A few classic computer photos

Tony Duell wrote: Sounds like the guy we had out to deal with a startup error on our digital printer (Fuji Frontier 570). Basically, the machine is a combination of a modified laser printer and a normal 'wet' minilab print processor -- RGB lasers "print" on the paper, then it's developed as normal (develop, bleachfix, then a couple of wash tanks). We've been having a few problems with it -- missing lines on the back-print, and (more seriously) the machine not warming the tanks up on a morning. That last one is pretty terminal -- it takes two hours to bring the tanks up to ~45C (working temperature) from room temperature (!) Anyway, the guy arrives and the first thing he asks: "Have you got a copy of the service manual?" As I see it, he had a laptop with him, and had no valid excuse for not having a PDF of the S/M with him... So he digs through our heavily annotated "operator-level service manual" (which for >80% of the error messages lists "contact your technical representative" as the only solution), umms and aahs a little, then asks to borrow a screwdriver.... After about 45 minutes he's finally gained access to the machine, after stripping one of the screws and losing another, and re-seats the loose connector that's causing the error. The printer is duly powered up, and it doesn't flag an error with the wiring. I then pose a question. "At the end of last week, we did the 6-monthly maintenance and scrubbed the wash tanks out. It took three times the amount of stabiliser before the level sensor picked up that there was actually something in the wash tanks. Is that normal?" I pointed out the bit in the maintenance manual regarding the wash tank level sensors -- "If the concentration level is insufficient, then the tank level sensors will not detect the wash fluid". His response: "Huh. I didn't know the level sensors depended on the concentration level." I'm not complaining (because the machine is working to spec now, after three engineer visits) but I seriously wondered if we'd been sent the trainee, sans his mentor. I have no problem with his lack of experience (everyone has to start somewhere) but not bringing even a basic toolkit is pretty silly IMO. Even my rather hefty CK ratchet screwdriver is small enough to put in even a small briefcase or backpack... Here, here! Too true. There are a lot of Olympus OM4s that are starting to suffer spec, or the camera just up and dies) and you just can't get new parts for them any more. There's something to be said for simple, all-mechanical designs. From what I've been told, the quality took a nosedive in the mid-90s/'00s span... same as most things, really. -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/