Author: Dave Farquhar

IBM 5162 PC/XT 286: The AT in XT clothing

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
IBM 5162 PC/XT 286: The AT in XT clothing

The IBM PC/XT-286, also known as the IBM 5162 or IBM model 5162, was a short-lived computer from IBM announced in 1986 and released in 1987. It was a difficult computer to understand at the time, and had a mixed reception when it was new, although it has a cult following today. In this blog post, I’ll explain what was wrong with this PC at the time, and what makes it appealing to hobbyists now.

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Motherboard plastic standoff removal tool

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Motherboard plastic standoff removal tool

YouTuber Adrian Black was repairing a dilapidated AT motherboard with battery damage and mentioned how tedious it is to remove motherboard plastic standoffs with needle nose pliers and other tools. I have an unconventional but cheap and effective motherboard plastic standoff removal tool. I’ve been using it since the early ’90s.

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Are Lionel trains O gauge?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains

Are Lionel trains O gauge? Lionel’s brand name practically became synonymous with O gauge, but not all O gauge trains are Lionel. And not all Lionel trains are O gauge either.

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FFMPEG can merge videos, here’s how

Dave Farquhar Video
FFMPEG can merge videos, here’s how

Sometimes you need to merge some MP4 video files from the command line. Here’s how to use a command line tool, ffmpeg, to merge video. It may be a little harder to learn than a GUI tool. But it’s much easier to automate, which is helpful if you have a large number of video clips to merge or concatenate together.

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Plantronics Colorplus: Forgotten PC graphics

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Plantronics Colorplus: Forgotten PC graphics

Plantronics color was a superset of CGA, introduced in 1982, similar to but not compatible with the extended color modes in the IBM PCjr and Tandy 1000.

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Is a SOC analyst a good job

Dave Farquhar security
Is a SOC analyst a good job

As a security professional, I frequently get questions about security careers. One common topic is the role of SOC analyst. What is a SOC analyst, and is a SOC analyst a good job? Those are fair questions, and not necessarily as straightforward as it first sounds.

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Marx roadbed track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx roadbed track

Marx roadbed track is a curiosity today, but it was a cheap way for them to improve their track in the 1960s to try to make their trains more competitive.

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Remove Unicode and extended ASCII in Notepad++

Dave Farquhar security
Remove Unicode and extended ASCII in Notepad++

There’s been a number of times in my career where I’ve needed to convert files to plain text. That means plain. No smart quotes, Unicode, extended ASCII characters, or other funny business. Here’s how to use Notepad++ to quickly remove all of these types of characters from a text file. Here’s what to do when your plaintext isn’t plain enough.

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Atari 2600 emulator for the VIC-20

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Atari 2600 emulator for the VIC-20

Rumored to exist! I first heard the rumor in 1996, and more than a quarter century later, it’s never turned up. But let’s talk about the Cardapter 1 and the Game Loader, a pair of vaporware Atari 2600 emulators for the VIC-20. The Cardapter 1 was  demonstrated in January 1983 under much secrecy, advertised a bit over the spring of 1983, but never appeared. The Game Loader is a bit more mysterious.

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Protecto Enterprizes: What is was and wasn’t

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Protecto Enterprizes: What is was and wasn’t

Protecto Enterprizes (not Protecto Enterprises), and Computer Direct, one of its divisions, are names that come up occasionally in retro circles. They were a company that advertised heavily in computer magazines in the mid-1980s, and their inventory is frequently interesting to retro computer collectors. But sometimes it’s a little unclear what this company was, and I think that was by design.

Protecto Enterprizes/Computer Direct was a computer mail order discounter based out of the Chicago area from 1979 to about 1995. They were not a manufacturer nor were they strictly a liquidator, though they did sell a lot of closeout inventory and private label products that made them look like they may have been more than just a distributor.

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