HP-85 score

Nice toy. I have to sdmit that the HP80 seires are my least favourite HP desktops , owing the large number og H Pcustom chips they use and the strange I/O bus which is not easy to make devices for, but they are still very nice machines. Yo uwant to look at http://www.hpmuseum.net/ if you haven't already. You can find a lot of manuals there froe the machine, plotter, etc. Maybe some software too, but I think you need a disk drive and mass storage ROM to maake use of it. Incidnetally, there si no simple way to sue an EPROM in place for the HP ROM modules, so don;t think you can obtain ROM images and make your own ROMs. The tape drive capstan will probably need replacing, and the printer belts may well have decayed too. There are not major problems. If you decide to go inside the machine, a few comments. To get the top cover off, pull off the tape eject button, then undo all the screws on the bottom. The case lifts off. Be careful of the CRT and high voltages on the PCB to the left of it (which contains all the video circutry, including the digital stuff and video RAM. The various bits of the machine are interconnected by 'tapewire' which has the annoying hbbitt of going open-circuit or not making proper contct when you plug it back in. If yuo have odd problems, it's worth checking this. Let me know if you have any problems with it, I will try to help. -tony