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Bill Lange

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Posts posted by Bill Lange

  5. Posted

    I was initial introduced to Ultima I on an Apple II in the spring of 82. Once I got a 48K upgrade and a 810 for my Atari 400, I played Ultima I - Ultima IV on my Atari. Somewhere along the line I got an Atari 800XL, so I probably played Ultima III and Ultima IV on that. To this day, Ultima III on my Atari is my favorite game.

     

    I don't think I played any of the games after Ultima IV.

     

    Bill

    • Like 2

  9. Posted

    Using Altirra -2.4 and Omnitrend Universe for Atari 8-bit version 1.3:

     

    F2 = Start

    F3 = Select

    F4 = Option

     

    Using Universe With Two Drives

    With the Construction disk - Boot the Construction disk as you normally would and begin playing. The program will ask you if you want to use 2 drives after the section where you purchase a spacecraft. Leave the Construction disk in drive 1 and put the Player disk in drive 2. Press OPTION. When the computer asks you to insert a different disk, (ex. Please Insert the Starport Disk) use drive 1. The Player disk should always remain in drive 2.

     

    With the Flight 1 & Flight 2 disks - Put the Flight 1 disk side into drive 1. Boot the computer. When the “Insert Player Disk and Hit Return” display appears, place the Player disk into drive 1 and the Flight 2 disk side into drive 2. Hold down the START key and at the same time, press RETURN. Do not release the START key until the computer beeps.

     

    With the Starport disk - Boot the starport disk. When the “Insert Player Disk and Press Return” display appears, place the Player disk in drive 1 and the Starport disk in drive 2. Hold down the START key and at the same time, press RETURN. Do not release the START key until the Customs display appears. Both disks will remain in their respective drives.

     

    ---

     

    For whatever reason, I could not get this to work in Altirra 2.5 or 2.6, so I just use 2.4 with this game. Make lots of backups of your player disk as you go.
    Kindest Regards,
    Bill

  10. Posted

    There is a nice article on Castle Wolfenstein titled "Proving Grounds Castle Wolfenstein" by Matt Barton in issue #9 (latest issue, but not dated) of Retro Videogame Magazine.

     

    Castle Wolfenstein, along with Caverns Of Mars, was the first floppy diskette based program I purchased when we finally got around to purchasing an 810 in 1982.

     

    Great game.

     

    Bill

  17. Posted

    I removed the mylar, clean the board with windex. I then cleaned the suspect area with Goo-gone and then windex. I taped the suspect area with scotch tape. Once all the screws were reinserted and tightened (especially the two on either side of the suspect area), it seems to work fine.

     

    I ordered the silver paint and will probably apply that as well next week.

     

    Thanks for the help.

     

    Now on to fixing the sio port and the monitor output.

     

    Bill

  20. Posted

    I recently added a nice looking 1200XL to my collection. Unfortunately, the keyboard doesn't seem to work.

     

    I testing it with just the BASIC cartridge installed. I then tested it with a couple of game cartridges (Galaxian, Jungle Hunt). I then tested with no cartridge, attempting to press the HELP key to enter the self-test mode.

     

    The only keys/function keys that appear to work are the "2" and the "Tab". Both of these keys work with BASIC installed. No other keys or function keys appear to work.

     

    I did disconnect the keyboard connector and the LED connector and reseat them.

     

    Any suggestions before I take it apart further.

     

    Regards,

    Bill

  22. Posted

    I just finished reading "CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer" by Boisy Pitre and Bill Loguidice.


    About two months ago, I knew very little about the history of the Tandy/Radio Shack (TRS) line of computers. What I did know, was basically gleamed from browsing the Radio Shack catalogs in the late 1970s and early 1980s that my amateur radio licensed father would receive in the mail and seeing them on display at the local Radio Shack store (sadly, now closed) in the Ocean County Mall. I did spend an inordinate amount of time during my high school years using a TRS-80 computer, albeit remotely, as my favorite go-to BBS growing up was the JSTBBS (Jersey Shore Telecommunication Breadboard System) running on a TRS-80.


    Fast forward to Vintage Computer Festival East 10 in April 2015, where my wife Lucy and I (ok, mostly me) had an Atari 8-bit Home Computer display setup. Boisy Pitre stopped by our exhibit and we talked about vintage computers and Atari. He told me about his Liber809 product which is a Motorola 6809 upgrade for the Atari 8-bit computes. He also mentioned his book "CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer", which I told him I would read.


    While I was looking for "CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer" on Amazon, I came across "Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Microcomputer Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution" by David and Theresa Welsh. I decided to read "Priming the Pump" first since it went back to the beginning of the history of the Tandy/Radio Shack (TRS) line of computers.


    Once I completed "Priming the Pump", I ordered and read "CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer". These two books cover much of the history of the Tandy/Radio Shack (TRS) line of computers. "Priming the Pump" comes across as two disjointed repetitive autobiographies merged together with the early history of microcomputers, it does provide some insight into running an early software business by the seat of your pants.


    Boisy's book is a well researched and his passion for the brand really shine through. He provides great detail on the cast of characters around the development of the TRS Color Computer models and related technologies as well as the leaders in the CoCo user community from the beginning through to the early 2000s. He also provides insight into the goings on at Tandy/Radio Shack corporate.


    I read the printed book which has many black and white photographs. I believe that the eBook version has color photographs. I actually used YouTube to go view some of the Color Computer demos, demos, demos that were mentioned toward the end of the book.


    I enjoyed reading this book, it has a lot of great early computer history.


    Regards,

    Bill

  24. Posted

    A few months ago, the power LED went out on one of my 600XLs. I removed the LED and put a new one it and still nothing. I then bench tested both LEDs and they both worked fine. The problem seemed to be elsewhere. I took one of the LED and tinned the leads with solder to give it a bigger area to make a connection. I pushed it back down into the LED socket and it seems to be holding up for now.

     

    Bill

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