Tandy Professional Forum   Section: T1000/1400/3000/4K
Subject: Tandy 1100 FD   Total messages: 11
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#62307   6 Replies   07/27/96   23:01:12
From: Jim Cooper, 73053,607
To:   All

Friends:

Believe it or ot, even though I have a Pentium in the offic and a
486 at home, my lowly 1100FD is still in regular use.  It's been
back and forth to Africa a couple of times, and seen duty in all
kinds of out of the way places in the US -- most recently a
friend's cabin on Lake Wallenpaupak, PA.

It was there that the single 720 floppy drive in my 1100FD
started giving trouble.  I think it is just wearing out and needs
to be replaced.

1)  Is it possible to replace it myself with a 1.44?  I know the
OS in ROM wouldn't like it much, but I would be willing to boot
from a floppy to start.

2)  How do you get the case open to expose the drive without
breaking it?

3)  If I took it in to Radio Shack, what are the odds that they
could actually fix it at a reasonable price?  Is it remotely
possible that there are still parts available.

4)  Hey, while we are dreaming, is it possible to have it
upgraded to the HD model by installing a hard drive?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, because I
really like this little guy a lot.  It fills an important niche
in my computing life.

Thanks,

Jim.




#62309   Reply to #62307   07/28/96   13:50:01
From: Robert A. Hengstebeck, 76417,2751
To:   Jim Cooper, 73053,607

Jim, I know that I am not an expert on this subject, but for what
its worth I think that you would be best served to look for the
original type 720k floppy drive.  The reason is that the clock
speed of the computer is not capable of handling the higher
capacity drive.  There is a definite different rate of data
transfer between the two types of drives.  However, I do think
that you may be able to get an external hard drive that you can
run off of the printer port.  Check the computer magazines on
this.


#62310   Reply to #62307   3 Replies   07/28/96   15:37:25
From: George A. Perales, 103364,1263
To:   Jim Cooper, 73053,607

Hi Jim, I have (2) 1100 FD's and (1) 1110 HD (the version with a
20 mb HD).

Like you, I have 54 Pentiums in my offices(s).
But I still have lots of use for my  FD's and HD model. In fact,
this is being written on my 1110 HD.

I've had all of mine serviced at one time or another. I have
extensive shop contacts, so I've researched this fully. Use RS.


Your local RS store will give you a close estimate on repairs,
there will be a small fee up front for technical diagnosis, they
will forward your unit to the repair center, and then the
repair center will tell you exactly what charges will be.
the decision to repair/or not will be yours.

I had trouble with a FD drive, the problem was found to be in the
motherboard. I too wanted to replace w/ a 1.44 unit. The software
and hardware will not handle it. An off-the-shelf FD may blow
your motherboard because of incompatible electronics.

All parts are "proprietary", so that eliminates local shops.They
will also have to go to Tandy repairs to get parts and charge you
cost + ..
You may as well go to RS to begin with and cut out the
middle-man.
All repairs, parts are warrantied from RS.

I find my unit very handy, since I'm disabled and find desk-tops

hard to move around. I even have a Pentium laptop.

My 1100 FD's have been all over the world, since I had to do
onsite
visits to the UK, England, S. America, China, and the Pacific.
They have been very dependable. With an external fax-modem my
communications are very complete. I can also use hotel fax for a
printer.

I agree totally. These are GREAT MACHINES !!!!



#62311   Reply to #62310   07/28/96   18:21:30
From: Jim Cooper, 73053,607
To:   George A. Perales, 103364,1263

George:

Thanks very much for your answer.  I suspected much of what you
said, but hearing it from someone with actual experience is very
helpful.

I do all the repairs and upgrading of PC's in a small private
school, but the 1100FD is just weird enough that I have hesitated
about taking it apart myself.  I'd be very unhappy with myself if
I destroyed it.  So off to RS we go.

Thanks again.

Jim.


#62313   Reply to #62307   07/28/96   22:38:10
From: David Firth, 76467,1734
To:   Jim Cooper, 73053,607

I doubt you'll get the 1.44 to work. Sorry.

Opening the case isn't hard. I have an 1100FD and the manual. You
have to keep track of the parts carefully, though. Not all of the
screws are identical.

RS might have some parts yet. The drones running the place
probably won't recognize the machine, though.

It is a rugged little beast -- and the reflective screen is great
for outdoors. I still use mine to complement my 486.


#62314   Reply to #62307   07/28/96   22:41:01
From: David Firth, 76467,1734
To:   Jim Cooper, 73053,607

I almost forgot -- you CAN add a Backpack 1.44 MB external
floppy. I've run my 1100FD with both the Backpack 1.44 MB 3.5"
and the 1.2 MB 5.25" drives.  The clock speed is NOT the issue.


The BIOS is the issue.

The Backpack driver extends the BIOS and works fine.  It isn't
real portable, though.  It is neat to have drives D: (RAMdisk),
E: (Backpack #1), and F: (Backpack #2) running on the little
laptop that could.  I wish I had one of the parallel port hard
disks.  THAT would be a blast.


#62315   Reply to #62310   07/28/96   22:44:18
From: David Firth, 76467,1734
To:   George A. Perales, 103364,1263

Out of curiosity, what price ranges to repair? Mine suffered a
physical jolt on the adapter jack which is an annoyance when
charging (there must be a hairline crack in the PCB or a damaged
jack).  I repaired a cracked trace which helped, but I would be
interested in repairing it.

RS still carry batteries?



#62321   Reply to #62307   07/31/96   04:03:31
From: Richard Kanarek, 72371,111
To:   Jim Cooper, 73053,607

Hello.

1. No. Quite impossible.
2. I did it but don't remember how. I do have the service manual, yell
   if you want me to photocopy & mail the directions (which I assume are
   in there).
3. Pretty good, I'd *guess*.
4. No you couldn't. What you could do is:
   a. add an external parallel port HD or similar (make sure the driver
      for the drive will run on an 8088!).
   b. find the Panasonic EMS adaptor card for the Business Partner 150B
      (which is what a Tandy 1100FD really is). Installing it would, I
      think, require removing the DeskMate option. The EMS card can be
      configured as a 1mb solid state HD (a bit more if you add stacker).
      Advantages:
       Computer remains compact.
       No boot floppy required (one is require with the parallel port HD,
         I think)
      Disadvantages:
       You have almost no chance of finding a EMS card.
       The EMS card has no backup battery. If the main battery goes, so
         goes your data.
       1mb just isn't a lot of space.
      Note that I have the 150B not an actual FD1100 so I could be mistaken
      about the above information.

Happy computing!



Cordially,
Richard Kanarek


#62973   Reply to #62307   1 Reply   03/16/97   03:45:00
From: John Broderick, 105647,2226
To:   Jim Cooper, 73053,607



  Hey, cool, I use an 1100FD too.  It's the only computer I have

 right now, and it does ok for the time being.  I got mine free

 from my sister, who used it during college...

   I managed to get the case completely open without a manual,
 but you have to pay close attention and be CAREFUL.  The
 screen has to hang by its wires until you can get them
unplugged,
 and there is one part (the front where the latch is, if I
remember
 correctly) that snaps together, and needs to be gingerly
unsnapped.

  My sister likes to neglect stuff for extended periods of time,

 and she and her roommate have an Akita and a Beagle, so when
 I got the computer the keyboard was full of dog-hair.  I
actually
 removed all the keys, cleaned underneath them, cleaned each
key,
 and put it all back together.  What a pain in the ass that was.


  I've got mine hooked to a USR Sportster 14.4k faxmodem but
 I make sure to keep the connect speed at 9600.

  I've always wondered whether these things were still in use,
 and it's really interesting to hear the stories about them.
 I can see where people like them, what with their light weight

 and simplicity.

  I did see something about the non-Tandy labeled models
 having backlit displays.  Does the Tandy have a backlit
 display?

                                        Regards,
                                              John




#62980   Reply to #62310   03/17/97   15:30:11
From: Bill Loesch, 74407,1423
To:   George A. Perales, 103364,1263

My 1100 FD's have been all over the world, since I had to do
onsite
visits to the UK, England, S. America, China, and the Pacific.
They have been very dependable. With an external fax-modem my
communications are very complete. I can also use hotel fax for a
printer.

I agree totally. These are GREAT MACHINES !!!!

Hi George,

Please tell me more about the way you have installed and are
using the (which one?) external fax modem.

I have a 2810HD and while the internal 2400 speed Ven-Tel data
modem, is convenient, I do miss the fax capability.

TIA, Bill


#63002   Reply to #62973   04/04/97   04:40:11
From: Richard Kanarek, 72371,111
To:   John Broderick, 105647,2226

Hello.

Since you said you like to hear about them...
Your Tandy is actually a CF-150 without the DeskMate ROM card. I own
a CF-150B which is Backlit. My unit has a 1MB EMS RAM/"HD" card where
your's has the DeskMate card.
Apparently AT&T gave them away to stores which accept phone returns. My
local Hardware store has one in use for logging phone returns. (Note: I'm
assuming it's AT&T thats accepting the phones back but it could be my
local phone company instead.)

Cordially,
Richard Kanarek


