Growing up in England, there were a number of popular home compusters,
ZX80 and ZX81 were popular kit and prebuilt systems that were
affordable. The Vic20 comes along with the BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, the Commodore 64 and TI99/4a were all popular also.

I owned the ZX81 which I sold after getting my Vic-20. The Vic was
eventually sold to fund the purchase of a BBC Micro which I collected a
large amount of equipment for including a hard drive, modem, sideways
ram with real time clock, AMX mouse, floppy drives, a bunch of
ROMS...and let me parents take it all to the tip after I moved to the
US.

Who would want some old 8 bit tat that barely worked?

30 years later. I DO!!!!

After finding a BBC for sale in the US, I started to regain my
collection, picking up a floppy drive, a modern real time clock
solution, gotek, so I don't need a hard drive, AMX mouse, printer and
other bits and bobs, I decided to start collecting other stuff I owned
or touched in my childhood.

I have two broken 48K ZX Spectrums that I'm working on repairing, a UK Commodore 64 and a US Vic-20. Recently I picked up a TI44/9a and a
TRS-80 which is as close as I could get to the Video Genie we had at
school.

Right now I'm on the look out for games for the TI99/4a, if anyone has
any to sell. I would also like to pick up another UK computer system,
the Dragon 32 and I'll eventually get a ZX81 but in no rush to fill
that little hole. I'm also looking for a V23 auto answer modem for the
BBC Micro so that'd be like a Pace Nightingale, Magic Modem or WS2000.

So, what is in your retro collection and what bits are you looking for?
We might be able to help each other out, if not directly then via other
groups we know.

Oh yes, I picked up an Osborne 1, the worlds first luggable computer.
That definitely needs a bit of TLC.
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End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Nigel Reed to FSXNET.FSX_RETRO on Mon Feb 19 2024 23:01:00

Hi, Nigel.

After finding a BBC for sale in the US, I started to regain my
collection, picking up a floppy drive, a modern real time clock
solution, gotek, so I don't need a hard drive, AMX mouse, printer and
other bits and bobs, I decided to start collecting other stuff I owned
or touched in my childhood.

Nice - I hated BBC micros in school, probably because I was never allowed on them because I "already knew computers" but I saved one from a skip circa 20 years ago and, now I'm an old grunter, I've decided to explore it. It just made it to my desk last night after a short stint in the repair area (the loft). It's a good job it came in via the loft because the power supply burnt up a RIFA capacitor which *stunk*... Anyway, it's awaiting a colour composite mod and I will probably stick an ESP8266 serial-to-wifi inside it for BBSing.

Have you done anything with the ROM sockets? I'm thinking of cobbling together something with battery backed SRAM so I can choose which "ROMs" to run at any given moment.

I was going to suggest Vela's BeeBS board to you but I can see you already found it :)

So, what is in your retro collection and what bits are you looking for?
We might be able to help each other out, if not directly then via other groups we know.

Got: BBC B, Acorn A3020, Pentium I laptop (does that count? It's a real pain finding an OS for it these days!)

Want: Would love a C64 again, not a lofty goal, but having seen a YouTube video recently where someone had new old stock of the C64 "Light Fantastic" edition, which is what I had (or rather shared) as a kid... that would be the absolute win.



BobW
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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Bob Worm to Nigel Reed on Tue Feb 20 2024 08:57:44

Nice - I hated BBC micros in school, probably because I was never allowed on them because I "already knew computers" but I saved one from a skip circa 20 years ago and, now I'm an old grunter, I've decided to explore it. It just made it to my desk last night after a short stint in the repair area (the loft). It's a good job it came in via the loft because the power supply burnt up a RIFA capacitor which *stunk*... Anyway, it's awaiting a colour composite mod and I will probably stick an ESP8266 serial-to-wifi inside it for BBSing.

You never forget your first RIFA :) I think I pointed you to Mark at Retroclinic. He sells a recap kit so you don't have to go find those caps.

Have you done anything with the ROM sockets? I'm thinking of cobbling together something with battery backed SRAM so I can choose which "ROMs" to run at any given moment.

Yup, Mark also sells a multirom which includes some sideways ram so you can load images into memory.

A guy called Kent Lowe has recreated the Intigra-B board which contains a number of added ROM sockets and 4 banks of battery backed sideways ram + RTC. It's a touch on the expensive side. You can check it out here and see if he has any left for sale. It's a pretty easy install.

https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19392

I was going to suggest Vela's BeeBS board to you but I can see you already found it :)

Oh yeah. I'm familir with it :)

Got: BBC B, Acorn A3020, Pentium I laptop (does that count? It's a real pain finding an OS for it these days!)

You could always run FreeDOS on it or an early version of Slackware.

Want: Would love a C64 again, not a lofty goal, but having seen a YouTube video recently where someone had new old stock of the C64 "Light Fantastic" edition, which is what I had (or rather shared) as a kid... that would be the absolute win.

Go for the win!
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Nigel Reed wrote to FSXNET.FSX_RETRO <=-

So, what is in your retro collection and what bits are you looking for?
We might be able to help each other out, if not directly then via other groups we know.

I've cleared out my collection but would love to find another Thinkpad
T43, a Thinkpad 600, one of those Toshibas with the gas plasma screens,
a Toshiba T1100, or a Compaq Portable II/III.



... The answers will be found in the logs.
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Re: Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nigel Reed on Tue Feb 20 2024 06:50:00

I've cleared out my collection but would love to find another Thinkpad
T43, a Thinkpad 600, one of those Toshibas with the gas plasma screens,
a Toshiba T1100, or a Compaq Portable II/III.

Check out the Vintage Computer Sales group on FB. Laptops like these are always popping up or you could post a request.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103793056560583
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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Bob Worm to Nigel Reed on Tue Feb 20 2024 08:57:44

burnt up a RIFA capacitor which *stunk*... Anyway, it's awaiting a colour composite mod and I will probably stick an ESP8266 serial-to-wifi inside it

Actually, why bother? You can get an RGB to SCART cable pretty cheap and then SCART to HDMI box. Works great on my 73" LCD TV. It even recognized my BBC as PAL.
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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Nigel Reed to Bob Worm on Tue Feb 20 2024 13:24:15

Anyway, it's awaiting a colour composite mod

Actually, why bother? You can get an RGB to SCART cable pretty cheap and then SCART to HDMI box. Works great on my 73" LCD TV. It even recognized my BBC as PAL.

I was thinking of doing something with the RGB but this particular pathway had not occurred to me. I might well do that - it would also pretty much complete my collection of converters and capture boxes :)

I already did the RIFAs, thanks - put some 450V polypropylene jobs in their place so they should out-last me...

I'm more a maker than a buyer - I downloaded the schematics yesterday to get a feel for what's involved. I also did my first little bit of BBC programming since.... the 80s? Suprisingly bearable BASIC on the Beeb!


BobW
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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Bob Worm to Nigel Reed on Tue Feb 20 2024 21:36:16

Actually, why bother? You can get an RGB to SCART cable pretty cheap and then SCART to HDMI box. Works great on my 73" LCD TV. It even recognized my BBC as PAL.

I was thinking of doing something with the RGB but this particular pathway had not occurred to me. I might well do that - it would also pretty much complete my collection of converters and capture boxes :)

The good thing about a SCART to HDMI box is that you can then get x to SCART cables for other retro machines and you're good to go.

I already did the RIFAs, thanks - put some 450V polypropylene jobs in their place so they should out-last me...

Let's hope the other caps do, too :)
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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Nigel Reed to Bob Worm on Tue Feb 20 2024 03:50 pm

I was thinking of doing something with the RGB but this particular pathway

The good thing about a SCART to HDMI box is that you can then get x to SCART cables for other retro machines and you're good to go.

I've seen RGB to HDMI adapters. What would be the advanrage of using SCART in this case instead of RGB? (I've never used SCART, so I'm just curious; I thought SCART was another analog TV connection standard)

Nightfox

Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Nightfox to Nigel Reed on Tue Feb 20 2024 16:17:34

I've seen RGB to HDMI adapters. What would be the advanrage of using SCART in this case instead of RGB? (I've never used SCART, so I'm just curious; I thought SCART was another analog TV connection standard)

For you, none, because SCART is just another analog TV connection standard, but it's used in Europe.

To go from the BBC Micro to HDMI you need some electronic fuckery in the middle. It uses a 5 pin dominco DIN connector to go to SCART and then from there to the HDMI converter. It leads to an excellent picture.
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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Nigel Reed to Nightfox on Tue Feb 20 2024 20:38:02

I've seen RGB to HDMI adapters. What would be the advanrage of using SCART in this case instead of RGB? (I've never used SCART, so I'm just curious; I thought SCART was another analog TV connection standard)

Of course the fun thing with the Beeb is that the RGB output is 5v rather than the 1v everything else expects so you have to divide it down before feeding it into anything. I'm sure it made sense in studios (or something like that)...


BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

Currently I have:

Atari 800XL w/ U1MB, VBXE and an aftermarket keyboard (Decent XL)
Atari 130 XE stock
Atari 65 XL (Pal) with 1MB, Covox, 4in1 OS, IntSDX
Atari 600 XL (Pal) Stock
Atari XEGS w/U1MB, Sophia2, Pokeymax and TranskeyII
Atari 1040STFM with 4MB Ram and an impoSTer
Atari 520STe with 4MB Ram, Adspeed 16Hhz, NetUSB, and US
--Spectre GCR to turn the ST's into a Mac on OS 6.0.8
Amiga 2000HD with 68040 accelerator, SCSI Drive (ZuluScsi), CDROM, 16MB
ram, ICD FlickerFixer, OS switcher (1.3 and 3.1) and a Gotek



Really want an Apple II setup of somekind.

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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Atari8Guy to Nigel Reed on Sun Feb 25 2024 09:45:02

Currently I have:

...I guess you like Atari stuff ;)

Really want an Apple II setup of somekind.

Never really been on my radar. I'm not a big Apple fan. Never was.
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So sitting out there on the shelf...

An Apple II+ clone
Apple IIe clone

Apple IIgs Rom01

Assorted goodies that'll work in any of these. And some obstreporous bits
that defy my repair skills. Would like to get my hands on a ROM3 gs at some point, they're a bit more flexible than the ROM1.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
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thought SCART was another analog TV connection standard)

For you, none, because SCART is just another analog TV connection standard, but it's used in Europe.

The bonus for SCART, is that, assuming your device has a "complete" scart interface on it. It natively supports 15Khz RGB. They're pretty rare here, Australia. But with just some custom cabling, you can get a IIgs, theoretically an Amiga (can't guarantee that though) to a display with a
scart port on it. Given they tend to have a similar size to the original,
and the right aspect ratio they IMHO give the best picture.

I also have some HDMI output devices for the II, but they tend to look sh*t
on large out of aspect ration devices. On a big enough screen, you nearly
need to sit at the neighbours to stop it looking outrageously pixelated.
Even with the better resolution out of the GS.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
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Currently;

Dolch PAC-60 486
C=64 / C=128 collections; 1541 drives, 1084S monitor, CRT television, & m0re Apple IIe, TransWarp card, 4 disk drives, assorted stuffs
286 Laptop
Dell Pentium Windows 98 system
Jax-10 MID
So many ThinkPads...
Atari 400
Atari 800



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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On Sun, 25 Feb 2024 20:08:30 -0800
"paulie420" (21:2/150) <paulie420@f150.n2.z21.fidonet> wrote:

Currently;

Dolch PAC-60 486
C=64 / C=128 collections; 1541 drives, 1084S monitor, CRT television,
& m0re Apple IIe, TransWarp card, 4 disk drives, assorted stuffs
286 Laptop
Dell Pentium Windows 98 system
Jax-10 MID
So many ThinkPads...
Atari 400
Atari 800

|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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Nice collection.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

My retros?

All Atari 8-bit + a few PCs here and there

I sold 90% of my retro equipment in 2021... mostly Atari with a few
really rare gems in that bunch.

Still kept 5 Atari 800Xls with various floppy drives, modifications and
lots of the latest enhancements for things like running hard drives on
the 8 bit machines.

And I have a few home-assembled PCs starting with 2 486s up to my beast
which is a 12th gen core i9 with 8tb of NVMe drives, 64gb RAM.


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Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Bf2K+ to Spectre on Mon Feb 26 2024 06:58:24

I sold 90% of my retro equipment in 2021

Still kept 5 Atari 800Xls

Just running some quick mental maths on that... I think my wife would change the locks if I even had 5 retro computers here :)

Did you keep any games?

BobW
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Hello paulie420,

25 Feb 24 20:08, you wrote to Atari8Guy:

So many ThinkPads...

install OS/2 on to one of them ;)

Regards,
--
dp

telnet://bbs.roonsbbs.hu:1212 <<=-

... Uptime: 27d 2h 7m 35s
--- GoldED/2 1.1.4.7+EMX
* Origin: Roon's BBS - Budapest, HUNGARY (21:4/148)

Over the past four decades the following machines turned up in my collection, although in the beginning it was not a "retro collection" but a bunch of old hardware that I had no use for by the early 1990s but which I decided to keep for good. In the early 2000s I started to pick up orphaned C64s, Amigas etc.

Right now, I have several C64s and Commodore 1541s safely stowed away.
There's a C128D (plastic version, not CR) and two Amiga 1200s along with an Amiga 500 and a TI 99/4A in the shelf. Next to those rests a rare "Ice Felix" ZX Spectrum clone from romania that a romanian collegue of mine once gave to me. And next to that there's a VIC-20 in a VC-1020 metal case, full-blown with 80 column card, 32K RAM expansion and port expander - a gift I got from my collegues at my former employer when I left. A Sony HB-75 MSX machine sums it up in that shelf.

Last but not least there's mid-size plasic box full of Sharp Pocket PCs and peripherals - tape interfaces, "docking bays" with thermal printer - because I loved those little handhelds and one of them is the reason I'm into all this madness...

In recent years I found my pleasure in building (soldering together) kits of
8 bit machines, some of them being replicas of originals, other being modern "new retro" systems like Spencer Owen's RC2014. You learn a lot from that.

Nigel Reed wrote to FSXNET.FSX_RETRO:

So, what is in your retro collection and what bits are you looking for?
We might be able to help each other out, if not directly then via other groups we know.

Oh yes, I picked up an Osborne 1, the worlds first luggable computer.
That definitely needs a bit of TLC.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Greetings, Niels Haedecke

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-aarch64)
* Origin: Wintermute BBS - Duesseldorf, Germany (21:1/168)

Re: Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Niels Haedecke to Nigel Reed on Mon Feb 26 2024 18:50:20

Last but not least there's mid-size plasic box full of Sharp Pocket PCs and peripherals - tape interfaces, "docking bays" with thermal printer - because I loved those little handhelds and one of them is the reason I'm into all this madness...

Nice collecton overall.

In recent years I found my pleasure in building (soldering together) kits of 8 bit machines, some of them being replicas of originals, other being modern "new retro" systems like Spencer Owen's RC2014. You learn a lot from that.

I've been wanting to build this for fun, but there's a lot of componets that makes it pretty expensive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyznrdDSSGM
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

So many ThinkPads...

install OS/2 on to one of them ;)

Yea, because Haiku will just NOT go. :/ :P



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There's a C128D (plastic version, not CR) and two Amiga 1200s along with an Amiga 500 and a TI 99/4A in the shelf.

I so want to get into Amiga - a 1200 would tickle my fancy so much. :P I'd settle for a 600, but... a1200 baby!



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
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Nigel Reed wrote to Niels Haedecke:

Nice collecton overall.

Thank you. I forgot to mention an Amiga 2000 and two ZX81 but that's all I have
collected so far and limited space won't allow for a bigger collection.

"new retro" systems like Spencer Owen's RC2014. You learn a lot from

that.

I've been wanting to build this for fun, but there's a lot of componets that makes it pretty expensive.

So you are thinking of building it from scratch, like getting the PCBs off OSH Park and source all parts yourself?! I've seen people doing so but I guess getting a pre-packaged (not assembled) kit may be the less expensive option even if tax and customs come on top of the price. Buying CPUs and SIO chips from Mouser and the likes is quite costy. At least here in germany.

Also, there's a "SC-130" kit which is a compact version of a 18 MHz RC2014 and while being very powerful in terms of hardware, it cost only $65 - I got one here and it's running CP/M and Z-System at unbelievable speed ... vroom!




Greetings, Niels Haedecke

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-aarch64)
* Origin: Wintermute BBS - Duesseldorf, Germany (21:1/168)

paulie420 wrote to Niels Haedecke:

I so want to get into Amiga - a 1200 would tickle my fancy so much. :P I'd settle for a 600, but... a1200 baby!

Yes, it's a nice machine and with a proper 68030 card like the Phase 5 Blizzard
it even runs NetBSD (although not very fast). The A600 was the ill-fated result of Bill Sydnes, the guy who is also responsible for the IBM PC Jr. desaster. No kidding! The A600 was called "Amiga Jr." by senior Commodore engineers at the time. No one wanted that machine, not even the customers. But thanks to modern upgrades and enhancements, the A600 has become a very decent and compact system. Like a good wine, it needed time to ripe, heh.

The late Amigas (1200, 3000 and 4000 series) were wonderful machines. If you want to know more about the history of the Amiga, I recommend "Commodore - the inside story: the untold tale of a computer giant" by David John Pleasance. I was lucky to meet and interview David and he's a very handsome guy. His recollections of his time as manager at Commodore and the stories other Commodore legends like Dave Haynie submitted to his book are a very entertaining read.



Greetings, Niels Haedecke

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-aarch64)
* Origin: Wintermute BBS - Duesseldorf, Germany (21:1/168)

Re: Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Niels Haedecke to Nigel Reed on Tue Feb 27 2024 06:59:46

Thank you. I forgot to mention an Amiga 2000 and two ZX81 but that's all I have

If you need to offload a ZX81 I'll take it off your hands ;)

So you are thinking of building it from scratch, like getting the PCBs off OSH Park and source all parts yourself?! I've seen people doing so but I guess getting a pre-packaged (not assembled) kit may be the less expensive option even if tax and customs come on top of the price. Buying CPUs and SIO chips from Mouser and the likes is quite costy. At least here in germany.

Mouser isn't too bad but buying a kit would have everything I need and he probably gets it cheaper, but it's like $300 or something like that. I can't really justify the expense and it'd take up quite a lot of room and, honestly, what would I use it for? I have a few other projects that I have to get completed first.

Also, there's a "SC-130" kit which is a compact version of a 18 MHz RC2014 and while being very powerful in terms of hardware, it cost only $65 - I got one here and it's running CP/M and Z-System at unbelievable speed ... vroom!

I have a rpi co-processor for my BBC Micro which will also allow it to run CP/M but I've not had chance to sit down and try it yet.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Did you keep any games?

BobW --- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux * Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

To which Bf2K+ replies...

Strangely enough, I have never been a gamer and on the Atari 8 bit, have probably played less than 10 games more than once. As a BBS sysop in the
80's, I would testr the uploaded games and then probably never run them
again. There are a few that I play once in a while, but since I still
run the Atari 8 bit BBS, the truth is I have hundreds of games for it...
that I never run... weird but true.

bfbbs.no-ip.com : 8888

Online since 1984

--- RATSoft/FIDO v09.14.95 [JetMail 1.01]
* Origin: STar Fleet HQ - Real Atari! bbs.sfhqbbs.org:5983 (21:3/171.0)

Yes, it's a nice machine and with a proper 68030 card like the Phase 5 Blizzard
it even runs NetBSD (although not very fast).

Dude - I saw this, too... I've been playing with putting Unix-like OSes on a 486 and saw that Amiga's could run BSD, too. I'd certainly play around with it if I had access to one... soon enough.



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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paulie420 wrote to Niels Haedecke:

Yes, it's a nice machine and with a proper 68030 card like the Phase Blizzard
it even runs NetBSD (although not very fast).

Dude - I saw this, too... I've been playing with putting Unix-like OSes on a 486 and saw that Amiga's could run BSD, too. I'd certainly play around with it if I had access to one... soon enough.

I suppose you heared of "PiStorm" which is a small CPU replacement board containing the Wunderwaffe of computing, a Raspberry Pi to emulate any m68k CPU. I have one here for my A500 but not yet tested it. Just in case that you have a hard time finding a proper accelerator card. I am lucky to be in possesion of said Phase 5 board which also includes a SCSI controller.

Keep in mind that NetBSD *requires* a MMU so if you decide to go hunting for an
original accelerator card, make sure it has a MMU on it as well.

I remember that I ran the UNIX version of "DayDream BBS" on NetBSD 3.1 on my A1200 and ist worked. But don't exprect X11 to be a pleasant experience - it takes ages to load and doesn't fully make use of the Amiga's video capabilities.


Greetings, Niels Haedecke

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-aarch64)
* Origin: Wintermute BBS - Duesseldorf, Germany (21:1/168)

Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Bf2K+ to Bob Worm on Tue Feb 27 2024 23:20:24

Hi, Bf2K+.

Strangely enough, I have never been a gamer

Wow - I was starting to feel like I was the only one who didn't do retro for the games! The odd thing is I've never been a sysop, either, so sometimes I struggle to explain what I actually do with the old hardware other than fix it.


BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
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paulie420 wrote to Niels Haedecke <=-

I so want to get into Amiga - a 1200 would tickle my fancy so much. :P
I'd settle for a 600, but... a1200 baby!

I miss beige pizza boxes or desktop cases with a monitor sitting on top,
like the Amiga 1000. Was never into the "computer in the keyboard case"
look of some of the Amigas.



... Adding on
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

So, what is in your retro collection and what bits are you looking
for?
We might be able to help each other out, if not directly then via
other
groups we know.

C64
Ultimate 64 Elite
Vic 20 x 2
T43 Thinkpad
TI99 4A
Atari 800
iMax G3
Classic Mac SE (Superdrive)
Bunch of old PCs
MiSTer
A500 Mini

I know some of those aren't retro per se, but do retro things!

Running out of room! But would like some more Atari for sure...

|08.|05j|13A|08.


--- Talisman v0.53-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: R3tr0/X BBS :: retrox.us:1992 (21:4/158)

All I have is a C64 that may have a host of issues or no issue at all. I need an aftermarket power suppply since I've been told to not trust any of the original ones. I've got most of what I need, I'm just not set up to work on electronics in my apartment right now.

Newtype Len
www.SaturdayAnime.com


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
---
* Origin: Shurato's Heavenly Sphere telnet://shsbbs.net (21:2/148)

On Wed, 28 Feb 2024 02:28:13 +0000
"j0HNNY a1PHA" (21:4/158) <j0HNNY.a1PHA@f158.n4.z21.fidonet> wrote:

So, what is in your retro collection and what bits are you looking
for?
We might be able to help each other out, if not directly then via
other
groups we know.

C64
Ultimate 64 Elite
Vic 20 x 2
T43 Thinkpad
TI99 4A
Atari 800
iMax G3
Classic Mac SE (Superdrive)
Bunch of old PCs
MiSTer
A500 Mini

I know some of those aren't retro per se, but do retro things!

Running out of room! But would like some more Atari for sure...

|08.|05j|13A|08.

--- Talisman v0.53-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: R3tr0/X BBS :: retrox.us:1992 (21:4/158)

Nice little collection. Thanks for sharing.

Not heard of a MiSTer before. I'll have to look that one up.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

On Wed, 28 Feb 2024 09:12:00 +0000
"Newtype Len" (21:2/148) <Newtype.Len@f148.n2.z21.fidonet> wrote:

All I have is a C64 that may have a host of issues or no issue at
all. I need an aftermarket power suppply since I've been told to not
trust any of the original ones. I've got most of what I need, I'm
just not set up to work on electronics in my apartment right now.

Newtype Len
www.SaturdayAnime.com

*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
---
* Origin: Shurato's Heavenly Sphere telnet://shsbbs.net (21:2/148)

I'm sure there's plenty of places that sell them. I checked the
voltages on mine and they seem fine, but I know it has other issues unfortunately. Just waiting to find the time to finish debugging it.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

Re: Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: poindexter FORTRAN to paulie420 on Tue Feb 27 2024 06:42 am

I miss beige pizza boxes or desktop cases with a monitor sitting on top, like the Amiga 1000. Was never into the "computer in the keyboard case"

I miss them too. Those were good times.

Nightfox

On 28 Feb 2024, Bob Worm said the following...

Strangely enough, I have never been a gamer

Wow - I was starting to feel like I was the only one who didn't do retro for the games! The odd thing is I've never been a sysop, either, so

Never was a gamer in the day either.

Was a sysop, but was interested in the communications aspects mainly. That in the mid-80s I could enter messages from Europe and within a few days get a reply back from the USA or wherever, well that was magic when overseas phone calls cost a lot and a mail & return by post might take 3-5 weeks.

--- Steve K9ZW via SPOT BBS

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 2022/07/15 (Linux/64)
* Origin: SPOT BBS / k9zw (21:1/224)

I suppose you heared of "PiStorm" which is a small CPU replacement board containing the Wunderwaffe of computing, a Raspberry Pi to emulate any m68k CPU.

I've heard of them - but haven't used as I don't have, nor have I ever USED, Amiga hardware... I've emulated many Amiga systems, but..

Keep in mind that NetBSD *requires* a MMU so if you decide to go hunting for an original accelerator card, make sure it has a MMU on it as well.

Ok - good to know. If I ever tried BSD on Amiga OS I'd probably be emulating, but great info to know... if I DID have the hardware needed, it would be a project I'd be interested in completing for sure!

I remember that I ran the UNIX version of "DayDream BBS" on NetBSD 3.1
on my A1200 and ist worked.

Thats awesome... :P



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

I miss beige pizza boxes or desktop cases with a monitor sitting on top, like the Amiga 1000. Was never into the "computer in the keyboard case" look of some of the Amigas.

My brother did have a C=128D which was that style... and I had many 286, 386 & 386 boxes that fit that bill. :P



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Apple IIe, TransWarp card, 4 disk drives, assorted stuffs

You only need another 4 drives and you'll be able to play Ultima V with no
disk flipping. :)

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
--- SuperBBS v1.17-3 (Eval)
* Origin: A camel is a horse designed by a committee. (21:3/101)

On 28 Feb 24 10:22:05 Bob Worm wrote...

Re: What's in your retro closet? By: Bf2K+ to Bob Worm on Tue Feb
27 2024 23:20:24

Hi, Bf2K+.

Strangely enough, I have never been a gamer

Wow - I was starting to feel like I was the only one who didn't do
retro for the games! The odd thing is I've never been a sysop,
either, so sometimes I struggle to explain what I actually do with
the old hardware other than fix it.

BobW --- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux * Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

To which Bf2K+ replies...

Sounds like me... I am going thru a phase right now where I am messing
with Core 3rd gen CPUs (1155). I have a half dozen or so different types
of motherboards, DDR3 ram, and I basically build them for the heck of it
to experiment with different things.

Next thing is going to be a NAS using a Mini-ITX mb, a Core i7 gen 3 CPU
and some various hard drives just for kicks... but also to learn aboiut
RAID 5 systems to decide if I want to change my main NAS (Synology) to a
Raid 5 setup (currently it is a 64tb RAid 10.)

Decisions decisions...

--- RATSoft/FIDO v09.14.95 [JetMail 1.01]
* Origin: STar Fleet HQ - Real Atari! bbs.sfhqbbs.org:5983 (21:3/171.0)

I have an old Dell PIII running Win98 that's as old as I have, I also have a bunch of P4 machines.

One computer I think is kinda cool that I found and bought for like $20 is a Gateway Profile 5 all-in-one computer.
https://amazon.com/Gateway-Profile-All-Desktop-Computer/dp/B00757H7TS

|02-=|10Cozmo|02=-

... I think I am, therefore, I am... I think.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Lunatics Unleashed BBS (21:3/135)

-=[ On 02-28-24 02:28, j0HNNY a1PHA wrote to Nigel Reed below: ]=-
-=[ Re: What's in your retro closet? ]=-

Hi j0HNNY a1PHA!

Vic 20 x 2

That was the very first computer system I had ever had in the family, then we went with an IBM PC Clone called the Tandy 1000... very decent computer system but very bare bones and when I upgraded to 640k and a 50 MB hard drive I was stoked...

Cheers,
Bryan
bhandfield(at)me(dot)com

... The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 opossums.
=== MultiMail/Mac v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: Battlestar BBS : battlestarbbs.dyndns.org (21:2/127)

That was the very first computer system I had ever had
in the family, then we
went with an IBM PC Clone called the Tandy 1000... very
decent computer system
but very bare bones and when I upgraded to 640k and a 50
MB hard drive I was
stoked...

Tandy 1000 HX was my family's first computer, it got me hooked right away and I always loved it - I have a couple 1000 HX systems now that I picked up over the years, after giving away the original system in the 90s.

Back in the day I never upgraded past the stock 256 KB RAM and the 720 KB double density 3.5" disk drive, so it got to be a bit limiting until I finally upgraded to a 486 with 4 MB RAM and a 270 MB hard drive (a big jump!). These days I have the RAM maxed out at 640 KB and XT-IDE compactflash and Gotek etc - so much luxury! :)

Did you have the original Tandy 1000 model or one of the later models with a suffix?


Chris/akacastor

--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

Hi,
I don't have much old hardware anymore, but what I do have is an old pentium 4 system with 4 gigs of ram and a 40 gig hd.
It does have one serial port and one parallel port on the board.
I do not know if they have dos drivers for the onboard nic though.
It is one of the last Dell models with a 32 bit processor though.
It might be able to run windows 98 with the ability to run multiple dos boxes though.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Cw Shack Bbs telnet kf4yey.com 2330 (21:2/153)

On Sun, 3 Mar 2024 15:58:19 -0500
"Khronos" (21:2/153) <Khronos@f153.n2.z21.fidonet> wrote:

Hi,
I don't have much old hardware anymore, but what I do have is an old
pentium 4 system with 4 gigs of ram and a 40 gig hd. It does have one
serial port and one parallel port on the board. I do not know if they
have dos drivers for the onboard nic though. It is one of the last
Dell models with a 32 bit processor though. It might be able to run
windows 98 with the ability to run multiple dos boxes though. ---
SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Cw Shack Bbs telnet kf4yey.com 2330 (21:2/153)

I bet Linux will have drivers for it, though you may have to find an
older version. They have the tendency to remove them from time to time.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)

-=[ On 03-02-24 19:24, AKAcastor wrote to Argelian below: ]=-
-=[ Re: Re: What's in your retro closet? ]=-

Hi AKAcastor!

Did you have the original Tandy 1000 model or one of the later models
with a suffix?

I think it was a Tandy 1000 SX and that was the one I upgraded and used for some time then went out and did something similar to you and went with a 486 which was the system I used for BBS'ing and sysop'ing... now I use the Intel based Mac's as my daily driver at home as I don't really do much gaming and it does everything that I needed it to do.

Cheers,
Bryan
bhandfield(at)me(dot)com

... A woman drove me to drink and I never had the courtesy to thank her.
=== MultiMail/Mac v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: Battlestar BBS : battlestarbbs.dyndns.org (21:2/127)

I think it was a Tandy 1000 SX and that was the one I upgraded and used for some time then went out and did something similar to you
and went with a 486

384 KB stock on that Tandy 1000 SX, not much but I still would have been jealous from my 1000 HX with 256 KB! haha The sound was great on these Tandys though, I remember being surprised that friends' more powerful computers sounded so much worse in so many games. (until everyone got Adlib/Soundblasters)


Chris/akacastor

--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

-=[ On 03-04-24 18:12, AKAcastor wrote to Argelian below: ]=-
-=[ Re: Re: What's in your retro closet? ]=-

Hi AKAcastor!

I think it was a Tandy 1000 SX and that was the one I upgraded and used for some time then went out and did something similar to you
and went with a 486

computers sounded so much worse in so many games. (until everyone got Adlib/Soundblasters)

According to what I was able to find via the interwebs, the Tandy 1000 sounds were slightly better than the IBM speaker sounds but ya, my sound card of choice was always SoundBlaster.... DrSBAITSO my friend! :grin:


Cheers,
Bryan
bhandfield(at)me(dot)com

=== MultiMail/Mac v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: Battlestar BBS : battlestarbbs.dyndns.org (21:2/127)

According to what I was able to find via the interwebs,
the Tandy 1000 sounds
were slightly better than the IBM speaker sounds but ya, my sound card of choice was always SoundBlaster.... DrSBAITSO my friend! :grin:

That Tandy sound was enough to make Sierra games sound pretty good! I played a lot of Space Quest and King's Quest and Police Quest on my Tandy 1000HX.

Dr Sbaitso is so much cooler than ChatGPT could ever hope to be!


Chris/akacastor

--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

-=[ On 03-08-24 19:24, AKAcastor wrote to Argelian below: ]=-
-=[ Re: Re: What's in your retro closet? ]=-

Hi AKAcastor!

That Tandy sound was enough to make Sierra games sound pretty good! I played a lot of Space Quest and King's Quest and Police Quest on my
Tandy 1000HX.

Dr Sbaitso is so much cooler than ChatGPT could ever hope to be!

Those Sierra On-Line games are a blast from the past... I played a couple of the King's Quest ones as well as Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry LOL! Manhunter too was pretty fun to play and I also remember purchasing/ordering hint books for those games too.

Cheers,
Bryan
bhandfield(at)me(dot)com

... A bigot will not see reason, a fool cannot, a slave dare not.
=== MultiMail/Mac v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: Battlestar BBS : battlestarbbs.dyndns.org (21:2/127)

Those Sierra On-Line games are a blast from the past...
I played a couple of the King's Quest ones as well as Space Quest and A> Leisure Suit Larry LOL! Manhunter too was pretty fun to play and I also A> remember purchasing/ordering hint books for those games too.

I love the Sierra games so much! I have a collection of them, purchased mostly from eBay but some found locally. I was dumb enough to throw away the ones I bought as a kid, and then a couple decades later decided I absolutely needed to have them again. They're more expensive now than they used to be! At least, according to eBay listings.

There's a story that Leisure Suit Larry was the most pirated game ever, evidenced by Sierra selling more hint books than copies of the game.

Manhunter 2 I played a bit of - very cool game but I don't think I got too far as a kid. (never got the hint book) I like how it had such stylistic differences from the other Sierra games of that era.

Police Quest I remember playing along with a couple friends in school and spending weeks working our way through it figuring out how to phrase what we wanted to do so the game would accept it (or finally realizing we needed to do something else altogether). It was a ton of fun!


Chris/akacastor


--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

I specifically recall Police Quest games requiring you to have read the
manuals -which were procedural manuals and hintbooks in disguise. If you read them and played the game according to it, you had an easier time making progress and earning points. Sierra Games were also famous for killing you,
at least compared to Lucasarts adventure games.


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
---
* Origin: Shurato's Heavenly Sphere telnet://shsbbs.net (21:2/148)

I specifically recall Police Quest games requiring you to have read the manuals -which were procedural manuals and hintbooks in
disguise. If you read
them and played the game according to it, you had an easier time making progress and earning points. Sierra Games were also
famous for killing you,
at least compared to Lucasarts adventure games.

Police Quest was ALL ABOUT following those procedures! And immediate DEATH if you ever strayed from proper procedure!

Started driving a car without doing the prescribed walk-around check? DEAD.

Handcuffed a prisoner with their hands in front of them instead of behind them? YOU DIE NOW.


Anyone interested in Sierra games might like to check out Space Quest Historian on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/Spacequesthistorian

As the name implies, Space Quest is the main obsession, but all the Sierra games are covered. Scott Murphy even gifted him The First Copy of Space Quest (in factory shrinkwrap) which is quite a treasure!


Chris/akacastor

--- Maximus 3.01
* Origin: Another Millennium - Canada - another.tel (21:1/162)

What is a C=64 light fantastic?

I'm not a mister know it all, I just act like one.

I have a C=64 bought in 1984 and a C=64C.
Neither has been used for years, but they still look at me when I turn on the XP box.
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (21:1/175)

Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Ed Vance to Bob Worm on Wed Mar 27 2024 21:53:44

Hi, Ed.

What is a C=64 light fantastic?

It was a package that Commodore release for Christmas 1989 which coupled one of the later model C64s with a light gun and a handful of games. I am struggling to remember which games actually worked with the light gun, there was definitely Robocop and some game that had a clay pigeon shooting level?

Anyway, that was *my* C64 experience :)

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

Hello Bob,

30 Mar 24 10:47, you wrote to Ed Vance:

Re: What's in your retro closet?
By: Ed Vance to Bob Worm on Wed Mar 27 2024 21:53:44

Hi, Ed.

What is a C=64 light fantastic?

It was a package that Commodore release for Christmas 1989 which
coupled one of the later model C64s with a light gun and a handful of games. I am struggling to remember which games actually worked with
the light gun, there was definitely Robocop and some game that had a
clay pigeon shooting level?

i am pretty sure operation wolf worked with that :)
maybe "the train" as well

Regards,
--
dp

telnet://bbs.roonsbbs.hu:1212 <<=-

... Uptime: 2d 8h 23m 36s
--- GoldED/2 1.1.4.7+EMX
* Origin: Roon's BBS - Budapest, HUNGARY (21:4/148)