It will be in good hands with @jannievanzyl ! I have seen some of the Spectravideos he were able to bring back to life!Thanks for reaching out @Nivec !!
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Vintage Computers
- Thread starter jannievanzyl
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jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
I tend to name all the vintage computers after the person from whom I got them. So there a 'Peter', 'Roy', 'Gary', 'Stephen', etc. This also helps to identify which machine you're talking about when you're working on more than one machine.
There's one Spectravideo SVI-328 (like the one posted above by Nivec) called "%^&*#! Johannes", as it took me many months to get it working. But it also forced me to get to know the 318/328 circuit off by heart and to design and develop custom test equipment to fix them.
Corelli
Executive Member
Commodore I remember with LOGO and the turtle.
Apple 2 and 2E
You should collect the old PC games too. Those Sierra games boxes.
What about some Macintoshes too?
And Zip Discs.
But to be honest. These things take a lot of space. I know I collect art too. You need walls.
Baseball cards and stamps may be less space consuming. Have you seen the pricing on some collector cards $1 million usd plus. It's like Bitcoin in cards hahaha
Apple 2 and 2E
You should collect the old PC games too. Those Sierra games boxes.
What about some Macintoshes too?
And Zip Discs.
But to be honest. These things take a lot of space. I know I collect art too. You need walls.
Baseball cards and stamps may be less space consuming. Have you seen the pricing on some collector cards $1 million usd plus. It's like Bitcoin in cards hahaha
jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
The Sierra and other boxed games are indeed quite popular with collectors. Personally, I don't really collect PC-related stuff as my period of interest is more before the PC era. In fact, I consider the beginning of the PC era as basically the end of the "golden era of computing" (early '80's), when there were a large number of different systems that were completely unique. Apple, Commodore, Acorn, Spectravideo, etc. From around 1985, the PC architecture became dominant and computers became, for the most part, just tools.
So, I'm very much into the pre-16 bit era though I do have the first versions of most of the 16-bit machines (Amida, Atari ST, IBM PC/AT, Acorn Risc, etc.) No Macintoshes though. I made a call to not start with them as it's a slippery slope of note. Same with the Unix machines.
And, you're 100% right about space, I've got a store of close to 100m2 with shelves for all the systems, monitors and other parts. /eek
I had a Spectravideo when I was growing up, must have been in Primary School or early High School, it was a great little machine to learn BASIC and the concept of sprites.
I would love to see one irl and see it in action again.
I would love to see one irl and see it in action again.
jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
Which city are you in @bokka1 ?
jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
In the early 80's I decided to design (and build) the ultimate home computer. It would have the Z80 CPU and the Texas Instruments TMS9918 VDP. 
Then the Spectravideo 318/328 came out......
Then the Spectravideo 318/328 came out......
Hi JannieThanks for reaching out @Nivec !!
It was collected, guess it will be on its way to your shortly.
Sorry to see it go, I spent many, many afternoons behind that machine, hopefully it will get some use again instead of sitting in a cupboard for another 30+ years.
I am in Kuils River, Cape Town.
jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
Perfect!
Join our South African Facebook Vintage Computer group (I'll post a link) and watch out for the next piss-up at my place and come join us. For sure, you'll get a chance to play with an SVI
PS. The (really) old MyBB members from Cpt will recall the MyBB parties we used to have at my place (till you guys drank me out of my inheritance!). The parties have kinda morphed into Vintage Computing events. Though the amount of red wine consumed has only increased........
jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
Thanks @Nivec , so appreciate it.
I'm sure Tim gave you a bit of a run down on what we do - as a SA group - to ensure these machines stay in the hands of true enthusiasts. You can rest assured that your baby will bring a lot of joy to someone for the next 40 years.
Pineapple Smurf
Pineapple Beer Connoisseur
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Know your feeling, as I am letting my Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80 from around 1983 and a Toshiba Libretto 50 from around 1999 go and seek a new home after also been used as a young kid and now locked away in a cupboard it must find new joys out there. Jannie won't disappoint
Thanks, applied now. My initials are DK.web.facebook.com
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Z80 forever!
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I really like it to see you guys playing around with old hardware, it just feels so good to see that there are people who still appreciate and take care of old hardware. And that stuff still works, despite their age.
Good times.
The design and form of old hardware is so much better (especially Sinclair stuff) than of today's mass-produced tat. More pleasing on the eyes and all that.
Good times.
The design and form of old hardware is so much better (especially Sinclair stuff) than of today's mass-produced tat. More pleasing on the eyes and all that.
jannievanzyl
Telecoms expert
Indeed, you just don't see these kind of lines anymore. Designers put as much effort into the look of the system as the performance.
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What I liked about those days is that you could open them up, get into the guts to hack and modify the hardware etc. These days that's almost impossibly with 10layer pcbs, smt etc for the average hobbyist. Back then there were also full circuit diagrams & pcb layouts in the back of your manual.