I had never done such a thing before, but experience with the N8VEM group had left me confident in board assembly and the process of getting PCBs made. I caught his response to the group, that he wouldn’t mind that happening, and I jumped on it.
A conversation started up regarding whether Darren Atkinson, the creator of the SDC, would permit someone to produce them. They sounded like just the thing, the only trouble being that they weren’t being made at the time.
I really wanted some sort of storage option for these computers, and had read about the CoCo SDC on the list. I designed a composite video board and shared about it on the CoCo MaltedMedia email list, which I had recently discovered. I set about using what I’d learned at the N8VEM group to fix that ASAP. Hooking them up, I was pretty disappointed that all they had for video output was RF. Researching them on the internet, I discovered they were Tandy Color Computer 2’s. Two white, slightly scuffed, all-in-one style thingamajigs from long ago. On this particular occasion, I pulled out a bin that contained two computers I had snagged on eBay dirt cheap and not taken the time to look at yet. It was interesting to me to check out all the myriad types of 80’s systems that I never had a chance to use as a youngster. I had casually picked up old systems on eBay or elsewhere and kind of collected them in storage mostly, taking them out to get them running, play a few games on, experience the platform a bit…
THE BINDING OF ISAAC WALLPAPER FREE
I even started to play with PCB design with a free copy of Eagle.Īround this time I decided to dig through my bins for an old computer to play with. I got into distributing PCBs to the group, having the existing designs produced, and getting them out to group members for their builds.
It taught me a lot about electronics assembly, debugging builds, and a little about assembly programming (I had previously used C and BASIC, but not too much). I built most of the projects they had going at the time, and played around with a little Z80 assembly under CP/M.
THE BINDING OF ISAAC WALLPAPER SOFTWARE
And they were writing software for them too. These guys were designing and building new single-board and bus-based computers using 80’s era electronics Z80’s, TTL logic, UV-erasable EPROMS, etc. Maybe I can still learn something new well enough to be one of those guys.” I thought to myself, “Maybe I can do that. I had always been impressed with those hardware and software gurus who seemed able to pull off almost any project. I had made a few forays into those subjects in the past, but never got much past the dabbling stage. I had always liked electronics, computer hardware, programming, and related things. Something intellectually stimulating, something where I could make stuff, a creative outlet. With the busy days of my 20’s and 30’s mostly behind me, I found myself looking for a new hobby. Many years, systems, and life changes later, I found myself in my mid 40’s. I was 13 or 14 at the time, and… it was awesome. In my case, the system my family chose was the Apple 2. Parents everywhere were getting computers for their children and themselves, as it had become obvious that everyone had to learn to use computers, or be left behind. Playing games, learning to program in BASIC, and exploring the machines that were part of the explosive computer revolution of the era. Like many of my generation, who grew up with the early micro-computers of the 1980’s, I have fond memories of the times spent in front of a CRT and a keyboard. Among other things, I am a retrocomputing enthusiast currently specializing in all things CoCo.
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