Educator 64

RobertB · August 03, 2009, 04:54:25 PM

I picked up an Educator 64 finally. It seems to be in good condition, but the green-screen display is very, very dim (probably very good because it was formerly used in a photographic lab darkroom). I was told that it had been used by the lab 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Ray Carlsen noted scorch marks at the bottom of the monitor board (high heat!). Also he said that the monitor is very tired, due to its constant use.
Now all I have to do is find a picture tube from a 4032 in order to replace the dim one in this Educator 64.

Otherwise known as the PET 4064,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

RobertB · August 04, 2009, 11:28:46 PM

Today I visited Larry Anderson, PET guru of the West Coast and owner of an Educator 64. I brought Educator 64, and there at his storage unit we compared machines. Surprisingly, his and mine were only 66 apart in their serial numbers! We found a date stamped in the inside of the casings. Mine was Dec. 15, 1982; his was Dec. 25, 1982. Other little details... his had an X-ray warning label inside the casing; mine didn't. The name of the school district where he had obtained it was stamped on the left side; mine had the social security number of the owner inscribed in the lower left of the keyboard casing. His had a blue p.s. capacitor; mine was black. His internal speaker bracket was straight; mine was warped at the corners. His video board had no scorch marks while mine had those marks. His tape drive ground screw had 2 nuts and 2 lockwashers; mine had one nut and one lockwasher. His original labeling had gone through a bit too much cleaning; mine hadn't. He had no other labeling on the machine; the original owner of my Educator 64 had stuck paper labels with the ports identified in ink. His was cleaner inside; mine had dust and some cobwebs. Of course, his video tube was in much better condition than mine. Otherwise, they were twins!

Later on, his wife asked if we had taken any photos of the two machines together. Sheepishly, we admitted that we had not thought of that.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

RobertB · August 05, 2009, 10:02:54 PM

Last night I did some Net searching for picture tubes to replace the one in the Educator 64. I did find one place in South Carolina that says it rebuilds CRTs. I'll have to contact them and see if they will rebuild the Educator's green-screen CRT.

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/

RobertB · August 11, 2009, 11:52:46 PM

Duncan M. of the TOGA is inquiring about CRT replacement on my Educator 64.

That's nice of him,
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/

RobertB · August 12, 2009, 06:40:13 PM

I contacted the person from whom I had bought the Educator 64, herself an expert in PET computers. She saw no reason why the CRT from a PET 8032 wouldn't work in the E64, but she advised me to seek help from an expert.

Must send another e-mail to Ray
Carlsen, master repair tech,
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/

RobertB · August 16, 2009, 10:43:59 PM

I received an e-mail from Ray in response to my CRT inquiry. He looked through his PET service manuals, but information is missing in some of them. He wrote that there were lots of different logic boards in the various models from 4016 through the SuperPET, and it looked like they all used the same monitor, but that was more of an educated guess based on the limited info he had. He told me to open up the machine and look for a number on the picture tube of the E64.

Something to discuss with the TOGA tech,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

RobertB · August 18, 2009, 12:48:58 PM

Dick Estel has posted 6 photos of the Educator 64. Go to

http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

and then scroll almost all the way down the page.

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/

RobertB · August 20, 2009, 10:58:03 PM

The Educator 64 will be shown at this Saturday's TOGA meeting. Perhaps repair tech Duncan will give it a look-through at the meeting.

Also showing off C64 Forever at the meeting,
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/

RobertB · August 24, 2009, 08:41:10 PM

Heh, Duncan looked at it all right but did not offer to repair it. Oh, well... next time I meet Ray Carlsen, it goes off to him for fixing up. He said he would never again work on a PET, but this isn't really a PET.

A C64 in a PET case,
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/

Paul · August 31, 2009, 02:24:48 PM

Have any pictures of this relatively rare Commodore beast?

RobertB · September 01, 2009, 10:48:42 AM

http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm and go 3/4 down the page.

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/

RobertB · September 02, 2009, 09:34:20 PM

Quote from: me on August 24, 2009, 08:41:10 PM...next time I meet Ray Carlsen, it goes off to him for fixing up.

It looks as if I won't get to Ray's place until Spring Break next year. The Educator 64 has been put into storage alongside the other PETs which were obtained from Riverside, California. Also when I visit Ray, I may have a couple of SX-64s for him to repair.

Our former FCUG tech never got around to fixing them,
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

RobertB · March 25, 2010, 11:21:22 PM

Quote from: me on September 02, 2009, 09:34:20 PMIt looks as if I won't get to Ray's place until Spring Break next year. The Educator 64 has been put into storage...

This upcoming Monday, Ray is getting the E64 to repair.

QuoteAlso when I visit Ray, I may have a couple of SX-64s for him to repair.

I'm delaying that; instead, I will bringing him a bunch of 1571s/1541s to repair.

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

RobertB · March 30, 2010, 09:23:12 PM

Quote from: me on March 25, 2010, 11:21:22 PMThis upcoming Monday, Ray is getting the E64 to repair.

Ray now has the E64. He seems eager to tackle the repairs on this rare beast.

Quote...I will bringing him a bunch of 1571s/1541s to repair.

As of today, Ray has already repaired most of them. Four 1571s were cleaned and lubed. Two more 1571s were in worse shape; one had a bad top head, and the other had a bad controller board. I gave him permission to swap parts to make up one good 1571. Then there was a modded 1541. The previous owner had internally wired it incorrectly; Ray put the wiring back to factory stock and cleaned and lubed the drive.

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

RobertB · March 31, 2010, 11:13:03 PM

Quote from: me on March 30, 2010, 09:23:12 PMThen there was a modded 1541. The previous owner had internally wired it incorrectly; Ray put the wiring back to factory stock and cleaned and lubed the drive.

Ray explained that the previous owner had disabled the write protect sensor so that a disk can be written even if it were write-protected. The problem is that the drive "also uses the write protect sensor to know when the disk is changed and to update the BAM for the new disk. Without that update, the drive may write to one disk thinking it's the previous one. A workaround would be to turn the drive off and back on again or do an Initialize whenever a disk is inserted... unless one forgets to do that. It's not worth the risk."
He goes on to say that he came up with a simple circuit (a capacitor, resistor and diode) that does leaves the WP sensor enabled but that still allows writing on a protected disk.
I gave him permission to re-modify the drive correctly. Now he has installed a switch so that I can toggle back and forth easily. He explains, "When in the normal position (switch closed), the drive responds as if the mod were not there. With the switch open, the write protect sensor works (for BAM update with disk changes) but will allow writes to a protected disk, i.e. one never notched or a notch covered with a tab."

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

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Educator 64