Chris Elmquist wrote:
I have brought my SWTPC 6800 system back to life that
I built as a kid
in 1976. It is pretty heavily loaded with RAM cards, floppy controller,
etc. and the 8V power supply rail was never really able to hold its own.
It sits at about 6.5V now... driving many 5V regulators on the various
cards. No where near enough margin going into those.
So, I am contemplating the following,
1) rebuild entire power supply using three switchers, 7.5v unit nudged
up to 8V and two 12V units to supply +/-12 on the backplane. All of
these will fit inside the original cabinet in place of the linear
supply's transformer, giant electrolytic cap, bridge rectifier, etc.
I'd mount these switchers to an aluminum plate that would fit into the
chassis and use existing mounting holes thereby not drilling any new
holes in the chassis. This would be the least "period" solution but
allow all of the original cards to run in the machine with power to spare.
I have gone with this option for two of my more heavily loaded OSI
boxes. While not "authentic" it has the bonus of being easily
reversible and clearly identifiable as a modern modification. I
kept all of the original PS components in a clearly labeled box,
the label also giving details of how to restore the unit to original
condition.
Bill