The C64, returns.

Started by Steve Elliott, June 25, 2019, 23:14:30

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Steve Elliott

#135
Yes even today The Competition Pro Joysticks are quite expensive and quite rare to find on their own (rather than bundled with a C64).  I had a ZX Spectrum and it's a very similar design to the Kempston Joystick, so I had to have one to complete my 8-bit system.  Or was it the Kempston Interface that you plugged the Competition Pro Joystick into?

Today I tweaked the tv settings, my tv has a noise reduction setting that I enabled, this made a massive difference to the image quality!  River Raid looks just how I remember it now and with silky smooth scrolling too (not something you get under emulation).  C64 classics like Mayhem in Monsterland (and other scrolling titles) really benefit from using the real hardware.

Maybe I need an Amiga next  ;) ...Or save for one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43dzrCAfU3A&vl=en
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dawlane

Quote from: Steve Elliott on February 14, 2020, 09:29:22
Maybe I need an Amiga next  ;) ...Or save for one of these:
Buy a real Amiga, but check out a few repair videos first so you know what problems to look for. Plus you can legally use the Kickstart ROM images for that Amiga in an emulator. I currently own in the Commodore range an Amiga A500, A600, A1200, as well as a three bread bin C64, one Vic-20 and a C128.

Steve Elliott

#137
I think it'll be a while before I invest in another retro computer (if ever) it would be good to get S-Video from the C64 first.  I've managed to get a pretty good composite picture by tweaking the TV Settings, the noise reduction feature really cleaned-up the picture.  Not as sharp as an emulator (I wouldn't want it that sharp) but at least scrolling is far smoother using real hardware.

Plus some of my games won't load from the SD2IEC so that problem needs to be solved.  Maybe I can get them working with some experimentation, or use the Pi1541 that Tom recommended.

As for repair videos I've seen them and maybe that's something I need to invest in too - soldering irons and such.  Although both the C64 and the Amiga have modern replacement boards, but you still need a few chips.  At least the new components are modern and off the shelf, so readily available - and video out capabilities are improved.  I'm using a brand new modern power supply with surge protection for the C64, so that should help with the longevity of the computer.

I've had a play with BASIC on the C64, but would love to try some assembly language too.

Quote
I currently own in the Commodore range an Amiga A500, A600, A1200, as well as a three bread bin C64, one Vic-20 and a C128.

Wow impressive, I wouldn't know where to store that many computers.
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dawlane

Quote from: Steve Elliott on February 15, 2020, 10:24:35
Wow impressive, I wouldn't know where to store that many computers.
I have a dedicated store room where the other brands of old 8 bit computers are from Acorn, Oric, Atari, Sinclair, Dragon Data, Mile Gordon Technology, Enterprise and Mattel. Last count was around 30 computers.

Xerra

Quote from: dawlane on February 16, 2020, 09:28:36
Quote from: Steve Elliott on February 15, 2020, 10:24:35
Wow impressive, I wouldn't know where to store that many computers.
I have a dedicated store room where the other brands of old 8 bit computers are from Acorn, Oric, Atari, Sinclair, Dragon Data, Mile Gordon Technology, Enterprise and Mattel. Last count was around 30 computers.

Do you have photo's of your collection?
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Steve Elliott

#140
Quote
Do you have photo's of your collection?

Yes photo's would be good.   :D

This looks like my first mod.  American, so fast forward to 3:50.

I'd prefer to have the video look of an authentic C64 rather than the faked over sharpened emulator look; but would also like the video signal cleaned up a little.  Vertical banding is not as bad on my system as shown here, but I would love it to be removed if possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN2CLn2agpM
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dawlane

#141
Quote from: Xerra on February 16, 2020, 11:54:25
Do you have photo's of your collection?
Hmm where to start......

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3j4hd85i019ckmj/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/13o38ozdp6i857j/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/votd1hry1ecl0va/box_1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rp1m10n08wyaotv/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fxet25gcujv57jk/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/54eu894qw8z4ig3/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e94hg73k7vjbuhn/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yrut49m742bduj0/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n7ze6pft97n2ww1/box_1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oq49et5u6zx5rc1/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/og61wygf40popql/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xaq12jgjl3qz63b/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ds0l4u42f2xox60/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/69uv1ope4q3moat/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b4ynskw9sc2lpw4/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iy4k5af3v8tlz3w/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/joq2xdh5ak8nhuc/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/miv0lujhauq6y2m/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iywgr01pmsxz0q8/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pod2rawfs00tw10/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yri7hajb2wkspfj/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/akcgcljd7vxodlv/box_1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9yku400zszohlyr/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g0ty6i08ixpbvf5/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lta7q3e21pdzk07/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q1irml9h17rqzsg/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mu97708kmneai46/box_1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/usbocqsbcl5zw15/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zzwvqrsyonq6286/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/62dqgjy66nkjpch/box_1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v4m2p87v6rik8os/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrqt1opo6342shw/setup.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwpwxl46oun1324/box_1.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wpco2pcd7rjxa12/packing.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7kziam7ghl0f7zy/setup.jpg

Don't know why, but images stored on drop box will not display. Any Ideas?

Steve Elliott

#142
I'm impressed you have a working Atari 800, that thing is a beast.  Powerful for the time, great keyboard, 4 joystick ports and 2 cartridge slots!  They're very expensive on Ebay.

Edit: You've added more pictures now, wow what a great collection!  A BBC Master running a good version of Chuckie Egg too, hmm the C64 version is crap; the speccy had a better version...I have a working C64 and a faulty ZX Spectrum 48K lol.
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dawlane

#143
The Atari 800 with a 410 datasette cost me £147 the XL was £70 with the 1010 datasette.
There are more photo's of peripherals and games etc. The only ones I cannot find are the Amigas.
I need to finish of the custom database I was working on to store all the information about each item I have, it's costs and current working state and repairs.

Steve Elliott

Quote
The Atari 800 with a 410 datasette cost me £147

Lucky you, have you looked recently?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303444112528?var=0
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dawlane

Just checked a few prices of the machines I own on ebay. Mattel Aquarius going for around £150. I paid just over that for a lot of four with peripherals. Though the game cartridges cost me £20-25.

dawlane

Quote from: Steve Elliott on February 16, 2020, 18:18:06
Quote
The Atari 800 with a 410 datasette cost me £147

Lucky you, have you looked recently?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303444112528?var=0
That seller talks out of his arse. Bought a C64 from them once. Claimed it was fully working, turns out that the SID chip was knackered.

Steve Elliott

That's bad, did you mention it?  Seller has a 100% rating.
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Win11  Pro 8Gb Celeron Intel UHD Graphics 600
Win10/Linux Mint 16Gb 4th Gen Intel i5 4570 3.2GHz, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 2Gb
macOS 32Gb Apple M2Max
pi5 8Gb
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dawlane

Quote from: Steve Elliott on February 16, 2020, 18:32:54
That's bad, did you mention it?  Seller has a 100% rating.
It must be about 10 years ago when I got it. Think I did mention it, but I don't recall if I ever got an answer from them.

Xerra

That is some collection of computers right there. /impressed.
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