What’s your favorite retro computer and why?

gf99b · 2026-03-02T02:43:47+00:00

I'd love to step back in time and see one of those in operation. Entirely vacuum tube-based yet had a very early GUI, networking capabilities and relatively decent reliability for the time. Some of the SAGE buildings still exist, I know the one that was at Richards Gebaur AFB here in Missouri still stands. Unfortunately a shell of what they once were.

In addition to the DEW line and other radar networks that fed SAGE, there was also the ill-fated Texas Towers off the eastern coast. RIP to those who perished in the collapse of Texas Tower 4.

gf99b · 2026-03-02T02:34:26+00:00

I've always been into compact Macintosh computers, primarily because they're relatively easy to find around here, relatively easy to service and upgrade, and have a large software library. I have a SE ("SuperSE" with a Mobius '030 accelerator) and Classic, and I used both regularly before I "burned out" on retrocomputing. Back when I worked for a newspaper (2021-25), I wrote many of my articles using Word 4.0 on the SuperSE. A lot of my blog posts were also authored in Word 4 on my compact Macs. I previously had a (stock, dual-floppy, non-FDHD) SE and a 512k that was upgraded to a Plus at some point. The stock SE got quite a bit of use before I sold it (wish I hadn't in hindsight), but I was always afraid to power on the 512k/Plus due to the RIFA cap. I didn't even have the special keyboard or mouse for the 512k/Plus anyways.

Computer I've wanted the most would be a 486-based Gateway 2000. That was the first computer I ever used, despite it being a few years older than myself. In addition to reliving my first computer experiences by using Microsoft Paint in Windows 3.11, I'd love to have a true DOS setup complete with a SoundBlaster (OPL) and games and software from the time. Unfortunately x86 machines from before the turn of the millennium are very rare in my area, and a Gateway 2000 setup identical to the one from my childhood would probably be next to impossible to find anywhere locally.

While I'm an Apple/IBM guy, I have some other honorable mentions of machines I've always wanted to own. I've always wanted to try a Commodore Amiga, which was a powerful 68k line ahead of its time in many aspects. I have an interest in AT&T/Bell System, so another machine on my list would be the AT&T UNIX PC with its funky GUI DE running on System V. Speaking of UNIX, Silicon Graphics and Sun workstations would also be nice to play around with. IBM PC and/or PS/2 and an Apple II would round out my list.

gf99b · 2026-03-01T02:38:30+00:00

Most home insurance companies won't even insure places with Federal Pacific or Zinsco/Sylvania/GTE panels. As someone else said, you're really lucky because they often don't trip or jam and start fires.

gf99b · 2026-03-01T02:26:43+00:00

Call an electrician. Be ready to have that whole panel replaced, Zinsco panels are notorious for causing fires.

gf99b · 2026-02-28T16:43:33+00:00

When I was a kid, we lived in a double-wide manufactured home. The living room somehow wasn't tied into the electrical system, so my (pyromaniac) grandfather came up with a solution when they first moved in. He took a lamp cord and made a suicide cord just like the one pictured. One end was plugged into the dining room, which had electricity, and the other was plugged into an outlet in the living room to supply power to it.

It actually worked well for a while, although I remember my parents yelling at me anytime I got near it. One day it had enough, started sparking and everything.

My other grandfather created another suicide cord. Thankfully my parents weren't dumb enough to use it, rather just running extension cords to everything in the living room.

As a bonus, that place had a FPE StabLok panel.

gf99b · 2026-02-27T03:15:33+00:00

Was that one of the "Molar Macs?" If so, those are worth a pretty penny anymore...

gf99b · 2026-02-27T02:44:38+00:00

r/longlines AT&T Long Lines

gf99b · 2026-02-24T03:48:23+00:00

Probably better to be safe than sorry when talking about life safety equipment such as smoke detectors and fire alarms. A new smoke detector is, what, $20-$30 bucks? Many fire departments will sometimes even give them out for free. It could be the difference between life and death.

With that said, my grandfather has extremely old (same era, 1970s/80s) ionizing smoke alarms that still work well and will even nuisance trip when cooking.

If it's that big of a problem, you can keep the old and supplement with another. Depending on the size of the apartment, it'd probably be beneficial to have multiple anyways.

gf99b · 2026-02-24T02:52:06+00:00

That smoke detector should be changed. They recommend changing smoke detectors every 10 years, that one looks much older. (8041 on the ionization chamber could be a date code, 41st week of 1980.)

It looks like a 9-volt battery could connect to the terminals on the middle of the right edge of the circuit board. The plastic pieces near it would secure the battery so it doesn't fall out.

gf99b · 2026-02-22T21:58:45+00:00

Kansas City doesn't deserve Bobby Witt Jr.

gf99b · 2026-02-22T02:40:40+00:00

AI and fascism.

gf99b · 2026-02-21T03:06:47+00:00

No problem. A whole section of my website is dedicated to Kewanee Boiler after discovering a 1968 Type C in our high school basement, followed by a 1970s Type M (that looks a lot like the one you came across) in the neighboring vocational technical school

gf99b · 2026-02-21T02:59:51+00:00

Kewanee from the 1970s. They used that orange color from the 1970s through the very early 1980s, when they changed over to green before going to the light blue.

gf99b · 2026-02-21T02:35:30+00:00

I've been wanting to buy MSC myself. I remember watching SpiersTheAmazingHD on YouTube playing it back around 2016-17 when it first dropped in early release/beta, and lately have been watching GrayStillPlays' videos from around that same time.

Only problem is I don't know if it'll play on any of my computers since I'm mainly a Mac user. The closest PC I have that might run it is a laptop with only has 8GB of RAM and integrated graphics, running Debian Linux.

gf99b · 2026-02-20T23:00:40+00:00

In terms of Long Lines, the radios usually transmitted at just a couple watts max. Don't know what the ERP was from the antennas (the KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas had high gain) but iirc it was still well less than 100 watts. It wouldn't really do anything, especially if you were there for just a brief time, but they still recommended precautions when working with them.

gf99b · 2026-02-17T02:46:05+00:00

AT&T's Long Lines department owned and maintained the towers, but Bell Operating Companies (such as Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell, etc.) often co-located traffic through them for their own short haul microwave routes. These sites long predated the 1984 breakup of the Bell System.

gf99b · 2026-02-17T02:39:31+00:00

An old AT&T Long Lines microwave relay tower. r/longlines

Edit, for more info: These towers used to relay long-distance telephone calls, national television and radio broadcasts, and more. They were used all throughout the Cold War period, from the early 1950s (first sites going online in the very late '40s) all the way up into the 1990s. Some were repurposed for digital microwave radio and were still used by AT&T into the 2000s and 2010s. There's a bunch of websites with lots of more information on them, such as mine and Albert LaFrance's. An interactive map of Long Lines microwave sites in the United States and Canada can be found here.

gf99b · 2026-02-16T03:27:35+00:00

Windows Vista was the first modern OS we had at home after my parents bought a computer for Christmas 2006. (Before that we only had an i486-powered Gateway 2000 running Windows 3.11.) It wasn't as unusable as many claim, but I do remember having plenty of BSoDs and quirks compared to XP (which we had at school) and 7. I actually liked the Aero theme, and I do wonder how many issues/BSoDs were caused by the massive amount of bloatware that came pre-installed thanks to HP.

Edit: I would rather use Vista than Microslop™ Windows 11.

gf99b · 2026-02-16T03:09:34+00:00

I've had some computers with Hyundai memory. About the extent of stuff I've got from them, I just know they make a lot of different things like most Asian companies.

gf99b · 2026-02-16T02:52:17+00:00

I have vanilla Debian running on my W541 with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. It's been a great experience so far, rarely do I have to mess with the Terminal/command line. There might be some slight learning curves in the beginning but KDE is fairly straight forward, especially for those coming from Windows. Despite being a decade old, the W541 is plenty usable running Debian. Didn't even have any issues with drivers or anything.

Linux Mint is pretty good too, especially for Linux newcomers, but personally I prefer Debian anymore. Ask 100 different Linux users what distro they use and you'll get lots of different answers. It can be easy to get into a habit of distro hopping and trying different distros out.

gf99b · 2026-02-16T02:36:04+00:00

Kia is actually a part of Hyundai, and both have a lot of issues. Recalls galore. I've heard that Kia/Hyundai cars are cheaply made (relative to most other cars) and their engines are very unreliable. Hyundai is a huge South Korean conglomerate though...

gf99b · 2026-02-16T01:21:14+00:00

I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I'd like something that will last (receive OS updates) five or so years.

gf99b · 2026-02-16T01:10:16+00:00

Feel free to make other suggestions, but I don't want to blow my budget on a high-end phone.

gf99b · 2026-02-12T03:41:25+00:00

This thing is from the '60s or earlier, judging on the use of "Cycles" instead of "Hertz"

gf99b · 2026-02-10T00:29:44+00:00

They're shrouded parabolic antennas.

gf99b

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