I have repaired the Sharp Twin Famicom AN-500R for a dear friend.

Sharp Twin Famicom AN-500R Repair.

Defects:

• Black screen.
• Distorted sound.

Fix:

• Cold solder joints.
• Cleaning the volume slider on the second Joypad.

The microphone is mixed into the output signal, if the contacts of the volume slider are dirty you hear a background noise which disturbs the in game audio.

Gallery:

The Commodore 3040 it’s a dual drive 5¼” floppy disk subsystem for Commodore International computers. It uses a wide case form, and uses the IEEE-488 interface common to Commodore PET/CBM computers.

These drive models use a similar single density, single side floppy data storage format to that used by the Commodore 1541 drive, but with a slightly different data marker indicating which model originally formatted the disk. The low-level disk format was similar enough to allow reading between models, but different enough that one series of drive models could not reliably write to disks formatted with one of the other model series.

Gallery before cleaning:

Cleaning cover lock & replaced tantalum capacitors:

Gallery:

Download: CBM 2040-3040-4040-8050 Disk Drive Manual (2348)

source: wikipedia

The Macintosh Classic is a personal computer manufactured by Apple Inc.. Introduced on October 15, 1990, it was the first Apple Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000. Production of the Classic was prompted by the success of the Macintosh Plus and the Macintosh SE. The system specifications of the Classic were very similar to its predecessors, with the same 9-inch (23 cm) monochrome CRT display, 512×342 pixel resolution, and 4 megabyte (MB) memory limit of the older Macintosh computers.

Apple’s decision to not update the Classic with newer technology such as a 68010 CPU, higher RAM capacity or color display ensured compatibility with the Mac’s by-then healthy software base as well as enabled it to fit the lower price Apple intended for it. Nevertheless, the Classic featured several improvements over the aging Macintosh Plus, which it replaced as Apple’s low-end Mac computer. It was up to 25 percent faster than the Plus and included an Apple SuperDrive 3.5-inch (9 cm) floppy disk drive as standard.

The Classic was an adaptation of Jerry Manock’s and Terry Oyama’s 1984 Macintosh 128K industrial design, as had been the earlier Macintosh SE. Apple released two versions that ranged in price from $1,000 to $1,500. Reviewer reactions were mixed; most focused on the slow processor performance and lack of expansion slots. The consensus was that the Classic was only useful for word processing, spreadsheets and databases. The price and the availability of education software led to the Classic’s popularity in education. It was sold alongside the more powerful Macintosh Classic II in 1991 until its discontinuation the next year.

Gallery:

Macintosh Classic reCap:

source: wikipedia

The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 and manufactured until 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU running at 1.79 MHz, roughly twice that of similar designs, and were the first home computers designed with custom co-processor chips. This architecture allowed the Atari designs to offer graphics and sound capabilities that were more advanced than contemporary machines like the Apple II or Commodore PET, and gaming on the platform was a major draw – Star Raiders is widely considered the platform’s killer app. Machines with similar performance would not appear until the BBC Micro in late 1981 and the Commodore 64 in 1982.

The original Atari 400 and 800 models were released with a series of plug-n-play peripherals that used Atari’s unique “SIO” serial bus system. Over the following decade several versions of the same basic design were released, including the XL and XE series of computers and matching peripherals. All of these used the same basic logical design, with various changes to the physical layout to lower production costs as chipmaking and manufacturing processes improved over time. The early machines were expensive to build, but dependable. Later models like the XEs were greatly cost-reduced and generally not as robust. Sub-models of these later designs were sold into the eastern European market after sales of the main lineup had ended.

Overall, the Atari 8-bit computer line was a commercial success, selling two million units during its major production run between late 1979 and mid-1985, putting its sales on par with machines like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and TI-99/4A. Its primary competition in the worldwide market was the Commodore 64, by far the best selling computer of the 8-bit era. Atari also found a strong market in Eastern Europe and had something of a renaissance in the early 1990s as these countries joined a uniting Europe. Some estimates place sales during this period at another two million units.

Atari 400 inside the package:

Package Contents:

• Atari 400 Home Computer.
• Manuals.
• External Power Supply.
• 48k Ram Expansion Kit (this one was added by me and not included in the original packaging)

Atari 825 – 80 Column printer:

Atari introduced with its Atari 400 and 800 series computers its first 80 Column printer.   The Atari 825 which actually a repackaged Centronics 737 printer.   Earlier models had limited capabilities, the later 825 models with the extended basic character set had the capability of producing the Atari ATASCII graphics character set.  The Atari 825 required the use of the Atari 850 interface module to allow it to communicate with the Atari 400 and 800 computer because it had a Centronic parallel interface on it instead of the Atari SIO interface which the Atari 820 and Atari 822 printers had built in.

The B Key 400:

The B Key 400 is a replacement keyboard for the keyboard membrane of the Atari 400.

Read more…

I have recovered this Terminal from the United States because it was in good condition and partially working.

The cleaning took more time of the repair. The repair was very simply. I have replaced for precaution all tantalum capacitors and i have also replaced the two micro switches that are completely rusted.

The main defect was caused by one of these two micro switches which was in short circuit always in one position. I have also made a calibration of the geometry of the screen that appeared incorrect and a focus adjustment.

Below i post all pictures of the cleaning, components replaced, various console test that i have made via terminal and two videos.

A brief introduction of the ADM-5 terminal:

The Lear Siegler ADM-5 was introduced in January, 1981 at a price of $995 and is based on the proven Lear Siegler ADM-3 design.

This new version includes:

• Numeric keypad.
• Reverse video.
• Reduced intensity video.
• Limited editing capabilities.
• Estension port.
• Lowercase display.

Lear Siegler (LSI) ADM-5 the final reult:

Replacing tantalum capacitors and mini switches:

Cleaning main pcb:

Radio Shack DT-1 (pcb) vs Lear Siegler ADM-5 (pcb):

Testing:

Video:

source:  BB ASCII Demo

Gallery:

The Dick Smith Wizzard (Creativision) Cassette Storage Module is a mass storage expansion for the Dick Smith Wizzard.

Using the Dick Smith Wizzard Basic allow you to load and save program which you enter in the computer. By recording a program on a tape, you can save it as permanent record. Later you can load the program from cassette tape into the computer’s memory if you want to use that program again.

Cassette Storage Module – Tape Loading:

source: madrigaldesign.it

Atari 800XL Upgrading.

Installation and preparing:

• VBXE v2.1 Interface Installation.
• Simple Stereo + U-Switch Installation.
• Formatting and partitioning CF Card (Sandisk ULTRA 2Gb) for the SIDE 2 Cartridge/SDX.

Software update:

• Update the Ultimate 1MB (First batch 2011) Flash AM29040BL.
• Update Ultimate 1MB (First batch 2011) Xilinx XC95144XL JTAG Firmware (v1 to v2)

Upgrade/Fix:

• Fixed some wrong connections of the old installation from the Ultimate 1MB to the Atari 800XL PCB.
• Removed the RF Modulator and installation of a Female DIN (8 pin + GND) for the RGB output + RGB CTRL + SYNC + AUDIO (Stereo)
• I have also made a cable from a male DIN (8 pin) to Scart, fully shielded of a four meters lengths.

All these interfaces can be purchased on the lotharek website.

Some photos of the installation:

12►

I must thank Andrea Pierdomenico for The original Black CD Caddy for Commodore CDTV.

The Creativision console was given to me on loan from a friend, Andrea Pierdomenico for testing the MultiROM v1.0 cartridge made by Treviso RC (Francesco Brolli)

I and Andrea we realized that the power supply was lost (tragedy). The original power supply of the CreatiVision uses 16v in AC 350ma and 9v in AC 1amp.

Here comes Ciro (Ninetyniner Iuc) that months ago gave me a transformer extirpated from a unknown motherboard and with a bit of fortune there are all voltages.

At this point, given the poor quality of the output video via antenna that comes with the Creativision i have decided to make the easy Composite Video/Audio mod and acting on the Trimmer (color gain) native on the PCB of Creativision i have reached a good quality of the image.

I must thank Andrea Pierdomenico, Ninetyniner Iuc and Francesco Brolli (Treviso RC) for the MultiROM Cartridge v1.0.

Gallery:

Gallery:

The Video Technology CreatiVision was a hybrid computer and home video game console introduced by VTech in 1981. The hybrid unit was similar in concept to computers such as the APF Imagination Machine, the older VideoBrain Family Computer, and to a lesser extent the Intellivision game console and Coleco Adam computer, all of which anticipated the trend of video game consoles becoming more like low-end computers.

The CreatiVision was distributed in many European countries, in South Africa, in Israel under the Educat 2002 name, as well as in Australia under the Dick Smith Wizzard name. Other names for the system (all officially produced by VTech themselves) include the FunVision Computer Video Games System, Hanimex Rameses and VZ 2000. All CreatiVision and similar clones were designed for use with PAL standard television sets, except the Japanese CreatiVision (distributed by Cheryco) which was NTSC and is nowadays much sought after by collectors.

The CreatiVision console sported an 8-bit Rockwell 6502 CPU at a speed of 2 MHz, 1KB of RAM and 16KB of Video RAM, and had a graphics resolution of 256 × 192 with 16 colors and 32 sprites. The console had 2 integrated joystick/membrane keypad controllers (much like the ColecoVision) which, when set in a special compartment on top of the console, could be used as a computer keyboard. The CreatiVision had interfaces for a cassette player, an extra rubber keyboard, floppy disk drive, parallel I/O interface, modem (likely unreleased), Centronics printer and one memory expansion module for use with the Basic language cartridge.

The CreatiVision was discontinued in late 1985/early 1986. A computer was produced by VTech in 1984-1986, based on CreatiVision hardware and compatible with most of the games: Laser 2001, which sold in Europe and Australia. It was also available in Finland through Salora, with the name of Manager. The Manager had a specific keyboard with Finnish layout and character set.

source: wikipedia

Cleaning Commodore CDTV Keyboard:

Gallery:

The Commodore CDTV Keyboard it’s nothing more than a Amiga 3000 keyboard, black with a different connector.

Autopsy:

In 1990 Amstrad introduced the “Plus” range which tweaked the hardware in many ways and added a cartridge slot to all models. The Plus included the 464 Plus, 6128 Plus and the GX4000 video game console (which is a cut down Plus without the keyboard nor support for non-cartridge media). All of the range included a cartridge slot and additional hardware improvements.

Most improvements were to the video display which saw an increase in palette to 4096 colours and gained the capability of hardware sprites. Splitting the display into two separate windows and pixel scrolling both became full supported hardware features although both were possible on the non-”Plus” hardware using clever programming of the existing Motorola 6845. An automatic DMA transfer system for feeding the sound chip was also added but the sound chip itself remained unchanged. Additionally, the BASIC command set for disc access was improved.

These models did not do very well in the marketplace, failing to attract any substantial third party support. The 8-bit technology behind the Plus was starting to look a little out of date by 1990 and users resented the substantial price hike for cartridge games compared to their tape and disc counterparts. However, the Plus machines did sell well in France where Amstrad still had a large following due to the success of the classic CPC range there.

The range was officially titled as ‘Amstrad 464 Plus’, ‘Amstrad 6128 Plus’ and ‘GX4000′ and the ‘CPC’ (standing for Colour Personal Computer) abbreviation used in the older generation was dropped. However, many Amstrad users refer to the Plus range as ‘CPC Plus’ or ‘CPC+’ due to the inherent similarities of the two ranges.

from: cpcwiki.eu

This is an old Commodore VIC-20 Home Computer (PAL) with a “Microgramma Extended Fonts” keyboard. The same keyboard is also used in the Commodore PET computer.

The “PET” style keyboard used on the VIC-1001 and early VIC-20s

The keyboards used in VIC-20 computers were manufactured for Commodore by Matsushita Corporation of Japan. Those used on the very first VIC-20s were almost completely flat-topped and identical in shape to that of Commodore’s PET computer (however, on the VIC-20 the PET’s number pad was replaced by four wide function keys).

The keyboards on later VIC-20s were manufactured with slightly concave tops. The concavity of the “F” and “J” keys was slightly more prominent to provide tactile feedback for touch-typists seeking the “home” position.

Commodore VIC-20 8-bit Home Computer

The VIC-20 (Germany: VC-20; Japan: VIC-1001) is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore’s first personal computer, the PET. The VIC-20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units.

The VIC-20 was intended to be more economical than the PET computer. It was equipped with only 5 kB of RAM (of this, only 3.5 KB were available to the BASIC programmer) and used the same MOS 6502 CPU as the PET. The VIC-20′s video chip, the MOS Technology VIC, was a general-purpose color video chip designed by Al Charpentier in 1977 and intended for use in inexpensive display terminals and game consoles, but Commodore could not find a market for the chip. As the Apple II gained momentum with the advent of VisiCalc in 1979, Jack Tramiel wanted a product that would compete in the same segment, to be presented at the January 1980 CES. For this reason Chuck Peddle and Bill Seiler started to design a computer named TOI (The Other Intellect).

Gallery:

source: sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki wikipedia