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Hardware

IMG_0988
Hardware Vintage Computing 

Sharp Font Writer FW 600 Vintage 1984 Word Processor with Printer

April 29, 2025May 12, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment printer, sharp, word processor

In late 2022, I acquired the Sharp FW-600 Font Writer – a vintage word processor with a built-in printer, originally

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IMG_0108
Hardware Radio/TV Vintage Computing Windows Tips 

Toshiba 14AF43 14″ stereo CRT TV with composite, S-video and component inputs

June 29, 2024February 20, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment component input, composite, CRT TV, s-video

I came across the Toshiba 14AF43, a rare 14″ stereo CRT TV with composite, S-Video, component inputs, and decided to

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IMG_0099
Hardware Networking Vintage Computing VoIP Windows Tips 

Dial-up Internet access in 2024 using the Viking DLE-200B telephone line simulator

May 28, 2024October 21, 2024 ToughDev 2 Comments dial-up, DLE-200B, Internet access, mypal, phone line simulator, retrozilla

I got to know the Internet in secondary school, using a 33.6Kbps US Robotics dial-up modem on my Pentium I

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Tandy 100RSX Deskmate Bootup
Hardware Reverse-engineer Vintage Computing 

Tandy 2500RSX, a powerful 386 system by Tandy Corporation

April 16, 2024May 14, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment deskmate, ms dos, tandy

My first introduction to computers came in primary school with the Tandy 1000RSX, an 80386SX machine running at 25 MHz.

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tecsun radio lcd
Hardware Radio/TV Reverse-engineer 

Repairing a failed Tecsun S-8800 radio due to damaged charging board

September 2, 2023November 19, 2024 ToughDev 4 Comments s-8800, tecsun

In June, my Tecsun S-8800 which was purchased in Feb 2020 stopped working totally. It had started 2 months earlier

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dsPIC memory organization
General Programming Hardware Microcontroller Popular Articles Radio/TV Software Development 

dsMP3, my LW/MW/FM/SW radio with MP3 recording/playback [Part 2 – Firmware Design]

July 19, 2023May 16, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment ch375, ch376, dspic

UPDATE (May 2025) – Check out Hackaday’s write-up of the dsMP3 project here In my previous post I described how

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imageonline-co-straightend-image(1)
Hardware Microcontroller Popular Articles Radio/TV 

dsMP3, my LW/MW/FM/SW radio with MP3 recording/playback [Part 1 – Hardware Design]

May 15, 2023May 16, 2025 ToughDev 0 Comment ch375, ch376, dspic, rtc, si4735, tda1308

UPDATE (May 2025) – Check out Hackaday’s write-up of the dsMP3 project here Wondering why even high-end multiband radios such

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ch376_pinout
CodeProject Hardware Microcontroller 

Integrating FatFs FAT filesystem module with CH375/CH376 USB controller

April 25, 2023May 9, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment ch375, ch376, dspic, fatfs, spi

In a recent embedded project, I need to access data stored on a USB thumb drive using a dsPIC33EP512MC502. As

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DS0007 - Copy
Hardware Oscilloscope Reverse-engineer 

Rigol DS1054Z, GW-INSTEK GDS1054B and Hantek DSO4084C digital oscilloscopes

March 12, 2023September 10, 2023 ToughDev 1 Comment DS1054Z, DSO4084C, GDS1054B, hantek, instek, rigol

Over a period of five years I have bought myself three low-end modern digital oscilloscopes, the Rigol DS1054Z, GW-INSTEK GDS1054B

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PXL_20230328_032504608
Hardware Radio/TV 

Grundig GV509M, Panasonic NV-FJ625 and Phillips VR 330 VCR/VHS Player/Recorder

February 28, 2023January 28, 2024 ToughDev 0 Comment grundig, panasonic, phillips, vcr, vhs

In my store room I have a collection of three VCRs, Panasonic NV-FJ625, Phillips VR 330 and Grundig GV509M. The

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24c64
CodeProject General Programming Hardware Microcontroller 

Emulating EEPROM using flash memory on dsPIC33EP512MC502

January 17, 2023May 9, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment dspic, eeprom, flash, mplab, pickit4, xc16

One thing I don’t like about the dsPICEE3P (and the PIC32MX) lines is that these devices do not have EEPROM

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fsc_futro_s210_thinclient_up_t_1679241853_0985fc93_progressive
General Programming Hardware Networking Vintage Computing Windows Tips 

Fujitsu Siemens FSC Futro S210 thin client

December 27, 2022September 10, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment fujitsu, Futro, ms dos, thin client, windows 3.11, windows 98

I got from eBay a FSC Futro S210 thin client, which can support up to 512MB RAM, 32GB CompactFlash card

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g2b7h
CodeProject General Programming Hardware Software Development Vintage Computing Windows Tips 

Powering off a computer using ACPI from DOS

November 30, 2022April 4, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment a86, acpi, ms dos

By default, DOS does not come with a command to shut down or power off the computer. Back in the

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PXL_20230326_170052052
Hardware Networking Software Development Vintage Computing Windows Tips 

HP Compaq NC6120 laptop, the king of ports, a must-have for retrocomputing enthusiasts

July 27, 2022May 4, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment nc6120, windows 7, windows 98

In an attempt to find a laptop which has a parallel port but is modern enough to run Windows 7,

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PXL_20230324_153333703.MP
Hardware Oscilloscope 

Vintage oscilloscopes to the test: Hitachi VC-6025, GW-INSTEK GOS-6103 and Kenwood CS-5275

May 20, 2021May 4, 2023 ToughDev 0 Comment hitachi, instek, kenwood

After having fun with the VFO4351A 140MHz~4.4GHz RF signal generator on my Rigol and Hantek oscilloscopes, I decided to do

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About ToughDev

Since 2008, ToughDev has been extensively exploring a variety of technical topics—from software development to electronics design. Key areas of focus include Android and iOS programming, VoIP technologies, embedded systems using Arduino and PIC microcontrollers, reverse engineering, and retro-computing.

Recent highlights include running macOS Sequoia on a Dell Latitude, teardown of the vintage Tandy 2500RSX—a powerful 386 system by Tandy Corporation, the Super 8086 Box—a home-built PC XT emulator with full legacy hardware support— and the dsMP3, a custom-designed multi-band radio with MP3 recording and playback.

Got something cool or curious to share? Get in touch—whether it's a retro challenge, embedded puzzle, or deep tech curiosity, I’m always open to fresh ideas and unique projects. You can also learn more about what I do on the About ToughDev page

Recent Comments

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  • Анатолий on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
  • ToughDev on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
  • Анатолий on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
  • ToughDev on Programming the Tektronix TDS 340 100MHz digital storage oscilloscope
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  • Emery on Emulating dual Hercules+CGA monitors setup with DOSBox
  • D Knight on Open Windows Write (.WRI) files on modern versions of Windows with CWordPad
  • ToughDev on Portable 500m AM transmitter from AliExpress
  • ToughDev on Repairing a failed Tecsun S-8800 radio due to damaged charging board
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