Targus.
My 12th Mac
In order to fill some gaps, I got a Duo 2300c (along another DuoDock!)
My 13th Mac
I was hooked... so hooked that when I saw an ad about another compact (this time an Classic), I bought it. It was unworking but, again, was able to fix it. This time, a video amplifier transistor and a diode were bad.
I got a couple Color Stylewriter 2500 printers with it. One works fine and the other one prints only in black and white, regardless of the print cartridge type.
My 14th Mac
What is a Duo collection without a 280c, the only 68040 based Duo?
My 15th Mac
I found it for just 10 Euro at the fleamarket. It is an LC475 (20Mb RAM). It had no HD, so the cheap price.
Other Mac items
I have got dozens of Mac related items, as some printers (LaserWriter 12/640 PS (unworking), LaserWriter Select 300 (working), StyleWriter, StyleWriter II (two), StyleWriter 2500 (two)), some extra DuoDocks, spare parts and so on. And list keeps growing!. So I have started to sell some items, as the PowerBook 1400cs/117. I plan to sell some more items soon.
