Couple new additions for me

[Vint]

I added a couple more machines to my collection this past week. I picked up a nice Radio Shack PC2 in great condition along with an 8k RAM module. Been wanting one of these for quite some time. I remember buying a PC1 way back when they first came out in 81 or thereabouts for like $280. My wife pitched a fit so I returned it. What a wimp I was - but ok it was a little spendy for the times, I guess.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=6

Also I picked up a Tandy 1100FD that I instantly fell in love with until I found it has a bad floppy. I'll have to replace the floppy, (quite a job because of the non-standard connectors), but then she'll be standing proud with my other goods. It came with the original manuals too. Contemplating stuffing a hard drive in the thing during the operation also. There's a place and a connector for one, would be nice.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=7

The Tandy came with original documentation too which is always nice:)

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=8

[Mike Chambers]

oooh! nice!! there's a computer parts recycling/sales type place about 20 minutes from here, a few months ago i saw an 1100FD just like that... should have bought it. i wonder if it's still there. if i recall correctly the price tag was $15, and i know it works since i turned it on.

[Vint]

Well Mike, speaking of parts/recycling I'm afraid I got a little carried away wresting the floppy drive out from in, around, and under the rest of the components.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=9

Here's how she looks right now. But I will have her back in shape in the near future. Notice the proprietary disk drive ribbon cable. Ouch! But I've found instructions on how to fashion a connector and also to use a standard 3.5" 1.44 meg drive in this thing even though the BIOS will still use the drive as a 720 k unit. Notice there is a space for a hard drive at the lower right side, where all the screws are now sitting.
So, if you can get an 1100 FD in working order for $15. - go for it!

[Mike Chambers]

Well Mike, speaking of parts/recycling I'm afraid I got a little carried away wresting the floppy drive out from in, around, and under the rest of the components.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=9

Here's how she looks right now. But I will have her back in shape in the near future. Notice the proprietary disk drive ribbon cable. Ouch! But I've found instructions on how to fashion a connector and also to use a standard 3.5" 1.44 meg drive in this thing even though the BIOS will still use the drive as a 720 k unit. Notice there is a space for a hard drive at the lower right side, where all the screws are now sitting.
So, if you can get an 1100 FD in working order for $15. - go for it!

i see you have a sandisk cruzer hehe.

here's a tip for that 1.44 MB drive you're putting in. install caldera DR-DOS 7.02 or 7.03 on that machine, and it will use the disks up to their full 1.44 MB potential. :)

figured that nice little bit of info out when i hooked up a 1.44 MB drive to an 8088 that should have never been able to do that. that flavor of DOS seems to bypass the BIOS completely for floppy access.

http://www.drdos.net/download.htm

get it there. ^

that page also has caldera OpenDOS available, but be warned i have no idea if that will do the same thing. i would assume, but i've only tested it with DR-DOS 7.02 and 7.03. you can write those disk images to 1.44 MB floppies on any computer you have and they'll boot fine like that.

as soon as the BIOS pulls the 512 bytes boot sector off the disk and executes it, BIOS floppy limitations mean nothing.

[NathanAllan]

Vint, I just noticed you're in Ohio, and I'm talking witha guy that does computer recycling in your state. He's going to let me know when another 'event' takes place so I can save some Commodore hardware, and I'll let you know when he gets back in touch.

Nathan

[Vint]

Great info on the floppy Mike, and thanks for the link to DR-DOS, I scarfed that right up:) It'll be cool using a full 1.44 on that drive. I still have a truckload of old 3.5" floppies in the closet, almost all 1.44 meg types.
Yes, I do have a 'cruzer' sitting there on the desk. In fact I sometimes get surrounded by my little toys on the desk. I may be 64 years old, but I still need my toys:)

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=10

Note in the lower front left in the picture is a Casio FX602P programmable calc. I bought that back around 1980 I believe and just the other day I put a couple coin cell type batteries in it and it still works perfectly. How sweet it is :D From old stuff to new. I guess it's the little kid in me that still wants to carry around marbles and a frog in his pocket.

Also thanks Nat. for the 'recycler' info.

[Mike Chambers]

Great info on the floppy Mike, and thanks for the link to DR-DOS, I scarfed that right up:) It'll be cool using a full 1.44 on that drive. I still have a truckload of old 3.5" floppies in the closet, almost all 1.44 meg types.
Yes, I do have a 'cruzer' sitting there on the desk. In fact I sometimes get surrounded by my little toys on the desk. I may be 64 years old, but I still need my toys:)

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=10

Note in the lower front left in the picture is a Casio FX602P programmable calc. I bought that back around 1980 I believe and just the other day I put a couple coin cell type batteries in it and it still works perfectly. How sweet it is :D From old stuff to new. I guess it's the little kid in me that still wants to carry around marbles and a frog in his pocket.

Also thanks Nat. for the 'recycler' info.

i know what you mean about the toys. i'm only 24, but for some reason i like playing with computers that are older than i am. there are a handful of us younger guys on here. i was surprised to find a few people younger than me here.

i kind of do a double take when i see like 16 and 17 year olds here that are big fans of stuff like the C64. it's weird, but there's something really cool about taking an XT and getting it on the interwebs. my favorite hobby is programming network apps for it. there's something really satisfying about going through and debugging thousands of lines of code, then when you're done... chatting with people on their fancy new-fangled dual cores from a machine that is less powerful than a DVD player.

now, me being in my mid-20's, we had an 8088 computer that i started my learning on so i guess that explains it for me. i don't know how the younger guys get into it though.

how much did that calc cost in 1980?

[Vint]

how much did that calc cost in 1980?

Ah yes the ol' Casio FX602P. I remember the day I bought it. I paid $100. for it. I was just researching the thing and apparently it was manufactured in 1981. Hard to remember dates sometimes, but I do remember that price.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=13

What's neat about it is that it does letters and numbers. I cut my teeth on a TI-59 programmable calculator and this Casio is better all around. I had paid right around $300. for the TI-59 and then an addition $200. for a printer attachment, the PC100A, I believe it was called. I bought the TI-59 back in 1977 I believe. I had a couple other programmable calcs before that - the TI-58 and before that the TI-57, at $100. and $50. respectively, as I recall. The TI's are long gone but this Casio is still with me, and runs like new. The keys are amazingly good for such an old machine.
Notice the little plug at the top of the Casio? That was a connector for an optional printer and cassette recorder. The FP10 and FA2 units. I've tried a couple times to buy these at auction but they were out of my price range. Someday I'll glom onto them and make my Casio complete.
Pretty fancy for 1981 :)

Yes, I hear what you say but I don't know why those not even as old as the machines they fancy would be enamored with vintage machinery. I'm glad they are, mind you, for the more interest the longer the machines will be around, - be salvaged and kept in use.
I like Commodore, for instance, because at one time or another I had most all of them - VIC-20, Plus4, C16, C64, C128, Amiga 600 - at one time all were in my stable. I've bought back all but the C16 and Amiga 600 now. I was there. I lived with them and played with them. They were part of my life. I used a C64 almost daily from 1984 to 1994 when I went the PC route.

[Druid6900]

Yeah, of all the calculators I've had, the only one I've hung on to is an old, plain-jane TI-50.

Nothing in the way of bells and whistles, but, it got me through my electronics course and that's a good enough reason for me to keep it.

[Druid6900]

now, me being in my mid-20's, we had an 8088 computer that i started my learning on so i guess that explains it for me. i don't know how the younger guys get into it though.


Well, Mike, could be the same reason that young people wear 60s/70s styles and "groove" on the tunes from that era. They missed it, but, there is something a little sad about people who are nostalgic for a time they didn't even live through.

Might be a different reason for every person.