22 Apr
2007
22 Apr
'07
7:20 a.m.
On 21 Apr 2007 at 23:30, Jim Leonard wrote:
If the entire system was designed around the NTSC
frequency (and one
would assume the 60Hz AC power to match) then how did a "euro" IBM PC
work? Did it have 60Hz CGA as well?
I believe so, unless there was a very different CGA card for Europe.
If there was, the Tech Ref is completely silent on the subject.
BTW, when we asked if the 5150 could simply be run from a 220V-120V
50Hz stepdown transformer the answer came back quite emphatically:
"No, you cannot--and if you try, it will void the warranty." I
pressed the sales people for specifics and they said something about
"the power supply won't allow it". AFAIK, the only line-frequency
dependent part in the PSU was the AC fan--and 50Hz probably wouldn't
have made a difference.
I never did get a straight answer why IBM was being such a stick-in-
the-mud about the whole affair. We ended up shipping some Stearns
PCs instead. While not 100% 5150-compatible, they did have 8 MHz
8086s and were somewhat zippier than the 5150. They did the job. I
don't know if any of the Stearns PCs made it into collections.
Cheers,
Chuck