My latest acquisition

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Larry
Senior Member
Posts: 2269
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:42 am
Location: Gosford, NSW Australia

My latest acquisition

Post by Larry »

https://flic.kr/p/WcFtCF
Novag Star Sapphire, excellent condition. I've already got one, but at
GBP60 buy-it-now, what was I to do? I just happen to have a mint empty
SS box with a signal lead sitting idly by. Could'nt resist it!
It arrived this morning.
I've seen the insides of the SS, and my advice to any owners of one
is to not subject it to any impact. The flexible clear plastic signal lead
which almost all chess computers have is not clamped into place. Rather,
it is glued into place...and of course the glue is approaching 20 years old.
So go easy with it. Not a good idea to use an SS as a travelling chess
computer nowadays. If the SS was to be dropped onto a carpeted floor
from waist height, a couple of files or ranks could go kaput. I can tell
you, the insides of hand held chess computers are super fiddly. I think
they were put together by Chinese teenage girls with hands half the
size of ours.
L
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Dave C
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Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2015 1:50 am
Location: SoCal, US

Post by Dave C »

Hi Larry,

Very nice addition to your collection. Your new Star Sapphire appears to be brand new in the box. I understand there are times that you just can not pass up a very good price on an item. I have a couple of doubles because of the same situation.

Enjoy,
Dave
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fourthirty
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Posts: 763
Joined: Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:46 pm
Location: San Francisco

Post by fourthirty »

Larry,

Wow - great price! It never hurts to have a spare (especially with our hobby). I've also purchased a few duplicate computers in my collection as a backup (when I find a rare deal on eBay or Amazon that I just can't pass up).

Redundant Regards,
Greg
Larry
Senior Member
Posts: 2269
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:42 am
Location: Gosford, NSW Australia

Post by Larry »

Thanks guys, I seem to a thing about owning two of a particular
model. Got two of each of a number of stronger ones. Got this one for
a good price but I've overpaid for some, too. All comes out in the wash...
L
PS I know I misspelt "acquisition" in my subject heading. :)
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

Larry wrote: PS I know I misspelt "acquisition" in my subject heading. :)
Looks Fine To Me Regards
Steve
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paulwise3
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Posts: 1505
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:56 am
Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands

Post by paulwise3 »

Hi Larry,

Congrats :-). I am sure that this one compensates for two or more overpaid ones!
I myself am not prepared to overpay for a second one that I already have. But I do have a number of doubles, and also clones. Last year a number of them became unique ones because I had them tuned. For instance the Excalibur Grandmaster 24 mhz and the Centurion 40 mhz (GK2100 clone) really gave a great performance boost and played good games!

Best regards,
Paul
2024 Special thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12741
2024 Special results and standings: https://schaakcomputers.nl/paul_w/Tourn ... 25_06.html
If I am mistaken, it must be caused by a horizon effect...
Spartacus
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Posts: 41
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2016 6:52 pm
Location: Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, England

Re: My latest acquisition

Post by Spartacus »

Larry wrote:https://flic.kr/p/WcFtCF
Novag Star Sapphire, excellent condition. I've already got one, but at
GBP60 buy-it-now, what was I to do? I just happen to have a mint empty
SS box with a signal lead sitting idly by. Could'nt resist it!
It arrived this morning.
I've seen the insides of the SS, and my advice to any owners of one
is to not subject it to any impact. The flexible clear plastic signal lead
which almost all chess computers have is not clamped into place. Rather,
it is glued into place...and of course the glue is approaching 20 years old.
So go easy with it. Not a good idea to use an SS as a travelling chess
computer nowadays. If the SS was to be dropped onto a carpeted floor
from waist height, a couple of files or ranks could go kaput. I can tell
you, the insides of hand held chess computers are super fiddly. I think
they were put together by Chinese teenage girls with hands half the
size of ours.
L
Hi Larry, what about the Star Diamond do you own one of them or two?
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Fernando
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Posts: 3059
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:35 pm
Location: Santiago de Chile

Post by Fernando »

paulwise3 wrote:Hi Larry,

Congrats :-). I am sure that this one compensates for two or more overpaid ones!
I myself am not prepared to overpay for a second one that I already have. But I do have a number of doubles, and also clones. Last year a number of them became unique ones because I had them tuned. For instance the Excalibur Grandmaster 24 mhz and the Centurion 40 mhz (GK2100 clone) really gave a great performance boost and played good games!

Best regards,
Paul
What do you mean with "tuned"? Do you overclock them? in any case, how do you get the more from Grandmaster Excalibur?

Willing to mess around regards
Fern
Festina Lente
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paulwise3
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Posts: 1505
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:56 am
Location: Eindhoven, Netherlands

Post by paulwise3 »

Fernando wrote: What do you mean with "tuned"? Do you overclock them? in any case, how do you get the more from Grandmaster Excalibur?

Willing to mess around regards
Fern
Hi Fern,

Yes, for the Excalibur Grandmaster it is sufficient to solder a faster crystal instead of the current one, and then it runs at 24 MHz instead of 12 MHz.
However the clock also runs twice as fast, so all the levels become halved, e.g. 3 min/move becomes 1,5 min/move.
But as I intend to mainly use it for active chess (30 sec/move or 30 min/game) there is no problem for me, since I can use the levels 60 sec/move and 60 min/game instead.
For longer thinking time you could try to use level 1, which adapts its thinking time to the time you use for your moves...

PS: The technical part (changing crystals, soldering) I did not do myself, I had it done at Klingenberg last year by a German chessfriend. If you want more details then send me a mail or PM. Or maybe one of the other guys around here can help you further.

Grandmaster Double Nelson regards,
Paul
2024 Special thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12741
2024 Special results and standings: https://schaakcomputers.nl/paul_w/Tourn ... 25_06.html
If I am mistaken, it must be caused by a horizon effect...
Larry
Senior Member
Posts: 2269
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:42 am
Location: Gosford, NSW Australia

Re: My latest acquisition

Post by Larry »

Spartacus wrote:
Hi Larry, what about the Star Diamond do you own one of them or two?
Just the one measly Star Diamond. And to make matters worse, my
SD has the dreaded "French bug" we discussed here a few years back.
Not familiar with the French bug?
L
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