AMIGAs and other old 'puters.

wanglese · #1 27-03-2010, 11:13 AM

Not entirely astronomy related, but I've spent about 3 days over the past 2 weeks at the Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium, having a cable made, and backing up Amiga computers. We back it up to... a Windows XP computer.

One of the exhibits is run on an Amiga, and we have spare Amigas, but no copy of the software. So Glen wanted the Amiga backed up, because if it fails.... no exhibit.

I just wonder if anyone else has any old hardware still running.

Since Commodore went belly up in 1995, has anyone got anything older still working?

Barrykgerdes · #2 27-03-2010, 11:36 AM

I have an old Multitech computer. It is a PC clone from 1983. It still runs.

Barry

kinetic (Steve) · #3 27-03-2010, 11:37 AM

Yep,

The Amiga has been talked about a few times right here on IceInSpace
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ighlight=amiga

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ighlight=amiga

Steve

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #4 27-03-2010, 12:06 PM

I still have a 500, 1200 (standard desktop) and a 1200 Tower. I used to use them all the time years ago, but since I killed my original 1084 monitor (which used the green channel to sync on if I remember rightly) I've not had them out. I'll have to try a multisync monitor one day.

sheeny (Al) · #5 27-03-2010, 12:53 PM

I still have a MicroBee Computer in a Book (which started life as a 32k tape drive system

. Still goes but is packed away in a box...

Al.

koputai (Jason) · #6 27-03-2010, 01:19 PM

I've got a QT Systems S-100 bus machine with twin 8 inch drives from around 1980. I haven't run it up (CP/M) for a few years though.

Cheers,
Jason.

Starkler (Geoff) · #7 27-03-2010, 01:48 PM

I had a Tandy 64k color computer which I just binned last year.
As it hadnt been out of its box in the last 15+ years I saw no reason to keep it.

AussieSky (Greg) · #8 27-03-2010, 07:46 PM

I've still got an A1000 complete with Spirit memory expansion card, 20MB ST-506 HDD, 1081 monitor, about 200 floppies with all the popular software of the era, and a complete set of the original 7 RKM's (Rom Kernel Manuals) and all original documentation and user manuals including the 'Amiga DOS Manual', in original boxes...

Greg

stephenb (Stephen) · #9 27-03-2010, 09:06 PM

Until 2 years ago I owned one each of:
- IBM XT mono and colour monitor, no HDD - 2 x 5.25" floppys
- IBM AT
- TPCII (circa 1984) - http://home.total.net/~hrothgar/museum/TPC1/index.html
- Intel 286, 386 and 486 - all three configured with operating systems, applications, RAM and HHD of their day.
- Apple Lisa and 2 versions of Macintoshs
- 4 Sharp laptops circa late 1980's

All the above were fully operational and in mint condition.

My Shed was a museum to the early home computer age.

I spent a bit of time trying to find an owner who would set up a museum in Melbourne to put them on permanent display. I felt that later generations would find them of interest, and with the growing trend of the disposable society, once technology has been thrown to the tip, it's gone for ever.

Sadly, I couldn't find anyone to take the collection as a whole, so I sold them off individually, recouped some costs and regretted it ever since, but I just did not have the space.

I still have a couple of 7" floppy disks stored away

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #10 27-03-2010, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenluceskies

- Apple Lisa

Sadly, I couldn't find anyone to take the collection as a whole, so I sold them off individually, recouped some costs and regretted it ever since, but I just did not have the space.

Bwaaaahhhhhhh haaaaaaaaaa............ sob....

Oh the shame...

thunderchildobs · #11 28-03-2010, 01:18 AM

I still have a sinclair specturm with a zx mirco drive and zx printer.
Every few years i turn on.

g__day (Matthew) · #12 28-03-2010, 02:36 PM

My brother still keeps our NEC APC - circa 1982, with its 2 8" Floppy drives, 256KB of core and CPM and DOS 1.0! I believe its a 8086 (or is it a 8088) 4MHz chip?

Remeber the Uni student version sold without taxes for only $4,700 - or about $30,000 in todays monies!

RobF (Rob) · #13 28-03-2010, 05:01 PM

Ahhh those were the days - when I moved up from my Commodore 64 to my Amiga, the 1084S monitor had UNSPEAKABLY crisp hi res pictures AND stereo sound. How could it ever get any better!

Grudgingly jumped ship to IBM PCs around '92 starting with a 486. Sigh.

Peter Ward · #14 28-03-2010, 09:24 PM

I still have a working Amiga 2500 with a 68030 card and 1084S monitor...plus a fair bit of software.

Chillie (Henry) · #15 28-03-2010, 11:27 PM

My main computer (use it almost every day) is a 486 DX4 100 running DOS 6.22 and Windows For Work Groups 3.11 using Calmira 2.2 as the user interface. I mainly use it with Excel 5.0 for keeping a record of everything I spend and Quicken 6.0 to keep a record of my bank accounts.

I have a total of 9 computers of different types, operating systems, and ages. Most are in working condition but some are dead.

My first computer was a Radio Shack TRS80 Model 1 Level 1 with 4kb RAM. I once wrote a program for it that used all but 50 bytes of RAM. I don't have this computer anymore.

GTB_an_Owl (Geoff) · #16 28-03-2010, 11:53 PM

i think i might have a commodore 128D somewhere up in the shed
not sure now whether it still works

geoff

Octane (Humayun) · #17 29-03-2010, 12:10 AM

1986 vintage, Tandy 1000TX. 640 KB RAM, CGA, no hard drive (later added a 20 MB hard drive), 5.25" floppy, added a 3.5" later. When I finished year 6, dad bought me a 512 KB VGA card for it. phw0ar, colour!

Ran DeskMate -- brings back a flood of memories.

Most of the time I played around in DOS (probably explains why I'm a UNIX sysadmin now), used Broderbund Software's PrintShop to print stuff on a dot matrix (later upgrade to colour); used to print all our own birthday cards and send them overseas to family.

cat.exe
ptrooper.exe (?)

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (in 3 colours!)
Test Drive
Microprose Grand Prix Circuit
Microprose F15 Strike Eagle II and F19 Stealth Fighter
Leaderboard Golf
Lemmings

I managed to get Windows 3.0 to install on it. It used to take 30 minutes to install from 8, 720 KB 3.5" floppies. Using Windows Write. It would taken 5 minutes to change/select a font, lol.

We had that machine from 1986 to 1997 when I got my first Pentium.

Ah, those were the days.

H

Barrykgerdes · #18 29-03-2010, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octane;575064.

Most of the time I played around in DOS (probably explains why I'm a UNIX sysadmin now), used Broderbund Software's PrintShop to print stuff on a dot matrix (later upgrade to colour); used to print all our own birthday cards and send them overseas to family.

cat.exe
ptrooper.exe (?)

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (in 3 colours!)
Test Drive
Microprose Grand Prix Circuit
Microprose F15 Strike Eagle II and F19 Stealth Fighter
Leaderboard Golf
Lemmings

I managed to get Windows 3.0 to install on it. It used to take 30 minutes to install from 8, 720 KB 3.5" floppies. Using Windows Write. It would taken 5 minutes to change/select a font, lol.

H

I can still boot my computer into DOS 6.2 with Windows 3.11 and DOS 7. DOS 6.2 runs all those old programs (in 3 colours from 3 pallets).

I have all those programs on 5.25" Discs somewhere and I still have one of my pentium 4's fitted with a 5.25" floppy drive.

I still play "Destiny knight", "Lemings", "Space Quest" etc occasionally for fun. I still hope to reach a higher level in Lemings.

I think many of the old games were more mentally challenging than the new games of "shoot everything in sight".

Barry

lacad01 (Adam) · #19 29-03-2010, 11:08 AM

I used to own a C-64, then upgraded to an Amiga500. Thought I was in the big league when I purchased an Amiga 2000 with a 20MB hard disk and Bridge Board (the Bridge Board was an 16 bit ISA expansion card with 286 processor enabling MS-DOS to run natively)...all gone now

Exfso (Peter) · #20 30-03-2010, 03:12 AM

Got an Amiga 4000 in the shed, aint been stoked up for years, all wrapped up in its original carton.