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Scaremonger
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2025 3:23 pm

Hi everyone

Post by Scaremonger »

Hi,
I was talking about vintage tech in the pub one evening and I mentioned the Psion Organiser that I used to sell when I was a Saturday boy (while at college) in an electrical store back in the late 80's.
I always liked the device and wondered if there would be any available and to my suprise there were lots of them on ebay. I bid on a couple and eventually purchased a 32k version of the XP with "Ferret Helper Plus 3.1N" on a 16k datapak and "Ferret DebtAid v2.0 demwise" on a 32k datapak.
I planned to see if I could retrofit it with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi zero, but finding out that it works makes me uncomfortable destroying a piece of history. I don't have a PC Link cable so at the moment I'm unsure what to do with it, except to use it as a good looking paperweight.
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Martin
Global Admin
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:18 pm

Hi everyone - Welcome

Post by Martin »

Hi Scaremonger

(1) Ferret Software.. There is a copy of "Ferret Helper Plus 5.1N" in the archive but NOT "Ferret DebtAid v2.0". Although these can be said to be obsolete I would be interested in archiving them both if you wouldn't mind lending them to me for a while. I could then UV format the packs for you so you have a couple of spare.

(2) What to do with your newly acquired Organiser XP?.. Firstly you could check out the "New owners / users - getting started" thread in (this) welcome section. Some people like to program their Organiser. There are some (quizes) and (games) available.

(3) Comms Link... Some members here have developed USB comms links that work with any Organiser and a Windows PC... The thesourcerer (a member here) runs the eBay store and has them when they are in stock.. Not sure if you need one! There is one in the (lone) section that you could 'try before you buy'

Welcome, great to have another 'new' user on board
Sincerely
Martin
amenjet
Posts: 395
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2023 7:54 pm

Re: Hi everyone

Post by amenjet »

Scaremonger wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2025 11:22 am Hi,
I was talking about vintage tech in the pub one evening and I mentioned the Psion Organiser that I used to sell when I was a Saturday boy (while at college) in an electrical store back in the late 80's.
I always liked the device and wondered if there would be any available and to my suprise there were lots of them on ebay. I bid on a couple and eventually purchased a 32k version of the XP with "Ferret Helper Plus 3.1N" on a 16k datapak and "Ferret DebtAid v2.0 demwise" on a 32k datapak.
I planned to see if I could retrofit it with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi zero, but finding out that it works makes me uncomfortable destroying a piece of history. I don't have a PC Link cable so at the moment I'm unsure what to do with it, except to use it as a good looking paperweight.
I have retro fitted a RP Pico into the Organiser 2. Info here Over 10 parts to that series...):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2YWStDrQIs

I didn't use a Pi zero or CM4 type device due to the power consumption and mechanical fit. the PCBs with the Pico on replace the two PCBs in the original. If you use a PicoW then Wifi is a possible, and BT. I use one of these now instead of an original LZ64, but the code is just doing what I need, basically FIND and SAVE, stored in the internal flash of the Pico, but still using the Organiser file system format as it;s good for flash type device storage. The Pico USB is used for communication with a PC, there's a CLI and a mass storage device on that. All very much work in progress, but it exists.
Scaremonger
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2025 3:23 pm

Re: Hi everyone - Welcome

Post by Scaremonger »

Martin wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2025 3:06 pm Hi Scaremonger

(1) Ferret Software.. There is a copy of "Ferret Helper Plus 5.1N" in the archive but NOT "Ferret DebtAid v2.0". Although these can be said to be obsolete I would be interested in archiving them both if you wouldn't mind lending them to me for a while. I could then UV format the packs for you so you have a couple of spare.

(2) What to do with your newly acquired Organiser XP?.. Firstly you could check out the "New owners / users - getting started" thread in (this) welcome section. Some people like to program their Organiser. There are some (quizes) and (games) available.

(3) Comms Link... Some members here have developed USB comms links that work with any Organiser and a Windows PC... The thesourcerer (a member here) runs the eBay store and has them when they are in stock.. Not sure if you need one! There is one in the (lone) section that you could 'try before you buy'

Welcome, great to have another 'new' user on board
Sincerely
Martin
Thanks for the info; I'll send you a private message about "Ferret DebtAid v2.0".

As for the Comms link... If I plan to replace it's internals I need to decide if I want the extra hardware or replace the top interface with USB...

S...
Scaremonger
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2025 3:23 pm

Re: Hi everyone

Post by Scaremonger »

amenjet wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2025 4:33 pm
Scaremonger wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2025 11:22 am Hi,
I was talking about vintage tech in the pub one evening and I mentioned the Psion Organiser that I used to sell when I was a Saturday boy (while at college) in an electrical store back in the late 80's.
I always liked the device and wondered if there would be any available and to my suprise there were lots of them on ebay. I bid on a couple and eventually purchased a 32k version of the XP with "Ferret Helper Plus 3.1N" on a 16k datapak and "Ferret DebtAid v2.0 demwise" on a 32k datapak.
I planned to see if I could retrofit it with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi zero, but finding out that it works makes me uncomfortable destroying a piece of history. I don't have a PC Link cable so at the moment I'm unsure what to do with it, except to use it as a good looking paperweight.
I have retro fitted a RP Pico into the Organiser 2. Info here Over 10 parts to that series...):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2YWStDrQIs

I didn't use a Pi zero or CM4 type device due to the power consumption and mechanical fit. the PCBs with the Pico on replace the two PCBs in the original. If you use a PicoW then Wifi is a possible, and BT. I use one of these now instead of an original LZ64, but the code is just doing what I need, basically FIND and SAVE, stored in the internal flash of the Pico, but still using the Organiser file system format as it;s good for flash type device storage. The Pico USB is used for communication with a PC, there's a CLI and a mass storage device on that. All very much work in progress, but it exists.
This is interesting; I've subscribed and will go through them at the weekend.
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