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Lendorien

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Posts posted by Lendorien

  1. Posted · Edited by Lendorien

    I have a 37" Sony Trinitron from 1990. It weighs 180 lbs. It was fun watching the movers try to get it into the basement the last time we moved. My wife thinks I'm nuts for keeping the beast, but it really has a great picture for retro gaming. It also has svideo inputs for use with SNES, N64 and Playstation.

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

  3. Posted

    On 10/23/2020 at 1:56 PM, Leeroy ST said:

    I think rebuying it, or for those who didn't have one, buying it for the first time in 2020 is ultimately pointless. Especially the printer paper which I've read seems to die over time even new in box. Same with the save capabilities of the cart itself which was apparently more unreliable than regular game boy save batteries.

    The printer paper is just thermal paper. Alternatives are available.

  4. Posted · Edited by Lendorien

    I think the lesson to be learned here is that if you're going to do a project of this nature, it's best you have most of the development already done and ready to go. You see this happen with Kickstarter projects as well. Somebody has a grandiose plan to make some awesome product but they don't have the groundwork in place. So they get loads of interest and money, but then it fizzles out because the project ends up being more than they could chew.

     

    It doesn't necessarily mean that it was a scam, it just means said the people proposing the project we're poorly organized and had not explored all of the challenges related to the project.

     

    In the case of this project, I pre-ordered. I believe Curt meant well but that life and some considerable challenges got in the way. Add an unreliable project partner and the fact that a lot of the initial groundwork hadn't been put in place when pre-orders were taken, and you had a recipe for disaster. I also believe that Curt knows fully well how badly he messed this up. 

     

    I expect I will get my XM eventually, because I believe Curt fully intended from the start to complete it. Plus, as sparse as the updates are, there has been progress... to the point now that various community programmers have test units and we know it works reliably. 

     

    It's very easy for us to all gripe and complain about how long it's taking. And I fully understand everybody's frustration over the situation. At the same time, all of these complaints and irritation and anger have been hashed over and over and over again on these Forums. None of that has made project go any faster, or helped it towards completion. Frankly, I don't see the point of complaining at this point. It might make the person complaining feel better to vent, but it doesn't really have any purpose beyond that. We all know this thing is a mess. OK. Got it. Now what?

     

    So I'm going to continue to wait quietly and occasionally ask for updates. Because I don't see any point in being part of the other options.

    • Like 5

  5. Posted

     I have downsized a couple times. First was when I got my Harmony cart. I kept only my favorite 2600 games and got rid of two consoles including my Heavy sixer (wish I'd kept it). I kept some games including all of my Imagic games (so glad I kept Subterranea) but I'm down to about 25 instead of over 150. I still have a Vader 2600 gathering dust, but the 7800 is used if I play 2600 games these days. 

     

    I also got rid of my Intellivision collection. I had 50 or so games and a boxed Intellivoice. I never liked the intellivision and after owning one for a while and never touching it, I decided I was just wasting space and sold it. No regrets.

     

    I do regret selling my Turbogrfx 16 though. I had about 8 games for it. I sold it about the time I hot married thinking I needed to downsize.. Now, though I have a working one that I found at a Goodwill for cheap, I do not have any games and cannot afford to buy them at current prices.

     

    I used to collect everything, but I've gotten more discerning over the years, focusing on things that actually interest me and passing on stuff that doesn't. It comes down to space and the simple fact that I dont gave time to play most of what I own. Is having stuff just to have it really what I find value in? Not really... so I've been debating downsizing more of my collection for the same reason I did the intellivision.

     

    As for throwing stuff out... if you don't have time to sell things individually, just sell big mixed lots of stuff. Less packing and less sorting. You could even require local pickup. Or do a yard sale! Or give it away for free.

     

    If you were going to throw it out anyway, it'll be worth it. Throwing away vintage limited quantity items just feels wasteful for the same reason our whole consumerist society does. It all goes to landfills and pollutes the environment. 

     

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    I'm older and wiser about electronics and revisited this. I did the mod almost 10 years ago and my device never worked after that. Turns out i missed the cut traces. So I went and did that and it started working again... on the first two slots. Not sure the issue on the last four. Maybe I'll revisit in another 10 years. 

     

    Ha.

  9. Posted

    On 3/8/2020 at 1:35 PM, RushJet1 said:

    Many demos I've noticed stick to E minor with the C as a 7th etc because those are literally the keys available to the "6" sound that sound in tune.  The first TIA track I wrote does this exclusively:

     

     

    You can do some stuff with the normal squares too but they're more shaky tuning-wise.  It helps to vary it up and have more than one thing going on per channel, like perscussion or harmonies.

     

     

    You can even cover other tracks if you are smart about where they are transposed to so you avoid problem notes.

     

    popcorn2600.mp3 366.64 kB · 10 downloads

     

    But there are definitely tracks that aren't possible on the TIA, whether due to frequency problems or polyphony... I will say that such extreme limitations make it fun to write music for occasionally.

    Can I just say that the Ataria track is pretty damn impressive?  

     

    While I am not a composer or remotely musical, I have made the observation that having limited tools can sometimes force a composer to find new and innovative ways to approach a musical problem. The limitations of the TIA are what make the great compositions stand out.

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    That mod looks really nice. Definitely a better option to cutting into your brittle console.

     

    I have the Longhorn AV mod on mine. I did drill holes in mine, though in my case, I used Forstner bits which are a bit better option for cutting holes in plastic than regular drill bits due to how they work.

    • Like 3

  15. Posted

    We held onto our 486/SX 25MHz much longer than most I think. Pentiums with MMX were all the rage when we took our system from 4MB to 8MB of RAM and added an ISA 33.6 modem for dial-up internet in 1997. My parents kept that system until 1998 when they got an AMD K6-2 and I inherited it. Added a Pentium Overdrive and took the memory up to the max 16MB it would support. Used that system another couple years through college. Installed Win95 on it right before 98 came out. It played Warcraft II just fine.

     

    I love the mention of the Overdrive. I got a 486Sx running at 25 mhz back in the summer of 1994. It had a ProAudio sound card, a 400mb hard drive and a CD-rom drive. Cost a fortune and I was over the moon about having it.

     

    I too upgraded to a Overdrive processor. Mine was a DX100. I remember going and buying one with my hard earned part time job money so that I could play some of the newer games coming out.

     

    I was an early adopter of Windows 95. I actually went to the local computer store and bought it the day it came out. I was a highschool student and loved all the hype around it. I will admit that I came to hate it because of the hoops I had to jump through to get DOS games to work with the lack of proper memory management tools.

  17. Posted

    In for a penny, in for a pound. My 7800 have the LHE Svideo mod. It's worked effectively since I installed it about 7 or 8 years ago, but I know there's better stuff available now, but the LHE mod involved disconnecting and removing things. It was so long ago, I don't recall the details. Needless to say, replacing it would be hard to do at this point.

     

    Since I still play on a CRT, I guess it doesn't matter that much.

  20. Posted · Edited by Lendorien

    What we have here is my entire Intellivision collection. It’s a pretty sweet collection containing 44 games (most of which have their manuals and overlays with three that are CIB), a boxed intellivoice and an original intellivision.

     

    I got almost all of it at an estate sale about 5 years ago. I’m not a fan of the Intellivsion and I never will be. I’ve hung onto it all these years because it was a feather in my cap to own it. But, it’s just taking up space and I have no good reason to hang on to. So to prove that I'm not a hoarder... here it is looking for a home that will value it. I’m the second owner, so far as I know, and all come from a smoke free home.

     

    I originally posted this here, but after a day of being up and not a single page view, I'm not going to waste my time waiting. It's now up on ebay.

     

    Hardware

    • Original “Model 1” Intellivision - In working condition. At some point I had it open, washed the thing out and cleaned the contacts in the controllers.
    • Intellivoice – Comes with the original box, but no manual. Also in fine working condition. It says B-17 Bawwwwmer just fine.
    • Two plastic game cases (see photo), each able to hold 20 games and their manuals. One has a little damage on the lid where the front tab broke off, but both have intact hinges.

     

    Games

    • Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - Manual and overlays
    • Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Treasures of Tarmin - Loose Cart
    • Armor Battle - Manual and overlays
    • Astrosmash - Manual and overlays
    • Auto Racing - Manual and overlays
    • Backgammon - Manual and overlays
    • Beauty and the Beast - Manual and overlays
    • Bowling - Manual and overlays
    • Boxing - Manual and overlays
    • Burger Time - Manual and overlays
    • Centipede - Loose Cart
    • Checkers - Manual and overlays
    • Demon Attack - Manual and overlays
    • Donkey Kong - Loose Cart
    • Dragonfire - Manual and overlays
    • Golf - Manual and overlays
    • Horse Racing - Manual and overlays
    • Lock ‘N’ Chase - Manual and overlays
    • Math Fun - Manual and overlays
    • Microsurgeon - Manual and overlays
    • MLB Baseball - Complete in Box
    • NASL Soccer - Manual and overlays
    • NBA Basketball - Manual and overlays
    • NFL Football - Manual, playbooks and overlays
    • NHL Hockey - Manual and overlays
    • Night Stalker - Manual and overlays
    • Pitfall - Loose cart
    • Poker & Blackjack – Complete in box
    • Reversi - Manual and overlays
    • Sea Battle - Manual and overlays
    • Skiiing - Manual and overlays
    • Snafu - Manual and overlays
    • Space Armada - Manual and overlays
    • Space Battle – Complete in box
    • Space Hawk - Manual and overlays
    • Star Strike - Manual and overlays
    • Triple Action - Loose cart
    • Tron Deadly Discs - Manual and overlays
    • Tron Maze-A-Tron - Manual and overlays
    • Word Fun - Manual and overlays
    • Vectron - Loose cart

    Intellivoice Games

    • Bomb Squad - Manual and overlays
    • B-17 Bomber - Manual and overlays
    • Space Spartans - Manual and overlays

    post-22224-0-04928900-1549231558_thumb.jpg

     

  22. Posted · Edited by Lendorien

    I have one of those external garage door opener panels. Well, after several years, it stopped working. I figured the contacts were just dirty, just like the Atari 5200 controller contacts get dirty. The case was glued shut and was no easy way to get into it to fix it. I ended up having to cut it open in the back with a remodel and utility knife. Messy job. Once it was open, I used deoxit to clean the contacts and reassembled it. I had to hold the dang thing together with electrical tape, but it works now. Seriously. Why would you seal something like that and not allow it to be serviced?

     

    To force people to spend 80 bucks on a new one. So wasteful.

     

     

    Video game related?

     

    I recently picked up a super cheap NES at goodwill. 6 bucks. That NEVER happens these days. Anyway, the connector was shot. So I disassembled it and tried the boiling trick. It worked. I wasn't really sure it would, but it did. Thing has worked like a charm for several months now.

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    Ok so I ordered 2 of the optical sensors and it did not fix my issue. I did a search and found some schematics for the roller controller. So I broke out my multi-meter and began to test pins. used the known working sensor and compared the voltages on the IC inputs and outputs for each sensor according to the schematics. (I have a little background in electronics so I can reasonably understand the circuits.) When spinning the optical roller I did see a Hig/Low or 5v/0v signals where there should be. I noticed even on the one I replaced it was also reading fine so I don't think the sensor that i replaced is bad. I traced it down to pin 9 of the actual 9 pin connector (From the board to the connectors end). Since it is molded plastic I can not open it to see if a pin came loose or a solder joint is broken. I could not get any continuity until I cut off the end and striped the pin 9 wire. So I am ordering some db9 connectors and I am going to replace both connectors. I will update this thread as soon as I get the parts.

     

    It would be easier just to solder a cord from another unit but I dont have one...lol.

     

    The Schematics:

    http://www.theadamresource.com/schematics/index.htm

     

    The DB9 Conector

    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00066HQ7S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

     

     

     

     

    Did you ever get any resolution on this?

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