Notes on PC 32
20 April 2011
Bought by W0CG and shipped to Idaho. Configured 30 April 2011 by W0CG with WL 10.85, Keyspan USB-COM port drivers, and Windows 7 Winkey drivers. Works fine networked with Vista laptop in Idaho prototyping. See here (and below) for the setup procedure. Will be transported to Curacao as conditions permit.
Dell data sheet 1, Dell data sheet 2. Click here for invoice.
Service Tag H58ZDQ1. Express Service Code 37322718265. Microsoft Product Key YJVV2-P9WG4-2MCFJ-CFC7T-8J686.
Power Supply: Bestec TFX0250D5W +12 17A, +5 18A, +3.3 11A, -12 0.3A, +5 USB 2A; total 250 W.
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS
Battery: CR2032 Lithium 3V
Click here to see back PC30. Interior photo of PC30.
McAfee password PJ2TPJ2T
On 30 April 2011 allowed automatic update of Java.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy folders to C:/
WritelogV68Executables
WritelogV85UnzippedDistributionFiles
Writelog1069FullExecutables
WritelogV1080FulExecutables
Writelog Tips
Winkeyer
Install Writelog 10.80. Reg code is in Writelog Tips/writelog.directions at the bottom. It's necessary to explicitly install to C:/Writelog rather than take the defaults.
Explicitly create folder C:/Writelog/Contest
Install Writelog 10.85 or whatever is preferred.
Paste WL icon to desktop.
---------------------------------------
Create folder C:/KeyspanUSBAdapter
Copy from Keyspan CD Adobe documentation file into the above folder.
Do not plug in the Keyspan adapter. Start the install from the "Windows Drivers" section of the CD. Bypass (Close) the automatic get of the driver from Windows Update and allow install to complete.
Run "Keyspan Serial Assistant" from the Start Menu and note which COM port was assigned. It came up COM3, 30 April 2011.
---------------------------------------
Plug in Winkeyer.
If driver install starts automatically, browse to drivers in C:/Winkey/CDM20812Windows7Drivers. Or get it from http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX,htm and get the 64 bit 2.08.12 file. It installed to COM4.
Otherwise
Start, Control Panel, View Devices and Printers, USB<-> Serial, Properties, Hardware, Update Driver and browse to C:/Winkey/CDM20812Windows7Drivers and then determine the correct port assignment afterward.
---------------------------------------
Control Panel, Hardware, Power Options, High Performance.
Define power buttons, when I press the power button, Do nothing.
Change when the computer sleeps, Put the computer to sleep, Never.
---------------------------------------
Copy PJ2T Wallpaper to C:/.
---------------------------------------
From top dock, install OfficeStarter 2010. It's just Word and Excel, stripped down.
---------------------------------------
Control Panel, System, See the name of this computer, Change Settings PC30. Reboot.
---------------------------------------
C:/Writelog, Properties, Sharing, Share then Advanced Sharing, Permissions, Add Everyone, Full Control
---------------------------------------
Control Panel, User Accounts, User Accounts, Manage accounts, Change an account. Create password of user PJ2T (who is the administrator account) to "PJ2T" and set hint to "Our station callsign".
---------------------------------------
www.supercheckpartial.com Download to C:/Writelog/Programs
---------------------------------------
Dell Datasafe userid wa8kuw pw abilene
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 May 2011
Shipped UPS to K8LEE from Idaho for transport to the island on June 8.
8 June 2011
Transported to Curacao by K8LEE. No duty charged. Placed in service at Station 2 10 June 2011 by K8LEE with good result and then put in storage on his departure.
15 December 2011
K8ND updated .INI file. Click here
6 March 2012
System comes on as soon as plugged in. No video. PC30 did the same thing, and swapping the power supply fixed it. Just the act of swapping, not a new one, was all it took.
October 2012
CQWW SSB crew (WI9WI) reported it would not boot.
9 December 2012
Case was full of small brown grains that looked like coffee grounds but had no odor or taste. Boots to "Starting Windows" and never goes further. Reseated boards and now get disk read error on startup. Swapped 30 and 32 drives and proved conclusively that the 32 drive is bad. Brought the PC30 and PC32 drives to Idaho. John Shovic donated an identical SATA drive to replace the bad PC32 drive and cloned it from the PC30 good drive. Both drives will be taken back to Curacao in January 2013.
29 January 2013
Installed cloned drive into PC32 and it booted fine. Changed computer name from PC30 (from cloned drive) to PC32. Works perfectly. K8ND updated Writelog.
14 November 2013
N0VD wiped the operating system in October and reinstalled trial. On this date I "reactivated" the opsys online with the product key and all seems to be working OK now.
18 October 2014
Placed in service at Station 4. All working OK.
November 2014
Hard drive failed as diagnosed by K8ND.
31 March 2015
PC32 left in East Bedroom on floor for John Shovic to install new drive. W0CG bought a blank drive in January 2015 and left it in sunroom desk for John. He will use PartClone.
11 June 2015
John Shovic successfully cloned from PC34 onto the new drive and then changed the computer name to PC32. He left a boot USB device on hand in my desk drawer.
8 December 2016
Slow to start. I removed Skype and this brought a great improvement. At Station 4.
20 February 2020
Tested by W0CG. All runs fine and machine is exceptionally fast.
25 February 2020
Retired and returned to States. This machine was slated to be thrown away by KB7Q and N7IR.