https://blog.jgc.org/2022/10/childhood-toys-40-years-on-2-xl-works.html John Graham-Cumming's blog 2022-10-30 Childhood toys: 40 years on 2-XL works just fine Sitting and literally gathering dust on a shelf has been my childhood 2-XL toy. A few years ago I turned it on and it seemed to work but then it went back on the shelf. Today I sorted out a power supply for it (it needs 9V through a 3.5mm jack with +ve through the tip). [2-xl1] 2-XL uses an 8 track audio cassette with carefully arranged tracks to make it seem like it's intelligent and responding to input via the four buttons. Those four buttons are simply changing tracks but it's enough to allow 2-XL to ask questions and respond to your response. Where necessary there are interludes of space age sounds and even 2-XL telling jokes or whistling a tune. My 2-XL appears to date from 1978 and is a curious toy because many of the questions are about US culture in 1978. Must have been very hard to answer some of the questions at the time in the UK (e.g. at one point 2-XL hums the tune of The Andy Griffith Show which apparently ended in 1968!). Even 8 track players were an oddity in 1978 UK. [2-xl5] The only "repair" 2-XL needed was some isopropyl alcohol dripped into the volume control potentiometer (bottom left in the picture above). I used an insulin syringe to get the alcohol in there and this fixed annoying static/crunchy sounds when adjusting the volume. [2-xl2] On opening 2-XL by removing 13 screws I was ready for an internal mess and had the air duster ready. But the insides were pretty clean for something 44 years old. [2-xl3] I don't put this down to care taken with the toy. It's more down to the 13 screws and lip around the two edges that mean they connect tightly, the spring loaded flap on the 8 track door, and the material that covers the speaker grille on the back. Here's close up of the 8 track mechanism showing just how well it's lasted. [2-xl4] Here's a little taste of 2-XL in action at October 30, 2022 Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Labels: retro, toys No comments: Post a Comment Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Labels * pseudo-randomness * babbage * hardware * anti-spam * gnu make * security * codes and ciphers * the geek atlas * retro * mathematics * behind the screens * minitel * privacy * radio Popular Posts * [casio1] Pimping my Casio with Oddly Specific Objects' alternate motherboard and firmware Some time ago I bought a replacement motherboard for my classic Casio F-91W from Crowd Supply. The project keeps the original Casio LCD but... * [minitel] Adding a mode switch to my Minitel 2 In a previous installment of me messing around with Minitels, I modified a Minitel 2 to run alternate firmware from an EPROM. 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