Any Retro Computer Enthusiasts Here?

[MildredHubble]

Hi guys! I just joined recently and I just wondered if there were any people are as obsessive about vintage computers as I am?

I have quite a collection I've noticed. I have been trying to get some things organized and I found I had 14 of one particular type. It's my favourite but I kinda hadn't realised I had so many. I won't say which machine it is as I might reduce my anonymity, but it's an 8 Bit machine. I'm known I suppose for my particular fondness for it.

So 14 machines, some made by myself, some modified beyond their original design. I suppose if you count FPGA implementations, I have more like 17 examples! Maybe more in spare parts!

I have most of the usual 8 Bit machines ZX Spectrum etc and PC Engine and NeoGeo MVS.

Has anyone unexpectedly discovered how many they own and gotten a little surprised like me?

Years ago I worked with someone who maintained vintage computers. I remember telling him when looking at a machine that every time I see one, it sets off exactly the same excitement and fascination it did when I was 4 years old. He was probably the only person I've encountered so far that could relate to that. At least out there in the analogue realm.

So it would be nice to chat I suppose with people who are similar

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I Have a couple, of what they called Franks in my closet, just never got rid of them.

 

[MildredHubble]

I Have a couple, of what they called Franks in my closet, just never got rid of them.

I don't think I've heard of them? Are they some kind of terminal perhaps?

 

[Misery]

I'm a huge fan of retro gaming specifically, and that does include computers.

Difference though is I dont have the hardware, and have zero tinkering ability in any case. I'm good with software, utterly useless with hardware, always was.

So as a rule, everything is emulators for me. I've got a Raspberry Pi set up for pure emulation, which does include stuff like the Spectrum or the C64 (which I always wanted as a kid, but never got). Aint perfect though, the console emulation is mostly set right but the computer emulation is definitely not (none of the Spectrum stuff is truly usable yet, not till I get the stupid input issues figured out). I can also use the VR unit for emulation though that is having "issues" right now.

Anyway, I grew up with DOS, myself. So that's much of what I really know when it comes to older computers.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I don't think I've heard of them? Are they some kind of terminal perhaps?

Sorry Frank is a slang term for Frankenstein, made from parts put together by a computer shop rather being trade name.

 

[Outdated]

I'm more of one for having the latest tech but having old knowledge came in handy for me when I was running my own business about 20 years ago.

A lot of machinery such as that used in fruit packing sheds was operated by computers running dos and connected through com ports, and com ports were being phased out. I ended up putting together quite a few decent computers out of parts scavenged from dumped machines. That gave the packing sheds a few more years to start upgrading their technology.

And like Misery, I have quite a collection of old Atari and Nintendo games just for the nostalgia. I never actually play them though but it's nice to have them. I still play quite a few games from the late 90s and early 2000s though.

 

[MildredHubble]

I'm a huge fan of retro gaming specifically, and that does include computers.

Difference though is I dont have the hardware, and have zero tinkering ability in any case. I'm good with software, utterly useless with hardware, always was.

So as a rule, everything is emulators for me. I've got a Raspberry Pi set up for pure emulation, which does include stuff like the Spectrum or the C64 (which I always wanted as a kid, but never got). Aint perfect though, the console emulation is mostly set right but the computer emulation is definitely not (none of the Spectrum stuff is truly usable yet, not till I get the stupid input issues figured out). I can also use the VR unit for emulation though that is having "issues" right now.

Anyway, I grew up with DOS, myself. So that's much of what I really know when it comes to older computers.

I'm kinda the other way round, I'm better with hardware than software, but I can usually produce some workable code, though it's not usually very efficient

I have a few Raspberry Pi machines too! I used one with Retro Arch for a while and that was pretty good. I often repurpose the Pi's though for random projects.

The ZX Spectrum can be a bit of a pain to emulate with it's tokenised BASIC. I'm wondering if maybe you are using an early firmware/ROM? The 128k or +2 +3 system rom is a bit more forgiving as it doesn't require you remember the key to type commands. For example you don't need to press "J" to type load The joystick handling is a bit bonkers on the spectrum as early on there was no standard! My solution was usually just to redefine the keys for a game using the joystick.

A cool (but expensive) way to get more accurate experience of the original machines I think is through FPGA implementation. Projects like the MiSTer give you real hardware with the flexibility of an emulator. It is expensive though! But an alternative is the SIDI FPGA. It's got most of the benefits of the MiSTer but costs maybe €80. If you can get things running on an emulator, you would probably easily transfer over to an FPGA

@Ronald Zeeman I see I wondered if they were some technology that predated the machines I'm familiar with. Sometimes systems that are put together out of what was available at the time are more interesting, particularly very early things like kit computers for example the IMSAI (as seen in the WarGames movie)

@Outdated I really like it when old tech is given a new lease of life! I think we humans throw things away long before it's genuinely obsolete. It's cool that you have a nice collection of games. I think at the very least, even if they aren't used, they make good display pieces

I suppose I don't play games an awful lot these days. I like the idea of enjoying a game, but for a lot of reasons, I struggle to get into them as much as I used to. :-/

 

[Raggamuffin]

Me and a friend play Neo Geo games on his Xbox one.

I started my foray into the PC world on a BBC Micro computer back in school. They also had old Acorn computers too.

Good times.

Our first family PC was on Windows 95. And my first console was the Master System II.

Ed

 

[MildredHubble]

Me and a friend play Neo Geo games on his Xbox one.

I started my foray into the PC world on a BBC Micro computer back in school. They also had old Acorn computers too.

Good times.

Our first family PC was on Windows 95. And my first console was the Master System II.

Ed

There's something about NeoGeo games isn't there?! I wonder if it's the very Japanese art style and slick animation, timing etc? I like a lot of Japanese pop culture, it's usually whimsical but also very precise somehow.

I also learned a lot about computers from the BBC micro! I guess I was around as the first wave entered the classroom. We had literally one BBC micro in our school that visited each classroom on a weekly rota. It was on this huge trolly desk and I remember the excitement I had when I saw it being wheeler into the classroom. Funny that a school was on the "cutting edge" if it could claim ownership of one computer!

Also a fond memory I have was the high pitch tone of the CRT Cub monitor, it was a constant companion all day and when it ceased, that told me "only 10 minutes until home time!" Lol!

 

[Judge]

I still keep my "legacy pc" running quite well. One which I built around the turn of the century. It's a bit like my own personal "time machine", indicative of around the year 2002. Windows XP SP3 and all the classic software of the era. But only set to run exclusively offline. With removable drives I used to have one reserved for Windows 98SE. However it could only run up to 1GB of RAM where I prefer for Windows XP to run on 1.5GB.

But it's like someone all dressed up with nowhere to go. I have since put it into a closet for now. Too bad I can't run a few classic 16-bit applications on 64-bit hardware and software. Oh well...

 

[Jumpinbare]

I have an XP machine that never goes online to program several of my Ham Radios and a couple of vintage handheld GPSs. I power it up often enough to make sure it still works if I don't need to reprogram radios.
I also have a fully functional Sinclair ZX-81 mounted into a Kradle keyboard enclosure with 64K RAM. Don't have any practical use for it, but still fire it up once in a while

 

[MildredHubble]

I have an XP machine that never goes online to program several of my Ham Radios and a couple of vintage handheld GPSs. I power it up often enough to make sure it still works if I don't need to reprogram radios.
I also have a fully functional Sinclair ZX-81 mounted into a Kradle keyboard enclosure with 64K RAM. Don't have any practical use for it, but still fire it up once in a while

Windows XP still earns it's keep when it comes to using old hardware, like EEPROM programmers. I've had to use it a few times in the past to write images to floppy disks as the applications require a 32 bit mode to directly access the floppy controller. I think there's now 64 bit ports but finding a PC with a built in floppy controller these days is quite unusual. There's some good community solutions like the Grease weasel floppy interface that can take low level control of a floppy drive. So they are filling the gap as far as that is concerned.

Modern EEPROM programmers work quite well, but I do occasionally find a Chip that there's no profile for due to its age, but if I had an old Willhem (think that's the name) programmer and a parallel port to hook it up to I'd be set up for any eventuality. Well assuming the Parallel port has full signal implementation.

I wouldn't be surprised if the ZX81 could be used still to program the odd Ham Radio though so don't count it out! Plus, I'm pretty sure there's a pretty excellent port of Dragon's Layer that will blow your mind. Pretty sure you can run it in 64k. 64k is quite a luxury on the ZX81. I'm not totally familiar with it's memory map. I'd imagine there must be some bank switching going on to make room for the ROM.

 

[Jumpinbare]

You can actually bank switch out the ROM with RAM. I had an Assembly routine to clone the ROM to RAM, then bank switch, modify a few routines and run a custom OS. That Sinclair was my portable machine. I had a 5 inch battery/AC Television as a monitor. I wrote a word processing program for it (hybrid BASIC/Z80 machine code) that saved the data to Cassette in TRS Model I format.
Lotsa fun

 

[MildredHubble]

You can actually bank switch out the ROM with RAM. I had an Assembly routine to clone the ROM to RAM, then bank switch, modify a few routines and run a custom OS. That Sinclair was my portable machine. I had a 5 inch battery/AC Television as a monitor. I wrote a word processing program for it (hybrid BASIC/Z80 machine code) that saved the data to Cassette in TRS Model I format.
Lotsa fun

I was wondering if perhaps the ROM was being shadowed in RAM. It sounds like you've enjoyed using your Sinclair very much! It's cool that you made it portable. I believe with the ZX81 and Spectrum, you could write your machine code in BASIC as a series of REM statements and then call your routines from BASIC? Or maybe I'm remembering wrong? I think 3D Monster Maze was coded that way.

I have a ZX81 somewhere that needs a repair and I have a few Species. I have the Toast Rack 128+, a +3, a rubber keyed ISSUE 2, a Harlequin 128+ Clone I built and a ZX Uno FPGA implementation I built myself too

 

[Jumpinbare]

You are correct. I wrote the code in Assembler, then looked up the decimal values, and entered the data thru REMS.

 

[Kern]

Hi guys! I just joined recently and I just wondered if there were any people are as obsessive about vintage computers as I am?

I have quite a collection I've noticed. I have been trying to get some things organized and I found I had 14 of one particular type. It's my favourite but I kinda hadn't realised I had so many. I won't say which machine it is as I might reduce my anonymity, but it's an 8 Bit machine. I'm known I suppose for my particular fondness for it.

So 14 machines, some made by myself, some modified beyond their original design. I suppose if you count FPGA implementations, I have more like 17 examples! Maybe more in spare parts!

I have most of the usual 8 Bit machines ZX Spectrum etc and PC Engine and NeoGeo MVS.

Has anyone unexpectedly discovered how many they own and gotten a little surprised like me?

Years ago I worked with someone who maintained vintage computers. I remember telling him when looking at a machine that every time I see one, it sets off exactly the same excitement and fascination it did when I was 4 years old. He was probably the only person I've encountered so far that could relate to that. At least out there in the analogue realm.

So it would be nice to chat I suppose with people who are similar

When I was teenager I have seen first time ZX Spectrum and ZX-81, We get crazy about it. ZX Spectrum cost 99 GBP
in the UK. For us East Europe people it was too expensive to buy. The games were the best forever . We have learned BASIC. Ten years later I got first 386sx at my work so Iearned Clipper data base language. Old good times.

 

[paloftoon]

I want to beat the first 36 levels of Battle City in a row before I try to sell some famicom games off.

 

[MildredHubble]

I want to beat the first 36 levels of Battle City in a row before I try to sell some famicom games off.

Have you got an Everdrive for your Nintendo? You are probably already aware but you can get cartridges that are known as flash carts. The most popular is the everdrive, you load ROMs onto them using an SD card and you can play the games and even get translations loaded easily for JRPGs.

So you can sell your games and still enjoy them. Of course some might say you shouldn't sell the originals if you do this, but let's be honest, no one is really loosing out with super old games.

I have a huge backlog of games to play. I never seem to be able to focus on them for very long. I'm hopefully getting the new Atari 2600+ in a month or so, I have a couple of games for the Atari 2600 that I've not played in my collection, so I'm looking forward to that

 

[paloftoon]

Have you got an Everdrive for your Nintendo? You are probably already aware but you can get cartridges that are known as flash carts. The most popular is the everdrive, you load ROMs onto them using an SD card and you can play the games and even get translations loaded easily for JRPGs.

So you can sell your games and still enjoy them. Of course some might say you shouldn't sell the originals if you do this, but let's be honest, no one is really loosing out with super old games.

I have a huge backlog of games to play. I never seem to be able to focus on them for very long. I'm hopefully getting the new Atari 2600+ in a month or so, I have a couple of games for the Atari 2600 that I've not played in my collection, so I'm looking forward to that

I do have an EverDrive cartridge somewhere. I'm hazy on how to upload games to this or that etc. It's been all over the place. I had this game on a 16 game (pseudo) cartridge long before I knew about EverDrive. I like what I have, but if other people will like it if I'm done with it, then great. Having things and using them is great, but it also adds to my clutter too, and sometimes, too much :/

 

[MildredHubble]

I do have an EverDrive cartridge somewhere. I'm hazy on how to upload games to this or that etc. It's been all over the place. I had this game on a 16 game (pseudo) cartridge long before I knew about EverDrive. I like what I have, but if other people will like it if I'm done with it, then great. Having things and using them is great, but it also adds to my clutter too, and sometimes, too much :/

The everdrives generally work with the most commonly used emulator ROMs. I think as long as they aren't zipped, you just drop the ROM files onto an SD card and then you can select the game you want when you boot up the console.

I have a Mega drive/Genesis everdrive and that's what I did as far as I can recall.

Yes, retro gaming/computing can lead to a lot of clutter. I need to have a think about maybe thinning out my collection a bit. I'd probably keep the retro things and get rid of some older PC games. Sadly for quite some time PC games can only be registered once. So unless someone buys a game to have a physical copy for their collection or they have a damaged disc, they are just landfill as far as the used market goes