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Commodore Amiga A570 CD Interface (Boxed)

October 6th, 2020 No comments
Commodore Amiga A570 CD Interface (Boxed)

Before leaving you to the usual and boring description of the product which, among other things, was taken from Wikipedia, i add my opinion;

Among the many uneasy things to use that i own, the Commodore A570 is in the top 10 ranking. :-D

The Amiga A570 is a single-speed external CD-ROM drive for the Amiga 500 computer launched by Commodore in 1992. It was designed to be compatible with Commodore CDTV software as well as being able to read ordinary ISO 9660 CD-ROM discs.

The original designation was A690, and pre-production devices under this name were delivered to developers. The A690/A570 used a proprietary Mitsumi CD-ROM interface. It contained a header for an internal 2 Megabyte fast memory expansion, but this proprietary memory module was never put into production and only a few rare developer examples of this exist today.

It is also notable that by the time of the A570′s launch, the A500 computer had already been discontinued. The Amiga 600 (ostensibly the A500′s direct replacement) was, like the later A1200, incompatible with this external drive. Thus, Commodore were in the position of having launched a CD-ROM drive for a discontinued machine, while a similar device was unavailable for their current low-end Amiga. This move by Commodore marketing department could be justified by the fact that millions of A500 systems existed already, along with considerable demand for Commodore to release a more advanced data storage solution.

The device (like the Amiga A590 hard disk drive that was sold by Commodore for the A500) had no through connector, so it was not possible to connect both an A590 and an A570 to the computer at the same time. The A590, despite having an XT IDE hard disk, also carried a SCSI interface that allowed third-party hard disks and CD-ROM drives to be fitted. While these drives did not carry CDTV emulation, the lack of success of the CDTV format made this a null disadvantage for most users.

Gallery:

Commodore VIC-Switch by Handic

September 6th, 2020 3 comments
Commodore VIC-Switch by Handic

The VIC-Switch allows up to 8 Commodore computers to connect to a single disk drive, printers, plotters etc.

The VIC-Switch keeps track of who is currently using the device and prevents access to all other computers who might be requesting it at the same time.
Once the first computer is done using it, the VIC-Switch will then give access to the next computer.

The peripheral was made in Sweden by Handic and some models carry the Commodore logo but it doesn’t look very Commodore style
and for that reason i think they were branded by Commodore but not manufactured Commodore .

Gallery:

Download: Commodore VIC-Switch by Handic Manual (604)

Commodore FM Sound Expander & Magic Voice Speech Module

Commodore FM Sound Expander & Magic Voice Speech Module.

Commodore Magic Voice Speech Module:

“Magic Voice” is an expansion cartridge for the Commodore 64 that can speak 235 predefined words.

Magic Voice does not combine words from phonemes, but contains 235 prerecorded words in a 16 KB ROM. It was meant to be used with tape, disk or cartridge based software that made use of the extension, but few titles were released.

Without any extra software, the speech features are accessible through added BASIC commands.

Commodore Expander FM Sound Module:

The Commodore Sound Expander or SFX Sound Expander is a sound synthesizer cartridge with 9 voices for the Commodore 64.

It was developed by Richard Watts. The synthesizer chip is a Yamaha YM3526 OPL, which can upgraded by a YM3812 OPL2 chip, which is also used by AdLib- and Soundblaster sound cards in PCs.

This cartridge was produced by Music Sales Limited in the UK and marketed as “Commodore SFX series” by Commodore world-wide.

Gallery:

source: pagetable.comc64-wiki.com

Commodore VIC-1010/VC-1010 [USA/EURO] (BOXED)

December 6th, 2019 No comments
Commodore VIC-1010 [USA - EURO] (BOXED)

The VIC-1010 or VC-1010 is an optional expansion to the VIC-20 manufactured by Commodore. It plugs into the VIC-20′s game/expansion/bus port, providing 6 more such ports along the top.

The rest of the unit sits behind and a bit off to the right of the machine, preventing any obstruction of the VIC’s other ports. Built into the 1010 is a 220v/110v power supply to supplement the computer’s supply.

Gallery:

Some retro-things received from my friend Gerben

July 17th, 2019 No comments
Some retro-things received from my friend Gerben.

Some retro-things received from my friend Gerben.

  • 2 x Commodore 64 Manual
  • 1 x Commodore 64 Programmer’s Reference Guide
  • 1 x Sony HITBIT MSX-Basic Manual
  • 1 x Sony HITBIT MSX-Disk Basic Manual
  • 1 x Sony HITBIT Manual
  • 1 x Jack Nicklaus Accolade game for Macintosh
  • 1 x Commodore 64 Tune-up Book
  • 1 x Getting More from your Commodore 64 Book
  • 1 x Commodore VIC-1541 Manual
  • 2 x Commodore Mouse 1351 Manual
  • 3 x Spare Manuals of Coleco Vision Cartridge (Mouse Trap / Turbo / Time Pilot)
  • 1 x 16k Memory Module for ATARI 800 (Boxed)
  • 1 x Radio Shack TRS-80 Ribbon Daisy Wheel Printer II (Boxed)
  • 1 x Donkey Kong Junior Coleco Vision Cartridge (Boxed)
  • 1 x Narco Police C64 & C64GS Game Cartridge
  • 1 x Simons’ Basic C64 Cartridge
  • 1 x Power Cartridge for Commodore 64
  • 1 x 16K Expansion Memory for Commodore VIC-20 (RED CASE)
  • 1 x Homemade Joystick Interface for ZX-80/81
  • 1 x Commodore 64 RS-232 Interface
  • 1 x Multi Cartridge for VIC-20
  • 1 x Protek Joystick Interface
  • 1 x Philips MSX Mouse
  • 1 x S.C.N. Modem for Commodore 64
  • 1 x Modem House Spectrum VTX 711 for ZX Sepctrum (Boxed)
  • 1 x Intel 8087
  • 9 x IBM 2164-20 (RAM)
  • 1 x Sony HITBIT HB-75P (MSX)
  • 1 x Philips 8245 (MSX2)
  • 1 x Frankenstein ZX-81 (Homemade wood case for ZX-81 with a ACORN Electron Keyboard) + Expansion Memory Inside. The worst thing i’ve ever seen.

Some RS-232 Gender Changer, Null Modem, RS-232 Tester and unknown cables.

The Frankenstein ZX-81 it works! the keyboard not but is not a problem of the keyboard but of the missing connections of the matrix, maybe an unfinished project ?

Gallery:

Nice gift from my friend Federico di Dato

December 3rd, 2018 1 comment
Nice gift from my friend Federico di Dato

…in the photo:

  • Atari CX50 – Keyboard controllers (Boxed and in Mint Condition)
  • Joystick Cheetah – The Bug (Boxed)
  • ROM/Eprom cartridges for Commodore 64.
  • Commodore 1571 without Floppy Drive (Mobo/PSU working)

Commodore SuperPET (MMF9000) Accessories & Motherboard KIT

January 16th, 2018 1 comment
Commodore SuperPET (SP9000-MMF9000) Accessories & Motherboard KIT

Commodore SuperPET (SP9000/MMF9000) Accessories & Motherboard KIT for Replacement (NOS)

This is a New Old Stock (NOS) Kit from Commodore sold as spare parts for the Commodore SuperPET (SP9000/MMF 9000). We are talk about the early model of the SuperPET the one with two internal motherboards (sandwich) and four external switches.

Motherboards and Accessories have never been used, both they are in a perfect state.

The kit includes:

  • Accessories KIT (4 switches with Metal Bracket / Power Supply Cables / 20+20 Pin Male IDC Socket + Flat Cable / Eprom Sockets / 6702 Dongle software copy protection Card)
  • Commodore BMB Compuscience Ltd Board (ASSY 324035 – REV C)
  • Commodore Compu-Think 64K Expansion Ram Board (ASSY 324042)

In the photos you can also see another Commodore BMB Compuscience Ltd Board with the same ASSY but without some eproms. This motherboard is new and never used like the previous one.

With this KIT i can finally complete my Commodore SuperPET without the two motherboards and accessories to get a SuperPET and not a simple Commodore 8032 with a SuperPET label ;-)

Gallery:

New Donation: Commodore 64 RTTY Hardware & Software

January 28th, 2014 2 comments
Commodore 64 CW RTTY ASCII Hardware & Software

I thank a friend for the donation.

Donated item:

  • Homebrew RTTY demodulator for Commodore 64.
  • Software and Documentations.

Amiga 1050 Memory Expansion Cartridge (Boxed/Unwrapped)

October 1st, 2013 No comments
Commodore Amiga 1050 Memory Expansion Cartridge (Boxed/Unwrapped)

Autopsy:

Commodore Amiga 1000 256kb Trapdoor Expansion Cartridge.

Commodore Music Maker with Software and Documentation Boxed

April 11th, 2013 No comments
Commodore Music Maker Boxed

Autopsy:

from Wikipedia:

The Music Maker was a plastic overlay for the Commodore 64 “breadbox” keyboard, which included plastic piano keys corresponding to keys on the keyboard.

source: wikipedia