Restoring my Dad's TRS-80 Model III

[@DrTedEsq]

"Computers used to take up whole rooms, now they take up whole lives." That is an astounding quote from your Dad. Thank you for that interview. ps - Apologies for not getting the IBM Linux on POWER training manual in the mail. I'll get that off this week - I'll be by the post office on Monday.

[@clabretro]

no worries at all!

[@kimhawtin]

They sure do consume your life. If you let them... but like we have any choice in the matter ;) This provides inspiration to get my model 4 running again =)

[@pedrocx486]

“Computers used to take whole rooms and now they take whole lives” is a phrase for the ages, amazing interview with your old man!

[@joysticksnjukeboxes]

"Sodder" is how our shop class teachers pronounced it. So everyone else can just take off. :) What a nice story and a good job getting it working again. Thanks so much!

[@wirikidor]

That is the model computer I learned BASIC on in elementary school. Now I'm a DevOps engineer, and I'd love to have one for the nostalgia.

[@josephlunderville3195]

Your dad knows his shit, always great to hear him!

[@OnTheRocks71]

As a layman myself, your pops has probably forgot more about programming than I could ever hope to know. Real cool Dad.

[@Atmatan]

I'm going to have to watch this 40 minute video in 2 minute segments, I can't see with all the tears escaping from my feels right now.

[@electronicsworkbench]

Nice video! Loved those fine mesh CRT glare screens like yours when they were new. So many ruined trying to clean the dust out of them and as time went on were made more and more cheaply. Then the smoked glass versions came out and didn't work as well. An old Amdek monitor I had used the mesh type but it caught so much dust and dirt in the years you couldn't wash or vacuum without damage. Loving the retro stuff today! Thanks for memories.

[@clabretro]

I'm actually amazed the glare screen is in as good of shape as it is after all these years!

[@SylvieCanuck]

I've loved the interviews you've done with your dad. I wasn't born til the late 90's, so it's really interesting hearing the perspective of someone who was so involved in the early adoption of computers. Love all of your content!

[@clabretro]

thank you! I'm glad you've enjoyed them (and so is he)

[@bududdy]

I sometimes wish I could’ve lived in that era with the older home PCs and floppys. So cool to be able to relive some of that tech! Great video as always!

[@preds.bundalo5408]

Oh man. I’m a gen-x’er and a bunch of what was in your dad’s story was in mine too. At my HS, my first computer course was taught on TRS-80 model III’s. Knowing nothing about computers, my parents bought my brother and I a C=64 to help us with homework, and we were surprised when our floppies from school didn’t work at home. That said, I was hooked-like your dad-and it turned into a career for me. Great vid, and a nice walk down memory lane.

[@TrolleyMC]

Like the new glasses, clab. Cool video about the TRS 80, haven't ever been super interested in them but you showed it in a cool way and I always love hearing from your dad. P.S It's cool you got a greaseweasel, I saw an Adrian Black video on repairing an Apple IIC drive and it came very handy in calibrating the drive's RPM and many other things. Go Greaseweasel!

[@clabretro]

Thank you!

[@kenmurphy4259]

Brad is such a gent, you can tell he really knows his stuff

[@justinkovacik9436]

You are a little younger than me but the TSR 80 was already old when I was a kid and I've never seen one in person. I still found this video very interesting and glad you fixed it for your dad. Thank you so much for preserving history

[@PhillyMJS]

A Model 3 was the first computer I remember using, too, then my 6th grade classroom got a CoCo 2, and a year later my parents brought home a Tandy 1000. If your dad was dabbling with home automation stuff in the 80s, it was almost certainly X10 based. X10 sent control signals over the power lines in the house. Amazingly, X10 hardware is still being sold.

[@insanelydigitalvids]

What an excellent retro video. It's got everything: archeology, nostalgia, technology, experimentation, suspense, excitement, failure, success... and the wisdom and insight of your Dad. Very cool!

[@clabretro]

glad you enjoyed it!

[@trevorford8332]

Love the Z80 chips, bring back so many memories. Programming it was a delight.

[@jjock3239]

I love Greaseweasel! I concur with your dad's statement. I enjoyed the interview with your dad. I believe the reason for the success of the IBM, was the open architecture. I am 81, and don't want to think about how much of my life I spent on a computer, going back to the early 70s, and using the (pencil type) programming cards on a USAF Burrows D830. My home computing life, started with the Vic20, C64,( $ 800 for the C64, $800 for the MSD dual drive, $800 for the printer) and the whole series of Amigas (which I still have). I switched to Linux, sometime around 2000, and have run many of the different flavours. Unrestricted access to the computer, turned all my kids into techies, so overall, it has been a good thing..

[@clabretro]

thanks for the comment! cool to hear about the D830. I've never actually used Amigas but everyone certainly loves them, excited to hunt one down someday.

[@jjock3239]

@@clabretro They are wonderful computers, and there is still quite a lot of activity, including new processor upgrades. In the late 80s, there was nothing to compare.

[@MadITGeek]

@@clabretro I used to Have a A2000..miss that thing :(

[@John-jl3ky]

This was a great video and I enjoy listening to your dad.Your family has a lot of computer history.

[@IBM_Museum]

My dad had an assorted office supply store, and was a relatively "early adopter" for how technology could help his business. In the office, he brought a TRS-80 model that was in a (light blue) desk frame (to this day, no idea which, but I will try to describe it as my young teen mind remembers) for the accounting department. The thing I remember the most is that the rocker power switch for the entire unit was at knee level close to the recess for the desk - so my dad machined a metal ring to protect it from errantly being shut off.

[@clabretro]

very cool! it's amazing how self-serve computer usage had to be for small businesses back then

[@Agnemons]

I would guess that it was a model II. That was the first "business" computer from Tandy. Had a single 8" floppy beside the integrated monitor it may have also had the optional external drives that were built into the desk. Options were up to 4 8" floppy disk drives and upto 4 hardisk drives. The initial hard drive available was an 8 megabyte unit.

[@IBM_Museum]

@@Agnemons: Thanks - that's probably it. I'll try to find more details, especially for when it was introduced. We had a VIC-20 at home, replaced with a C=64 when the price dropped. I went into the military soon after, and even had brief training on the Zenith Z-248 running DOS 3.3 (with only the DOS 3.2 references). Ironically, I was busy finding Iranian mines as the IBM PS/2 series came out (we can talk more about the microchannel bus). After I got out of Active Duty in the early 1990s, dad had a 286 running memory-hungry Xerox dealer software, so I bought 4Mb of DIP RAM for $600. His main supplier sent an async terminal for accessing their (unknown vendor) host in Phoenix, but I set up a PC for dad with Procom Plus to script as much of his ordering as I could. For all that, dad always had an uneasy relationship with computers and was much more comfortable with mechanical things.

[@miked4377]

i like your dad ...smart man!...and i like hearing what he was doing with tech in the early 80s when i was a kid!great video clab!

[@clabretro]

thanks!

[@pepzi_]

I would love more interviews with your amazing father :)

[@prottentogo]

must be super cool to share a passion with ones dad

[@seantu1496]

My Dad bought one of these in 1980 and it was the first machine I learned programming on, at 9YO. Still have the thing around, along with the Apple IIe that he got for my little brother, who is 10 years younger then me, because it was what was used in the schools. Dad passed away 2 years ago, but we still have both of the machines and their printers and other associated hardware and binders of old software, although neither of the machines have been powered up in at least 3 decades by now. I retired after 30 years of working in IT, and can't help but remember the Model III as my first computer.

[@JapanPop]

First computer I ever touched at school. Ah the memories. Later, my dad got a Model 4 at his office and would bring it home on the weekends for us to play with. Adventure games!

[@neck_acrobatics]

Great video, I love computers that came ''before my time" so to speak. Patiently waiting for the follow-up.

[@floodo1]

more like TReaSure-80 in my book. Showed up in 3rd grade and they had a classroom full of TRS-80’s … learned to program with BASIC on one of those ❤️

[@JCarey1988]

Pulling on my heartstrings with this video....reminds me that I miss my IBM "luggable" so bad.

[@tomduncan3547]

Loved this segment. I also had a TRS80. I had a daughter board which gave me 64k of ram and the ability to run CPM. So good. My first computer was a Dream 6800 with 1k of memory. Still have it.

[@clabretro]

very cool!

[@HisNoodlyAppendage]

Hanging out with your dad must be awesome! Love these videos.

[@ohioterran7374]

It's awesome to see another TRS-80 Model 3 getting some love! I recently fixed up a Model 3 and put in a Gotek drive emulator with the flash floppy firmware installed as drive 0 and it's working great!

[@clabretro]

sweet! was thinking I'd go the Gotek route as well

[@noyiffingzone]

It’s uncanny how both you and William Osman posted videos about the TRS-80 within half an hour of each other

[@NatesRandomVideo]

SepTandy

[@markpriceful]

That's a great family keepsake, it looks really good for its age. Congrats on getting that floppy backed up - I bought a Greaseweazle so this is inspiration to try it out

[@nickwallette6201]

That orange button.. hahaha... My brother was a computer science major, and worked on programs for school on our TRS-80. Being the (much) younger brother, I used to play this game where I would try to sneak over and press the orange button before he caught me. It gave a very satisfying "tik-CLICK" when you pressed it, followed by an equally satisfying yowl of anger from my brother. LOL We did not have disk drives installed in ours. The only way to save data was to connect the computer to a tape recorder and have it scream into a virtual microphone for a couple minutes. And then, you could rewind the tape, play it back into the computer, and see if they understood each other correctly. That was not always the case. The incremental restore method (if you were lucky -- and the full restore method, if you were not) was to type everything back in by hand. It's one of those things that makes you feel lucky to be alive when you look back on your childhood.

[@clabretro]

haha great story. that orange button definitely has a satisfying click, was my favorite part of the machine back then

[@AgentOffice]

People would think it's a fingerprint reader these days

[@LB4FH]

Really cool to see these old machines come back to live. Interesting to see the disk ripping process

[@stephendouglas684]

Another great episode. Enjoyed seeing your Dad again.

[@MarcosCastro-v5n]

Awesome video and content, great to see your Dad, super enjoyable

[@alexandrorodrigez]

I rekon it was great godsend to invite your father to interview, it was like to meet time treveler...

[@iGregory67]

Great video. Love the interview with your dad! As for the TRS 80 Model III... IMHO the best looking computer ever. I always wanted to have one. I did love my C64 bread bin, though.

[@troyBORG]

The way you solder is exactly how I say it.

[@bradleycochran4595]

This brings back memories as my father had one. I had the Commodore 64 and I thought it was the most amazing thing.

[@callmebigpapa]

These were awesome instead of doing what we were supposed to do in computer class we played Zork on it !

[@silverXnoise]

See this morning’s video from William Osman. Seriously.

[@C4mpblor]

Glitch in the matrix moment for me this morning

[@theoldtechhandheldtinkerer4092]

I was gonna say...

[@kyle207]

I got that video on the same reccomended page as this video.

[@Joe31329]

Lol

[@pepzi_]

What? The latest video from William Osman I can find is 3 months old and named "I Turned 1-Star Toys into Military Nightmares"?

[@justin423]

I didn't see an RS-232 card... if it has one, you HAVE to get a copy of LDOS with LCOMM and use that as your terminal into the Cisco gear.....

[@clabretro]

yes! I forgot to mention that's definitely part of future plans!

[@wintermute740]

That Computer Renaissance sign gave me flashbacks.... lol... I had a friend who was the lead tech at the local Computer Renaissance store in the mid 90s, and he talked the owner into bringing me in to help with all the Win95 upgrades for customers that they had gotten backlogged on. My buddy left shortly afterwards so the owner brought me on full-time as the lead tech, and I stayed there through y2k. That was a brutal time to work as a PC tech for a retail store, and I eventually left to do computer networking.

[@clabretro]

ha that's awesome! I've got a whole video talking with my Dad about Computer Renaissance kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4SVhWCgqrmdla8

[@wintermute740]

@@clabretro I'll check it out.

[@DerekWitt]

This was also my first computer. I seem to remember mine had a 64K badge on it. It likely actually had 48kB. In either case, it sure was the bee’s knees! I once wrote a wheel of fortune clone in basic with an assembly routine for sound. It was probably spaghetti code (being 15 at the time). Still a lot of fun. I used both TRS-DOS 1.3 and LDOS. I preferred using LDOS.

[@welsh1lad]

Love your video. Bit like through back 80/90s for me . Oh im in the UK. Loved the Video you did on the Spark Netra T1 . I used this at home as a email server running Ubuntu Spark, and had to learn ALOM and such tobe able to netboot to a image of ubntu. TRS-80 in the Uk we mostly used them for Wrting z80 code , and the trs-80 would compile , then send the binary to a ZX-Spectrum [Timex2000] state side i think via RS232 since these small uk home computers could'nt realy do much compiling. Also liked the talk about the Cisco 2501 , used many of these in the day, with frame relay. All very intresing through backs and how easy have IT got it now.

[@Norm-ih2rq]

What a wonderful device

[@DanielGabel]

Reminds me of the days I spent building my first PCs with my dad. I grew up using a Tandy 1000 TL/2 that my parents bought for me when I was six... Maxed out the ram, installed a 100MB hard drive and an extra floppy drive so that I could duplicate disks. Got some good mileage out of that computer playing the Starflight games and Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge (benc.exe - still remember it to this day). Great video!

[@Otakunopodcast]

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, back in my elementary school days, I had asked my parents for a computer, because schools were getting them, all of my friends had them, etc. I was hoping for an Apple II, because that's what the schools and the majority of my friends had. But I got a TRS-80 Model III instead. It was a base model, whatever the lowest spec was, and did not have any floppy drives. (Yes in fact there were blanking plates that covered both drive bays) So I was stuck loading and saving programs using cassette tapes. I never really appreciated the machine back when I was a kid, because darn it all, it wasn't the Apple II. And yeah, back then the old "Trash-80" joke was in common use, and was used against me by everybody, which only served to add to my resentment. With years of hindsight though, I now realize that that machine is what started me down the path to where I am today, both career- and hobby-wise. It's the machine that really taught me the fundamentals of programming, where I cut my teeth writing all manner of programs in BASIC. (unfortunately I never did get into assembly language back then.) Man I really wish I still had that machine. I would restore and refurbish it (and probably upgrade it as well) and give it the respect that it deserved that past-me never gave it. Last I remember, the machine was handed down to some relatives, and it was languishing in their storage room. Unfortunately I've lost touch with said relatives, and am not even sure they are living in the same place any more. (probably not) So it could be anywhere now.

[@andresbravo2003]

Aww, how kind.

[@robertmitchell2142]

Our first computer is an Apple II+ back around this same time period. Still have it today.

[@SB-qm5wg]

You got your dad's old disk data off. Great job.

[@bryondillon1302]

Cool video, good to see your dad. I'm trying to find some pictures of the warehouse in Sumner, I know I have at least a few around here somewhere. Think that was so long ago, that it was before digital cameras were really a thing.

[@clabretro]

Hey! Definitely email if you find them. The vast majority from the other video with Dad were printed out and I scanned them.

[@JohnDoe1999-lg7mh]

I remember that unit. I really wanted one.

[@TastyBusiness]

Your dad mentions he had a VIC-20, nice! The L in solder is silent.

[@keyboard_g]

The distinct north american pronunciation of solder is right in the Wikipedia. You are correct and Euro & UK folks are also correct.

[@Longlius]

>pronounces solder like an American >still calls it the 'zed' 80 Truly a man of many mysteries

[@clabretro]

😂

[@DerekWitt]

I call it zee-80, and yet I say zed-X Spectrum when talking about the other computer. I’m also American (Kansas).

[@Longlius]

@@DerekWitt That's fair enough because the computer is British and uses the British pronunciation. I also do the same (zee-80 but zed-X spectrum)

[@-r-495]

Oh boy, using a powder fire extinguisher could have been the right choice for the family heirloom could have meant a slow end for all the other hardware in the room 🫣 I enjoyed this tangent, it used to be different - one had to craft one’s own tools for a task. Thank you both very much! PS: Smoke is really, really bad for electronics too

[@clabretro]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@Dreamshadow1977]

My first pc, when I was four years old!

[@orln]

Golden episode

[@1rk1n]

What a cool project to work on.

[@GilgaFrank]

I need to learn to solder Before I get much older

[@cyberjack]

VAX / VMS ..very nice , we used one at collage

[@poweredbyWatts]

Went all hunky mode for this project. Love to see it.

[@clabretro]

😂

[@s3xy-wtf]

TRS-80 For president! 2024

[@vinatron8075]

I know that feeling I was trying to rebuild my IOCDS to get my massive impact printer working when a RIFA blew up in an ESCON conversation unit and almost choked me out but I managed to get the big overhead door open and throw the offensive equipment out the door to finish off gasing

[@c1ph3rpunk]

Grew up in Ohio, dad was an EE and designed, built and manufactured a luggable, it’s sodder. Every engineer around then building that machine called it sodder. I used to think it was a Midwest thing but as I’ve traveled the US more, it seems to be an American thing.

[@AureliusR]

You can actually pop the bottom off of potentiometers and directly access the carbon traces and the wiper, as well as the shaft/bushing. Should be pretty easy to clean out once open. You just need to bent the little tabs on the bottom metal portion, it should be fairly self-evident what to do once you take a good look at it.

[@clabretro]

yeah I think I'll try to revive them once I have some backups just in case

[@systemchris]

Your father is an interesting guy! I reckon you should go over it with him when it's souped up and he can show you some of the software he made or used

[@systemchris]

Also say thanks to him for taking part

[@elesjuan]

I really enjoy the interviews with your dad. He's had some adventures in his life for sure. You mentioned he worked for Boeing for a number of years, was that in Wichita Kansas by chance? Feel like you might've mentioned that but can't recall. Had several family members who works for Boeing in Wichita, along with a few of the various defense contractors throughout south eastern Kansas.

[@clabretro]

he was based in Renton, WA but did travel to St. Louis quite a bit

[@elesjuan]

@@clabretro ahh - okay, now that sounds familiar from the computer renaissance video. Thanks again for sharing, Colby!

[@waterflame321]

Very enjoyable video! Thanks as always for the interesting content!

[@clabretro]

thank you!

[@send2mc]

I loved this video. I still have my original Model III too. Although my 16k badge is accurate 😁

[@tonystromberg6624]

Love the content, keep up the good work

[@clabretro]

Thanks!

[@borlibaer]

Congratulations 🎉 you engage yourself with computer history

[@twodogsandstuff]

that 'solder' nonsense reminds me of Freddy Quimby. "Shaow-dare...shaow-dare? It's CHOWDER, say it right! COME BACK I'm not done demeaning you!"

[@tylerzerbe6861]

i had that same exact trash 80 mod 3 when i was a kid. its how i learned BASIC. in high school we had a whole computer lab full of trs-80s and i ended up a sort of assistant sysadmin because everyone else i went to school with had 486's and i was the only one that knew how to use one of these things. i remember programming games in using instructions from the computer teacher's collection of old trs-80 magazines. at one point the math teacher gave us the assignment of writing a program in BASIC, everyone else wrote stuff like a 10 line program that asks your name and then calls you a doofus. i wrote a full-on functioning video game and the math teacher gave me an F because he was a douche and didnt want to go thru my 70 pages of programing instructions that i turned in. fun times.

[@boblabelle6704]

Would it be possible to replace one of those floppy drives with a full size mfm drive for boot purposes? Or maybe a card reader that would be accessible from the back? Not sure of the ratings on that power supply

[@briangleeson1528]

I'm in the mid-Atlantic area. I have always pronounced it "saw-der". I also cook "sam-un" for dinner. The L is silent.

[@eljefecom]

0:47 Oh no! The magic smoke escaped. 😢

[@CrazyMan_Engineer]

You should look up the robotic arm accessory to have some fun. I used one back in 1996 when i was still in high school.

[@Baulder13]

You have the computer nerd's dream dad

[@RanHam]

Great video. It was interesting hearing about how your dad quickly went to ibm compatibles. Most testimonies here on KZbin go more the apple and commodore route. I assume that was mostly because of your dad’s job?

[@clabretro]

I bet it was a factor, they probably had them at work

[@Ziraya0]

I was gonna watch this video later but dang this thing looks cool

[@ConnerWithAnE_]

Yea HV is no joke. Recently shocked myself with an A/C wire going to a power supply. Always make sure things are unplugged... I'm fine thankfully but man what a scare lol

[@clabretro]

yeaaaah that will wake you up lol

[@jfbeam]

Even unplugged, caps hold a charge! (and the picture tube is a _huge_ cap.)

[@JimmytheCow2000]

Pacific Northwest Accent is the best accent!! "Soder" is how you say it.

[@ChingasoClown]

what a beautiful machine

[@aidenacwwhitehair4913]

Hay clab i have a question how cani make a server out of a old pc icant really find any great details on line or books

[@clabretro]

There aren't really any rules! I would start by experimenting with getting a version of Linux on it (try a few to see which one you like), it usually does better with older hardware. Then run whatever you'd like on it! Any machine can be a server.

[@reecebower9934]

My God let the man speak lmao. Never stops interrupting.

[@herdware]

Yes. I would like to see Commodore 64 content. Failure to read that C64 disk might be that it is a game disk which probably has copy protection. Sometimes those could be _very_ advanced. But I've never used a GW so who knows.

[@Hemick]

William Osman needs to see this.

[@JohnStevenson-bm2no]

My dad had one of those. I learned to code on it. 🙃

[@Nukle0n]

They still make the Z80, just not the DIP and QFP versions and a variety of other forms. You could very easily make a replacement DIP version by putting an SMD version on a little PCB with some headers, maybe a capacitor for bypass but... certainly not impossible to get a new one.

[@JakeCovey]

Love Bradretro

[@SgFireAlarms]

Seems like Adrians Digital Basement content

[@OVERKILL_PINBALL]

What was the name of the text adventure game that was commonly played on this model?

[@MadITGeek]

my earliest members are with MS-DOS/Windows 95 anything before that I have no connection too lol. The oldest PC I ever used was my aunts Epson PC..it was a IBM clone with 640K of RAM and I think EGA graphics...played word munchers and related on it

[@parkerlreed]

I didn't even know there WAS another pronunciation for solder. I've always said sodder (Eastern TN)

[@McCavity2]

0:52 See? I keep saying these machines all work on magic smoke. Once the smoke comes out, the machine refuses to work! Here‘s the proof 🥴🤣

[@LuckyLeprechaun100]

Might have to wait for your next video for you to see this: I’ve got a blonder tongue AM series agile modulator at my work that the power supply gave out. It’s got a weird little power board that delivers 5, 12, 20 and 30V and the 30v rail is only giving about 15. Anyways I was hoping I could swap to a 12v wall wart but no luck given the nature of the failure. Seems to be in working order aside from that and puts out NTSC. It’s easy to set the channel with the dip switches too. We’d definitely sell it to you for a low price. Message me if interested.