Commodore Pet 2001 Serial Number 1000001

[Dodger]

I have a Commodore Pet 2001 with the small keyboard and built in cassette deck. I bought it used when I was Student in 1978. The serial number on the back is 1000001. The machine looks in reasonably good condition except for the keboard which looks worn. It powers up but does not work as the screen just fills with random characters. I think however that there is a good chance I could get it going again.

I would really appreciate some advice. Is it possible I have got the very first production PET 2001? If I have is this something rare and valuable? Should I attempt to fix it?

Many thanks for your comments,

Roger.
Surrey, UK.

[Erik]

I have no idea how the serial numbers for these machines worked but I suspect you've got a good one either way.

The first thing I'd try would be to reseat the chips on the motherboard. That may well fix your problem right there.

Best of luck!

Erik

[carlsson]

I found the following PET 2001-8 machines through Google:

S/N 0012444, RaYzor
S/N 0028687, Ed Beroset
S/N 0029682, Greg Renda
S/N 0032059, Thomas Stepleton
S/N 0032923, Jeff Thompson
S/N 0041925, Bo Zimmerman (actually PET 2001N-8..)
S/N 0905303, "Desperado Designs"
S/N 1000001, Roger Wedlake (Dodger above?)
S/N 1000749, Adrian Graham
S/N 1001138, Ade Vickers
S/N 1006079, Andy Jones

There are reports about PETs in the 0010000 range too, which should be an early model. It may also be that Commodore reset the serial numbering with the N model (real keyboard), but based on the images posted with the serials above, it seems most of them are from the small keyboard model.

Probably they had several production facilities and used different numbering offset on each place, because I doubt the PET sold roughly one million units? Someone suggested the leading 1 indicates it is an UK or European model as opposed to US models. Otherwise I would say Roger's unit is a rather late one?

Serial numbering seems a little vague anyway; there have been attempts to put together lists of both VIC-20 and C64, and the correlation between serial number, model, production year and motherboard revision inside confuses me more than it brings clarity.

Anyway, if you have to open it to reseat chips (which often seems to be the case), you can take notice about any markings about motherboard revision which may be a better way to identify if it is special or "only" a 8K PET 2001.

[collectorcraig]

I can add one more serial number to Anders list. My Pet 2001-8 has serial number 0029140. It also has the small keyboard and built in cassette player. There is a picture of this micro on my website at: http://www.solomonson.net/Calculator3frameset.html

Craig Solomonson

[carlsson]

Hm, another low number in the US.. if 1xxxxxx really means European machine, would Roger's one be the first one manufactured for this market. I don't get 09xxxxx though. Probably not even CBM themselves would've known if they still had been around to ask.

[vic user]

you have an awesome garage craig!

chris

[Dodger]

Many thanks for the replies. Here are a couple of pictures. It makes sense to me that the 1000000 range of serial numbers is the 240v version for europe and the lower numbers the 110v machine. As you can see from my pic the first 1 in the serial number looks like it is printed on the label and the rest of the number is stamped on by machine. Inside the machine, on the board, I have white ceramic proms. Also I know that it has an early version of BASIC because I remeber having to alter some PEEK/POKE locations in programs to get them to work. Would this indicate an early machine?

By the way, the ribbon cable which you can just see coonected to the port on the left of the machine leads to an expansion memory board which I built myself.

I tried pushing all the socketed chips home to see if that would make it go but no luck. I'll try taking them out and cleaning the legs when I have some time. Are the ceramic proms delicate and liable to break?

Roger

http://www.wedlakes.co.uk/pet.jpg

http://www.wedlakes.co.uk/serialno.jpg

[Terry Yager]

It's beautiful.

--T

[Jorg]

Hmm.. what about this one? It is up for sale on ebay, I first thought it was 110V, but ut seems it isn't - serial 0619093

http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8191898605

I'm getting that 'I want it' feeling.. although I actually was looking for an N-model, being the first computer ever I worked with.

[carlsson]

Hm. Dodger's unit says 240V, 750 mA while the one on Dutch eBay says 220V, 600 mA. In the early 80'ties, I remember the outlets were 220V (at least in Sweden), but it has been increased to 230 or even 240V by today. Maybe it doesn't matter much for functionality, but strange if Commodore would produce PETs for European use with several different PSUs.

[barryp]

Hm. Dodger's unit says 240V, 750 mA while the one on Dutch eBay says 220V, 600 mA.

Here in the USA, our power is nominally 110 volts, sometimes 115, and then sometimes 120vac, often somewhere in between. Devices are generally designed to cope with variations.

[carlsson]

Ayep. But does that mean that different batches of one product can be labeled with different ratings? Or maybe one batch of Euro-PETs was meant for one country which already offically used 240V (UK?) and one batch was meant for another country which required official marking of 220V (Holland and Sweden?).

[billdeg]

I have a Commodore Pet 2001 ...does not work as the screen just fills with random characters.
I would really appreciate some advice. Is it possible I have got the very first production PET 2001? If I have is this something rare and valuable? Should I attempt to fix it?


I agree that RAM would be the first thing to try. You can get RAM if you hunt around a little. You'd replace one chip at a time. I would be extremely careful however. Are the chips soldered or socketed?