Thanks everyone for the replies. Sorry for the long delay in replying back. I had some trouble for a while logging onto the forum but I've obviously got that sorted out now.
After thinking about it, I probably would have elected to keep this Bee in original condition if not for one problem. I may have to go with the new adapter that Ewan has made to use an external keyboard, as there are a few keys on this Bee that are rather dodgy. They have already been stripped and serviced once only a couple of years ago, but as many of us here know, sometimes we are just fighting a losing battle with some of these old key-switches.
If I do that then the Bee is no longer in original condition. The core board connectors could be changed for new ones at the same time. If I do that then I may as well do the update in crystal speed and char rom, update to Basic 5.22e, and add the telcom rom as well.
I am just thinking of asking Ewan nicely if he would mind doing these things if I package up the Bee and send it down to him. I don't have a vacuum de-soldering gun here, and there is no way I would trust myself not to lift pads trying to change the connectors using flux and wick on these nearly 40 year old boards. I really want a Hakko vacuum de-soldering station, but I don't have the money to invest in that right now.
After thinking about it, I probably would have elected to keep this Bee in original condition if not for one problem. I may have to go with the new adapter that Ewan has made to use an external keyboard, as there are a few keys on this Bee that are rather dodgy. They have already been stripped and serviced once only a couple of years ago, but as many of us here know, sometimes we are just fighting a losing battle with some of these old key-switches.
If I do that then the Bee is no longer in original condition. The core board connectors could be changed for new ones at the same time. If I do that then I may as well do the update in crystal speed and char rom, update to Basic 5.22e, and add the telcom rom as well.
I am just thinking of asking Ewan nicely if he would mind doing these things if I package up the Bee and send it down to him. I don't have a vacuum de-soldering gun here, and there is no way I would trust myself not to lift pads trying to change the connectors using flux and wick on these nearly 40 year old boards. I really want a Hakko vacuum de-soldering station, but I don't have the money to invest in that right now.