14 Dec
2011
14 Dec
'11
4:21 p.m.
> (I am assuming that info is correct. Although I
am hardware incompetent,
> I never even connected to the RF output of my Cocos, nor the 5 pin DIN
> of my TRS80s.)
On Wed, 14 Dec 2011, Tony Duell wrote:
If you made no conenction to the RF output socket of a
CoCo or the 5 pin
DIN vidoe ouptu (composite video and +5V) of a model 1, how ever did you
vieww the output of these machines?
When I bought my first TRS80, it was available for $600 with monitor and
cassette, or $400 without monitor nor cassette. The store manager, in
spite of it being the first one that had come in, was willing to commit
that if I were to be unsuccessful, then I could but the monitor by itself
for $200 (I would still be short the cassette (another $50)). I had a
Sony 11" TV/monitor (same as sold for use with both CV and AV series
VTRs), with UHF connectors, a "Honda" connector, and both UHF and VHF
knobs broken off - I have no idea whether the tuner in it worked.
In both cases, I WAITED UNTIL I GOT HOME before I opened the computer
case. (I'm not a hardware person)
Then I connected clip leads from where I thought the composite video was
to a composite monitor. Once I confirmed that there was, indeed, usable
composite there, I drilled a hole, and soldered in an RCA jack.
Therefore, the original CONNECTORS (but not the signals nor case) were
virgin when I eventually parted with the machines.
Later, Joe Garner (Elcompco) used my machine for testing the prototypes of
his mod board for reverse video (controlled by port 254)
Later, I was given another TRS80, WITH the stock monitor. There was an
aweful lot of empty space where the tuner would have been in that RCA
based TV turned monitor. (One of THAT model RCA TVs was appropriately in
the background on Al Bundy's kitchen counter) So, I cut a large
rectangular hole in the front of the monitor case and mounted a full
height 5.25" (Tandon TM100-1) drive and power supply to the right of the
CRT. I added some mu-metal (sp?) around it.
But the MOST important modification that I made to my model I was putting
some nut-serts into the base and bolting the CPU and EI (and an outlet
strip) to a piece of plywood so that the cable didn't flex (and a small
notch in the front of the EI for the CPU power cord without excess cables
flopping around) I never got around to mounting a DB25 and solidly
mounting the RS232 (_RADIO_ _SHACK_ 232).
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com