Derrick Wildstar

Thanks for all the info and the brief TI 101 amigos! Thanks Omega for the schematic as well. Since I already own a few dozen tube TVs and the RS232 is less than half the size of the average CRT I gotta keep it. It only makes sense to, only to be kicking myself later if not. In the not too far future I will open the TI99 and go through it. I'll give you folks a full report of what I find with that ribbon, hopefully nothing though. Thanks again I am excited.

(I could've sworn I created an account when I first bought a Coleco SD cart sometime in 2015 but I guess I didn't.) So this is my first post. Thanks for reading! Brief backstory: I am a gamer since electo-mechanical handhelds, Electronic Quarterback, Pong (whichever knock-off), etc. One of the best memories of my life was buying Colecovision with my own money in 1983. I have never actually owned a TI-99 and would not even consider myself a novice. I don't even know any run commands or anything. However, I was born in late 1970 and do vividly remember the TI display Kmart had with multiple cartridges on retractable cables. Sometimes one of the games would even be playing, I recall a Space Invaders knock-off I liked. Earlier this month I noticed a Craigslist ad for a free Texas Instruments computer-that's all it said. For sometime I have wanted a TI-99 just to mess around with some games, especially after seeing an SD cart available. I noticed the ad at 1 a.m. and it had been posted about an hour. If not for being so late I don't think I would have stood much of a chance of getting it. After a few days the guy did call me back. He told me I was the first person in line and the following morning/day he got several more calls. This computer was his wife's, with her father as the original purchaser that used it in some sort of business application. On the phone I told him basically what I just mentioned above about Kmart and mainly wanting to play some games. He said it was all in a big box and not sure of what was included. I said I would be grateful for anything they wanted to give me. Everything was very dusty when I unloaded the box at home. I deoxit'd the power and video connectors was the only thing I did besides a basic cleaning. The computer itself did fire right up I was pleased to see. Keys 6-0 don't seem to work but hopefully I can get those working. Not sure if they use a driver chip like Coleco does for its controllers. Again I barely know anything about TI computers. The only cart I have is the TI extended basic in the pics so I couldn't really try it very much. I am way out of my league with this unit. The expansion module has a couple interfaces that I'd love to know what they are. I think the one might be for a printer cable? The tape recorder that was included does still play audio cassettes pretty well. I remember the hand me down tape recorder I had back then, Panasonic I think. That G.E. looks like it was quite a premium device in comparison. There was also some random cords thrown in the box. (Gotta love extra cords.) There is a pic of one in my hand I have no idea what it is either. Where I live the scrappers are like vultures and I am afraid that had I not been lucky the expansion module is pretty heavy and likely might've been scrapped. Not sure what I will do with it (expansion module) yet, I do love to trade though and maybe there will be a swap meet or something near me. I did notice a couple days later the guy updated the ad instead of just deleting it. It said "Thanks to everyone that responded, the TI is gone. I think it went to a good home too." This was nice to read I thought.