exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Bit of cable testing this morning, seems all my new cables work from the perspective of saving to cassette.

What is odd though how low the MSX signal is compared to both the Oric and the Aquarius, which are audible through headphones.

The MSX needs amplification to hear it, though I don't know if that is normal or not.

Need to see about a cassette deck now 😁

@rubber_jonnie I never tested saving to tape, so it may be that the amplifier chip is dying? I had to change the LM324N on a beeb once because of that.

PhilC wrote: 19 Feb 2022 13:09 @rubber_jonnie I never tested saving to tape, so it may be that the amplifier chip is dying? I had to change the LM324N on a beeb once because of that.

Thats a good call, I'll pop the hood and have a look :)

Ultimately I don't really need cassette, as I'm probably going to get an SD solution in the year, but figured making the leads would be a nice little project. Plus, I need to test the AY chip in the Aquarius expander, so I'll need to write some progs to do that and currently have no way to save them for later use.

I'll let you know how I get on with the MSX :)

PhilC wrote: 19 Feb 2022 13:09 @rubber_jonnie I never tested saving to tape, so it may be that the amplifier chip is dying? I had to change the LM324N on a beeb once because of that.

Hmm, getting a service manual or schematic seems to be virtually impossible!!

Anyone having either of those things, I'd be grateful if you could share :)

So I normally keep a close eye on eBay for new additions to the collection.

Typically I just search for vintage computers in the UK, max price £150 (Not that I necessarily want to spend that but it gives more interesting results) and I filter by lowest price plus P&P.

I thought I'd try with no price limit, no location and sorted on highest price plus P&P, just to see what was up there and the sort of prices.

Well it was a good job I was sat down!

Highest price was a smidge under £1.2 million for an original Apple 1 (Allegedly!!), but some of the other prices were just bonkers, and I can't honestly see how any of these items could sell.

I know there'll be some genuinely rare items that do command the prices asked, but an MSTE for £1400? An STE for £1200, £300 for an 800XL. Just madness.

Yep! Welcome to 2022 eBay madness.

It's postulated that some of those high price items are phantom and just there for money laundering but I'm guessing some others are there because they saw the money laundering ones and tried to match them.

Having said that, MegaSTEs are rare enough and hyped enough to go for that money. Mundane machines are also going for stupid prices too if they've been featured on a YouTube channel at some point. e.g. Memotechs. Last week a broken MTX500 went for £350 others are more expensive. Before RMC showed one on his channel they were going for small amounts, the week after they'd jumped a couple of hundred quid.

stephen_usher wrote: 25 Feb 2022 11:57 Yep! Welcome to 2022 eBay madness.

It's postulated that some of those high price items are phantom and just there for money laundering but I'm guessing some others are there because they saw the money laundering ones and tried to match them.

Having said that, MegaSTEs are rare enough and hyped enough to go for that money. Mundane machines are also going for stupid prices too if they've been featured on a YouTube channel at some point. e.g. Memotechs. Last week a broken MTX500 went for £350 others are more expensive. Before RMC showed one on his channel they were going for small amounts, the week after they'd jumped a couple of hundred quid.

I agree that some are likely for nefarious purposes, but there are others that are just people trying to make a buck because they have something they deem 'Rare'.

There is a boxed Enterprise 64 up at the moment for £5000, which is bonkers, and I saw some MTXs too at very high prices.

It's annoying, but people will always have a perceived value of something, and what it is worth to them, plus the retro scene seems to be buoyant right now.

I can't complain, the VIC-20 and Electron I got together were under £100, but I'm starting to find the stuff I still wan't has got to be silly prices.

No-one has probably done a VIC=20 video recently, other than maybe Jan Beta so that's probably why they still cheap. And the Elk was always looked down upon as a hobbled, cut-down Beeb, so has never been sort after.

stephen_usher wrote: 25 Feb 2022 14:08 No-one has probably done a VIC=20 video recently, other than maybe Jan Beta so that's probably why they still cheap. And the Elk was always looked down upon as a hobbled, cut-down Beeb, so has never been sort after.

I think you might be surprised at their prices. I got lucky TBH, looking today was a bit of a revelation!!

Maybe I should do a video on both to pump up the prices and make a killing :)

You could try and short the stock, but in this game shorting is an entirely different and not good thing!!

Beeb Masters seem to be going for silly money, would really like one but I'm not shelling out 500 quid for one. There are a few listed at around 200, but the photos show them to be right crusty affairs riddled with rust.