Garos Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 (edited) hi all, just putting out feelers for Dick Smith's Super 80 computer kit enthusiasts/ex I assembled one in 1983 (I think, very first computer), and for it later assembled various expansion boards. Unfortunately this machine met its demize later in the 80's I am now seeking to obtain another, working or not, the main premise being that the pcb is in good nick. So if anyone out there has one that they would like to get rid of (at a fair price) please email me at john_dominion@hotmail.com a fellow Super 80 enthusiast (Peter) is starting a yahoo group for the beast - will keep you posted on that one. He has one he is attempting to make functional. love to hear from people, their Super 80 experiences etc etc etc Robert informs me that he has a few still functioning! (mostly) and seems to have had a fair bit of experience with the machine. cheersGary Edited October 30, 2006 by Garos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Yes I have 3 of these antiques. My original one only works on the odd occasion and is now extremely unreliable. The 2nd kit which I obtained from a friend (for free) in the original packaging still works And, the 3rd one has the 80-column card fitted and I bought this from somebody, it works well too. My entire game library is available on the internet, PM me if you want it. As for emulation of it, you can PM me for that as well. The Super-80 is now extremely rare and I doubt you will be able to find a new PCB - but I wish you good luck in your search! Why don't you get Peter to post here instead of the Yahoo group? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garos Posted October 31, 2006 Author Share Posted October 31, 2006 Hi Robert n all The Super-80 is now extremely rare and I doubt you will be able to find a new PCB - but I wish you good luck in your search! I had no delusions about obtaining just a pcb, I enquired at Dick Smith's re the Super 80 and they claimed that they didn't have any record of it (oh well). I had thought that if I can get an accurate image of the top and bottom side of the pcb (the top being obscured by components, of course) using circuit diagrams and a lot of time and patience I should be able to faithfully reproduce the pcb image. Probably very expensive to have one etched though. I had also thought of doing a wire wrap version; it wouldn't quite be a super 80... No; primarily I had hoped to find someone with an old working or otherwise Super 80, for which the pcb hadn't deteriorated, that they would be happy to sell, and then to take the project from there. It would seem that all of the IC's are still available new (and very inexpensive). Why don't you get Peter to post here instead of the Yahoo group? I will suggest it to him, but it may be easier for one vaguely perusing the net for "Dick Smith Super 80" to stumble across a group dedicated to the beast rather than as a sub group of another site (don't you think the poor old Super-80 deserves its own group, hahaha ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Do you have the url of this Yahoo group? and, what city are you and Peter from? If you live near to me we might be able to arrange something. The magazine "Electronics Australia" (now defunct) ran the Super-80 as a feature article over a few issues, I can get you a list of issues. The magazine's content was obtained by Silicon Chip which as far as I know still exists. As for Dick Smith, they were sold to Woolworths and then took over Tandy, so I'm not surprised they no longer have any records. The shop assistants are probably younger than the Super-80! I have the Dick Smith part numbers if you wish to hit them over the head! (they still have the same numbering scheme). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garos Posted November 1, 2006 Author Share Posted November 1, 2006 Hi RobertI emailed Peter and suggested he join 1em, and reply to your questions personally. I don't think that the Dick Smith Super 80 yahoo group is up and running yet. I live in Sydney (Epping). Tell me, did you say that your 80 column card is colour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 You live over the other side of the city from me, I guess that's better than the other side of the country! Yes, my 80-column card is in colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Hi Robert, I'm a fellow Super-80 enthusiast, Gary has mentioned me! I have a non functional Super-80 and I'm keen to get it working. we'll I get some video output and that's about it. I've been reading the posts on the Super 80, I'm not sure what's up with the yahoo group but I believe it should be working at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/dick_smith_super-80 BTW: I live in Springwood (Blue Mountains) I'm wondering if you have any notes and errata you could share with us. Actually I'm interested in knowing if the EA articles had any of those details before I shell out for the articles. I've got a couple of the original manuals too. Cheers,Peter. Hi RobertI emailed Peter and suggested he join 1em, and reply to your questions personally. I don't think that the Dick Smith Super 80 yahoo group is up and running yet. I live in Sydney (Epping). Tell me, did you say that your 80 column card is colour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Springwood is probably easier to get to, traffic-wise, than Epping is. What video output do you get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 The video output seems to be ] characters, 32x16 of them. Very snakey which might indicate some diodes need replacing. There's also a constant scroll from bottom to top and looking at the video signal on a CRO the entire composite signate shifts in voltage, kind of jumps on the CRO screen. I wouldn't say it's mains hum since it low frequency, something like 0.5 to 1 second period. Where abouts are you situated? Springwood is probably easier to get to, traffic-wise, than Epping is. What video output do you get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 The screen wiggling is normal because the vertical frequency is about 49 hz and it beats with the 50 hz of your tv, creating a 1 hz disturbance. The only way to get rid of it is to use a good quality green-screen monitor. I'm not sure about the ] characters, never seen that before. What happens if you turn on the test mode? I am near Campbelltown. How much RAM do you have? Are the dipswitches set properly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Yes I have 3 of these antiques.Your really starting to show your age Last time I seen a working one of those was when I was around 18 at Mount Druit Tafe libraryAnyway I deal with alot of second hand shops I will keep my eye out for one those You could also try freecycle http://freecycle.org/display.php?region=Au...uth%20Wales/ACTYou could put out a few feelers on that site http://freecycle.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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