Grimakis Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Hey, I just got a Tandy Model 102, Portable Computer. Anyone on AA using these? It appears to be a real winner in terms of a vintage "laptop". I'm been trying to get a hold of Ken at club100.org to buy some accessories, but no luck. Best, George 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 (edited) I have a 100 and the NEC cool machines for their time. You should join the mail list for club 100 lots of users and devs therehttp://lists.bitchin100.com/listinfo.cgi/m100-bitchin100.comSent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk Edited March 3, 2017 by arcadeshopper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Yes! I just got a 100 in September so I'm still pretty new to it myself. As a matter of fact, I was just messing with it yesterday, trying to get some BASIC games I'd punched in onto cassette. They're currently stored in battery-backed memory...I wanted to get them to tape before the batteries die and I lose them. Incidentally, I'm actually having a little trouble getting the tapes to load back correctly, I keep getting errors, so I'm working on that.It's a neat little thing IMO. Pretty ahead of its time as well. The main menu is essentially an operating system and is novel in the sense that you can either tab around the programs and filenames with the arrow keys, or simply enter the name of the program you want to run. It's like a text-based, mouseless GUI/command line hybrid, if that makes any sense. I love that you can jump back and forth between the Menu and BASIC and the program without wiping anything out (unless you're going to run another BASIC program).What I'd really love is to track down a copy of Starblaze 100, which IIRC is the only game Radio Shack published for the 100/102. Original copies seem to turn up only once in a blue moon, though, and only in large collection lots that include gobs of business and application software that the seller want $500 for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo-Torch Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 (edited) Yep, thanks to Craigslist, within the last year I acquired about 7 Model 100s and didn't pay a dime. I also have a Model 200 that was free and looks/works great but could use a retrobrite treatment. I think all are 32K and a few have a custom ROM. I've wanted one since I was a kid and all of a sudden I hit a jackpot. I've not devoted much time to them yet; although, I have called a few BBSs which is so freakin' cool. When I get a chance, I'll start transferring software and games to them. Edited March 4, 2017 by Turbo-Torch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 I still have my Tandy 102. I haven't used it much recently, but I still sometimes take it to work for note-taking during meetings, much to the amusement of my colleagues. It's a remarkable machine, especially considering its age; its core feature set still works very well for the machine's primary purpose, and I can attest that you can indeed get over 20 hours of battery life on four AA batteries (I use rechargeables in mine). I sometimes think about designing a modern equivalent which uses today's components and connectivity options while retaining the user interface and feature set of the original. I'd love to see a new iteration of the "Model T" built with today's materials (a magnesium alloy case, a Gorilla Glass plate over the screen, a slimmer keyboard, touchscreen functionality, etc). I ordered my 102 from Rick Hanson, the original proprietor of Club 100, before he passed away about six years ago. Others have since stepped up to take over Club 100, but perhaps they're only devoting part-time effort to it; there don't seem to have been any updates to the site for a while. My best advice is to wait; if you haven't heard from them within a week or so, e-mail them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Yes! I just got a 100 in September so I'm still pretty new to it myself. As a matter of fact, I was just messing with it yesterday, trying to get some BASIC games I'd punched in onto cassette. They're currently stored in battery-backed memory...I wanted to get them to tape before the batteries die and I lose them. Incidentally, I'm actually having a little trouble getting the tapes to load back correctly, I keep getting errors, so I'm working on that. It's a neat little thing IMO. Pretty ahead of its time as well. The main menu is essentially an operating system and is novel in the sense that you can either tab around the programs and filenames with the arrow keys, or simply enter the name of the program you want to run. It's like a text-based, mouseless GUI/command line hybrid, if that makes any sense. [emoji38] I love that you can jump back and forth between the Menu and BASIC and the program without wiping anything out (unless you're going to run another BASIC program). What I'd really love is to track down a copy of Starblaze 100, which IIRC is the only game Radio Shack published for the 100/102. Original copies seem to turn up only once in a blue moon, though, and only in large collection lots that include gobs of business and application software that the seller want $500 for. There's lots of better storage if you get a rex or a rom with tsdos and a null modem there's pc drive emu that works great Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimakis Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Gah. I need the Rex. Also I can't figure out the mailing list. I'm on it, but I only receive the digest, not the individual posts. If only the Model 100 community would move to a real forum, it might be easier for me to learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Gah. I need the Rex. Also I can't figure out the mailing list. I'm on it, but I only receive the digest, not the individual posts. If only the Model 100 community would move to a real forum, it might be easier for me to learn! They are old-school to the max.. To unsubscribe from M100, get a password reminder, or change your subscription options enter your subscription email address: says that at the bottom of the page i linked back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 There's lots of better storage if you get a rex or a rom with tsdos and a null modem there's pc drive emu that works great Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk http://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=LaddieCon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormtrooper of Death Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 I have 2 Tandy 102, 2 Tandy 200 and a TRS-80 model 4P. I dont have a tape recorder, but I use the serial port to load/save programs from the 102/200 to my Panasonic Toughbook Cf-M34. (yep, I use the CF-M34 as an external slave for my Tandy machines). Once in a month, I just turn one of them on and play a bit with them. Programming something in BASIC. making music with the keyboard or some simple grafix FX. Nice machines that last for ages. Hint: for some easy file exchange, use Teeny. Greetings from Richard Vermeulen from the Netherlands. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majestyx Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 George, Have you had any success contacting Ken from Club 100? I'm interested in getting a REX for my Model 102 but if he's not responding to emails or if it isn't available anymore, I won't bother to send an email to the address listed on the Club 100 website which hasn't been updated in about 5 years. Thanks for any info you can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majestyx Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Just an update - I emailed Ken at the email address provided on the Club 100 website on May 8th and haven't heard back so my guess is that the REX is likely no longer available or the email address may have been abandoned since it didn't get bounced back to me. Here's hoping that it may eventually be remade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Rex is no longer being built by Ken, it was released to the community to build your own, if you have the ability to solder surface mount the entire information is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c-jML3yzsVaS-xNdqL9dgZo04l1EBbJkTqtG-WLFZnA/edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Rex is no longer being built by Ken, it was released to the community to build your own, if you have the ability to solder surface mount the entire information is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c-jML3yzsVaS-xNdqL9dgZo04l1EBbJkTqtG-WLFZnA/edit That's unfortunate. I assume that applies to NADS Box as well? So that means that no one is actively building physical products for the Model 100 series, it's all DIY? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Yup at this point that is the case. I have had good luck with a null modem cable and my pc using laddiealpha as a drive emu. Also there is an android app that some are using that requires a special adapter and usb rs232 cable Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Yup at this point that is the case. I have had good luck with a null modem cable and my pc using laddiealpha as a drive emu. Also there is an android app that some are using that requires a special adapter and usb rs232 cable Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk Thanks. Pity. Although I would never use it beyond the experimental phase, I toyed with the idea of messing around with my 100 series systems as distraction-free writing devices. That would be easier, obviouisly, with a more modern turnkey way of getting content off the device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Here's mcomm's directory http://www.club100.org/memfiles/index.php?PHPSESSID=h1sqgo83hi9mbd8hh2nb848f62&direction=0&order=&directory=Kurt%20McCullum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 I have a 102 but the battery compartment is corroded so I can only use a power supply and I don't currently have one that works for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnuphis Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Is it just the contacts in the compartment that are corroded? You could probably fix those with some from an old remote or other device that uses AA batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majestyx Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Yup at this point that is the case. I have had good luck with a null modem cable and my pc using laddiealpha as a drive emu. Also there is an android app that some are using that requires a special adapter and usb rs232 cable Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk What would be the best way to set this up for a PC without a serial connector, only USB (or is that not possible)? I'm still confused as to whether it needs a specially wired null modem cable, or if any one will do. I'd appreciate any guidance you can provide, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 What would be the best way to set this up for a PC without a serial connector, only USB (or is that not possible)? I'm still confused as to whether it needs a specially wired null modem cable, or if any one will do. I'd appreciate any guidance you can provide, thanks! Get a good usb adapter I like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AHYJWWG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 FTDI chipset is a must as the other type has too many clones and driver issues a null modem cable such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-10-Feet-Cross-Wired-Serial/dp/B00066HL50/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1495750171&sr=1-1&keywords=9+to+25+null+modem and away you go.. software is here http://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=LaddieConif there's a better one someone correct me Greg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majestyx Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 Thanks for the information, Greg! That's very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majestyx Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 So I have the cables now but I don't have a TS-DOS ROM. Is there any way to send programs to the machine without it, or is the ROM chip required? And if I do need the ROM chip, does anyone have one for sale or know where I can get one? If not, it looks like I'm right back where I started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 you can use xmodem and a pc terminal to send files down to term lots of files on ftp://ftp.whtech.com/club100/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormtrooper of Death Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Teeny can also be used on your Tandy for serial communication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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