Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Welcome to Floppy Days #119 for October, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is safe and sound...

We are currently covering the prolific year (for home computers) of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. I don't even know yet how many episodes we're going to end up in this arc. There's so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days records for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the fourth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, and the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu.

In this episode, I talk with the author of the wonderful book "The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer"; Mr. Chris Smith. I don't know of anyone who knows more about the internals of this machine than Chris, as evidenced by his book, other than maybe the original designers. In this episode, I interview Chris about him, his book, his collection and other topics.

As usual, I will talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on the The Great Barn Find of 2022, attendance at a computer show, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware.

Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions and What I've Been Up To

• Apple GS monitor connector for CoCo - Mike Rojas, Facebook - (https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/392874865780089/?ref=share_attachment)
• GFA BASIC - http://gfabasic.net/
• "GFA BASIC Training Reboot Camp - A Beginning Tutorial for the GFA BASIC Interpreter" - https://docs.dev-docs.org/
• "GFA BASIC Book - An intermediate programming tutorial for GFA BASIC" - https://docs.dev-docs.org/
• GFA BASIC Atari Reference Manual
• Tandy Assembly - http://www.tandyassembly.com
• Vintage is the New Old with Paulo Garcia - https://www.vintageisthenewold.com/
• Jeff Birt's Website at Tindie - https://www.tindie.com/stores/hey_birt/

Upcoming Shows

• Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/
• World of Commodore = Dec. 3-4. - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2022 - Virtual and Physical!

Interview with Chris Smith

• The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer (ZX Design Retro Computer) Illustrated Edition
• Chris' Web site - http://www.zxdesign.info/indexPage.shtml
• Harlequin - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZX_Spectrum_clones#Harlequin
• ZX Spectrum 30-year Anniversary event - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/news/23039/Celebrating-30-Years-of-the
• MicroMen:
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459467/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcAyFVK0gE

"The Great Barn Find of 2022!"

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Welcome to Floppy Days #118 for September, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is doing well..

I decided to take a 1-month break from the ZX Spectrum series of episodes, of which I'm currently in the midst, in order to talk about some other vintage computer activities with which I've been involved lately. There has been a lot going on the vintage computer front for me, as well as some changes in my personal life that I wanted to share with all of you. I apologize that you're just going to hear my voice for the entire show, but I'll make sure not to drone and try to keep it lively.

I will talk a bit about what I have been up to, an amazing barn find, attendance at the largest vintage computer show of the year, and an incredible computer museum adventure, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way. In addition, I'll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I'm aware.

Next month, we'll pick up where we left off with the Spectrum series. I have some additional guest hosts lined up to really dive into topics like tech specs, peripherals, books, magazines, modern upgrades, Web sites, etc. I think you'll enjoy the remaining Spectrum topics and guests I have planned.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

What I've Been Up To

• VCFMW - http://vcfmw.org/
• Kevin Ottum and his Nu-Brick company - https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/181163469893545
• Jim Brain and his RetroInnovations company - http://go4retro.com
• American Computer and Robotics Museum - https://acrmuseum.org/

Upcoming Shows

• Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/
• Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/
• World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED

Dontate at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Welcome to Floppy Days #117 for August, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is doing well..

Thank you so much, Andy Collins, for providing your thoughts and memories about the ZX Spectrum to kick off this episode. Great work!

We are currently covering the prolific year (for home computers) of 1982. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. I don't even know yet how many episodes we're going to end up in this arc. There's so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days records for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the third of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, and the second being coverage of the history of the Spectrum through about 1984.

In this episode, I once again talk with the author of the wonderful book "Spectrumpedia"; Mr. Alessandro Grussu. In this episode, Alessandro and I continue to walk through the history of the machine, covering additional models that were produced, its competition at the time, its positives and negatives, and ultimately the impression it left in home computer history books.

As usual, I will talk a bit about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my attempt to use up every square inch of exhibition and storage room in my home, as well as bring you news about upcoming shows.

Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• A500 mini - https://www.amazon.com/Amiga-A500-Mini-Retro-Console-Commodore/dp/B09BW8N7JZ
• BlueSCSI - https://scsi.blue/

Upcoming Shows

• VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/
• Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/
• Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/
• Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/
• World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED

References

• "Spectrumpedia" by Alessandro Grussu
• https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html
• Amazon.it: Spectrumpedia - seconda edizione: volume 1 - Grussu, Alessandro - Libri
• Wikipedia

donate at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Welcome to Floppy Days #116 for July, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig.

Mark Hacker provides his thoughts and memories about the ZX Spectrum to kick off this episode.

As mentioned in the last show, 1982 was a landmark year for home computers, as there were some significant introductions in this year. One of the most impactful computers released at this time was the ZX Spectrum; in the UK by the iconic Sir Clive Sinclair. This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. In fact, there's such a rich history leading up to the introduction of the Spectrum, and through its lifetime in the market, of which many in the US may not be aware, that we're going to be spending three (3) full episodes just on its history. This is the second of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, who played a part in the development of the Speccy.

As I was looking for materials to help discuss the history of the Spectrum, I had difficulty in finding books and other references that went into the full timeline, other than Wikipedia. Luckily, I happened upon a wonderful reference that covers all aspects of the machine, called "Spectrumpedia" by the Italian Alessandro Grusso. I was able to contact Alessandro and he graciously agreed to co-host on one or more topics, starting with history. His book has a wonderfully complete and detailed section about the history of the Speccy. In this episode, Alessandro and I attempt to walk through the introduction of the machine, all of the different models that were produced, its competition at the time, its positives and negatives, and ultimately the impression it left in home computer history books.

I will, as usual, talk about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my never-ending adventures to discover new modern upgrades for my collection of old machines; as well as bring you news about upcoming shows.

Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• Commodore 64 Assembly Language Programming by Derek Bush and Peter Holmes - https://archive.org/details/Commodore_64_Assembly_Language_Programming/page/n13/mode/2up
• Complete Commodore Inner Space Anthology by Karl J. H. Hildon - https://archive.org/details/Complete_Commodore_Inner_Space_Anthology_The_1985-03_Transactor_Publishing
• Visible Solar System cart - https://www.amazon.com/Visible-Solar-System-Commodore-64/dp/B001RY5X0U
• The Paper Computer Unfolded by Mark Jones Lorenzo - https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Computer-Unfolded-Twenty-First-Illustrative/dp/1537421131/
• Vic-20 Exposed edited by John Vander Reyden - https://www.amazon.com/VIC-20-Exposed-Retro-Reproductions/dp/1789825857/

Upcoming Shows

• VCF West 2022 = Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/
• VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/
• Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/
• Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/
• Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/
• World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED

References

• "Spectrumpedia" by Alessandro Grussu
• • https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html
  • Amazon.it: Spectrumpedia - seconda edizione: volume 1 - Grussu, Alessandro - Libri
• Wikipedia

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going!

ZX Spectrum Part 1 History with John Grant

Welcome to Floppy Days #115 for June, 2022. And I'm your host, Randy Kindig. I hope everyone is doing well.

As you know, we are generally following the timeline of computers as they were released to the world. We have arrived in the year 1982. 1982 was a landmark year for home computers, as there were some significant introductions in this year. Machines that played a critical part in the rich home computer period of the 1980's. In particular, I'm talking about the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64 as well as some other interesting machines.

One of the most impactful computers released at this time was the ZX Spectrum; across the pond in the UK by Sir Clive Sinclair. This episode kicks off a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics.

The first topic we always start with is history. I was able to catch up with a person who played a significant role in the history of the Spectrum through his company Nine Tiles. Of course, I'm talking about Mr. John Grant. John was kind enough to talk about the work he did on the machine and some of the stories surrounding its development and introduction. I hope you find this interesting.

I will, as usual, talk about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my never ending quest to discover new modern upgrades for my collection of old machines; as well as bring you news about upcoming shows.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• XEP-80 II by MyTek (Michael St. Pierre)
• • MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/xep80-ii.html
  • Purchasing XEP-80 II at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/xep80-ii-by-mytek
• MidiMaze cart + SIO2Midi + cart shells
• • SIO2Midi by MyTek - https://ataribits.weebly.com/midi.html
  • SIO2Midi at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/midi-for-your-atari-8-bit-400-800-xl-xe-xel-xld
  • 8-bit cartridge shells at Vintage Computer Center - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-8-bit-cartridge-shells
• OSS 4-in-1 cart - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimized_Systems_Software#:~:text=Optimized%20Systems%20Software%20(OSS)%20was,bit%20family%20of%20home%20computers
• FujiCart + case
• • MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/576nuc.html
  • FujiCart and case at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/myteks-576nuc-atari-computer/products/myteks-576nuc-and-internal-fujinet?variant=39350116024422
  • Steve Boswell (Mr Robot) site - https://atari8bit.net/

Upcoming Shows

• VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/
• KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/
• VCF West 2022 = Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/
• VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/
• Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/

Interview Links

• Grant, who also worked on the guts of Sinclair's ZX80 and ZX81 (and can be heard talking about his experiences in Randy Kindig's Floppy Days podcast), donated the prototype hardware to the museum
• "The first ZX Spectrum prototype laid bare…" at The Register - https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going!

Interview with Howell Ivy, Co-founder of Exidy and Developer of Exidy Sorcerer Computer

Welcome to Floppy Days episode 114 for May, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host.

Again this month, I have a special interview show for you that actually has been a few years in the making. Some time ago, I had come across and had gotten initial contact with Howell Ivy, who it turns out was co-founder of Exidy and was instrumental in the development of the Exidy Sorcerer computer.

The Exidy Sorcerer is a machine that I covered clear back in 2014 in episode 17 of Floppy Days. It was a very early machine, just after the release of the home computer triad of the Commodore PET/Apple II/TRS-80 Model I and before the Atari 400/800, with great graphics, a Z-80 processor, and one of the first home computers (after the VideoBrain) to have plug-in cartridges (these based on the 8-track tape cartridges).

After the initial contact with Howell, he went silent and I was unable for the last few years to get an interview set up. Finally, recently, I was able to get a response and quickly got the interview in the books.

I also recorded a video for an interview for the first time! The link to the video interview on YouTube is in the show notes here.

Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows.

Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links:

New Acquisitions

• Mattel Aquarius Aquaricart and 32K RAM "Combo Pack" - https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
• Apple II Yellowstone Disk Controller - Big Mess o' Wires

Upcoming Shows

• Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297
• The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start
• VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/
• KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/
• VCF West 2022 - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/
• VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/
• Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/

Interview Links

• The History of Exidy - http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html
• Howell Ivy interview at RetroGamer - https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/howell-ivy/

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going!

Interview with Monte Davidoff, Developer of Altair BASIC Floating Point

Welcome to Floppy Days episode 113 for April, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host.

I'm going to take a break this month from covering machines in order to bring you a special interview show. Monte Davidoff worked with the very early Microsoft, while in college, when they were famously getting started by developing a BASIC for MITS and Ed Roberts for the Altair 8800. Monte developed the floating point routines for that BASIC that they so desperately needed at the time.

If you're like me, I previously was unaware of Monte's contributions to essentially the first BASIC developed for arguably the first personal computer.

It's interesting to hear Monte's perspective on how he managed to get involved with Microsoft, Bill Gates, Paul Allen and the project on which he worked with them. His recall of specifics about programming for the 8080 is pretty amazing.

Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows.

Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links:

New Acquisitions

• Odyssey multi-cart - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/306480-magnavox-odyssey-multicard-call-for-orders/
• TI-99 TIPI
• • https://github.com/jedimatt42/tipi/wiki
  • https://atariage.com/forums/topic/277635-tipi-usage-and-support/
  • https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/tipi-ti-raspberry-pi-interface-for-the-ti-99-4a?variant=31641974669414

Upcoming Shows

• CocoFest 2022 - May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/
• Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297
• The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start
• VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/
• KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/
• VCF West 2022 - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/
• VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/
• Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/

Interview Links

• https://www.theregister.com/2001/05/11/microsoft_altair_basic_legend_talks/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/12/31/alter-egos/91b267b0-858c-4d4e-a4bd-48f22e015f70/
• ​​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_BASIC

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going!

The IBM PC 5150 Part 5 with Jim Leonard

Welcome to Floppy Days episode 112 for March, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host. As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981. This is the 5th of 5 shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers. I know 5 shows about one computer seems like a lot, but it IS one of the few computer lines that actually became a standard and many of the computers we use today are based on this original architecture. Besides, it just turned out there was a lot to cover about this machine.

As on the earlier IBM PC episodes, I'm extremely happy to have Jim Leonard as co-host for this final episode on the 5150. Jim is a fount of knowledge on all topics IBM PC, so I'm honored he was able to help us take a walk through the various aspects of the machine and all of its associated information.

In this episode we will cover emulation, buying one today, Community, and Web sites.

Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby.

New Acquisitions

• Coleco Adam video cable - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/coleco-adam-composite-av-cable/
• Coleco Adam power supply - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/Adam-replacement-power-supply/p/363366783/category=17839014
• Coleco Adam ADE Virtual Disk - https://github.com/Kalidomra/AdamNet-Drive-Emulator
• FujiNet for multiple machines - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/331791-low-cost-fujinet-v16-includes-usb-and-coleco-adam-hardware-components/

Upcoming Shows

• VCF East 2022 = Apr 22, 23, 24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/
• CocoFest 2022 = May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/
• Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 = June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297
• The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start
• VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo https://gameatl.com/
• KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/
• VCF West 2022 = Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/

Emulation

• 86box - (https://github.com/86Box/86Box)
• IBM PC emulator for browsers - https://www.pcjs.org/
• dosbox - (www.dosbox.com)
• hardware emulator - https://hackaday.com/2021/07/28/emulating-the-ibm-pc-on-an-esp32/

Community

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintagePCEnthusiasts/
• classic computing mailing lists - http://www.classiccmp.org/lists.html
• Discord - https://discord.gg/CwhYHY2
• Vintage Computer Federation Forums - https://forum.vcfed.org/
• Upper Memory Block Podcast - (http://umbcast.com/
• DOS Game Club Podcast - https://www.dosgameclub.com/
• Adrian's Digital Basement - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE5dIscvDxrb7CD5uiJJOiw
• The Oldskool PC - https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOldskoolPC

Web Sites

• over 1000 games - https://www.dosgamesarchive.com/games/
• Winworld pc - (https://winworldpc.com/home
• resource for troubleshooting IBM PCs, XTs and ATs - www.minuszerodegrees.net
• magazines, books, software, emulation - http://www.archive.org

Patreon link for supporting the show: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Welcome to Floppy Days episode 111 for February, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host. As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981. This is the 4th of 5 shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers.

As on the earlier IBM PC episodes, I'm extremely happy to have Jim Leonard as co-host for these remaining episodes on the 5150. When Jim and I went to record what was to be the final episode on the IBM PC, it ran so long that I decided to break it into 2 episodes. That means there will be one more episode next month, for 5 total on this historic machine.

In this episode we will cover ads appearances and modern upgrades. Next month, in the final episode, we will focus on emulation, buying one today, Community, and Web sites.

Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby.

One other thing I wanted to mention to the listeners is that this month coincides with the 9th anniversary of Floppy Days! That certainly makes Floppy Days one of the grand-daddys of vintage computer podcasts and makes me wonder where the last 9 years went. It's been a fun ride and it's a long way from over. The interest remains high from listeners, with over 300,000 downloads since it started. More importantly, my love of the topic and interest in keeping this going remains high! We have a lot more machines to talk about! 1982 & 1983 were extremely rich years for the introduction of new home computers and I want to bring all of them to you.

Finally, while I usually decline talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• SIO2MIDI - https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/midi-for-your-atari-8-bit-400-800-xl-xe-xel-xld
• ABBUC membership - http://www.abbuc.de

Upcoming Shows

• VCF East 2022 = Apr 22, 23, 24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/
• CocoFest 2022 = May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/
• Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 = June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297
• The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 = June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start
• VCF Southeast = July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo https://gameatl.com/
• KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/
• VCF West 2022 = Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/

Ads and Appearances

• Movies and TV: "Starring The Computer" - https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=58
• • Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
  • Halt and Catch Fire - Season 1, Episode 1, "I/O" (2014)
  • Halt and Catch Fire - Season 1, Episode 4, "Close to the Metal" (2014)
  • Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)
• IBM Ads
• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPLGvI03Vrk
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQT_YCBb9ao

Modern Upgrades

• Lo-Tech 1MB memory board (Jim's favorite version is https://texelec.com/product/lo-tech-1mb-ram/)
• XT-IDE - https://www.tindie.com/products/glitchwrks/glitch-works-xt-ide-rev-4a/
• Serge Kise's "monster-fdc project" - https://github.com/skiselev/monster-fdc
• YouTube video for using a gotek - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTAWjtQPYF4
• RGBtoHDMI - https://github.com/hoglet67/RGBtoHDMI

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer
• https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_birth.html
• https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_reference.html
• http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5150.html

contribute to the show via Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

The IBM PC 5150 Part 3 With Jim Leonard

Welcome to Floppy Days episode 110 for January, 2022. I am Randy Kindig, your host. As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981. This is the third of four shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers.

As announced last show, I'm extremely happy to have a co-host for these remaining episodes on the 5150. And that co-host is Jim Leonard, one of the people responsible for putting together VCF Midwest each year and a huge early PC enthusiast. Jim has an amazing amount of detailed knowledge about these machines and really enhances the podcast!

In this episode we will cover peripherals, using the machine, software, magazines, and books. Next month, in the final episode covering this venerable machine we will focus on ads, emulation, modern upgrades, Community, and Web sites.

Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby and what I've been up to.

Finally, while I usually decline talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you help if you have the inclination. I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate. Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

New Acquisitions

• Apple IIc VGA - http://www.a2heaven.com/webshop/index.php?rt=product/product&product_id=135
• Apple IIc monitor - https://madeapple.com/apple-monitor-iic/
• Apple IIGS RGB-to-SCART cable - https://cocoman.onlineweb.shop/Apple_IIgs_SCART_Cable/p7004829_21371801.aspx
• VTech Precomputer 1000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTech_PreComputer_1000
• HP-85 EBTKS - Philip Freidin - http://www.fliptronics.com/EBTKS/index.html

Upcoming Shows in 2022

• VCF East - Apr 22-24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/
• CocoFest - May 14-15, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/
• VCF Southeast - July 15-17 Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/
• KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/
• VCF West - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/

Magazines/Newsletters

• Magazine LIst - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_magazines
• Byte - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_(magazine)
• Creative Computing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Computing_(magazine)
• Compute's PC Magazine - https://archive.org/details/compute-magazine
• Personal Computer World magazine - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/573/Personal-Computer-World/

Books

• Compute!'s Mapping the IBM PC and PCJR Paperback by Russ Davies - https://www.amazon.com/Compute-Mapping-IBM-PC-PCJR/dp/0942386922/

References

• IBM Archives - https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_fact.html
• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer
• Old-Computers.com - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=274&st=1
• Vintage Computer Federation forums - https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php
• IBM 51xx PC Family Computers - http://www.minuszerodegrees.net