I received an e-mail from James P. of Monterey, California. Seems that he has no need of his C= materials, at least 2 set-ups plus plenty of disks. So, after Christmas, I'm off on the long trip to the coast to rescue these items. Perhaps I'll have time to stop at the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium and see where they filmed Star Trek IV. :)
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Always a good thing to keep commodore stuff in use. When I've done this I am always most curious what resides on the disks. I often find some uncommon user written program or another. Some I find quite useful.
Quote from: Rorshach on December 02, 2009, 06:12:56 PMI often find some uncommon user written program or another.
Very true.
Unfortunately, I received an e-mail the other day, and it seems that the person is moving away sooner than expected. That means there is not enough time for me to go and rescue the items. :(
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Though the person from Monterey never contacted me again, yesterday I was able to go to the East Bay and pick up another carload of C= goods from a member of the former Commodore Hayward User Group. Along with five or six monitors and piles of filled and blank floppy disks, there was a folder from the 1985 World of Commodore held in San Francisco. Ah, what memories that brought back for me. Held at the Cathedral Inn Hotel on Van Ness Street, the WoC had thousands of attendees! I hitched a ride with my best friend and his girlfriend. We had to wait in a long line for entrance tickets. Too bad that we were only at the show for a day.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: I on January 01, 2010, 02:00:23 PM...there was a folder from the 1985 World of Commodore held in San Francisco.
Holy cow! In the folder was the "official directory" of the show. This directory not only listed the speaker schedule of various famous C= personalities for Saturday and Sunday but it also listed all the 61 vendors who were selling there! I'll try to get a .pdf sent to Paul here for him to post.
Happy New Year!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: I on January 03, 2010, 02:06:20 AMIn the folder was the "official directory" of the show.
Also there was a show ticket in there marked, "No. 01195"! At least, over a thousand attendees!
Happy New Year!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: I on January 01, 2010, 02:00:23 PM...I was able to go to the East Bay and pick up another carload of C= goods from a member of the former Commodore Hayward User Group. Along with five or six monitors and piles of filled and blank floppy disks...
I've been slowly giving away some of the above goods instead of putting them in the crowded storage. On Saturday I gave Duncan M. of TOGA about a flat C128, a half dozen untested C64s (some in pieces and some complete), a Magnavox 40/80 column monitor, and about half a dozen clear display cases which held C64 disks but Duncan said that they were really made for other game systems. Today I gave FCUG member Alfredo M. not only copies of the David Haynes' set of 20 Commodore Archive DVDs but also a 1541-II drive from the above collection. Alfredo says it works perfectly.
Less in the car,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on November 22, 2009, 09:40:49 PMI received an e-mail from James P. of Monterey, California. Seems that he has no need of his C= materials...
After some time, James has recontacted me and still says he wants to give away his equipment. It looks like it will happen this Saturday. All I need is his address in Monterey, California. :)
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on February 08, 2010, 11:58:26 PMAll I need is his address in Monterey, California. :)
O.K., I got it. First, a visit to San Francisco, then a trip down to the Monterey area.
Too much traveling,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Tomorrow I go to Anacortes, Washington to look at a large C= collection in an estate sale. It's in a Victorian house, and I've been told that the C= goods are in closets up to the top of the 8-foot ceilings in that house.
Writing from the Seattle, Washington area,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 24-25 Commodore Vegas Expo v6 - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
There were 27 keyboards there - mostly VIC-20's, Plus4's, C16's, and some C64s, 14 1541 drives, about 10 datasettes, one 1701/1702 monitor, three dot-matrix printers, some VIC-20 carts (including two VIC IEEE adapters and one cartridge extender board), some program disks (and 3,000 blank ones I didn't need), and a joystick or two. I made her an offer of $250. She wanted $300 and said there were other buyers in Seattle. I spoke privately with Gene W., who came with me on the drive, and he said to take a pass on the hardware. I reasoned I already had 99% of the stuff and couldn't take any more in storage (or in the car!). I went back to her and told her the news, but she took it graciously.
It had been a nice drive, and Gene and I had sandwiches and fish and chips at the nearby bowling alley (the best fish and chips in town!) before we left.
I can't believe it... me? Walking away from Commodore?!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 24-25 Commodore Vegas Expo 2010 - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
Being a hardware fiend and commodore fiend I wish I could have gone with you in a rented van. That would have gone far too helping a number of commodore users. He must have been a true diehard commodore fan indeed.
On another note your world of commodore info you found brought back memories of my own. I attended an event of the same name in toronto near the airport in 1986, literally thousands of people and hundreds of vendors. I did get a chance to try out an ICT datachief hard drive system being sold & demonstrated by the company. The first and last time I ever saw one of those. At least I have a uIEC that does an equivalent job in a smaller package.
Quote from: Rorshach on July 07, 2010, 09:24:27 AMI did get a chance to try out an ICT datachief hard drive system being sold & demonstrated by the company. The first and last time I ever saw one of those.
Ah, I don't remember ever seeing one of those live and in-person. You were very fortunate.
Writing from England,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 24-25 Commodore Vegas Expo 2010 - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
At yesterday's FCUG meeting, former FCUG member, John W., brought a few boxes of C= stuff to give away, because he was downsizing. Our happy members scored a C64, a few 1541s, a Canon BJ-200 printer, and various books (like a C64 Programmers Reference Guide). Nobody wanted the MPS-803 printers! :)
Packing for Las Vegas and CommVEx,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 24-25 Commodore Vegas Expo 2010 - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
The MPS803 was unpopular in the day as its tractor feed was an addon. These days though the ribbons are much easier to get than the ribbons are much easier to get. Unlike the MPS801 they are still available from places like Ko Rec Type.
Last night I received a phone call from Phil S. in the Los Angeles area. He wants to give away all his C= hardware gathered since the 1980's. He said that there was no software. I asked him how much hardware, and he couldn't really tell me, so I hope it fits my Ford Crown Vic sedan (or should I take my Mercury Colony Park station wagon?).
I was just in the L.A. last weekend for the SC3 Arcade Party, but I did plan to return on the last weekend of the month for a Star Trek film festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. So, I think the itinerary is this: Friday, leave school and spend the night at a hotel in Bakersfield; Saturday, drive to where Phil lives and pick up the C= hardware, check into a Burbank hotel, and head off to the S.T. festival; Sunday, check out of the hotel, attend the last night of the festival, and make the long drive back to Visalia.
Well, those are the plans,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Ack! The bad weather here in California has cancelled my plans to go this weekend to pick Phil's C= stuff. The freeway between the Central Valley (where I live) and the Los Angeles area is being snowed in. I have already told Phil that I will go to his place on Sunday, April 3. No Star Trek film festival that weekend, but there will be a Hollywood Collectors Show in Burbank and the SCCAN meeting in Castaic.
FCUG celebrating 30 years,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
I picked up Phil's C= goods a few weeks ago, but the trip to Hermosa Beach (south of Long Beach) bore only a flat C128, 1541 disk drive, a 40/80-column monitor, and a few disks. In his e-mails he had kept mentioning a hard drive, but there was none. He had probably confused hard drive with disk drive.
Filmmakers Rory and Jerold met me at the residence, too, in hopes of filming Phil give me the materials, but Phil wouldn't have any of that. Unperturbed, Rory and Jerold helped me haul the equipment out of Phil's crowded attic room.
Afterwards, as Rory and Jerold were about ready to leave, I dug into my car and handed Jerold a C64C, matching power supply, and 1541-II with p.s.. He had wanted one for some time, and he wanted to pay me right there and then. He gave $10, and I said that those monies would go to this year's CommVEx.
Back from seeing 140+ PETs and more,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 23-24 Commodore Vegas Expo v7 - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
A few weeks ago Judy Ranheim, widow of John Ranheim of the Jason Ranheim Company, contacted me. She wanted to know if anyone in our club would be interested in gathering the remainder of the goods left over from the Jason Ranheim Co.. Jason Ranheim of Auburn, California was famous back in the 1980's and 1990's for marketing specialized boards for the Commodore, such as the Promenade C1.
After gauging the interest from club members, I responded to her, and so, next Sunday I will go to her house and stuff as much as I can into the Ford Crown Victoria. Most of the items are C64 and PET-related, except the Atari reported at
http://retro-link.com/smf/index.php?topic=1001.msg2877#new
Photos will eventually be posted at http://retro-link.blogspot.com
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Mission accomplished! Last night I visited Judy Ranheim who was with her daughter, Jenn. We talked about the state of Commodore clubs in California and about the various micro-hardware projects for the Commodore. We talked about John and his life before, during, and after Commodore. (She informed me of something I didn't know about the Jason Ranheim Company; there was no Jason... it was a fictitious name. However, everybody else in the family had a name that started with J.) We discussed the days when John and she would travel to Commodore shows. In fact, they had tables at the 1980's shows I visited, like at the World of Commodore in Los Angeles and in San Francisco. I may have met them back then and didn't even know about it.
Then Judy and Jenn led me to the garage. There were boxes and containers of so much stuff... far more than what I had seen in the photos!
Well, the boxes were not going to fit in my car, and we removed everything out of those boxes and placed the items in every nook and cranny in the interior of the car. By the time, we had emptied out the boxes, I still had a bit of room until the top of the car's ceiling, between the seats and the windows, and under my legs at the driver's side. No problem!
I invited them to our October club picnic lunch/dinner, but it didn't seem that they wanted to travel all the way to Fresno.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on September 24, 2011, 07:21:26 PMPhotos will eventually be posted at http://retro-link.blogspot.com
The photos are up! The exact link is
http://retro-link.blogspot.com/2011/10/few-weeks-ago-judy-ranheim-widow-of.html
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Hot on the heels of gathering the Ranheim cache of goods, this Sunday I go to look over another C= collection in Stockton. I've asked FCUG member Alfredo M. to help me with this. Perhaps he'll bring his pick-up truck, and then I won't have to stuff my Crown Vic again.
Still recovering from the Amiwest Show,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: RobertB on October 25, 2011, 11:26:39 PM...I go to look over another C= collection in Stockton. I've asked FCUG member Alfredo M. to help me with this. Perhaps he'll bring his pick-up truck...
Mission partially accomplished! Forgetting Alfredo's phone number, I went alone to meet up with Chuck, the gentleman who was disposing of his C= collection. Too much to carry in one load! I must have taken 1/3 of the goods this time. I'll have to return on Sunday, Nov. 27 in order to pick up the rest of the hardware and software.
More of a story to tell,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on October 31, 2011, 10:36:21 AMI'll have to return on Sunday, Nov. 27 in order to pick up the rest of the hardware and software.
When I see Chuck again on the 27th, Rory and Jerold, the Hollywood filmmakers will following along in order to film the meeting. Chuck is quite a person. In my first meeting with him, he talked about how Commodore 64's were used at the secretive Lawrence Livermore Lab! He was an engineering technician at the Lab back in those days. I told him not to tell me any classified stuff. ;)
Now retired, he guestimated that in the 1980's out of the 8,000 employees, a thousand used the C64's for machine control and for accounting/database. Wow! When the lab did not want the Commodores anymore, they would be put out in "salvage" where the other government departments could come and pick them out if they needed them. If not needed, eventually they would be auctioned off to the public.
After going to Chuck's place, I will make a return trip to Judy Ranheim's house. Rory and Jerold may want to film her talking about the Jason Ranheim Company.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on November 18, 2011, 08:50:33 PMWhen I see Chuck again on the 27th, Rory and Jerold, the Hollywood filmmakers will following along in order to film the meeting.
Yesterday was quite busy. FCUG member Alfredo M. met me at my parents' house, in order to help me get the C= materials out of Chuck B.'s house. Then a little while later, Rory and Jerold came in, after having spent the Thanksgiving holidays in San Francisco. After some talk, we headed off to Chuck's place, Rory and Jerold in their car, Alfredo and me in Alfredo's Ford F-150. It's a good thing we brought the truck, because what seemed to be small in Chuck's closets, came out to be quite a spread of C= goods in the bed of the truck! All the while Rory and Jerold filmed, and Chuck was pleased to speak about Commodore and his various other hobbies - cameras, ham radio, guitars....
QuoteAfter going to Chuck's place, I will make a return trip to Judy Ranheim's house. Rory and Jerold may want to film her talking about the Jason Ranheim Company.
Yup, Rory and Jerold filmed Judy and her daughter, Jen, talk about the company back in its heyday. In essence, Judy repeated the stories she had told me in my first visit. This time Judy brought out materials in a manila folder -- letters from the World of Commodore Show in Toronto and from the Commodore Shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco, advertisements for the Promenade C1, photo negatives and positives of the various Ranheim boards like the Promenade and the PCC series, hand-drawn layouts of the boards... wow, all very historical!
After being there for an hour, I took off in my car and Rory and Jerold in their car, all of us heading through the fog back south, I going home, Rory and Jerold going to L.A..
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on November 28, 2011, 09:49:13 AMIt's a good thing we brought the truck, because what seemed to be small in Chuck's closets, came out to be quite a spread of C= goods in the bed of the truck!
Some of the notable items to come out of Chuck's closets... a C128DCR, a 1581, and a RAMLink v1. The former two were a bit yellowed and went into storage. The RAMLink has not been stored, because I want to test it out. The last RL v1 that I tested was buggy, e.g., it wouldn't partition correctly for use with GEOS/Wheels. Design flaw corrected by v2? Well, I'll find out whether Chuck's RL v1 has the same bugs.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
At last Saturday's TOGA meeting, I was about to sell a 1571 which came from Chuck's or John Ranheim's collection. I was going to transfer the JiffyDOS chip out of Mitch Z.'s broken 1571 into the replacement 1571. When we opened up the Chuck/John 1571, Mitch and I spotted a strange board taped to the side of the inner drive casing and a potentiometer wired in-line with the board? What was it?!!! The board had a 6502 on it and one of the wires from the board led to a solder point on the leg of a chip on the 1571 board. We looked at the bottom of the mystery board, and there in miniscule writing it said, "SuperCard+ 1571 c1989". Holy cow! An original SuperCard+ ! What a disk copier! Well, I cancelled the sale (and Mitch agreed), telling him I'd find another 1571 for him.
Next day at the FCUG meeting, FCUG member Roger V. and I examined that 1571 and SuperCard+ board again and searched the Net for instructions and software. The instructions were found, not the software. The software search continues.
Merry Christmas!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
SuperCard+ software found! I downloaded it from Dan Mackey's site.
Merry Christmas!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on November 28, 2011, 09:49:13 AM...FCUG member Alfredo M. met me at my parents' house, in order to help me get the C= materials out of Chuck B.'s house. Then a little while later, Rory and Jerold came in, after having spent the Thanksgiving holidays in San Francisco. After some talk, we headed off to Chuck's place, Rory and Jerold in their car, Alfredo and me in Alfredo's Ford F-150. It's a good thing we brought the truck, because what seemed to be small in Chuck's closets, came out to be quite a spread of C= goods in the bed of the truck! All the while Rory and Jerold filmed, and Chuck was pleased to speak about Commodore and his various other hobbies - cameras, ham radio, guitars....
Photos of the rescue have been posted at
http://retro-link.blogspot.com/2011/12/picking-up-commodore-goods.html
Happy New Year!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Today I talked to Peg B. from the Palmdale/Lancaster area of California. She wants to give away her Amiga 1000 set-up that has not been used in 20 years. From the way she describes it, the A1000 has upgrades. I wonder what they are?!
I told her that I had just been to the SCCAN meeting in southern California on Saturday and that she had just missed me. She wants to meet me halfway in order to hand over the system. In Tehachapi? Bakersfield? Well, we couldn't decide, but it seems like Bakersfield might be the place. We couldn't decide on a calendar date, either, for the exchange. January weekends are already booked for me. It might have to be on the second weekend of February or the third weekend of March.
Another long-distance trip,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on January 17, 2012, 12:40:08 AMToday I talked to Peg B. from the Palmdale/Lancaster area of California. She wants to give away her Amiga 1000 set-up that has not been used in 20 years.
(snip)
It might have to be on the second weekend of February or the third weekend of March.
Well, she couldn't make it to any February get-together so I'm going to try for next weekend.
In the meantime, on Wednesday I picked up an A3000 from local user, Richard H.. The hard drive in the machine is failing, and it's experiencing motherboard/power supply problems. I've brought with me to the Bay Area as I go to Amiga engineer R.J. Mical's dinner party tonight, and I will give it to Duncan M., TOGA repair technician, who will also be at the party. Then the plan is to pick up the repaired machine during my Spring Break.
Another long-distance trip,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on March 10, 2012, 09:50:56 AMWell, she couldn't make it to any February get-together so I'm going to try for next weekend.
It looks like a go. She is going to come down to Castaic where we are having Saturday's SCCAN meeting.
Quote...I picked up an A3000 from local user, Richard H.. The hard drive in the machine is failing, and it's experiencing motherboard/power supply problems. I've brought with me to the Bay Area as I go to Amiga engineer R.J. Mical's dinner party tonight, and I will give it to Duncan M....
Duncan opened it up at the party, but he was leery of it, because the old battery had leaked over the motherboard. :(
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on March 12, 2012, 01:38:11 PMShe is going to come down to Castaic where we are having Saturday's SCCAN meeting.
When I arrived at the SCCAN meeting yesterday, I found out that she had gone to Castaic on Friday night in order to beat an incoming storm. She left the A1000 with two medium boxes of A1000 goods on the doorstep of Joe M.'s house.
QuoteDuncan opened (Richard's A3000) up at the party, but he was leery of it, because the old battery had leaked over the motherboard.
Duncan has checked over the system and could not find any power problems with it. The only thing that we can think of is that Richard lives in a rural farmhouse and that the electricity coming into the house is not clean, i.e., of low quality. The acid from the leaky battery has been cleaned up with no major damage to the board. He's imaged the drive so that Richard could have another copy just in case the drive mechanism goes bad. The two floppy drives were bad, and Duncan will replace those. Also he will install Workbench 3.1.
Heh, I should give Duncan my A3000 to go over, too,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
I just talked to Charles from Los Angeles. The last time I contacted him was back in the early 2000's, and at that time, he gave away some of his Commodore collection, which included a Spartan (which I showed at a Vintage Computer Festival). Well, now he wants to give away the last of his collection, which not only includes Commodore but things like S100 and LNW computers. He still has to gather the materials together, but it looks as if I will pay him a visit in late April or mid-May.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on March 18, 2012, 10:56:42 PMDuncan has checked over the system and could not find any power problems with it. The only thing that we can think of is that Richard lives in a rural farmhouse and that the electricity coming into the house is not clean, i.e., of low quality. The acid from the leaky battery has been cleaned up with no major damage to the board. He's imaged the drive so that Richard could have another copy just in case the drive mechanism goes bad. The two floppy drives were bad, and Duncan will replace those. Also he will install Workbench 3.1.
Here are the specific repairs that Duncan did --
"Both floppy drives have been rebuilt and they work, though the eject button on the leftmost one is very wobbly and does not stay on very well. There's not much I can do about that, as A3000 eject buttons are total unobtainium (several people on the internets have resorted to reproducing them using 3D printers)."
"I did manage to successfully upgrade it to Kickstart 3.1, and the hard drive has been replaced. I even managed to make the new hard drive mimic the old drive's directory structure/partition layout. All of the old files/programs have been restored and should be working. I also threw in a couple of extra programs and of course a ton of games. The new drive is 4GB, big enough to hold just about every piece of Amiga software worth using/playing."
"The old hard drive has a very strange problem where it would show up on every SCSI ID simultaneously when plugged in. It would work fine this way (couldn't plug in anything else though), and it seems like it's been that way ever since the machine shipped. It doesn't look
like the owner ever owned a CD drive or had one plugged in so I'm throwing an ugly-but-functional one in for free."
"The motherboard, it turns out, has a defect where turning on termination power on any SCSI device will cause the machine not to boot at all. This is apparently a common defect on certain early revision A3000s, and I kind of want to leave it up to the owner whether he wants to fix it or not because fixing it would require taking apart the whole computer completely apart again. (I've already done it once, and pulling apart an A3000 to get to the motherboard is very time-consuming). I've already changed out the suicide battery for a cordless phone battery."
"I've also swapped out the PCB inside the keyboard, as it looks like the keyboard was acting up on an intermittent basis (the caps lock light was flashing/staying on, indicative of a problem with the keyboard controller). It should be working a lot better now."
Picking it up tomorrow,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on March 31, 2012, 10:13:38 PMI just talked to Charles from Los Angeles.
(snip)
He still has to gather the materials together, but it looks as if I will pay him a visit in late April or mid-May.
I am tentatively scheduled to meet Charles this Sunday at 2 p.m.. He has some of his things together but not all.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Charles cancelled out on the meeting, because he had to visit his wife in the hospital. I'll have to reschedule, or he said he would mail the goods to me.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
A few weeks ago our club received a SUV-load of goods from a gentleman in San Jose. This Sunday I'll get to see what there is! Our treasurer, who has been storing it in his garage, wants it out. I know of another club member who has the storage space. Guess who gets to store the load!
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 28-29 Commodore Vegas Expo v8 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
Quote from: me on July 11, 2012, 06:34:52 PMI know of another club member who has the storage space. Guess who gets to store the load!
He took away the boxes of goods on Sunday. Before he did so, the members picked through the goods to see if there were any interesting ones. One member picked up a few VIC-20 game cartridges. I got a Data-20 16K Video cartridge with power supply for the VIC-20. One day I'll have to visit the storage in order to study in detail all of the goods we received.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 28-29 Commodore Vegas Expo v8 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
QuoteDuncan opened (Richard's A3000) up...
Quote from: me on March 18, 2012, 10:56:42 PMDuncan has checked over the system and could not find any power problems with it. The only thing that we can think of is that Richard lives in a rural farmhouse and that the electricity coming into the house is not clean, i.e., of low quality.
In late June or early July, I returned to Richard's house to pick up his A3000 again. He complained that in the middle of a document, it lost all power and that when he tried to reboot it, nothing happened. I gave it to Duncan again, and he ran it for hours and hours. Everything was all right! Then I used it for hours and hours at the July 28-29 CommVEx and at this month's FCUG meeting. Everything was fine! Yesterday I returned the A3000 to Richard, telling him about the bad electricity in his house and handing him a refurbished uninterruptible power supply. The UPS only cost him $10 from CommVEx! Well, when he saw that the UPS needed a ground, I told him to attach a wire to the ground lead and string it to a metal plumbing pipe in the house (his house not having grounded outlets). He even got a VGA flatscreen monitor from Duncan... no more having to use his CRT VGA monitor. He paid me back for buying him the UPS and gave a small donation for next year's CommVEx.
Hoping never to fool around with that A3000 again,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on May 01, 2012, 08:29:10 AMCharles cancelled out on the meeting, because he had to visit his wife in the hospital. I'll have to reschedule...
For the second weekend in a row, I'll be in the Los Angeles area. If I have time and I can arrange it with Charles, I'll try to swing by his place.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on September 11, 2012, 11:01:47 PMIf I have time and I can arrange it with Charles, I'll try to swing by his place.
Heck, I ran out of time. Well, I'm in the L.A. area again on Saturday, but I will be busy at the SCCAN meeting.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org
Quote from: me on September 11, 2012, 11:01:47 PMIf I have time and I can arrange it with Charles, I'll try to swing by his place.
O.K., it looks like a go! I contacted Charles tonight, and I'll be visiting him this Saturday. He has moved, and his garages of stuff were whittled down to a few boxes. It seems that the S100 computer (a classic computer older than Commodore) is gone. However, he has saved me some C= hardware and books/brochures.
We shall see!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Quote from: me on August 24, 2012, 11:20:49 AM...I returned the A3000 to Richard, telling him about the bad electricity in his house and handing him a refurbished uninterruptible power supply.
At last month's TOGA meeting, Duncan told me that Richard contacted him again, and again the A3000 was giving the same problems. Sigh! I told Duncan that if Richard does not clear up the electrical problems in his house, the A3000 will never work normally.
I wash my hands of that A3000,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Quote from: me on December 11, 2012, 02:38:41 AMI contacted Charles tonight, and I'll be visiting him this Saturday. He has moved, and his garages of stuff were whittled down to a few boxes. It seems that the S100 computer (a classic computer older than Commodore) is gone. However, he has saved me some C= hardware and books/brochures.
After spending last night in Bakersfield, I traveled to Los Angeles, fighting through the I-5 traffic. I finally made it to his upscale retirement community at 1:30. I went into the wrong complex, went back outside, called him on my cell phone, and was led to the correct building.
I hadn't seen him in 10+ years. Though most of his goods had been thrown out by those who moved him to the retirement home, he still had a crowded apartment with papers, camera gear, boxes of stuff, and more. He gave me a pair of 1571s, a pair of VIC-1541s, an Excelerator drive, external p.s.'s, a bag of manila folders filled with C= paperwork, some program cassettes, a few disks like Chartpak 128, and even an external Apple disk drive to be used with a Spartan (see below).
We talked as I had lunch at his place. The subjects ranged from his classic camera gear (Speed Graphic and more), his late wife, his health, the Hollenbeck retirement community of which he was now a part (many Japanese lived there), and equipment like the Spartan Apple II+ add-on for the C64. I asked him if the external Apple disk drive could also read C64 disks when connected to the Spartan; no, it was just an Apple drive. I told him about the Spartan which I still had (and which he had given me 10+ years ago); the Spartan power supply was still being worked on by Matt Bingenheimer of Oregon... however, the last time I contacted Matt was 3 years ago! I should contact Matt and see what is happening with that p.s..
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Just came back from a computer rescue. On Saturday I visited Thomas Langhans in the South Bay (San Francisco area). This was no ordinary Commodore rescue. Tom used his VIC-20 and later his C64 connected to a 14-inch Celestron telescope in order to gather astronomical data! You should have seen ihis observatory!
A full report to come,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 27-28 Commodore Vegas Expo v9 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
It looks as if I'm going to be rescuing another load of C= and Ami items, this time in Maple Falls, Washington, just south of the Canadian border. The items are a flat C128, a C128DCR, and two Amiga 500's. So, when I'm in the Pacific Northwest in early August, I'll be traveling farther north than I usually travel (my usual area is Portland and southern Washington).
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 26-27 Commodore Vegas Expo v10 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
On Thursday I did another pick-up of Commodore and Amiga equipment, this time from Gerald Oborn in South San Francisco. He was giving up almost all of his collection and had spoken to me last year about this matter. The time had come, because he was moving to a new home.
I fought through all the rush-hour traffic and got to his place at 6:30 p.m.. He greeting me at the door and remarked that I looked about the same (the last time I saw him was years ago). I replied he looked the same, too. He then led me to the basement garage, and I found that all of the items had been neatly boxed, ready to go. His brother Ken and sister Christima were helping him pack up, too. He described how each box had been organized and which boxes I could take and which were his personal items.
I started hauling out the C= boxes onto the driveway, and there were many, more than what my car could hold. I assured Gerald that I would have help arriving soon. Duncan M. of The Other Group of Amigoids was supposed to arrive at 7. My car trunk was full, but the car interior was clear, and so, I decided to grab the software - commercial boxes, disk boxes, miscellaneous boxes full of software, cables, cartridges, and joysticks.
By the time Duncan arrived, I had packed almost all the software into the car, only one or two large boxes of software were left and all of the hardware - C64's, C128's, Amiga 500's, monitors, and disk drives. He helped me pack more software into my car, and then he took the hardware and put in the cab and bed of his Ford Ranger truck.
It was dark by the time we left. Gerald and Ken had said their good-byes to us earlier. The brisk San Francisco winds chilled me to the bone, and I had eaten little that day. Duncan and I agreed to go to the nearest, inexpensive but popular restaurant - the Taqueria Celaya. There I had a pollo asado dinner while Duncan had a veggie burrito. Because Duncan had little storage space at his home, we agreed that he could take the truckload of C= items temporarily, and I would come the next day to pick up the remainder.
Friday I drove the 90 minutes to Duncan's house. We examined the items - he wanted to keep the regular C128 and C64C (short board) and 1702 monitor. The Amiga 500 Plus, the Amiga 500 with 2.04 chip, the C128 with Super Chip, the C64 early version A computer, the boxed and minty 1571, the Amiga 1080 monitor, the MSD SD-1 and SD-2 drives, and the boxed 1581 were mine to bring back.
Back home past midnight,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
In late December, I received a message from Tony Chai, woner of Computer Station in Long Beach, California. He said that he was finally closing the storefront and had to move everything out. He told me that I could pick up the Commodore and Amiga goods, and suggested I bring several trucks. Well, I rented one big van for $306, not quite knowing much I was going to get from him.
When I arrived on December 28, he basically wanted to keep the Commodore set-ups he had up on the shelves, saying that they were going to others who had claimed them. I had to go item by item (I didn't know I was going to sort) and ask him if he still wanted them for eBay sales or for himself. That took longer than I expected. I was perched on a tall ladder near the 15-foot ceiling to get some of the goods. All this time, filmmakers Rory Muir and Jerold Kress were there, filming me and Tony.
After 3 hours, everything was in the van. I said my good-bye to Tony, and Jerold, Rory, and I drove to the nearby Thai restaurant for beverages and appetizers. There we recollected about the afternoon and discussed what I would be doing in the coming months.
Friday I put nearly all of the goods into the mini-storage, though it was sprinkling rain. That only took 2 hours.
To see photos of my adventure, go to
http://blog.retro-link.com/2017/01/picking-up-haul-from-computer-station.html
Writing from Miami, Florida,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Not reported here but back in May, 2016, I picked up a C64 hardware and software load from a retired teacher in Stockton. Well, he has contacted me again, asking me to pick up more software that he has found in his house. It looks as if I'll be heading that way in a few weeks.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
June 10-11 Pacific Commodore Expo NW -
http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex
Oy! Another rescue to do! This time I had to go to Los Angeles and pick up C64 and Amiga hardware... more Amiga than C=. There was an Amiga 3000, an A1010 floppy drive, a high-density floppy drive mech for an A2000/3000/4000, boxed GVP Spectrum video card, boxed Amiga 500, giant external Amiga power supply which seemed homemade, boxed C64, 1541 disk drive, and six LCD VGA monitors (one of which was a multi-scan Dell).
To be distributed at the July SCCAN meeting and November Commodore L.A. Super Show,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
Aw, the A3000 had bad battery leakage and corroded at least 3 traces on the motherboard. It wouldn't even come up with a screen. :( So it will need further work from a pro repairperson. The boxed C64 had a smashed C64 inside of it; I had never seen a plastic case just broken apart like that. And the board inside of it didn't power up. Fortunately, there was a loose C64 that came with the haul, and that one worked well. The homebuilt Amiga power supply probably came from a server and puts out a gigantic 30 amps @ 5 volts! I haven't tested the Spectrum card, A1010, A500, and Ariadne II card yet (forgot to mention the Ariadne in the last post).
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan