Other retro electronics

[A.J. Franzman]

I have an old GTE automatic Electric Rotrary phone plugged in here on my desk... and an old bright orange bell trimline wall mount touch tone phone... both these phones have bell ringers.

Amen to that! The only phone here with a #@&^%* electronic "ringer" is the cordless with answering machine. I hate the stinkin' "deedle-eedle-eedle" sound of electronic ringers. I have never had a cellular phone, though today I wouldn't mind having one if I could install a ringtone that's a recording of a real bell ringer.

[Student Driver]

 

Another Indy guy! Truly the land of milk and honey for CED hunters. All those RCA employees must have had rooms full of the things, and they all ended up donating them to the thrift shops. One of my neighbors growing up here was Jim Huck, one of the engineers who developed the system, and he had one in his home. I used to watch them when I babysat for his kid. I didn't know how cool that was at the time. I have an SJT-400 (stereo with interactive!) with extra stylus, an SGT-90, and about 200 movies as well. Just watched Soylent Green on Saturday (great Computer Space cameo).

 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: a Victrola XI floor model.

 

Yep. Whenever I mention LD to anyone older around here, they assume I mean CED-- everyone knew someone who worked at the local RCA plants. I even have one of the CEDs pressed for employees after the plant was shuttered. The label's a little banged up, but hey.

 

And I'm jealous of your Victrola..

[Video]

The oldest Computer I have is actually a Commodore 16 (I think)

The Commodore PET, VIC-20 and C-64 are all older than the C-16 (just in case you didn't know). Of course, you might have a C-16 made in 1984/1985 and a C-64 made in 1990, and then you'd be absolutely right

 

As for electronics about as old as my 2600s, my Little Professor is probably my most prized. Blip, Digital Derby, Entex Defender (don't have it handy - it might be early 80s), Merlin and my 8-track player are also nifty.

 

Huh...wonder why the 16 come out AFTER the 64? Maybe as a cheap alternative to the 64 for the poorer people. If I remember right, we got the C16 first, and it was about $100, and the C64 cost closer to $300 at the time.

 

Oh, well, actually, I have a TRS80, with the built in monitor and two Full size 5.25 drives. That may be an older computer, but I don't know.

 

And while not a computer, I have a work station for an old Mini computer we used to have. It's just the monitor, keyboard, and number board. It comes on, you can type on it, but it has no actual computer brain, so not much use. The old mini was huge, with an 8 meg hard drive (yes, that's MEG, not GIG) about the size of a filing cabnet, and the rest of the machine filing most of a room, and several of the work stations. Come to think of it, I think I still have a Hard Disc around here for it some where, and quiet a few 8" floppy discs too.

 

Think I got a picture of the old thing around here somewhere, but it's long since died....

 

Work stations were a cool Idea, and I always wondered why I couldn't get one for a modern computer?

[Lemmi]

 

Oh, well, actually, I have a TRS80, with the built in monitor and two Full size 5.25 drives. That may be an older computer, but I don't know.

 

 

i would say its old and expensive

[Prodos8]

Well aside from my classic game systems, I got couple of old computers, an SX-64 and a VIC-20, around.

 

An old Toshiba 19" TV from 1982 that still works fine, but unfortunately doesn't have A/V ports.

 

Oh, and up until a few years ago I had an old Marantz 4300 Quadraphonic reciever I was using. It looked cool and had the optional wood cabinet, but no remote control. Sadly, it developed an intermittent hiss in the left channel that I tried to get fixed at repair place, but they couldn't find the problem. Ended up putting it on ebay and was surprised how much it went for. Cost a bundle to ship too, as it weighed a ton.

[AussieAtari]

This is making me feel old, most of my newer stuff is from the 80's. A young guitar pupil of mine asked me what all of those thin, round things were in the shelves along a wall, I had to go on to explain all about LPs!

 

Hail to all you guys with 8-tracks, I'd love one but that would really tip my wife over the edge.

 

I treasure my 1978 woodgrain TV with similar vintage 6-switch woody 2600 sitting on top of it, my shrine to late '70s video game greatness.

 

I gave my 18-month old a rotary dial phone to play with just the other week, he loves it and hopefully this will be the start of a love of all things analogue for him.

Edited August 1, 2006 by AussieAtari

[A.J. Franzman]

Oh, well, actually, I have a TRS80, with the built in monitor and two Full size 5.25 drives. That may be an older computer, but I don't know.

i would say its old and expensive

I would guess it sounds like Video has a model III instead of the model II Lemmi shows above. My high school had several of the model III's with dual 5.25" floppy drives, and 1 or 2 model 1's.

[MacbthPSW]

Huh...wonder why the 16 come out AFTER the 64? Maybe as a cheap alternative to the 64 for the poorer people. If I remember right, we got the C16 first, and it was about $100, and the C64 cost closer to $300 at the time.

The Commodore Plus/4 was made made in 1984 (two years after the C-64) though nobody really knows what Commodore was thinking. It had a couple improvements over the C-64, like a better BASIC and some built-in ROM productivity apps (that weren't particularly useful), and more colours (121, I think). But in many ways it was less powerful than the C-64: no sprites, an inferior sound chip, a different joystick connector for no good reason. And it still just had 64k of RAM - no improvement there either.

 

The C-16 was nearly identical (internally) to the Plus/4, but it only had 16K of RAM, and was meant to replace the VIC-20 as the low-end Commodore 8-bit. However, Commodore's pricing strategies quickly drove the price of the C-64 down to $200, leaving little room for the mostly inferior Plus/4 and C-16, so they disappeared from the market pretty quickly.

[supercat]

The Commodore Plus/4 was made made in 1984 (two years after the C-64) though nobody really knows what Commodore was thinking. It had a couple improvements over the C-64, like a better BASIC and some built-in ROM productivity apps (that weren't particularly useful), and more colours (121, I think). But in many ways it was less powerful than the C-64: no sprites, an inferior sound chip, a different joystick connector for no good reason. And it still just had 64k of RAM - no improvement there either

 

I don't know what Commodore was thinking with the Plus/4. It was supposed to be a high-end "productivity" machine, but the built-in software wasn't even as good as stuff that had been out for years on the C64. Easy Script was generally shipped on floppy, but the code is 16K and probably would have worked fine in a cartridge or built into ROM. So why couldn't they include something that good with the Plus/4?

[Dave Farquhar]

The Plus/4 and 16 were cheaper to make because the video and sound were on one chip, like they were on the VIC-20. The two computers were designed to compete against sub-$100 computers from Mattel and Timex and from the Japanese. But by the time they came out, Mattel and Timex were on their way out, and the home computers from Japan never crossed the Pacific.

 

Both computers were flops in the States, but they did OK in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe.

 

But the Plus/4 and 16 are indicative of Commodore's biggest problem. The success with the VIC-20 and 64 were largely accidents, and Commodore never again did the couple of things they intentionally did right with those two machines, so they never were able to duplicate it. That's no knock on the Amiga; the Amigas were fantastic machines, but Commodore had no idea how to market them.

[Video]

I've got a 64+4 also come to think of it. Never had any of the hookups, round PS2 style controller ports, special video output, special power supply, special drive cables. In otherwords, completely useless. I thought it was exactly the same thing internaly, guess I'm not missing much though.

 

My dad actually has a Vic20 ! I didn't know that untill I was discussing old computer stuff with him. That's cool. Wonder where it's buried? (storage around here is out of hand)

 

I do believe my TRS80's a model 3, I"d have to dig it out and look at it (did the model 3 have a monochrome monitor too?) Anyhow, but seriously, the C664 is my favorite of vintage computers. It was so awesome when we finely got one, and all my friends had their Atari's, and then the Nintendo come out, but the C64 games still easily kept up and useualy surpassed it. My friends were so envious.

 

Believe I even have a C128 around here, but I have never seen any software for it and untill I forgot the code, I used it exclusively as a C64 anyways. :/

 

That's about it for computers. I remember when Notebooks first came out, and one of my friends wanted one, and I said I had the first Laptop (trs80) and got a picture of me with that thing sitting in my lap around here somewhere too.

[Lemmi]

i have something thats not electronic but its old

1986 laundry basket

[SteveW]

i have something thats not electronic but its old

1986 laundry basket

I like how you've got string holding it together.

[Lemmi]

i have something thats not electronic but its old

1986 laundry basket

I like how you've got string holding it together.

 

haha yea that happens during the 20 years of throwing it down the basement stairs

 

i didnt tie it together untill last year, and it also helps keep the plastic from grabbing the clothes

[MacbthPSW]

I've got a 64+4 also come to think of it. Never had any of the hookups, round PS2 style controller ports, special video output, special power supply, special drive cables. In otherwords, completely useless. I thought it was exactly the same thing internaly, guess I'm not missing much though.

The video and disk drive hookups for the Plus/4 are actually the same as the C64 (at least, here in NTSC-land) and some revisions also use the same power supply plug as the C64 (though not most). I've even used my CMD FD-2000 drive on the Plus/4 and even the VIC-20! Pretty cool how all those C= machines can share disk drives.

 

Believe I even have a C128 around here, but I have never seen any software for it and untill I forgot the code, I used it exclusively as a C64 anyways. :/

The C128 has very few advantages over the C64 for gaming, so a C128-only game market never developed. Just a handful of C128-only games were sold, though a number of C64 games were enhanced when played on the C128.

 

The C128 did have many advantages for productivity software though (2 Mhz mode, 640 pixel wide screen for proper 80-column word processors, that sort of thing) so a pretty rich software library developed in that area.

 

BTW, the command to get the C128 into C64 mode is GO64 - even easier, just power-up the C128 with the C= key held down.

[eric_ruck]

Ooo just found a Sharp Wizard in a drawer...early touchscreen PDA. I forgot how cool that was in the day.

[Video]

Heh, maybe the thing isn't a +4, I"m pretty sure it said Commodore on it, and I was told it was a +4, all black computer with four arrow shaped keys on it, but it's got funny hookups for everything. Maybe the drives would hook up to it, but with no powersupply or controllers, it still woulnd't do any good.

 

Thanks for the info on the 128, I got the thing, but soon after got a new 64 (one of the thinner wedge shaped ones, looks a lot like it actually, as opposed to the big bulky old model) so I used that and just forgot the thing. Never had any docs for any of that old stuff. Why did nobody ever keep the books around here? Especially the old computers where the books actually ment something.

Edited August 8, 2006 by Video

[Atari-Jess]

My cell phone is an 88 Motorola Classic

My stereo is a Citizen brand late 80s cassette deck

My TV is a Candle brand mid 80s colour tv

I have an 80s calculator watch (aiming for a 70s LED watch soon)

My pocket calculator is from 1978

 

Lotsa stuff

[marcfrick2112]

Well, you guys may not even believe me, but after seeing 'rotary phones' come up I have to chip in.

 

OK, oldest phone is from 1896 made in my hometown of Milwaukee, WI. So old that it had no dial, or crank...you picked up the reciever and Screamed for the operator.... Everyday phones: 1921 Candlestick Phone, 1928 Western Electric, ringer works, a few Bell system era Princess phones, Hideous Green wall mount phone, probably Western Electric, not sure of the date....'70's maybe?

 

Oh, and lots of 8tracks, Beta tapes, lots of machines to play them on as well. German made Kurting table radio/shortwave from the late '60's, A Grundig Majestic console radio/shortwave/phonograph from the same period...

 

But my 'baby' is a 35" TV made in 1971 by Zenith Canada. It has on screen display, built-in fake surround sound (something like Hughes' SRS, I imagine) and a wireless remote, but not infrared.....ultrasonic!!

My dad insisted that we buy it when we saw it at a local SA thrift. He only saw this TV once before, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York......

 

Oh yeah, I guess I have videogame stuff, too.....

 

Latest purchase: Entex Galaxian II tabletop game, 1980 maybe?

Edited August 10, 2006 by marcfrick2112

[marcfrick2112]

Hi, Ooops, I goofed...my oldest typewriter is 1896....the phone is actually 1902. Maybe I shouldn't post late at night after a few drinks.....

[AussieAtari]

Envious of the Grundig, is it the really nice blonde timber unit?

[marcfrick2112]

Hey AussieAtari,

 

I am not sure I understand you. The Grundig is a rich dark brown wood grain with matching but lighter-color veneer on the front panels, gold metal trim. Would you beleive the thing has an equalizer on it, as well?? I wish I had the wired remote though....

 

I found it at a rummage sale, I think I paid about $50 US for it, just as well, because it cost another $50 US to replace all of the tubes.....

[SteveW]

Dude, now you've got to post pictures. You can't tease us with this info and not show some pics. I'd really like to see the TV set.

[Vic George 2K3]

Just an Atari 2600 and an Adam Family Computer system is the only "old tech" stuff I have.

[JohnnyBlaze]

My Full old electronics list:

 

Rotary Phone

Record Player

An AM/FM radio with an 8-Track player

An AM/FM radio with a turntable(portable)

An old 10" Zenith Black and While TV w/Horizontal and Vertical knobs from the 60's

A VCR from the 1980's

VHS home recorded from the 1980's

An Alarm Clock with those rolling numbers(for example 8 would roll into 9)

 

and other I can't decipher(I'm only 20)