Picked up a dead test cartridge. The C128 has been acting a little odd lately, figured it’d be good to test that its parts are doing ok AA941E80-01C8-46CE-92F6-B6746D59E435.jpg

I think the VIC-20’s case came out well. I was able to scrub off most of the marker and paint. I wouldn’t say it’s like new, but I’m quite pleased with where it’s at 48F61811-5ABB-4A3A-8839-5FB2697530F5.jpg F6250D7E-2ADE-4FA1-8892-883CC74A0FB0.jpg

I hit a bit of a snag in my plan. The “known good” VIC-20 main board I had turned out to be not so good. When I plugged it in to test it, the video output was garbled! Fortunately, the original main board turned out to be ok. Just had to adjust the potentiometers controlling the video signal 1E81195F-27D4-4A98-9659-C07BB06EAC39.jpg A204BA44-0975-49AC-BECA-102941D315DC.jpg

The keys dried nicely over night, I was able to put them all back on this afternoon. I’m quite pleased with the result, they feel clean to the touch. I didn’t realize what a horrible sound the caps make when being reattached though, it sounds just like they’re snapping! B230B66C-4908-42E7-B31D-A4F0F9002909.jpg 0502078C-46D0-44E1-B186-4E1DF55D5D23.jpg 64D47BE1-01DE-4947-8B42-44BA2130B28E.jpg

Although I got this VIC-20 with the intention of putting my working main board in it, it seems there are signs of life in the one it came with. Might be worth attempting to fix 🤔 EE70A9EF-7AF7-4BD0-966E-BC4DE89CAB6C.jpg

Case is looking much better after a scrub with soapy water. This must have been a kid’s computer in its previous life. Need to get more cleaning supplies, and I’m hoping I can get this in like new condition again 30A39A57-CE0B-4527-B835-0694318794B7.jpg 1CCDD3E1-76A5-48E8-AD22-A51F1E81C6D8.jpg

Washing the key caps in soapy water was extremely satisfying, the keys make the same noise as LEGO bricks. They’re now out to dry overnight CFC565E0-4FA4-4A73-813A-DCD70BBA1EFE.jpg C0A255D2-44DC-4089-BE13-ECD656AB865A.jpg AF80C385-2C8B-4CCC-BEF8-A80546F6F12D.jpg

Never realized how much effort it takes to get all the caps off of a keyboard. This is the first time I’m going to try individually cleaning key caps instead of doing a surface cleaning with the board fully assembled 436CCF1C-3300-4E3D-A8BD-6E8FCDA459DB.jpg

Inching ever closer to having a working VIC-20 system 63B806B9-A890-479D-B442-79DE0F31404B.jpg

Tried out some new C64 games. Really digging Krakout and Uridium! 39E4274A-E440-4A12-BC6F-D4BA5875A33E.jpg 29C57842-16E3-41B1-9B5E-713462C249FF.jpg

New power supply arrived for my Commodore machines today. I was finally able to try out the Vic 20 motherboard I got a few months back – it works! Still need to get a keyboard and case for it heh F936F25B-8DC1-49F9-BF91-22D016F59A14.jpg E29AD1F1-0E84-4DBB-8C27-7AECAA23A865.jpg

Got a set of drawers and tidied up my retro corner. Still a work in progress, but most of my collection is now in one easy to access place. Thinking I need some theme appropriate stuff on the walls next 🤔 F1BE05B9-C580-4617-8854-4A13A3944ABB.jpg 3A5D24F7-A4C3-4ABA-9F00-F8CE25077441.jpg A3CD67C4-C9EA-421A-A277-BB9868F02036.jpg 1973773A-F1E1-403E-99A9-DBCEE67EC40C.jpg

Ack! I know I haven’t really played since I was a kid, but I don’t remember being this bad at Q*BERT 71021B68-6FDA-46AE-89A9-571722293652.jpg

Thanks to Jan Beta’s YouTube series on repairing a C128, I was able to finally put the power LED back correctly after disassembling my machine to clean it several months ago. The light no longer intermittently goes out, and is flush with the case once again 25B5C212-C7CB-4ED6-A959-E3E040997CFD.jpg

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My Commodore setup is complete: it now has an authentic (1802) monitor. The picture is amazing, and best of all: no input lag!

Got a replacement power cord for the VCR, so I was finally able to check that my 8 bit machines survived the move. They did! But my cheapo modern joystick did not… 077B4250-023E-4616-B9BC-67B8CB27D510.jpg B206959D-83A9-408D-895D-EEA3DCA67352.jpg

Here we go, got a VIC-20 mother board. Just need to find a broken donor machine I can harvest a keyboard and case from, and I’ll have a working system!

It’s more a novelty than anything else, but there is a (sorta functional) Apple I emulator for the C64

Finally got around to trying GEOS. It’s nuts that they got a pretty decently usable desktop environment working on such limited hardware

Got CP/M loaded up on the C128, and my goodness it is slow in 40 column mode!

I suppose it’s not the most eco-friendly, but I really like having a printed copy of the documentation for my retro stuff. It makes it all feel that much more personal

Today I learned there’s an honest to goodness C64 Canabalt port!

A upcoming long distance move is a good opportunity to rehome some of my extra systems

Ideal setup achieved:

  • Commodore 128
  • SD2IEC
  • WiModem64

Now I can play all the games, and visit all the BBSes