The Commodore 64 Australian is an replacement case for the C64.
It’s an C64c look-a-like and was sold in Australia. This replacement case came on the market when Commodore introduced it’s new model, the C64C.
Gallery:
Testing ICE Felix HC-90 (ZX Spectrum Clone) for a friend.
This is a series of ZX Spectrum clones was manufactured in Romania from 1985 to 1994, by ICE Felix. The designation HC means Home Computer, and for the first three models in the series, the number is the year of first manufacture. Models in the series were: HC 85, HC 88, HC 90, HC 91, HC91+ (HC128), HC 2000, HC386.
The earliest version, HC 85, closely resembled the Spectrum, with a built-in BASIC interpreter, Z80A processor, 48 KB RAM, tape, and TV interfaces. It was used in schools/universities and as a personal computer.
An optional Interface 1 extension was available for the HC 85, HC 90, and HC 91. It was functionally similar to the ZX Interface 1, but instead of Microdrives it supported single-density or double-density floppy disks. The HC 90 had a redesigned circuit board supporting fewer, larger memory chips; it was functionally equivalent with the HC 85.
The HC 91 had a modified keyboard with 50 keys instead of 40. It had 64 KB RAM and extra circuitry which provided CP/M support, if the Interface 1 extension was also present.
The HC 2000 (manufactured from 1992–94) had a built-in 3.5-inch 720 KB disk, and 64 KB RAM, it could be used both as a Spectrum clone with added disk functionality (only 48 KB RAM available) or in CP/M mode, giving access to the full 64 KB memory. Essentially, it brought the HC 91, Interface 1, and floppy disk in a single case.
The last model to be made in the Z80 line was the HC91+. It was a ZX Spectrum 128K clone in a HC91 case and keyboard and had some compatibility problems. For the first time, the AY-8910 sound chip was offered as an add-on service and was soldered on the board by factory technicians. Demoscene demos had problems running multi-colour effects and displaying sound VU-meter like effects lacking some data from the AY chip probably.
Gallery:
source: wikipedia
In the Commodore Pets and CBMs, ROM expansion area is available in empty sockets on the main logic board. These sockets are addressed as 4K byte blocks and are used by many of the software packages available for Pet and CBM!.
These include the Commodore Word Processors, the BPI business package, VISICALC from Personal Software, Inc., Rabbit from Eastern House Software, BASIC Programmers TOOLKIT from Palo Alto ICs, Sort from Matric Software, Inc., and many others.
Several of these ROMs are to be installed in the same ROM socket within the Pet. Spacemaker II is a utility device which allows switching of up to four ROMs into any socket from a single board. Since Spacemaker II is jumper programmable for each of its four ROM sockets.
ROM type may be different for each socket. Switching can be done with a side mounted switch or via ROM DRIVER, an accessory device which allows software and keyboard control of ROM selection.
Spacemaker II is also available for changing character sets with Math or Foreign language ROMs available from West River Electronics.
Gallery:
Download: MicroTech - SpaceMaker II Manual (1111)
This is the latest version of C64c and was cost reduced even more.
Instead of a metal plate on the top there is the logo only engarved in plastic case itself.
The keyboard has been held on the upper housing part with brackets (not with screws as normal). In addition, the housing itself was only held together with clamps.
Gallery:
The Home Computer Asem AM 100 is a clone of the Apple II+ (Apple // Plus). This computer was manufactured and assembled by ASEM S.p.A. Artegna (UD) / Italy.
The AM 100 is fully compatible with all the software available for the Apple II and II+. I have personally tested many programs and i’ve never found problems of compatibility.
Unfortunately this computer is arrived faulty, the repair was more simple than i expected, thanks to the IC sockets located on the computer motherboard.
Works that have been made:
All these works are documented with photos that you can find below.
Gallery repairs:
Under the cover gallery:
Final photos:
Interesting discovery:
Inside the Floppy Drive reader (Apple clone) i have found the same mechanics (Mistumi / Newtronics) of the Commodore Floppy Drive 1541. See the first three pictures of the gallery: Under the cover.
Download: ASEM AM 100 full Eprom Dump (1304)
The DK’tronics keyboard for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum is a sturdy, solid-looking, black ABS case with a set of grey alphanumeric keys on the left and a 3×4 red numeric keypad set on the right.
The Spectrum is removed from its case by unscrewing the case halves, gently pulling out the two keyboard connecting ribbon cables and unscrewing the two small circuit board screws. The reverse process is then undertaken with the DK’tronics keyboard. Precise instructions are supplied so any incompetent can do it – even I managed !
The keys have a pleasant feel to them, the spring pressure was just about right to allow for my fumbling efforts, and generally the legends supplied on transparent stick-on plastic labels, are easy to read.
Gallery:
source: worldofspectrum.org
The Bruc 100 is one of the few home computer designed and manufactured in Italy by Frael (Franchi Electronics) . Released in the 1987 it was sold along with the computer courses of the School 2F.
There are two models. The first has no cartridge slot but only one extension BUS. On the second model the extension BUS has been replaced by a cartridge port.
The Bruc 100 is not totally an MSX1 computer. The cartridge port (or the extension BUS) and the cassette tape connector are a bit different. This computer doesn’t support the FM-Pac nor floppy disk controllers, etc because the port does not provide + 12V nor -12V. The cartridge port also has the particularity of having two /SLTSL signals (pin 4 for slot 2 and pin 16 for slot 3).
The Basic of Bruc 100 is not the MSX-Basic but it is very similar. The keyboard is a bit different from a MSX. There are 107 keys which a number pad, shortcut keys and some mirror keys.
Gallery:
Replacement of non polarized plug C7/C8:
source: computerhistory.it msx.org
The Commodore 1540 (also known as the VIC-1540) introduced in 1982 is the companion floppy disk drive for the Commodore VIC-20 home computer. It uses single-sided 5¼” floppy disks, on which it stores roughly 170 kB of data utilizing Commodore’s GCR data encoding scheme. The launch price in Germany was 1898 DM (approximate 970 EUR). The US-American version is named VIC 1540 and the German version VC 1540.
Because of the low price of both the VIC-20 and the 1540, this combination was the first computer with a disk drive to be offered on the US market for less than $1000 USD, although the combination of the Commodore 64 and 1541 would prove more enduring. The 1540 is an “intelligent peripheral” in that it has its own MOS Technology 6502 CPU (just like its VIC-20 host) and the resident Commodore DOS on board in ROM – contrary to almost all other home computer systems of the time, where the DOS was loaded from a boot floppy and was executed on the computer’s CPU.
Due to a timing conflict with the C64′s video chip, the C64 doesn’t work properly with the 1540. The better-known 1541 is mechanically and nearly electronically identical to the 1540 but has a revised ROM that permits it to work with the C64 by slowing the drive down slightly. However, it is possible to revert the 1541 into 1540 mode with a Commodore BASIC software command (OPEN 15,8,15, “UI-” : CLOSE 15) to permit better speed when used with a VIC-20.
The 1540 is relatively rare. While cheaper than most other drives of the day, it was more expensive than the VIC-20 computer itself, and the disk media was also still relatively pricey. Also, the relatively small memory of the VIC meant that the faster program loading times of the drive did not gain more than a few seconds compared to tape media. Thirdly, almost all commercial software for the VIC-20 was sold on cartridge or cassette tape media, giving low incentive to buy a floppy drive. The C64 followed close on the heels of the VIC-20, quickly discontinuing the 1540. Most 1540s still in existence were modified with a 1541 ROM so it would work with a C64. Unmodified 1540s are now considered collector’s items.
Gallery:
source: wikipedia
The Coleco Adam is a Home Computer, and expansion for the ColecoVision (port 3), released in 1983 by American toy manufacturer Coleco. It was an attempt to follow on the success of the company’s ColecoVision video game console. The Adam was not very successful, partly because of early production problems, and was orphaned in early 1985.
Coleco announced the Adam at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in June 1983, and executives predicted sales of 500,000 by Christmas 1983. From the time of the computer’s introduction to the time of its shipment, the price increased, from USD $525 to $725.
Coleco’s 1983 announcement of the Adam received favorable press coverage. The Boston Phoenix, observing that the computer’s $600 price was comparable to the lowest price for a letter-quality printer alone, stated “a nice trick if they can do it!” It was, in fact, a trick; the computers were shown behind tinted glass that hid the fact that they were hand-made and had non-working tape drives.
In June the company promised to ship the computer by August. In August it promised to ship a half million Adams by Christmas, but missed shipping dates of 1 September, 15 September, 1 October, and 15 October. Ahoy! reported that Coleco had not shipped by early October because of various problems. Each month of delay could mean losing the opportunity to sell 100,000 units, the magazine reported, adding that missing the Christmas season would result in “inestimable losses”. The company only shipped 95,000 units by December, which were very defective; Creative Computing later reported that “the rumored return rate was absolutely alarming”. One store manager stated that five of six sold Adams had been returned, and expected that the sixth would likely be returned after being opened on Christmas. Coleco partnered with Honeywell Information Systems to open up repair chain stores around the nation. By December 1983 the press reported that company executives at a news conference “fielded questions about Coleco’s problems with its highly-publicized new Adam home computer, which has been plagued by production delays and complaints of defects”, with the company only able to fulfill one third of its Canadian orders for Christmas. Less than 10% of Adam units had defects, the company claimed, “well below industry standards”.
Gallery:
Gallery (Cleaning the Keyboard):
Gallery (The big Box & Under the Cover):
Adam ColecoVision Video (Daisy-wheel Printer Test / Tape Loading / Game Cartridge):
source: wikipedia
Microprofessor II (MPF II), introduced in 1982, was Multitech’s (later renamed Acer) second branded computer product and also one of the earliest Apple II clones. It does not look like most other computers. The case of the MPF II was a slab with a small chiclet keyboard on its lower part.
In 1983, the Multiprofessor II retailed in the UK for £269.00 including VAT.
One key feature of the MPF II was its Chinese BASIC, a version of Chinese-localized BASIC based on Applesoft BASIC. There was also a version sold in Europe that did not have Chinese localization.
Differences to Apple II:
The MPF II was not totally compatible with the Apple II.
The MPF II did not have Apple II’s text mode. All the text was drawn on the screen by software rather than generated by hardware. It was the only cost-effective way to generate Chinese text on screen at a time when a hardware-based Chinese character generator could cost hundreds of U.S. dollars.
Like Apple II, MPF II had two graphics buffers. However the second buffer was at address A000H while with Apple II it was at 4000H. The keyboard input was mapped to a different address than the Apple II making impossible to play Apple’s games on the MPF II.
MPF-II keyboard interface was very simple and consisted of an 8 bit output port and an input port that were directly connected to keyboard matrix. The Apple joystick interface was not there, and instead the joystick appeared as a keyboard with arrow keys and two other buttons.
The external slot interface was also not compatible with the Apple II and could not use many standard interface cards including the Disk II controller.
Technical information:
Multitech Micro-Professor MPF-II – PapaTudo (Pacman Clone) by Microsoft:
Gallery:
Powersupply Pinout:
Multitech Micro-Professor MPF-II Loading TK-2000 Game:
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