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Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Blogs & guides and tales of woo by forum members.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 20 Jul 2023 12:09 Yay! At last.
I know!!!

I think I'll use an ST joystick extender so I can push the machine a little further back though.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Just to show off the v2 Analog a bit, it is possible to change the base screen colours via the config utility, which is nice if you want a little green screen nostalgia:

PXL_20230726_144928612.jpg

Which is nice as it's what we had at school before the BBCs arrived. Normally monochrome means just that and colour was determined by the display.

Or you can go for a bit of a C64 palette:

PXL_20230726_103653860.jpg

It's also possible to customise the fonts as well, though I have yet to try this.
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Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
Tomswork
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by Tomswork »

Another adaptations the vga analog board in through hole


Tom

https://github.com/Retrotink/Apple-II-VGA?search=1

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Tomswork wrote: 04 Aug 2023 22:32 Another adaptations the vga analog board in through hole


Tom

https://github.com/Retrotink/Apple-II-VGA?search=1

@rubber_jonnie
Very good to know. I believe the v2 Analog was based on this.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

And so the Apple IIe now has serial and parallel adapters:

PXL_20240105_140024330.jpg
PXL_20240105_140235065.jpg

All I need to do now is build a parallel port cable I can fit on the pack panel, as it didn't come with one, unlike the serial card, though to be fair it was a fair bit cheaper.

Looking quite full in there, the only thing I might consider is to replace the FDD card with something that can do 'a bit more' like a Liron card.
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Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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HigashiJun
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by HigashiJun »

rubber_jonnie wrote: 05 Jan 2024 14:07 And so the Apple IIe now has serial and parallel adapters:
Really looking good !

Such an old machine with so much expansions, all packed internally.

Love it !

8-)
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

HigashiJun wrote: 06 Jan 2024 09:44
rubber_jonnie wrote: 05 Jan 2024 14:07 And so the Apple IIe now has serial and parallel adapters:
Really looking good !

Such an old machine with so much expansions, all packed internally.

Love it !

8-)
Yeah, it is such a great design, and all I need now is the parallel cable to fit to the back and the ports are done. I have a dot matrix printer I'm going to try with it once that's done, and I'm looking for a piece of terminal software and I'll try using it with an ST diag cart :)

If I can find one at a good price I may swap out the homebrew floppy controller for a Liron to work better with my FloppyEmu.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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HigashiJun
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Location: Tokyo

Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by HigashiJun »

Have you considered a Yellowstone card instead of the Liron ?

I don't know if they still have some, but it's worth trying;

https://www.bigmessowires.com/yellowstone/
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

HigashiJun wrote: 06 Jan 2024 11:39 Have you considered a Yellowstone card instead of the Liron ?

I don't know if they still have some, but it's worth trying;

https://www.bigmessowires.com/yellowstone/
Actually, it's certainly something I will consider, BMOW have some decent products, and while Liron cards appear to be a lot cheaper, the Yellowstone is a lot more flexible.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
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Posts: 15021
Joined: 17 Aug 2017 19:40
Location: Essex

Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Well the the LS93 for the OSI didn't, but a parallel port did :)

So I'm in a position to build the parallel cable for the Apple II now :)

PXL_20240122_114545332.jpg

I bought this little doohickey as an experiment, it was something like £13 from Amazon:

PXL_20240122_115648337.jpg

And TBH it's pleasantly surprised me.

It works great and for small fiddly jobs and quick jobs, it's easier to manoeuvre around without a cable dragging around and heats up very quickly. I certainly wouldn't use it for any large jobs, but for a quick handsfree soldering job it's surprisingly good.

Will see how it goes using it to build the parallel cable and I'll report back later.
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Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...

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