Fixing up the Mattel Aquarius - Pt2 - Trash to Treasure

[@radiolabworks]

Thank you for bringing back some wonderful memories. I was a electronic engineer for Mattel Electronics during 1982-83 and was among those '600' laid off at the end. Albeit, I did not work for the group that made the Aquarius. I was part of their Strategic Product Development Group and my last work was designing a VLSI IC for an add-on device to the Intellivison Game system. It was a TELTEXT interface with hopes to connect that video game to the outside world. I remember talking to banks about doing online banking using the Intellivision. Naturally that TELTEXT device never saw the light of day. Upon closing I was able to snag one of those little Aquarius thermal printers and I used it for many years as my printer on a SYM-1 6502 SBC. Along the way I sold or gave away that printer, but I do have the SYM-1 still.

[@HoboVibingToMusic]

Interesting story. ^^

[@RMCRetro]

Lovely to see you in the comments thank you for sharing your story

[@infinitecanadian]

Thanks for bringing us the Mattel Intellivision.

[@shelby3822]

Imagine doing your banking and your kid grabs a paddle 🤣

[@Wesleyrpg]

what a beautiful looking cat!

[@NeverlandSystemZor]

The highlight of our day... CLEANING MONTAGE! :D LOL Love these old retro machines you salvage, clean, repair, and talk about! Keep up the great work!

[@edgeeffect]

The keyboard overlays are actually quite good. Cat says "I don't care if my foot's luck or not... HANDS OFF!!" :)

[@SledgeFox]

I enjoy every visit in your cave, thank you very much for inviting us. 👍

[@Dvlx1]

These kind of videos are the absolute essence of what KZbin is all about.

[@izzieb]

Every time you say IPA i think you are cleaning it with an Indian Pale Ale.

[@JG-nx3jg]

Dont be stupid, he uses a rich stout to get the grime off.

[@cleetusmacfarland9453]

I made a comment on an other video about that, here they spell out Isopropyl Alcohol, but if you go to the beer store every brand of India Pale Ale, just says IPA, also if you go to a shop and ask for IPA you get a blank look, or get told they don't sell that there, even if a can of Isopropyl Alcohol is on the shelf behind them, maybe the powers that be are afraid if Isopropyl Alcohol just said IPA everyone would drink it to. (:

[@GeVeBeGaming]

Your production quality is so professional, amazing content to watch for someone born in 1973 :-)

[@Monkey_SK]

What a fantastic result! Neil that clean up job was masterful, well done.

[@andrethib]

enjoyed the video as usual. with regards to removing the power cable -- that bushing is easily replaceable and inexpensive, you can remove it without fear of damaging it. the generic name is "strain relief bushing" although i've often seen them referred to as heyco bushings (after a company that makes them, among other things); they're available in a wide variety of sizes.

[@douglasbollinger8678]

You can also buy special pliers that make it much easier to remove and install the Heyco strain relief bushings.

[@BertGrink]

How lovely to see that among Neil's many great qualities he's also an animal lover :D Cool cat.

[@benjaminramsey4695]

That tape player rubber band goo was AMAZING! It was like watching a car crash, something unbelievable happening right before my eyes.

[@JamesPotts]

Depending on how the rubber has changed, I've had good luck with "rubber roller restorer." It's a spray used by techs to recondition rollers in laser printers. It won't help rubber that's changed to goo, but for parts that have "gone hard," it can do wonders.

[@draggonhedd]

Hey Just for future projects like this, ISO alcohol will immediately release hot glue so no cutting is necessary. You should also look into adrian black's blue-light retrobright options since you're in a place the sun scarcely visits.

[@spawnlink]

I found an Aquarius set in the box in the 90's for ~$20. Didn't come with a tape deck but did have the printer and a few carts. Don't recall if it had the memory expansion. The printer as I recall is just RS-232 and I was able to create a sub D9 to 3.5 mm adapter and got it working on Linux with cups. Might be worth trying out though who knows if that setup is still supported. It's been over 20 years since I did that. It took a bit of tweaking but wasn't too hard. Unfortunately, my pretty extensive computer collection was sold or thrown away after college after being left in storage at the family business when it was sold.

[@PaintsAreOp]

My parents threw away my old computers and CRT's in 2010, I lost two 3dfx Voodoo 2 12mb cards...

[@mesterak]

Ratto Poika ouch!

[@cleetusmacfarland9453]

@@mesterak most of the schools here had a host of Commodore machines, various models of pets, C64's the occasional C128, and Amiga 500's and 2000's, then in the mid 2000's due to mold and asbestos's and no money to clean them dozens of schools were closed and the kids bussed to other schools, which meant unused class rooms and storage rooms were cleaned out to make room for the new kids, my son was going to my old high school when they started cleaning out some unused class rooms that were stacked ceiling high with those old machines and he was one of the students tasked with taking them all out to a dumpster, all his requests to save some were refused! from what he was told they were going to land fill, not even for e-waste, not sure how many other schools still had theirs, and had them go in the bin too.

[@SirWussiePants]

This is perfect timing. Was doing some cleaning in my basement this week and found my old Aquarius computer/printer/tape deck along with my TRS-80s, Atari 800, Atari 800xl and Atari STs. Will wait for part 3 to see if it worth cleaning up and seeing if it boots.

[@Colin_Ames]

I don’t think I have ever seen a drive belt turn to goo like that. Nasty! Interesting video, as usual, and I am looking forward to part 3.

[@WindmillGS]

13:08 While the hot glue is on the inside where a scratch or two from a knife don't really matter, I'd still recommend using IPA to remove it. Soak the glue with IPA and start peeling it off. Let IPA get between surface and the glue as you go and it should come off in one piece without leaving a mark :)

[@RogueBrit]

It was such an exciting time soo many different micros coming out nearly on a weekly basis Tatung Einstein anyone ?

[@jbolleman74]

The same datasette was sold under the brand 'Slipstream' in beige, for the C64. Those ridges (and height) also match the breadbin pretty well, but it's nice to see where the original design is from. Thanks Mr. RMC!

[@jbolleman74]

www.commodore-info.com/datassette/item/slipstream_data_recorder/en

[@Phoenix_1982_MD]

Thanks a lot for your videos. I dig them every time! Great parts of history, greatly presented by a British gentleman :) keep it comming, relly looking forward to see more of our computer history. Take care mate!

[@lestat1uk]

So relaxing just watching these videos.

[@mesterak]

Thank you for this video series. I definitely know now how to go about restoring my Aquarius, which is quite dirty and yellowed. It still works though. Maybe by part 3 I will have it fixed up to report how it turned out.

[@RMCRetro]

Excellent to hear, please do let me know how it goes. Retromancave@gmail dot com

[@k001daddy]

Can't wait for part 3!!

[@joncrawford3485]

Ah, a book of code from Tim Hartwell. From what I remember he had books of code for nearly every home computer going. I remember learning more about ZX-81 basic from one of his books than from anything else - looking up for info about him now I'm a bit shocked to find he passed way in 1991 from the Big C.

[@RMCRetro]

Oh that's sad I didn't know that

[@calmac3723]

This was my first computer, I didn't have the 16k extension but did have that D&D game and also had Tron, the keyboard was atrocious but the keyboard templates were a nice idea. My parents got it from a indoor market type shop that sold loads of tat and it was the only place I saw any kind of support/games (not many), this computer wasn't for sale in the usual electronic shops. I was glad to get a spectrum the following X-mas!

[@merlin4596]

The Mattel Aquarius, the Action man (GI Joe) of 8-bit machines. The Mini Expander made a hell of a difference to any game you played.. Better sound, joysticks and extra memory etc.

[@NozomuYume]

I prefer the sequel Ms. Pac Mr.

[@mushroomsamba82]

Every time I see anything about the Aquarius I get that damned song stuck in my head

[@3dhYT]

_Translator:_ I like to watch how you fix old computers. Good job 👍

[@m.k.8158]

There was at least 1 more peripheral available for the Aquarius-a 300 BPS modem. This hooked to the HANDSET cord of a standard(for the time)telephone. I know this was released, as I remember picking one up for a friend when they started to show up in closeout stores very cheaply.

[@morph-x7153]

How do you do it, Neil? I never had any knowledge nor would i have any interest in the Mattel Aquarius. But the way you present it has me glued to the screen. As always, stunning production value, great commentary, wonderful fitting music and just an overall absolute joy to watch. Don't tempt me to further up my Patreon subscription! Thank you and i have to say, i'm looking forward to part three and the chronicles of Pac Mr.

[@Neffers_UK]

This came out looking stunning, great job Neil.

[@zxkim8136]

Yet another quality production Neil can't wait for pt3 mate 😁😁 Kim 😁😁

[@RMCRetro]

Cheers matey!

[@NeilGrevitt]

I had a cassette player from WHSmiths. Complete with Tippex on the volume control at just the right place!

[@user-te1le7ck6b]

Brilliant content as usual Honestly putting other channels to shame with your professionalism and good nature Keep up the good work and perhaps if I could request some newer machines to be featured for 2020 like 90’s era consoles etc

[@Sinisteve]

That’s looking fantastic Neil! Love this series All that time stripping it I thought the Aquarius would’ve been waterproof ha Great job

[@jongant]

Neil, your production techniques and overall quality continue to improve exponentially - truly inspiring! A tape counter - such luxury! We used to have to count on a stopwatch on our 48k Speccy....

[@deepestdub]

Very interesting and entertaining as usual. The Aquarius had almost gone from my mind but I used to sell them in one of WH Smiths first dedicated home computer stores in Birmingham. They really were so poorly put together that the staff joked about them being an actual toy with reference to their maker. As I recall, we sold very few of them and most seemed to return with one fault or another. That printer was special in that it made the ZX Printer look like a lazer printer! Awful print quality and really unreliable - as you have already found out.

[@RetroRecollections]

An interesting and little talked about platform. Looking forward to seeing some software running, especially PAC Mr. 😀

[@Floopy6504]

You have a nice one, the one sitting under my desk has an RF shield on top of the board that is soldered to the PCB.

[@Lucasrainford]

This soothes my soul Neil :)

[@marksterling8286]

I loved my WHS CPD8300 data recorder. It may not have matched the styling of the 48k spectrum but it felt special every time I used it.

[@NibblePibbly]

I always wanted an Aquarius but never saw one in the wild. Great video

[@whollymindless]

To remove hot glue - IPA. No scratching, no problems.

[@MakotoIchinose]

Can't mistaken for that BBC test card background. Also, yeay, Gizmo!

[@fsddevelopment4513]

Another fascinating episode. Love the background music, very Caterina Barbieri.

[@chriscrossan8034]

I think Gizmo should be a regular guest.

[@NathanChisholm041]

Chris Crossan YES!

[@jinxterx]

More Gizmo!

[@DubiousEngineering]

Fantastic cleanup job Neil!! Looks amazing... shame about that printer!

[@RMCRetro]

Cheers Howard, you can come and play on it whenever you like xD xD

[@desiv1170]

Same issue with my Aquarius tape belt, and yes. It does make a huge mess that takes a while to properly clean up. :-) Other than that, everything works and was in great shape, I am guessing because it probably wasn't used much. ;-) It's an interesting device to own now, but I can't even bring myself to consider putting in the work to composite mod it (which I did with my TS-1000). I think it will mostly just sit on the shelf. There's a multi-cart and a 32k RAM cart available, but I can't see spending the money for those on this system. Partially because I never had or wanted one back in the day, but also because I am not sure it is worth it... ;-) Great vid.

[@andrewpercival1427]

Great quality content...would love to see a neo geo in the cave, imagine there aren't many left.

[@barrettgpeck]

Love the music on your videos, as well as the trash to treasure. Might look up 8-bit guy's retro brighting procedure. Instead of cream its a liquid that goes in.

[@The.Doctor.Venkman]

This was brilliant! I find your videos so relaxing and cathartic. It could be the slick video production and your silky smooth, reassuring voice and soothing music? It makes me want to run a hot soapy bath, grab a chilled German Weiss Bier, a cigar and just chill-out! ;-) (just to be clear: I'm happily married with four kids, OK)

[@GeorgesChannel]

This is really nice channel and a well done show. I really like the Aquarius.

[@Nukle0n]

This thing is constructed incredibly insensitively for the time. I didn't think they started doing the stupid riveted together keyboard until the 00's.

[@TheAnkMan]

Awesome episode, like always. Apropos COLECO I especially love to see retro videos when it comes to more obscure computers and consoles, like the Aquarius. The COLECO Adam is another. Looked great on paper.They even sponsored a scholarship. But the machine was plagued with bugs. The Tatung Einstein, Camputers Lynx, Memotech and Jupiter Ace are other rare 8-bit micros, to pitch some ides. Keep am coming. :-)

[@mrroobarb]

Can we play Pac Mr. - I NEED to know, oh the tension is too much for me. :-) Great work, as ever - many thanks for creating and sharing, Bruce.

[@frankowalker4662]

Nice job on the restoration.

[@laserspaceninja]

Fun fact: hot glue can be easily removed by wetting it in IPA. It will just lift right off after soaking for a few seconds.

[@DEMENTO01]

PERFECT TIMING!!!

[@thaddeusmcgrath]

I remember an Easter egg playing the Aliens game cassette backwards causes it to load the Atari 2600 game E.T. That version had E.T. saved Atari from bankruptcy instead of the phone home ending which would have brought a smile to my little face then if this was true. Sorry, got carried away with my rambles again. Cheers!

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

Thanks, Neil!

[@colepdx187]

I had almost every home/hobbyist computer from the Altair to the Apple //e. This is one I passed on. I had a go with the TI99 and was sorely disappointed with it and the two seemed quite similar.

[@SimoWill75]

The 'Data Recorder' is photographed behind to make it look smaller.

[@sffpv9671]

Looking great Neil. I'm trying the "sun only" method of retro brighting on an Amiga 500. Going ok but northern climate doesn't lend itself too well to this method! Are you off to Blackpool Play Expo this year? Si

[@RMCRetro]

I'll be there all weekend yes, hope to see you there!

[@charleschamp9826]

Maybe the cassette deck was placed where it was in photos due to space restraints in catalogs?

[@NathanChisholm041]

Came for the tech! Stayed for the kitty...

[@Skull_Gun]

Excellent fix up, btw what's the best way to remove the old grease from gears? just wipe it off or use IPA as well?

[@RobA500]

Car shampoo, scrubbing brush, ipa and general purpose cleaner - I was waiting for you to come up with some safe cracking explosive MacGyver style.

[@godzilla12332]

Just got a brand new late model Aquarius and the part of the box about the floppy drive is covered by a sticker.

[@jasejj]

To be fair the Aquarius was far from alone when it came to BASIC interpreters lacking commands. The C64 and VIC20 were very similar in that regard, although having to poke and peek absolutely everything on those machines did give a good grounding for using assembler instead as you were doing much the same things to get anything to work.

[@anumeon]

Oh the irony of a belt being designed to ensure tapes don't stick (Loading wise that is) getting sticky..

[@therushden]

Have you tried magic erasers, melamine sponges? Great for stubborn marks and general cleaning.

[@46danz]

Quite a smart looking thing.

[@DoRC]

They may have put the tape recorder behind the computer to use perspective making it look smaller.

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

So many weird old computers, so little time.

[@BBfanfun]

in Canada 1980-84, most families got a console, got bored with it's limits. the key is PRICE & Value ... (Atari, Intellivision & Coleco all promised full featured keyboard computers or add-ons) But after Star Wars & TRON, kids got the idea of "writing your own games"/code programming. (remember LOGO ?) From School , we knew the Apple II, commodore PET & TSR-80 (Bulky learning machines, complicated graphic programming) Atari 400/800 was just frustrating (would not run 2600 carts !), still complicated Basic Texas Instruments Ti-99/4 (calculator company) limited code possibilities Vic-20 was promising, but replaced with C64 so quickly (that might be outdated by next year as well ?) Aquarius did not appear as practical as Coleco Adam (all-in-one, plays old carts as well!) it should be said that cassettes really didn't appeal to us as reliable recording media, nor the esoteric Peek/Poke commands. So we got a used IBM PCjr for 400$(both keyboards & monitor included);the notion of PC-compatible for at home use was strong Mac (overshadowed Apple IIc/IIe & IIGS ,all too pricy) - B&W text apps, great for work though Looking back, we should have got a C-64, or even a Tandy. All those machines have their limited charm . Marketing was strong back then, the quality we saw progress in the Arcade games just created greater expectations for home consoles. that's why it Crashed. we were unaware of what was happening in Japan or Europe. Only the best are successful, right? Investing in a computer seemed like more of a creative, productive & fulfilling way to spend your time.

[@nonaak]

i like ths computer, it was my 2e computer. afther the ZX80. so fun to have

[@danielson9579]

That is a nice looking data corder 🙂

[@Tim_3100]

I like these videos the cave rocks 🙂

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks Tim!

[@Da40kOrks]

@11:10 on the left mention of the Timex/Sinclair 2068.

[@PierreVonStaines]

Bone idle Billy once said...”It’s a nice day for a white vinegar wedding” and he was right.

[@RMCRetro]

Billy is never wrong Pierre

[@HebaruSan]

Trash to Treasure, or Trash to Cleaner Trash?

[@1973Washu]

I think the Spectrum using a third party cassette recorder for data fit with the low-cost ethos of Spectrum.

[@RMCRetro]

It would certainly have kept the cost down, although later Spectrum models had the tape recorder built into them

[@dave4shmups]

Excellent episode as always! I wonder how hard it would be to do an AV out mod on the Aquarius?

[@TheTurnipKing]

The Speccy, of course, wasn't really designed with the intent that you'd be using a tape recorder. Sinclair really wanted us all using Microdrives eventually..

[@starsiegeplayer]

Do you think that the printer problems might be fixed with a simple Recap like the computer was?

[@rbrtck]

To get the game going, just follow the instructions, which say to press the "any" key. I thought every 8-bit micro had one. 🤔😉

[@SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

I'm not sure about CP/M on the Aquarius. Even with the 16K expansion...

[@MarkTheMorose]

I don't think they were referring to the operating system, probably an internal joke: Calamitously Poor Micro?

[@cr0m969]

Love the videos and love the Cat

[@RisingRevengeance]

It might just be me but I quite like the marbling effect. But I suppose it's not desirable if you want it all original.

[@RMCRetro]

There is always an argument for keepign the "patina" of the machine and this is something that comes up in a future episode when we fix up an arcade cabinet.

[@eightzerofour9957]

That cleaning montage music sounds inspired by Jean Michel Jarre from Zoolook

[@projectfanboy]

I had a school yard compilation cassette for the 48k as a kid but it didn't have the times for the games, Treasure Island Dizzy was in the middle so I had to load each game turn the computer off and then load the next one a couple of times till I got to Dizzy.

[@toxlaximus3297]

Will retrobrighting work on the missis?

[@AndreiNeacsu]

Does the printer have a ROM chip with fonts? That might be the problem; it's just a guess, but easy to test is the chip is removable.

[@Kawa-oneechan]

Gizmo!

[@thedungeondelver]

I have a book on programming text adventures for 8-bit machines, also written by Tim Hartnell.

[@stevethepocket]

I think I have the same book. His name immediately rang a bell. I remember being frustrated that the games weren't properly optimized for the Commodore 64-they used a couple variables that conflicted with the built in functions and occasionally overflowed the 80-character-per-line limit.

[@thedungeondelver]

@@stevethepocket I have a vague recollection of that, too. is your book one with a very nice illustration of a dragon winding up the title letters on the side?

[@stevethepocket]

@@thedungeondelver Yep. It's this one: www.atariarchives.org/adventure/

[@witeshade]

Have you tried using a full-spectrum or UV light for retrobrighting rather than relying only on sunny days? I've seen 8bit guy have trouble getting consistent light from the sun as well.

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

Naïve as it may sound, I had no idea you could copy games tape to tape around the time of the C16 and C64, I thought they were a different breed of tape for computer data only.

[@javilarg]

This is the dawning of the age or Aquarius ☮️ ✌️