Pete:
As an alternative to building a contest or general purpose shack machine
from scratch, have you considered these (NO assembly required):
http://www-304.ibm.com/shop/americas/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/default/CategoryDisplay?storeId=124&catalogId=-124&langId=124&categoryId=2576395
Many are HT 3GHz P4s and all are built as only IBM can build things, c/w
serial and parallel ports and even floppy drives in some models and XP-Pro
already installed. Some are under $200 incl shipping. Detailed
documentation is available from the website.
I have purchased several of these for my own use and for customers (I'm a
small WISP) and all have worked as advertised. A few of them were in
pristine condition - perhaps had never been deployed.
STD DISCLAIMER: I am not associated with IBM in any way and have no
connection with the sale of these machines. They just represent excellent
value, IMHO.
--
73, doug ve5uf
At 05:44 2/6/2009, Pete Smith wrote:
>At 11:03 PM 2/5/2009, Jim George wrote:
> >Thanks to all for the suggestions. Most suggested I run SMARTDRV. Believe
> >it or not, I was using DOS 5.0, which does not support either DEFRAG or
> >SMARTDRV. My friend and wizard in a number of areas here, Jim, W5JAW,
> >helped me find a nice new OEM version of DOS 6.22 and then installed it
> >with me looking over his shoulder. The DEFRAG helped a little, however the
> >SMARTDRV really did the job. It seems to me (unscientific) that when I
> >moved from my standby TR 6.78 to TR 6.93, the program ran slower on my
> >albatross PC. In any event, going to SMARTDRV did the trick and now my 66
> >MHz IBM PC is running TR like a champ again. It had gotten so slow that it
> >was taking 4 to 5 seconds to "process" a QSO and complete the logging.
> >Obviously that was not going to work.
> >
> >Thanks to several of you who suggested the SMARTDRV and to W5JAW who helped
> >me switch over.
> >
> >Jim N3BB
>
>Congrats, Jim - you win the prize for the oldest, slowest computer and
>operating system still in use by a top-grade contester! A 66 MHz IBM! wow
>- words fail me!
>
>Actually, the serious point of this message is to suggest that people take
>a look at just how cheap a decently competent computer is these days. I
>just bought one (in pieces) to use as a dedicated machine for CW
>Skimmer. Total cost, including Windows XP operating system and a wireless
>network adapter, was $375. If anyone is interested I'll be happy to share
>the details. I'm no hardware or software jock, had only built one machine
>from scratch before, but this time went very smoothly. I could have
>updated the main shack computer, but cringed at the thought of
>re-installing literally hundreds of programs, so I went this route instead,
>and I'm very glad I did.
>
>73, Pete N4ZR
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