Fairchild Channel F with Special Guest

We play with a Fairchild Channel F (German licensed as SABA Videoplay) and watch Amy compete with Adrian Black at the game "2."
#retrocomputers #retrogaming
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Jerry Lawson
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_L...)
Fairchild Channel F
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchi...
Adrian's Digital Basement
‪@adriansdigitalbasement‬

[@geekwithsocialskills]

You know Taylor means business when she wears her ball cap backwards. "Let's get ready to Fairchild!!!!!!!!!" Adrian is always a good sport and very competitive when it comes to game playing.

[@fractalMD]

Taylor is SRS BZNS! And of course we LOVE Adrian.

[@8bitsinthebasement]

I heard a lot about the Fairchild but never really seen one. Lots of fun to be had with the comp mod and joystick repair/replacement and what's more it uses real electricity :)

[@fractalMD]

We fell in love with it at VCF MW. That fake electricity, tho. We had to brake out the autobots!

[@Phantom8Bit]

The very first Itchy & Scratchy videogame!

[@fractalMD]

Now that song is in my head.

[@Phantom8Bit]

@@fractalMD You're welcome

[@fractalMD]

@@Phantom8Bit Noooooooooo

[@EricsEdgeVideos]

I was so enthralled with stuff I didn’t really look at the gaming systems. Will rectify that in 23!

[@fractalMD]

Omg. Yeah. There was SO MUCH.

[@Oribaa90]

Nice presentation! I just bought one on ebay so I am very excited right now. It is such an important but forgotten system. As a console collector I had to have one in my collection.

[@fractalMD]

Exactly!!!

[@anjanettepetty-kountz3785]

Such a neat system and some really cool features on those “remotes” 😉

[@fractalMD]

I called a joystick a remote the other day NOT ON PURPOSE and I caught myself, and was like...AJ!!!

[@geekwithsocialskills]

@@fractalMD I bet AJ calls cartridges "tapes" 🙂

[@anjanettepetty-kountz3785]

@@fractalMD I will make converts out of everyone… muah ha ha 😉

[@GarthBeagle]

That joystick is awesome!

[@fractalMD]

It's very clever, right?

[@douglasleany6091]

What a great video! Years ago, (probably not long after you were born 😅), I saw the Fairchild Channel F at a local department store. I wasn't really a gamer, but I loved electronics, and the Fairchild immediately caught my eye. The unit was plugged into a TV, so I played around with it, to see what it could do. Having seen only those one-trick-pony games of the day, (Pong, Tank, etc), I was amazed at how versatile the Fairchild was. If I would have had the money, I would have bought one on the spot! Unfortunately, my wife wanted me to spend the money on things like groceries, clothes for the kids, house and car payments -- you know, boring stuff like that, so I had to leave empty handed. 😪 Whenever we were in the store, I would find an excuse to go play with that console, but I never managed to come up with enough money to buy it, and after a while, it wasn't there anymore. So, the Taylor and Amy show has finally answered the question of whatever happened to the Fairchild, that has bothered me all these years. Thank you both for putting my mind at ease. Tonight, for the first time since the late 1970s, I can get a good night's sleep, having seen Amy kill her competitor on the Fairchild Channel F. My life is no complete.

[@fractalMD]

Circle of liiiiiiiife!

[@douglasleany6091]

@@fractalMD 🤣

[@VK2FVAX]

Was oodles of fun watching Amy PwN Adrian in PVP Crysis on an F-8. Chuckled a lot at it all. :)

[@fractalMD]

PRO GAMER!

[@geoffneil5073]

It is always the highlight of my day when you post a new video, you are always so enthusiastic about everything. I'm really looking forward to seeing Taylor do the composite mod on that console.

[@fractalMD]

You are too sweet. We are working on a mod might work. Fingers crossed.

[@HunterZBNS]

I knew about this system and its place in history but hadn't seen it in action. I'm kind of blown away by how well the games utilized the unique controllers. Also got a huge kick out of the VCF footage - you two and Adrian are some of my very favorite KZbinrs these days!

[@fractalMD]

Awe. I hope we can make ya smile with our antics. Adrian is just THE NICEST person and so genuine! We were so excited to meet him.

[@Fredthefat]

@@fractalMD I am now an old man, which means I've either achieved or put aside my ambitions. But one of the few I have left is to meet Adrian - never going to happen, different continents and all. So I'm pretty envious. No, very envious, No, deeply envious. Like Mariana trench envious.

[@fractalMD]

@@Fredthefat Don't give up hope! And I promise he is just as delightful as you would ever want him to be.

[@Alibm80]

Never heard of this system … Awesome pioneering console!

[@fractalMD]

It's old skool elementary skool!

[@ArJorge1987]

Awesome video! What a great find!

[@fractalMD]

We were SO HAPPY when it arrived.

[@CurtisBoyle]

Great video, as always... and as everyone has mentioned, the Channel F was way ahead of it's time, particularly the controller. If I remember, we saw one at the VCF MidWest warehouse after CocoFest, but of course it wasn't actually up and running. Jealous - I haven't seen a functioning one in decades. And I am now scared of competing with either of you in gameplay... I will have to work my way up by playing Adrian first. :)

[@fractalMD]

Was there was one in that warehouse?? I had sensory overload there for certain. Yes, you'd better practice. I'm dominating world champion at 2!

[@patkelley8293]

Looks like the first death match gameplay ever! Looks like a lot of fun! 😃

[@fractalMD]

It was great! Adrian is so gracious.

[@RonsCompVids]

X+Y+Z is a great way to put it!

[@fractalMD]

I totally thought so, too!

[@DevilsHandyman]

I still haven't recovered from watching the previous video. I hope there aren't any shenanigans in this one!

[@fractalMD]

You are safer, this time!

[@DevilsHandyman]

@@fractalMD Good my stomach is still recovering from the giggling.

[@fractalMD]

@@DevilsHandyman Honestly, same. We had so much fun with that.

[@pin00ch]

You two crack me up.

[@fractalMD]

😎

[@3vi1J]

So jealous of the Channel F variant, and so jealous you got to meet Adrian! I remember looking at the Fairchild in Sears/MonkeyWards catalogs as a youth... by that time I already had the Intellivision, the ultimate system that would never be bested... but I still kind of wanted the Channel F and the others. Later I would be diagnosed with terminal geekness.

[@fractalMD]

And it's end stage!

[@RetrogamerGenX]

Awesome guys.. 👍👍The first programable rom video game console. The great, great grand daddy of all consoles these days. I had one years ago but had to sell it, regret it to this day. Been looking for a boxed model 1 for years now, but haven't found one worth the money yet.. Still waiting on the "one", that has a good box, the system works, and is in good shape. Hard to find one with all that for a decent price these days.

[@fractalMD]

The fact that our search extended to Europe says it all. I hope you find your unicorn, soon!

[@colbyritter7516]

I had one of those! It didn't work, which was why my uncle gave it to me. I took it apart thinking that I could find what was wrong with it, but after checking a few things, I concluded that it has been fried by a power surge or something like that and was beyond repair. I ended up salvaging the controllers (very cool) and using them for other things after I figured out the pin outs. 👍

[@fractalMD]

Nice! Hate it didn't work, but the controllers are much cool.

[@BinnisRetro]

I like it when one of you starts randomly singing an 80s song the other immediately follows. (This time Transformers). This seems to happen regularly. It’s like you have connected brainwaves or something 👏 Also that Pong looks mindblowing!

[@fractalMD]

We've been like this FOR YEARS! This is what happens when you are best friends since 2nd grade.

[@drjohnfisher]

This happens literally all the time when they hang out on a slow Tuesday. At least so I've heard.

[@HunterZBNS]

You have no idea how quickly I smashed the like button when they started singing the Transformers theme haha

[@fractalMD]

@@HunterZBNS That is awesome!

[@marksuper4920]

Awesome! I happen to own a channel F that I rescued (someone was going to throw it out) I haven't had much time to do anything with it. I'm really excited to see what upgrades you two find for yours!

[@fractalMD]

Oh that is cool. If you find something neat, please let us know! I can't believe someone was going to throw away a Fairchild. You are truly a hero for rescuing it.

[@va3ngc]

That reminds me. I have an unbuilt Fairchild F8 computer kit (circa 1975) that I should build.

[@fractalMD]

Absolutely!

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

Really cool. This was a new one for me. I had a 2600 as a kid and I guess this was out at a similar time, but I didn't know about it. I hope you ladies consider coming to Jersey in April for VCF east.

[@fractalMD]

You never know where we might pop up! (Least of all us. )

[@Fredthefat]

That pong game looks awesome, definately made to get the best out of the controllers. But pah, 220v that's the least you need, as a Brit we get up to 240v - more is better, right? Love the "Don't have that many" line. As ever, great vid. Do you ever not have a great time. You lighten up my week.

[@fractalMD]

Glad if we can bring a smile! I'm lucky every time I get to hang out with Taylor. 😃

[@macrohard007]

That's so cool y'all got to play with Adrian Black. If y'all can find an old Goldstar TV from the early to mid 90s, they usually can handle both NTSC and PAL signals. It's way cheaper than those Sony PVMs. I don't know if y'all are into CRTs, but I usually like to play my retro stuff on CRTs. Y'all's room set up is AWESOME!

[@fractalMD]

The Lab is truly something to behold. We will definitely keep an eye out for Goldstar. Hoping we can do an AV mod, but still trying to figure it all out! And Adrian is just the loveliest. We was so nice to put up with us!

[@IsaacKuo]

It's so fascinating to see how the controllers gave you basically full control, but they hadn't figured out how to translate that into interesting gameplay. Atari Combat, with far more limited control, gave you more interesting tactics trying to maneuver to an advantageous position - and to try to arrange things so you could set up a string of kills (almost like playing 9 ball, setting up shot after shot). Another example is Archon, which made things more interesting by introducing a recharge time. So you couldn't just try to shoot at each other continuously. You'd try a shot and then try to avoid until your shot recharged. Or depending on where the enemy was in their own recharge cycle, you could pursue to try and set up a shot before the enemy recharges.

[@fractalMD]

You do wonder why they didn't carry on with the Fairchild joystick type design though!

[@IsaacKuo]

@@fractalMD Yeah, the Bally Astrocade had a sort of similar controller, with a vertical main body held in one hand, and a small twistable handle at the top. But the Atari 2600 joystick was just so much cheaper to manufacture, and tougher. Still, things could have been different if the Atari 2600 came with a combo knob/joystick controller instead of completely separate controllers.

[@fractalMD]

@@IsaacKuo It usually just does come down to money in the end, I suppose.

[@elyuw]

Never used or even seen one of these. Those joysticks are amazingly ahead of their time though, and I love that you could rotate the bats in Pong too.

[@fractalMD]

Crazy that something so useful was so early out of the gate. I want some modern versions. Bust out some Destiny 2 on one.

[@bretlinden8248]

I'm just starting the vid as I type this, but I'm excited. This is one of the classics that almost no one has but I would love to learn more about that. Someone in my town was recently selling one on FB Marketplace for $400...I thought about it, but couldn't spare the four bills at the time.

[@fractalMD]

Dang, that is $$$$$! We were SO EXCITED to get our hands on one.

[@fractalMD]

@@bretlinden8248 Yeah, and $100! Looks like a porch pick up situation, tho. Someone out there needs to snatch it up. I'll investigate, a bit.

[@JimLeonard]

Getting a strong Jay and Silent Bob vibe off this one :-D Kudos for scoring a Channel F, very advanced system for the time and it's great that you've kept yours in working order.

[@fractalMD]

I think I'm Silent Bob! 🤣

[@CurtisBoyle]

@@fractalMD - "Silent" is not the way I would typically describe you... ;)

[@fractalMD]

@@CurtisBoyle LOL! I totally tossed you that softball.

[@floydjohnson7888]

0:54 The 1 December 2022 Google Doodle was a hat-tip to Gerald "Jerry" Lawson.

[@fractalMD]

WE SAW!!!! That made us so happy. 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 Got a chuckle at the artist having to guess at how the controller was held and getting it wrong. They applied modern knowledge and therefore its horizontal in his hands.

[@jeffreyphipps1507]

It's not broken, it's a bobble head!

[@fractalMD]

First ancient proto bobble head.

[@xXxCobraCommanderxXx]

The easiest way to get a dual PAL/NTSC monitor is a Sony PVM or similar. There is a kickstarter project for a 5:4 LCD with PAL and NTSC support but it hasn't launched yet.

[@fractalMD]

Oooh, good to know

[@xXxCobraCommanderxXx]

@@fractalMD There are other brands of CRT (JVC, Panasonic), and things like security system monitors (Pelco for example, and there is a cheaper brand that I forget) that have composite PAL inputs. An added bonus is that you get the real CRT effect, and its 4:3 instead of widescreen.

[@tombarber8929]

There's a saying my dad always said "Amy is much better at Adrian at game 2" I never knew what he meant, until today

[@fractalMD]

I totally and legitimately laughed out loud at this.

[@JolliAllGenGamer]

Odd controller. Hmm I should look into that converter if I want to buy some Euro systems to work in the US.

[@fractalMD]

And the whole PAL vs NTSC thing.

[@JolliAllGenGamer]

@@fractalMD That's right oh boy.

[@PaulKostrzewa]

I have a Channel F in the box but no cartridges... someday.

[@fractalMD]

We are most jealous of your Channel F!

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

Good Game Play Taylor and Amy I will invite you two on my next live repair stream warning they can run 5-12 hours we have fun on the live streams Sunday11/6/2022 9:00am PST 12:00pm EST

[@fractalMD]

Most importantly. Are there snacks?

[@DavidStahlOLDHAPPyMACs]

@@fractalMD Snacks are A requirement on my repair streams. Don’t want to hear your stomachs growling LOL. We have A lot fun I always have lot’s of guests on the stream with me you guys can work on what ever you want or if just want to play video games thats ok to or just hang out and chat I will send you out the stream yard link next Friday on twitter DM hope you can make it

[@OGHUGO]

Hi, why buy a PAL unit? was it cheaper than an NTSC one? With the purchase of a transformer it would have been probably about the same or more than what these go for now right?

[@fractalMD]

It's what we were able to find!

[@OGHUGO]

@@fractalMD Ahh ok, so I take it next is Bally Astrocade?

[@fractalMD]

@@OGHUGO you never know!

[@DanGamsby]

Hi Taylor. Does the controller have standard 9-pin connector similar to atari 2600? If so I think I have a controller for you that I got in a lot of a few vic-20s. Let me know and we can exchange email and I can get this sent out to you!

[@fractalMD]

We are gonna check!

[@DanGamsby]

@@fractalMD ok let me know! It's the exact same as the working one you have. Apparently it came out for the Fairchild and also had Atari support. I can email you pics!

[@fractalMD]

@@DanGamsby Taylor has been messing around on the inside seeing what she can see. Hit us up at our email (you can find under about) or on Twitter (if it hasn't imploded yet.) 😃😃😃