1 Feb
2008
1 Feb
'08
8:26 p.m.
Jim Battle wrote:
Hello vintage microcomputer fans.
I recently bought an Interact Model One computer on ebay
(#150208636366). It was in good shape and it went relatively cheaply.
...
So, does anybody on the list happen to have any form
of technical
documents that I might be able to use to help troubleshoot this? Beside
wanting the information just to have it in case, I do have an immediate
need to figure out the tape deck, and to rig up some replacement
joysticks, since the machine didn't come with them.
A big thanks to Joe Britt, who very quickly sent me scans of the
schematics. With Joe's permission, I have put them online for future
explorers to find. Thanks Joe!
While I was at it, I dumped the ROM from my machine and put that online
too. It was a bit more hassle than it should have been. I have a
cheapie "Topwin 2004" eprom/pld/mpu programmer, and I've used it
successfully a number of times. The boot ROM from this machine,
although having the same pinout as a single voltage 2716 EPROM, is a
masked ROM. The topwin programmer refused to read it, so I broke out my
BASIC Stamp protoboard system and grabbed the ROM that way.
Both files are available from this page:
http://www.thebattles.net/oddments/oddments.html
If anyone reading this happens to have any other docs for the Interact,
I'd love to get a copy of those too.
BTW, my machine is an Interact Model One, a cleaned up version of the
Interact Home Computer System. Although it is easier to manufacture and
more robust, it appears to be electrically identical to the first
version of the machine. Thus, the boot ROM and the schematics should be
valid for both models.