My friend found this artifact in the attic of an abandoned university premises. I knew as a teenager that “computers started” at PC XT and then there was 286, 386 etc., but I never actually encountered PC XT, my first PC experience (apart from some terminals at school) was 286. I recently saw The Beekeeper with Jason Statham and FBI was using PC XT computers with these green screens (the only thing memorable from that movie). So surely I was excited to get my hands on one. This was obviously import from USA, most likely second hand, but should have been quite expensive at a time. The monitor cable was severed at the connector, likely because it was connected directly into some transformer, since it was 110V. I haven’t risked to turn it on and proceeded for careful renewal.

This is not the first CRT monitor I had been working on, so I know the safety drill. I basically followed the instructions from this article to upgrade power supply: https://retrorepairsandrefurbs.com/2025/06/06/1983-ibm-5151-personal-computer-display-restoration-modifications/

As you can see I also added additional insulation to anode cable next to transformer as it was starting to crack (or it looked like that). I used a dedicated liquid insulation that you can brush on, something similar to epoxy.

Since this monitor requires MDA (monochrome display adapter), you can’t just connect to any VGA card. So I found this ATI Small Wonder ISA video card that has configurable support for different old displays. I hooked it up on my 386SX and connected the monitor. And after a bit of fiddling with Brenstuhl ground protection unit, I was able to get the output on the screen. This is magical, after changing the whole PSU, replacing caps and removing components it just works!

For the actual PC I initially thought of using PicoPSU Adaptor ISA adapter and bought one. However the problem I did not foresee is that 160W power supply might need active cooling and where would I mount the fan if using ISA card. Also I wanted to be able to use big red on/off switch, which meant removing PSU and cutting some cables. So eventually I realized that I needed different board from the same vendor – ATX4VC! But what the hell, I can do some soldering and 3D modelling to make ISA card work as that one.

I’ve also installed a PicoMEM card. Original HDD does not seem to be detected by BIOS, dead maybe. Video card had giving me glitches like blinking graphics on top halve of the screen and some other analog glitches. Switching o Ati Small Wonder fixed the problem, so there is apparently some malfunction with graphic card and likely memory.

Now just need to install DOS.