Happy Mother's Day, C= and Ami aficionados!
     The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:30+ p.m., Sunday, May 19, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W. Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/met_loc.htm

     For discussion, we'll talk about the upcoming June 22-23 Pacific Commodore Expo NW in Seattle and even the William Shatner Weekend on June 1 (gotta get a Commodore item autographed by Bill)!
     This month we have the new AmigaOne A1222+ from A-EON in its second, public showing of a production model.  See how it uses the desktop, see it play native and 68K Amiga games, listen to how it plays .MODs and .MP3s, view it running a video file in full hi-def, and try out some drawing/art programs on it.  Naturally, we will have the latest games for the C64.  V.P. Roger may be bringing in several amateur radio carts used by ham operators on the VIC-20!

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

     Here is the preliminary announcement!  Notice that the meeting is on the third Saturday of the month.

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

     Yesterday, all the parts that I received in the mail were assembled into a working A1222+ system.  To see the photos and my  comments, go to

http://blog.retro-link.com/2024/05/assembling-a1222-from-eon.html

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
          June 22-23 Pacific Commodore Expo NW 2024 - http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex

     Now I have to assemble all the parts!

http://blog.retro-link.com/2024/04/unboxing-a1222-from-eon.html

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
          June 22-23 Pacific Commodore Expo NW 2024 - http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex

     Most (if not all) of the photos have come in for the April 13-14 CLASS 2024.  See below --

http://blog.retro-link.com/2024/04/pictures-from-commodore-los-angeles.html

http://blog.retro-link.com/2024/04/another-set-of-pics-from-commodore-los.html

http://blog.retro-link.com/2024/04/yet-more-photos-from-commodore-los.html

     Videos will be posted later!

          Ah, the editing process,
          Robert Bernardo
          organizer - Commodore Los Angeles Super Show

Happy Weekend after Commodore LA Super Show, C= and Ami aficionados!
     The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:30+ p.m., Sunday, April 21, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W. Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/met_loc.htm

     For discussion, we'll talk about how Commodore LA Super Show went, the usual things - equipment failures, presentations dropped, presentations added, attendees, the mood of the crowd, etc.  Also we'll talk about our sister show, the June 22-23 Pacific Commodore Expo NW in Seattle, and even CLASS 2025.
     Like last month, we'll try out some of the latest C64 games (Lock 'n Chase, Hermanos, Good Knight, Harharagon, Night Mission Pinball Extended, and more) and VIC-20 games (FiZZ, Chlopodia, Mars Planet Patrol, Petscii Breakout, Railyard, Victris #64738). And we'll check out some brand new Amiga disks-of-the-month from The Other Group of Amigoids (TOGA).

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

     Here is the preliminary announcement for our next meeting.

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

     Check out the pictures and video of our exhibit at the April 6 Los Angeles Maker Faire 2024!  We had many attendees come and talk about the Commodore and Amiga computers that were on exhibit.  Thanks to SCCAN member Jerold K. for helping out through the day and also for bringing his exhibit of using a MIDI keyboard with the C64 and Nintendo Entertainment System.  Those who knew music were fascinated what was on display.

http://blog.retro-link.com/2024/04/los-angeles-maker-faire-2024.html

     Truly,
     Robert Bernardo
     Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network – http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

P.S. The day started off cold and breezy as we set up our systems at 6:30 in the morning.  And we didn't get electrical power until the park engineers switched it on at 8.  When we did get power, we could test out the equipment, and I found that I hadn't brought a VGA cable for the A3000 with 24-bit video card, and I was getting no picture through the RGB port (I found out later that if I had gone through the early start-up, I could bypass the load of the 24-bit drivers and thus use the RGB port).  So, I put A3000 away, and I used the back-up A600.  The A600 worked all the way to 3 p.m., but then it  started having loading problems, gurus, and green screens.  I attributed that to heat problems; it had always run hot in the past.  Sorry, kids, no more gaming on this computer.

P.P.S. As usual, the kids loved the games on the computers.  The parents loved talking about how they grew up on the classic programs and computers, and showing their kids that this was a floppy disk!  The more technically-minded loved to talk about the equipment and the programming they did back in the day (I even met an engineer whose East Coast company used the Video Toaster and Lightwave to make videos for corporations).  A few asked where was a Radio Shack/Tandy computer (I said my Santa Clara friend had one at the Bay Area Maker Faire), a few asked for Texas Instruments (I said I left my TI-99 at home), and a few asked for Atari (I said I didn't bring one this year).  Looking at the Commodore PC20-III, several said they didn't know that Commodore Business Machines had made MS-DOS machines.

To the interested, I passed out flyers that named the California Commodore and Amiga clubs and that detailed the upcoming West Coast Commodore and Amiga events.  Of course, I plugged the April 13-14 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show, and some said they would check it out.

     My friend Duncan gave me an A-Max II external module to be used with an Amiga.  Not another one (the last one being the module he worked to get running on an A2000 that was shown at the Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2023).  It's a nice hardware bit if you want to run classic Mac on the Amiga, but it's not nice to go through all the difficult process to have an A-Max partition on an Amiga hard drive.  I'd have to think about putting this on one of my Amiga big boxes.

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
          April 13-14 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - http://www.portcommodore.com/class

Happy Deja Vous, C= and Ami aficionados!
     The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:30+ p.m., *Saturday*, March 2, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W. Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/met_loc.htm

     Note the date, Saturday, March 2!  It will be a rare Saturday meeting for the club, due to other factors for us not having our meeting on the usual third Sunday of the month.
     For discussion, we'll talk about the April 6 Los Angeles Maker Faire and the April 13-14 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show.  Also we'll talk about how filming went for Roger's CLASS presentation.
     For our presentations, we'll try out some of the latest C64 / VIC-20  games and demos.  Not only that but we'll look at some classic C64 disks-of-the-month from the defunct Commodore Hayward User Group (CHUG) and some brand new Amiga disks-of-the-month from The Other Group of Amigoids (TOGA).

         Truly,
         Robert Bernardo
         Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

Happy Super Bowl Day, C= and Ami aficionados!
     The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:30+ p.m., Sunday, Feb. 18, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W. Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/met_loc.htm

     For discussion, we'll talk about the Vintage Computer Festival SoCal, April 6 Los Angeles Maker Faire, the April 13-14 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show, and even various clubs in Australia – the Melbourne Amiga User Group, the Sydney Amiga User Group, and Amiga Retro Brisbane. We'll also distribute the latest Interface newsletter and the latest Amiga Future magazine.
     Like the last meeting, we'll catch up with the goodies we couldn't get to previously, like ChiCLI, which gives a command line interface for the C64, and TeensyROM, a C64/128 utility cartridge that has a ROM emulator, fast loader, MIDI, and Ethernet connections. We'll also try out a classic C64 music program, Dancing Feats from Softsync, Inc.. Watch out for the touchy joystick control! The changes are coming quickly to TRIANGULAR microOS for the C128, and so, we'll try out the new v1.44, and just for comparision, we'll run TRIANGULAR microOS for the C64. THEA500 Mini returns, this time with USB keyboard and running the newly-released Aminimiga v212.
     Our meeting will not go on as long as usual (which is always overtime!), because Bernardo Studios opens right after the meeting. Yup, we'll be filming a presentation or two for the Commodore Los Angeles Super Show.

        Truly,
        Robert Bernardo
        Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

     Whoa!  Quite a number of tables with Commodore and Amiga computers at VCF SoCal on February 17-18 at the Hotel Fera event center, 100 The City Dr S, Orange, California, USA.  Check out the exhibitors and vendors at

https://www.vcfsocal.com/exhibitors

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group -
          http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network -
          http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

     The Interim Computer Festival is back!  The twice yearly event is happening on March 23-24 at the Old Rainier Brewery Intraspace, 3100 S. Airport Way S in Seattle, Washington, USA.  The event is free, but donations are gladly accepted.
     See all kinds of different computer platforms.  I was told that there were two Commodore/Amiga displays at the 2023 autumn show. 
     For more information, go to

https://sdf.org/icf/

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group -
          http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network -
          http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

Hello, C= and Ami aficionados!
     The 2024 website of the Pacific Commodore Expo NW has gone active!  The date of the show has been changed to June 22-23.  See

http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          organizer - Pacific Commodore Expo NW

Greetings, C= and Ami aficionados!
     Check out the new commercial for the Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2024.  This commercial stars Bosey the Commodore dog!  Which CBM computer will he choose?  To find out, tune in to

https://youtu.be/Zbs8wtCPo8k

           Truly,
           Robert Bernardo
           organizer - April 13-14 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show
           website - http://www.portcommodore.com/class

Happy New Year, C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:30+ p.m., Sunday, Jan. 21, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W. Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/met_loc.htm

For discussion, we'll talk about the April 6 Los Angeles Maker Faire and the April 13-14 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show.  For both events, we'll talk about the computers to be exhibited and the presentations to be given.  Ideas for presentations welcome!

For this meeting, we catch up on all the software that we couldn't get to at the last meeting, like Pentateuch, the first books of the Bible, for the VIC-20 with 24K RAM.  For the C64/128, we'll have a first look at TeensyROM, a utility cartridge that has a ROM emulator, fast loader, MIDI, and Ethernet connections. And we'll also include at the latest C64 games and demos for January (and boy, there are a lot!). On the Commodore 128, we'll try out the latest TRIANGULAR microOS, now at v1.42 or perhaps even v1.43 (the developer is releasing improved versions that quickly).  Back to the C64, we'll try out ChiCLI, a command line interface terminal.  On the Amiga side, the A4000 with OS 3.9 makes its appearance after recently being
refurbished.

    Truly,
    Robert Bernardo
    Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

Hi, SCCANers!
    Here is the preliminary announcement for the next meeting.  Notice that it's not on the second Saturday of the month. 

          Truly,
          Robert Bernardo
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

Happy New Year, C= and Ami aficionados!
     Yes!  Our tables at the City of STEM / Los Angeles Maker Faire have been reconfirmed!  We are now up there with the big exhibitors.    See

https://losangeles.makerfaire.com/makers-exhibits/

and find our exhibit under "Classic Los Angeles Computers (CLAC)".

     Here is what the organizers had to say:

"We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and you're off to a fantastic start in the New Year. City of STEM and LA Maker Faire 2024 will be here in just a few short months and we are in crunch time.  If you have not submitted your application, this is the month to get it in! You do not want to miss this exciting day of STEM and Making on Saturday, April 6th, 9am-6pm at LA State Historic Park. We are looking for booth exhibitors and presenters. It is FREE to participate!"

     I know that I will be bringing in a Commodore 8-bitter, an Amiga (probably a big-box one), and another platform (Atari, TI-99 4/A, or even Tandy).  Jerold says that he will be bringing in his C64 plus music stuff.

          LA Maker Faire one week before CLASS 2024,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group -
          http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network -
          http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

     You can see some pictures from our Vintage Computer Festivalers tables at the Bay Area Maker Faire 2023.  Go to

http://blog.retro-link.com/2023/12/vintage-computer-festivalers-at-bay.html

        Happy New Year!
        Robert Bernardo
        Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
        Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

Merry Christmas, C= and Ami aficionados!
     The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:30+ p.m., Sunday, Dec. 17, at
 
  Panera Bread Restaurant
  3590 W. Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
  Fresno, CA 93711
  (559) 271-0104
  http://www.dickestel.com/met_loc.htm

     For discussion, we'll have elections and talk about club plans for 2024.
     On the presentation side, we look at the latest C64 games and demos, including Briley Witch Chronicles 2, Tetris Recoded, Santa's Workout III, and the Stranded Cats game demo.  On the Commodore 128, we'll try out the latest TRIANGULAR microOS, now at v1.36.  On the Amiga side, THEA500 Mini returns with the Aminimiga distro; let's see if we can find James Pond 2 which has Christmasy things going for it.  And I will bring the mini 7" HDMI monitor (just right for right traveling with THEA500 Mini!).  For the VIC-20 with 24K RAM, we look at Pentateuch, the first books of the Bible, running with a 40-column screen.  For the Plus/4, we look at some Christmas demos.

        Keeping in the holiday spirit,
        Robert Bernardo
        Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

P.S. Perhaps v.p. Roger will run that AEA Ham Radio Computer Patch Interface  box for the C64 that I loaned him at the last club meeting!