Some quick fixes on the Microbee

This Microbee Premium 128k is one of my pride and joys, but it needs some work before it goes on display and demonstration at work in a couple of weeks.
So in this video, it's just a few things that need fixing, primarily getting a Gotek up and running.
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[@MrLurchsThings]

Apologies for not being able to do a proper deep-dive into the Microbee's history in this one. The Bee deserves something more instead of it just being crammed into a video with a bunch of repairs. A proper, more indepth video will come. Oh, and if you’re wondering why the paint scratched so easy - it was barely touch dry.

[@UpLateGeek]

Guessing this was meant to be the pinned comment, which it no longer is. For some reason KZbin unpins edited comments. Also, what kind of work event requires a Microbee to be on display?

[@Ffinity]

@@UpLateGeek kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGfOYYulaLCXr9k

[@MrLurchsThings]

@@UpLateGeek a 50 years of Education event

[@SimonQuigley]

I thought it was for the Microbee thing in Croydon :-)

[@bzuidgeest]

Next time you drill out rivets, do the sensible thing and put back some short screws. Even a gotek can break and repeatedly drilling out rivets it's going to get worse every time. Those rivets where just cost saving in manufacturing.

[@falksweden]

You're absolutely right. Some of them ended up here in Sweden. It wasn't huge since Commodore's basically dominated but existed.

[@KimReneJensen]

Where to buy ?

[@Chicharrera.]

My parents bought my 16 year old brother a Microbee personal computer in 1985. It cost $500 AUD which was a lot of money back then. He sold his first code the next year and was written up in a computer magazine. Today, he is 54 and a computer programmer/systems analyst for the Australian Stock Exchange. His first born son, who is 29 now, followed in his shoes and works for Qantas Airways.

[@dozern]

As cool as the Microbee is, I'm really happy you took the time to explain how to get 3d-printed parts looking that good. I'll start touching up my .. "not so pretty" goteks from now on :D

[@patbreen3859]

Liked this vid - didnt edit out the mistakes (just the swearing) which was great!

[@SparkyMAWy]

Sounds like a cross between the BBC Micro and and Sinclair ZX80 in the UK. Looks an interesting machine.

[@OzRetrocomp]

I'm struggling to come up with a comparison. The only real similarity between the BBC Micro and the Microbee (in Australia at least) was its target market, as both machines were heavily marketed to schools. That said, the Microbee was marketed as something of an all-rounder for home and business users, as well as hobbyists. CP/M was still widely used in Australia in the early-mid '80s, and the Microbee was one of the more affordable ways to get into the CP/M ecosystem.

[@Doug_in_NC]

The computer-in-a-book looks cool, but who thought it was a good idea to not include slots in the cardboard where the cooling slots for the PSU are?

[@juunidesu12]

Maybe that's why they added the rubber feet? Just to push the cardboard away the tiny bit for air to try and escape and not cut up the sides?

[@Doug_in_NC]

@@juunidesu12 Could be, but it’s not going to do much. That PSU really isn’t getting much cooling. Fortunately a Gotek isn’t going to pull much current, but the original floppy may have made it rather warm.

[@lundsweden]

The first computer that I ever used was a Microbee at Cronulla Public School in 1985!

[@MrB33keeper]

I remember playing a yacht race game on these at school. They were promptly phased out not long after I started and remained somewhat of an interesting curiosity to me. Back in the day seemed to be similar computers used as library catalogues, no idea if they were the same.

[@CommodoreFan64]

Being in the US, I've only read about these online dogs snot years ago in a Wikipedia rabbit hole, but I've never seen one in person, or on video, so I'm really interested in your next video on this machine. 👍

[@michaelcarey]

When I started high school (1982) we had a single solitary Microbee computer (built from a kit) in the "computer room" along with two Apple ][ machines and an Electronics Australia 2650 Mini Computer. The Microbee was never shown much love as it crashed/hung all the time. I took in upon myself to fault find it and found heaps of poor soldering work. I ended up with the 2650 in my possession some years later... but traded it for a Philips UHF radio! 🙂

[@MindFlareRetro]

A brilliant little computer -- I look forward to a future deep dive. I was really intrigued by your 3D finishing. I seem to have an information blindspot when it come to the spray putty -- I must look into this.

[@Doug_in_NC]

I love it that your channel features retro computers I have never heard of as well as the old favorites. That looks a cool machine

[@askannav2094]

Yep, the school computer for many people at high school in the mid to late 80's. Any computer programing classes always involved a chain of Microbee's & a few Apple IIe's with dual floppies !!

[@8bitsinthebasement]

Was it a network of Microbees with the Apple iis loading the software on them? I ask because I've come across a Thomson MO5 computer with a nano network cart recently. The MO5s were linked together and mass loaded with software from an IBM PC. These were used all over France in the 80s. Was it the same in Oz?

[@askannav2094]

@@8bitsinthebasement Yes this was in Sydney Australia. We had a chain of Microbees linked together and a Apple IIe for saving software. All the monitors were monochrome, no colour for us in the 80's.

[@8bitsinthebasement]

@@askannav2094 Now that's cool, different types of computer working together in harmony all the way back in the 80s. I always thought networking systems was a thing that happened in the 90s... How wrong I was...

[@Xoferif]

Never realised they could do graphics tiles, never mind colour. Looking forward to hearing more about the Microbee!

[@wimwiddershins]

Cool mate! We had a few of those in a neglected corner of the highschool library (1987). I kinda remember some crap text games (probably educational) running on them. It looks like the Microbee can do a bit more than I remember. Can't wait to see your deep dive into the bee.

[@anthonyadverse4449]

The mighty microbe :P I miss those parochial days :) Looks like you're using wet'n'dry sandpaper... despite its name it works far better wet... spray bottle with a bit detergent+water in it, just lubes the surface helps clean the debris out of the paper too...

[@sparcie]

Nice machine! I'm a bit young to have had experience with the microbee machines directly, but I think they look exceptionally cool. One of my school friends used to have one and he loved it. I have always looked at them on ebay but never pulled the trigger because of how much they cost.

[@datasoftinc]

Nice Game Scavenger! I love the Animations from Right to Left on the Intro Screen. It looks beatiful on the Amber Screen. Greetings from Austria! (Not Australia :-))

[@kins749]

fascinating little machine I look forward to future episodes on it

[@Ffinity]

I only heard of the Microbee a few years ago but it is fascinating machine, some really interesting design choices and features.

[@8bitsinthebasement]

Ah man, I felt for you at 15:40 still it all worked out great in the end. The Microbee is a system I know nothing about but it looks very interesting, maybe someday I'll get my mits on one ;)

[@domramsey]

Oh great, now I need another computer. 🙂. Don't think these ever made it to the UK so I guess I'll just have to import one...

[@GORF_EMPIRE]

A really nice classic computer. Well done!

[@paulstubbs7678]

Ah, the Microbee, a few workmates had them and swore by them, however the keyboard.... At the time I was using a Model 1 TRS-80, it was golden (keyboard wise) compared to the Microbee. I remember watching the owner mashing the keyboard on many occasions trying to enter commands. Turned me off for good. The 'computer in a book' idea looked nice, however how that power achieved any cooling through that cardboard sleeve has me concerned. Nice 3D print work, although I missed something, in that why you were making a custom Gotek case, as aren't they already in a floppy style case. (I don't have one)

[@lezanderson1236]

Can you still get Microbee PCBs ...so as to build your own ??

[@mattmyers9351]

Cool!

[@nlenevez]

Emu Joust!

[@williamathing3639]

Hey Mr Lurch, great video. I printed one of these from your upload on thingiverse, but can't find an OLED that fits. What size did you use? I modified it to fit a half-height 5.25 bay for a trs-80 model 4p i'm working on right now. Yours is one of two that i could find that are built for that orientation. Thanks, Bill

[@MrLurchsThings]

Pretty sure it’s the 128x64 oled. Lemme find an example link.

[@MrLurchsThings]

www.wiltronics.com.au/product/19519/0-96-inch-128x64-i2c-oled-display-module-arduino-compatible/

[@williamathing3639]

@@MrLurchsThings Thanks!

[@KimReneJensen]

How to buy a working MicroBee ? An old dream to come through.

[@MarkovAllTrades]

I’m just going through the process of getting my Bee back into good shape. Started with the PSU same as you did. But it looks like I didn’t read the values of the Refa correctly. I put in .1f for all three but you said two of them were .01f. Is that going to cause problems?

[@SimonQuigley]

Nope. Those are just to filter any noise from the AC side, but also to try to avoid it from causing noise to other devices. You don't usually need them at all, which is why when they pop you can just not worry about it :-)

[@KimReneJensen]

Where to buy a Microbee ?

[@MrLurchsThings]

eBay... usually for lots of $'s these days

[@memsom]

Watching this, I was like “I wonder how he will plug in the drive after he riveted it in”…..

[@andrewlyons9188]

is this compatible with msx?

[@Ffinity]

No.

[@OzRetrocomp]

No, but it is CP/M compatible.

[@Ffinity]

@@OzRetrocomp I think he's more interested in games than Wordstar.

[@Microbeegd]

Man now i cant go back now im named microbee

[@blotafton]

I found one in the trash and saved it. Just the computer no other parts so I can't test it.