Computers In Use At M0ASJ

M0ASJ runs five computers to perform a number of tasks. At the bottom end is a Cyrix PR133 unit, which has 32MB of RAM and hard disks of 1.2GB and 120MB. It has a 100MB network card installed and can connect, albeit quite slowly, to the Internet if required. The unit runs Windows 95 and Winpack 6.8. It is usually for use as a means of running packet radio but lately I have used it to connect via telnet to my local DX Cluster, GB7DXE.

The primary machine is a Pentium 4 with 512MB of RAM and a 60GB hard disk.  It runs Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, an OS I have come to like very much. This has now been updated having had a recent windows reinstall and the LANSUITE software removed as this task is now being performed by the Windows 2000 Server.

The Server is a Pentium 3 450MHZ unit containing 512MB of RAM with 13, 80 & 60GB hard disks. The unit has an HP5550 printer attached to it. It runs DHCP so it can allocate IP addresses to any machine logging on. It runs the web site  you see here and also the Internet Gateway. It is now fully operational and providing Internet and Printing Services to the other machines in the network. The Internet and email are served  up by means of a 512KB link using ADSL provided by BT Openworld. Despite the problems that some people seem to have with getting the service and also the performance of it I have nothing but praise for the thing. I had ADSL installed in March 2002 and the only thing that would have been nice is a free dialup account for when I am not at home. Other than that I have no complaints.

The fourth machine is a Pentium 2 350MHZ Machine with 256MB of RAM a 17GB hard disk.  It has access to the network printer and also storage.

 A PC For Under £35!

The fifth machine is an AMD K6-2 350MHZ unit with 256MB of RAM and 1.6GB Hard Disk. It is being tested as a replacement for the Cyrix unit currently running packet radio. It runs Windows 98SE. It was an exercise in assembling a computer for the least money possible. It started life as a P166 on a Microstar Motherboard which was a chuck out. This, I was reliably informed, worked OK but did not seem to make a sound when assembled here. I then got talking to a friend who had an old PC that he was no longer using having upgraded to an Athlon. He quite happily passed on the Case, CPU and Motherboard so that I could complete the project. The first snag though was that  the case contained a 150 watt power supply and this was not enough to run the CD ROM drive. It did allow me to check the other components though and these seemed OK. The drive even had a copy of Windows 95 on it so it confirmed that it was indeed serviceable. The solution came in the form of another case that I had with a 486 DX4-100 CPU in it. This contained the 200 watt PSU that I wanted. After re-soldering all the connections to the power switch the thing leapt into life and allowed me to begin formatting the drive. An ISA Graphics Card was pulled from the junk box to produce some video but this struggled to produce the resolution that I wanted. Another 2MB card was retrieved from the junk box to complete the computer. It was treated to a new network card bought from PC World for £10 with a 2m cable in the box. This little baby is a really good 100 Meg card and was quickly pressed into service to connect to the rest of the network. The CD ROM came from my P233 which was upgraded with a 52 speed Samsung unit bought from PC World for £20. The mouse on top is from Staples. I just needed a mouse and was not bothered with having no scroll wheel. This one cost just £4. I think they have now raised the price to £4.49 but it is still a cracker if you want a basic rodent.

So there it is, a computer for £35. Ok it is no Quake 2 machine but it will connect to the internet just fine and performs like a Rolls Royce of a machine for packet radio. It was an interesting exercise and one which I would urge anyone to try. If you succeed of course then you end up with a cheap second computer and you can learn a lot about building and fault finding along the way.

There is a sixth machine which is currently being used infrequently. This is a Pentium 233 containing  a 4GB Hard Disk running Red Hat Linux 8. This is purely as an exercise to discover the joys of Linux.

The whole system is connected using an 8 port 100 Meg 3COM hub. This was an upgrade from a D Link 10 Meg hub. While I winced at the cost of the thing it is an excellent piece of kit. There is also an IBM UPS, which will keep the system running for a few minutes in the event of a power failure.