dwl10@amdahl.UUCP (Dave Lowrey) (05/05/86)
I recently purchased the "Commodore 1541 Troubleshooting & Repair Guide" that
is published by Howard W. Sams & Co. I was aware of the "SAMS" guides
for fixing TVs and such, but I didn't know that they also publish computer
repair guides as well.
The book is very complete. It covers the CBM 1540, 1541, & 1542 (a 1541 with
the "little handle" latch) disk drives. The following topics are covered:
Description of the VIC-1541
Theory of Operation (Mechanical & Electronic)
Alignment & Speed adjustment (Both with & without a scope)
Preventive Maintance
Basic Troubleshooting and Repair
Advanced Troubleshooting and Repair
Advanced Theory of Operation
Interconnect Diagrams
Schematics
Parts Layouts
Parts Lists
I used what they call the "Emergency" allignment procedure (no scope
avaliable) to allign a drive that had problems with a commercially
produced disk (PSI 5 Trading Co. from Accolade). You need an analog
volt-meter, and a video detector. They tell you how to build the
video detector from a pair of test leads, a 1Kohm resistor and a 0.01Mf
capacitor (total of $7.00 from Radio Shack). After doing the procedure,
the game works fine!
The Troubleshooting and Repair sections consist of flowcharts that
(hopefully) will lead you to the failing component. Again, these
are very detailed.
The Theory of Operation sections give a detailed description on
how all of the various systems in the 1541 operate.
My next project is to get the defunct 1540 drive, that has been sitting
on the floor below my desk for a year, running again.
The Book cost $19.95, and I bought it at B. Dalton (I have seen it at
Waldenbooks also).
--
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Dave Lowrey
"To vacillate or not to vacillate, that is the question....
....or is it?"
...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs}!amdahl!dwl10
[ The opinions expressed <may> be those of the author and not necessarily
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