Love the meowing cat in the background. :-) I tried to do a Composite mode on my Coco 2 and it was a total failure, worse results even as you have to remove the RF modulator which contains that color encoder chip... The S-Video mod that Mark did on his Coco 1 looked awesome. Hasn't been tested on a NTSC model and of course you'll loose artifact color. I also have had an issue with IPA messing up paint on old machines. I no longer use it on computers and stick to windex, magic erasers for scuffs and WD-40 to get sticker residue off. 99% IPA is much more likely to cause damage but I think I've had problems with 70% as well. :-(
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Glad to know it's not just me :)
@CoCoNutBob Жыл бұрын
You should try brake parts cleaner. WARNING: Do NOT use brake parts cleaner anywhere near plastic! 🫣🤣 (I know someone who did this to a CD player and pretty much melted the plastic parts together.)
@littlebiscuits4 жыл бұрын
That is the greatest t-shirt I have ever seen!
@AaronHuslage4 жыл бұрын
You probably know this already, but for those that don't. The LCD panel understands pixels and the CRT understands lines of video. The panel in the LCD is trying to scale up NTSC RF scanlines into its square pixels and is having a hard time. The CRT is just outputting what it receives from the tuner more or less directly to the tube.
@RobertEmery Жыл бұрын
@@McFeedback1968 no, you can't. Edit: later coco2s (B models?) came with composite out, but RF out of an RF modulated CoCo requires a "demodulator" aka TV tuner. The CoCo plugs into the cable input, tuner must be set to *antenna,* not cable, and tune to ch3/4.
@ChristopherWentling3 ай бұрын
The magic of scan lines.
@xeveniahdarkwind1784 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing this highly educational documentary.. the TRS-80 was the first computer that I experienced and started to form me into the I T Pro I am today
@CurtisBoyle4 жыл бұрын
Great video! (and I have seen you on TWiT many times, including with your Dungeons of Daggorath shirt). And yes, they restarted serial numbers at times. (I think yours is an E Board; there are a very few C boards in the wild, then D and F revision motherboards as well). I can't quite read it, but there is a number on the right side (just below the cartridge port) that will have a number "-E" (which indicates an E revision motherboard). I should mention that in practice, most of the 64K chips used were fine with the full 64K. You can address it all, with a very slight mod (you can address it two ways; map all 64K in at once (shutting off the ROM's), or swapping 32K RAM banks in the lower 32K, while leaving the ROM's turned on. Also, if you want to see all of the magazines, and software (both from back in the day, and new), please pop by the Color Computer Archive (www.colorcomputerarchive.com). Also, we would love to have you on our live CocoTalk show some time (recorded every Saturday at 2 PM; lasts for several hours, so even if you could pop in for a small amount of time for an interview, and to promote your current stuff, that would be awesome). You can see some past episodes here: kzbin.info/aero/PLDfh7JjQaSYC1p7sxFIm4i8HU7-Yj0ssB (If you are interested, please send me an email at curtisboyle@sasktel.net). The general page is at: cocotalk.live. Also, if you get a chance in the future to swing by the TWiT studios again (probably not possible in the immediate future?), maybe hit up Leo a few days early to borrow his copy of "Coco: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer", which is very well researched history of the entire Coco line, including interviews from some of the principals from Tandy from that time period.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Ha. Glad you noticed that shirt! I finally put it up to order. And yes. It is an E. I forgot to mention it later.
@shawndavis52014 жыл бұрын
When I was a kid, I had the F revision and easily upgraded to 64K. Just installed the new RAM, added a jumper, and cut the capacitor located at the bottom of each RAM chip socket. I remember taking my CoCo to Radio Shack to have the Extended Basic ROM installed for $100. The local store sent the computer to Texas to have the upgrade performed. Got my machine back in about 2 weeks. That was the longest 2 weeks of my life back then. I did the memory upgrade myself after that.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Love it! Thanks for sharing that story :)
@Oldcomputer2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for taking the time to show what is going on in the CC1 keyboard. I wasn't going to mess with mine because I expected it to be that cheesy carbon coated plastic deal other chicklet keyboards use. Now after cleaning mine like you did on yours it is working 100% better.
@RetroHackShack2 жыл бұрын
You bet! Glad it helped. Sometimes it takes multiple rounds to get them all working again.
@StuartCowan4 жыл бұрын
Really enjoyed your video, I've been trying to get good composite video from my machine and failed so it's been really useful to see your attempts too.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Glad it's not just me :)
@StuartCowan4 жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack Cool, Had another go and managed to get a good result, removed the modulator internals and simply used a 100uf smoothing capacitor. Added an audio out jack and installed it all in the case of the rf modulator. Results on my instagram feed @kpdcowan
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
@@StuartCowan I will take a look.
@MarceloReis13 жыл бұрын
My very first computer ❤️ Amazing how much could be done with it!
@SixOThree Жыл бұрын
I remember buying EDTASM+ with $70 worth of loose change I had collected. The people at radio shack were understanding.
@cbmeeks4 жыл бұрын
Great video. Things happen. I've messed up cases too. Like the time I accidentally got acetone on my C128D external keyboard (which are rare) and it melted the plastic. Once you pass that "uh oh" stage...may as well paint it. Watch Retro Man Cave's video on stripping and painting a Model 1 TRS-80. Lots of good tips there.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Hmm. I must have missed that one. I will check it out. "Uh oh stage" describes it exactly. I wish I was recording at that point.
@PJBonoVox4 жыл бұрын
Hey man. Enjoying the video. Your cadence and editing is top notch, and I hope you find the wider audience that you deserve.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
I appreciate that!
@tenminutetokyo2643 Жыл бұрын
Also replace the 2 small DC regulators with modern switching ones. Shrinks everything and you can dump the heat sinks.
@Luis45ccs Жыл бұрын
Incredible flannel with led as a coco cursor. I seem to remember that for the conversion to composite video to work correctly, you have to remove or disconnect the RF box or it will interfere
@RetroHackShack Жыл бұрын
Hmm. I might try that with the next one.
@CoCoNutBob Жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack I am struggling with this same problem. My white case CoCo 1 had an aftermarket composite mod from the 80s that threw the artifact colors off. 🫤 I simplified it to the basic circuit you're using, and it's better, but I want to remove the RF can to see if it gets better. Now the composite out has correct colors but the RF is out of phase..? Sheesh. Doing this in my silver case, restored the white case to original.
@BenevolentChum4 жыл бұрын
Nice Vid. Now do some TRS-80 MC-10 stuff;)
@gdajer803 жыл бұрын
I followed your tutorial and my keyboard is working again like brand new! Thanks
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
Awesome!
@jameslewis26353 жыл бұрын
Interesting point on the memory. I believe that something similar was done with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. I don't think we ever got the TRS-80 here in the UK, at least not in any apreciable numbers but as I understand things the cost of these machines was their downfall. It does seem to be a bit odd that a lot of home computers from the 8/16 bit era seem to have these faraday cages tacked on to their designs a bit like they were not expecting to have to comply with these rules. As yet, I have not found a computer that actually needed these shielding but if the manufacturers knew they would have to shield the systems, wouldn't it have been better for them to have used a metal casing and stand-offs rather than some weird cardboard & tin foil arrangement.
@dLLund4 жыл бұрын
thank you for posting. i paused & subbed at about 19:00 when you said 'get ready for unscrewing montage'. if i were uncouth, i'd make a remark about memories of prom night. luckily, i'm very couth. take care & stay safe.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
I think I made another unintentional innuendo in my Atari 7800 Composite Mod video. Something about not passing up a perfectly good hole. *face palm*
@hammathguy39953 жыл бұрын
That's odd. I seem to remember that mod working quite well for me. Of course, that was nigh on to 40 years ago. And, I was was using a bodged TV that I bypassed the RF circuits and directly drove the video de-modulator. Those were the days.
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
I am going to give it another try in an upcoming episode.
@ragsixracing Жыл бұрын
Haha. I remember a friend and I putting a pause toggle switch in my coco. I believe it was pins 4 and 11 on the cartridge port. It would pause everything but the loading of programs. I got much enjoyment from this computer and still miss it.
@RetroHackShack Жыл бұрын
Cool!
@KarlKranich3 жыл бұрын
This was my first computer too! I was surprised that this one didn't have the "badge" showing how much RAM it has. Mine had the "4K" badge and I upgraded it to 32k/64k.
@sideburn3 жыл бұрын
Going ahead with extended color basic!
@enjoythepig4 жыл бұрын
Great video. My coco1 is a rev f, with 16k. It had a sharpie marking under the top of the case of 10/22/80. The F allows you to upgrade to 64k by just adding the chips and a couple other easy mods. Also the chips are all socketed on mine, including the CPU and SAM. The RF cover is also a lot smaller, not covering the CPU or SAM, and you can only remove it by straghtening tabs on the bottom of the board. I also noticed that your tag is black, as is mine, but another machine I got recently with the extended basic chip, also has a rev F board, and the tag on the bottom was purple.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
It seems like there are so many versions of marketing that Tandy/RS was putting out back then. I have seen multiple versions of the same disk or cartridge that say Tandy or Radio Shack, but were seemingly released at nearly the same time. :)
@srh76able4 жыл бұрын
G'day from Australia! i just saw your comment on another channel and thought I'd drop in. Keep up the good work!
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the support!
@johanlaurasia4 жыл бұрын
Actually manufacturing processes quickly made "half bad" chips increasingly rare, so most "32k" machines actually have "all good" 64k chips in them, even though they were sold as 32k machines. Once the CoCo 2 was out, they began referring to them as 64k machines.
@jasondowns27784 жыл бұрын
That board will happily address the full 64k if you add the missing decoding logic. Instructions are in the document you showed, they work fine.
@TheRetroChannel4 жыл бұрын
Good job on the video, kept me watching. I was going to see if Mr Lurch wanted to add your video to the SepTandy playlist but it looks like he's already done it. Also thanks for the shout-out, interesting to see your results with the composite mods. From what I have heard it seems nobody has really been happy with the results vs RF. Hence my S-Video mod, which also took me way too long but for me at least it produced an output I'm happy with. Just gotta wait and see how others go with it, so give it a try if you want. Shame about the IPA eating the paint, I'll be sure to avoid doing the same.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Thanks! It was pretty funny that your video came out just as I was about to give up after my first attempt failed. That led me to try a few more things.
@loganjorgensen4 жыл бұрын
Composite is generally bad on LCDs from a lack of true 240p support, a lot of them tend to do a sloppy convert to 480p but it adds interlace artifacts as a side effect. Went and got a RetroTink-2X Pro since the new TV didn't have any legacy ports, this upscales 240p to a cleaner native 480p signal modern screens understand. 2X-Mini is a bit cheaper but only goes as high as S-Video.
@MattSiegel4 жыл бұрын
that t-shirt is amazing :D
@marknichols78613 жыл бұрын
Try using Rosonol Lighter Fluid as a sticker goo remover. I've found that it appears to be safe for most everything and removes the goo remarkably fast and completely.
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
Does it leave a smell though?
@marknichols78613 жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack not that I've noticed. I've used it on convertible top windows too.
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
I'll pick some up and give it a try
@knghtbrd2 жыл бұрын
I wonder if your composite mod would've worled better with a shielded or twisted composite video wire. The reason for that obnoxious RF shield is that nearby wires, particularly unshielded ones, might pick up hash from the system. your run was certainly long enough to do that. I can say I _wish_ my RF out looked like yours. it definitely does not. Your worst result looks better than the best I've got.
@RetroHackShack2 жыл бұрын
I was using a shielded cable for some of the time.
@monomonster4 жыл бұрын
My first CoCo was a CoCo1 'C'-board. ECB 1.0, and 16k of ram.
@konturgestalter4 жыл бұрын
love your channel!
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoy it!
@GORF_EMPIRE3 жыл бұрын
I can tell you that if you shorten and shield those wires to the mod as short as you can, you should get a much cleaner output.
@ReverendLinc4 жыл бұрын
Always use WD40 to remove sticker residue, Aaron. Works fantastic!
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
It's on my bench :)
@tomlindo28634 жыл бұрын
I know that the paint on the silver cocos are some soft paint that loves to come off. I think WD40 would be fine but personally you'd be hard pressed to get me to use anything more then water and maybe windex. Certainly would test on the bottom first.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
@@tomlindo2863 Goo Gone also seems to take off a little paint, but not nearly as bad as IPA. I tested that on the back :)
@BigBaddaBoom2 жыл бұрын
@22:21 That AMDISK-III, I have never seen one of those before. I guess it must have failed as a product. But, it almost looks like it is in the wrong time.
@xeveniahdarkwind1784 жыл бұрын
I think you may want to consider consulting Texas Instruments.. they did lots of Manufacturing for Tandy RadioShack aka TRS
@Phantom8Bit4 жыл бұрын
Radio Shack seems to have restarted serial numbers with new model numbers
@vhm14u2c3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing!
@ingmarm88584 жыл бұрын
I see you have a USB oscilloscope on your wall in the workshop so I'd suggest you look at your composite video out when plugged into a SINGLE load i.e. one monitor. The input impedance of the video inputs on the monitor/TV should be about 75 ohms, with that load your composite video signal should be ~1V from bottom of sync pulses to the top of the whites. Of that the video makes up 0.7v and the syncs 0.3v (look at any reference image on google). If your levels are way too high or low (including the ration of video to syncs) then you will likely see crappy image quality. That would be the likely reason you are seeing better modulated RF video than straight video.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Awesome suggestion! I did that, but didn't show it on the video. This scope is kind of crappy, so it was hard to see the levels precisely enough. Perhaps I will put this in the video next time if it is interesting to people.
@loganjorgensen4 жыл бұрын
I've noticed silver paint on plastic often comes off with IPA. I tend to use Hydrogen Peroxide on things that might color bleed.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Interesting. That is the first time I have heard about Hydrogen Peroxide. I might have to test that out.
@loganjorgensen4 жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack Doesn't evaporate like IPA so you just moisten your towel, clean, and wipe off any left afterwards. Had many things like sticker labels that IPA would ruin but still had dirt on them so I needed something more gentle.
@lelandclayton54624 жыл бұрын
You would of probably had better results if you used shielded cable for the Composite wiring. Typically I will use an old Component Cable or RCA cable for that sort of thing.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
It's a good tip. I tried both shielded and unshielded but didn't mention it in the video.
@DaiAtlus793 жыл бұрын
43:13 it's the kind of plastic paint they used, u need denatured alcohol (essentially moonshine or everclear) which is much safer on plastics. isopropyl is much more caustic to plastics like acrylic
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
Hmm. I will have to test that out on a scrap item and see how it works.
@rivards14 жыл бұрын
Great new channel! Subscribed.
@RetroHackShack4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for subbing
@lexpee3 жыл бұрын
The best output is an RGB Signal. I don't know if this is also possible with this Tandy computer.
@relo9992 жыл бұрын
no, it aint
@anjinmiura67082 жыл бұрын
Weird how you had two Ws
@RetroHackShack2 жыл бұрын
Ha ha. It's been I while since I looked at this video. I had forgotten about that.
@tenminutetokyo2643 Жыл бұрын
What did you replace the relay with?
@twistedyogert3 жыл бұрын
I want to know how to control an external device using a COCO.
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
What kind of device?
@JamesBond-qv2ht2 жыл бұрын
I am trying to diagnose a keyboard issue on a Coco 1 computer and hope you can help. Certain keys don't work and after looking at a schematic, I see that they are all associated with a particular pin on the keyboard connector. I tested continuity between the beginning of the keyboard ribbon cable and the relevant pin on the MC6822P chip and it is fine. Is it likely that since I don't have a bad connection, the chip is bad? If the chip is bad, do I need one specifically programmed for the Coco Model 1 or will any MC6822P chip due? I want to save this computer from the trash heap, so your thoughts are much appreciated.
@RetroHackShack2 жыл бұрын
Could be the chip. Did you test the continuity on the switches themselves?
@JamesBond-qv2ht2 жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack it is an aftermarket keyboard that is hot glued in place, so no. I may do some surgery and test the keyboard especially since replacement chips seem scarce unless I want to buy an entire computer.
@tolkienfan19723 жыл бұрын
I think the issue with composite is with the crt tv itself.
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
That is definitely part of it. I am just working on a follow-up to this video where I get HDMI out that works really well.
@tolkienfan19723 жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack awesome. Can't wait to see it. I'm very tempted to try to restore some old hobby computers myself. Looks like a blast. A frustrating blast!!
@tolkienfan19723 жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack also, wish I had kept my TRS-80s when I left the UK for the US.
@tolkienfan19723 жыл бұрын
@@RetroHackShack I guess the impedance could change if you don't disconnect the included modulator.
@RetroHackShack3 жыл бұрын
@@tolkienfan1972 Yeah. That's a good point and something I always forget to take into account.