Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #00612
To: beam beam@corp.sgi.com
From: Richard Piotter richfile@rconnect.com
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 22:14:36 -0600
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Powerbook Disk drive
Another good use for Old computers, whenever you start complaining about your
current computer, grab an old SE and use it for a day or two. When you return to
your computer, it feels soooooooooo nice and fast!!! (:
I might as well mention that the Powerbook eject motor is an OMRON R2DG-B01-30.
The physical dimentions are 20mm x 24mm x 10mm! Gear box and all! It has an open
ended plastic gear with an extending cam to pull the eject button. The end has
an actual area of exposed teeth from the cam gear, and it has a central mounting
hole, with two holes for "notches". Simple design, I guess!
I want to "raid" the local computer stores, except there AREN'T any!!! Small
towns are very annoying for hobyists! Grrrrr.....
"Feser, Jason" wrote:
>
> Well well. I have 4 or 5 old Mac SE's and classics gathering dust in my
> storage space. I thought they were only usefull as doorstops! They have
> the electronic eject drives, but I'm not sure if they are efficient motors
> (being really old), but I'll pull one apart tonight and check it out. If
> thats the case, then there are 10 or 20 'junk' computer stores kicking
> around vancouver that I can pillage from.
>
> Thanks for the tip! :^)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Piotter> Since i'm getting a new G3 soon, I decided to start salvaging my former
> computer, my Apple PowerBook 1400cs. I'm still using it till I get the G3,
> but I
> pulled the floppy drive and opened it!!! WOW!!! I knew the drive was small,
> but
> most of that thing is empty space just so it'll fit in the expansion bay (it
> also can hold a CD-ROM, so it has to be big enough for both). The drive is
> just
> millemeters wider than an actual disk and 3 mm longer than a disk. It's 14
> mm
> thick, or about 1/2 inch, and it has a high torque motor to eject the disk!
> The
> motor has a gear box with a switch sensor. The switch simply tells the logic
> that the motor has turned the gear a full rotation. The head positioning
> motor
> is 9 mm diameter and 8 mm long! It's TINY!!! It appears to be a micro
> stepper,
> capable of being driven by a microcore. It's so small and cool I'm tempted
> to
> leave it alone!!! The eject motor is unnecesary for opperation. I may take
> it
> out and glue a manual eject button like on PCs to it.
>
> I anyone ever sees a surplus of Mac disk drives, Old, new, or sub miniature,
> invest in them, cause I susspect the motors would be quite useful! I'm
> keeping
> my eyes open! I wish PCs had electronics eject! Imagine the abundance of
> motors
> we'd have then!!! Don't we wish! With the recent stray by apple from the
> floppy
> drive (no new Apple computers have a standard floppy drive. The G3s and
> iMacs
> have ditched them, which i think is pretty lame! en the powerbook G3
> requires
> you buy it seprate for $100! Stupid!). Seriously though, if Apple is
> ditching
> the traditional floppy for 3rd party 120MB superdisk drives, then it might
> not
> be at all suprising for a surge of used and unwanted old equipment
> (especialy
> with the old iMac going for as little as $900!) That equipment may include
> drives! I'll be watching the Macintosh surplus and refurbishing places for
> old
> drives, cause all Mac drives that i know f have a DC eject motor with a nice
> gear box! It's an akward shape and gear setup, but usable. I think people on
> the
> list have built robots with Mac eject motors.
>
> Looks like Apple's "elderly" machines might be reincarnated as robots!!! (:
--
Richard Piotter
richfile@rconnect.com
The Richfiles Robotics & TI web page:
http://members.xoom.com/richfiles
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