Still kickin'

Okay faithful readers (all 2 of you). I'll be back shortly with some more progress on the repack. Slowly beginning to get caught up with life...

Ummmm, I guess not...

Well, I guess November 1st was not realistic. With having to set up the Christmas lights and finishing the controllers and SSRs, I just had no time for much of anything else.

Speaking of the Christmas lights, here are two videos from them (please excuse the piss poor quality of the vide, the camcorder died and I had to use a digital camera):






I have been trying to keep up with eVilBay auctions over at the CoCoHut when I can. However, since I no longer have an internet connection at home, this has been sporatic at best...

As I said in an earlier post, I had a 24 X 31 (wanted a 36' garage but the wife objeted) metal garage put up back in October. I am currently planning and working on adding a loft too it for storage so I can actually reclaim some floorspace. After emptying 3 storage units, there's not a lot of room left... Anyway, a small section of this will be set aside for CoCo and computer work in general. The rest will support my other numerous hobbies (woodworking, auto restoration, electronics, etc...). Hopefully I'll get back to the repack in the coming weeks, time will tell.

Yep.... still here

Hey folks, I'm still here and still alive. We finally closed on our house last Wednesday (October 3rd) so that is done. I am in the process of getting a 24X36 garage built, 16 X 24 will be workshop space for me. I look to be getting back to CoCo stuff sometime around November 1st.

Stay tuned...

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A few updates...

Cris 'CaptCPU' Egger has got the CoCoHut Message Board operational again. Everyone who was a member will will need to re-register.

I've finally ordered the parts to my Christmas Light Sequencers. Hidden in amongst the IC's, LED's and such for that projects are the parts I need to (hopefully) fix my MPI. I will be removing and replacing several of the MPI's IC's. Of course the replacements will be socketed for easier future replacement. So in a few days I may have some happier news to report...

Brian

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Still here, just busy

Greetings repack followers (all 3 of you)!!!! Been almost a month and a half so I figured it's time for a quick update. I'm ashamed to say, I've done almost ZERO CoCoing during the last six weeks. Work, family and life keeps getting in the way, pretty much in that order:

Work: moved our main office during July - working overtime when you're salaried (is that a word?) sucks...
Family: Yes, I'm married, yes I've got kids, yes, all demand a portion of my time...
Life: Still working on closing on the house (3 months AFTER moving in), a friend of ours estranged wife and her boyfriend are apparently being held for murder of his (my friends') two year old baby girl (obit here, article here and here. Words cannot accurately express how I feel about this. Good friends of ours are hurting right now. Ira, Callie's dad is a good man. Eli, Becky, Kaili and the rest of their family have to be going thru hell right now. My prayers are with them. I don't know what I can say about the mother. She worked for my wife when we had a pizza store in southern Ohio a few years back. To think she may be capable of something like this just sends chills up and down my spine. Unbelievable.

Not a very CoCoish post, but, oh well...

Hopefully, I'll be closing on my house by the end of the month and then maybe get Evil Lab Florida built and functioning so I can do some serious CoCo evilness during the fall and holiday season. Oh, that and my Christmas light display. If you like synchronized light displays such as this, then you give Do It Yourself Christmas a visit. All of the resources are there to help you build your own controller (and yes, Cris, you can do this...) and set up a display of your own!!!

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MPI Troubleshooting

These pics are being posted to help Gene help me diagnose my MPI problem...



This is the output of U2 pin 6. Approximately 1.4v pulses.




This pic is the input on U2p14. The rest of the input pins look similar.




U2 pin 4 (DB2) - ~ .2 - 3.5v
U2 pin 8 (DB5) - ~ .2 - 3.5v
U2 pin 9 (DB6) - ~ .2 - 3.5v
U2 pin 5 (DB7) - ~ .2 - 3.5v

U2 pin 2 (DB1), U2 pin 3 (DB0) and U2 pin 7 (DB4) - ~3.5vdc with no waveform to speak of

Sinistaar

Holy crap what a fun game!!! It's a good thing I didn't find this out before I started the repack... I'd never have gotten anything done. Since I've been hawking on it for a few days, the Tandy SS/C is not required for this game's speech. Nor would it be wanted as it is not capable of putting the required inflections into the voice (at least not that I've heard). The 'I hunger!!!' sounds almost arcade quality and is equal to anything I've heard my TI do. Awesome game!!!

I'll be getting back to the repack content when I get my garage put up. I am having a 24' x 41' metal building put up, with 16' x 24' set aside for my workshop. Just waiting for a few things to fall into place... (at least I get some CoCoing done :-) )


Later,

Brian

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Coco chat

There's been a ton of talk about coco_tower's decision to go to a registered users only system for the chat on coco3.com. It is Roger's site and it is his choice. I am of the opinion that this is the reason for the drop off in chat participation. It has been mentioned a few times in posts in the forums, but, too my knowledge the issue has gone largely unanswered. Since that seems to be the case, I am currently testing an IRC channel on Dal.Net for use as a chat area for us CoCoNutz. Ironically, it's room name is #coconutzchat, and it is located on dalnet. If anyone needs help signing into the chatroom, give me a yell.

Later,

Brian

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Speech paks... ugh...

I got all excited yesterday. My Speech & Sound pak arrived, well packed, from the eBay seller. Got it home last night powered up the PC, the re-pack and the 512k CoCo3 and MPI. On the PC I was running Keil's emulator and MESS, making some floppies to test out the SS/C. This combined with the repack and 'The Beast' as I call the 512k machine with all accessories on, looked cool as hell. (Think The Matrix in 8-bit). I probably don't have to mention how disappointed I was in the SS/C. Briza tried to warn me. He even talked me into doing an article on the CoCo3 vs. TI-99/4A computers and their speech capability. In this area I'm sad to say the CoCo3 got it's ass handed too it by the TI. That's all I'll say for now as the article is still being written.

So, if anybody out there in the CoCo 'verse has one of the better speech cartridges (Super Voice, Real Talker or whatever), and would be willing to be a contributer to an article for Mary's CoCoNutz e-zine, please contact me. I'm pretty much wrapped up with the TI vs. SS/C comparison, so I need some info on the other devices. I am not asking to be sent the device (unless you are willing to part with it, of course). Just asking for someone willing to do a review of one of the alternatives vs. the Tandy/RS SS/C that I can add to my article.


Later,

Brian

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A few new goodies

Well, the auction goods came in. The CCR-83 looks pretty good and seems to work. I have not taken the CoCo3 home yet, but, it is a little more marked up that the picture shows. Which is okay as I have plans for this one. Let's just say there is another repack project brewing. :-)

I will say I'm a little torqued off about the packaging. The box was an appropriate size, but, the packing material used was shredded paper. Wouldn't have been so bad if the contents had been wrapped and sealed. I gotta take the CoCo3 apart and clean the paper out before I can even turn the damn thing on. Guess the seller figured he'd cut cost since it cost $12.45 to ship an auction I only paid $8.25. Not my fault he screwed up on the postage. If he'd have told me, I'd have PayPal'd the difference.

I also picked up this auction: Tandy Speech and Sound Pak. Briza (somehow) talked me into doing a review article for Mary, and a comparison of it and my Ti99-4/A and it's speech module. Guess I'm gonna have to bone up on the hardware in both systems again (it's amazing what the brain looses over time). Hopefully Mary will not read this for a while and I have some time to come up to speed.

One month later...

Well, it's been a month since my last update. Busy is an understatement. In that time, one of my office's moved (the other moves in June), I've moved into my house, my oldest has graduated from high school and is now infinitely smarter than the rest of the world. I have in-laws staying with me (as I alluded to on my post on the Collector) and I must say I'm ready for a vacation. Again. Last week we took a trip to Kennedy Space Center. Neat place to visit with your family. Leave the in-laws behind.


I love my mother in law, great lady. I'd love to run her camera over with an M1-A1, shoot it with the nose gun of an A-10 and then nuke it a few times for good measure. We couldn't walk past a street sign without her wanting a group photo. Anytime I talk to her husband I feel like I'm talking to the Rain Man because he repeats himself 5 times. Tries to be a decent guy, but, he has absolutely NO self confidence. Kinda sad really...


What's this all got to do with the CoCoIII Repack? Not a damn thing. I just need a place to vent and since it's my blog...


Guess I can throw a CoCo3 related statement in here. I won an eBay auction for a CoCo3, CCR-82, deluxe joystick and Tetris. $2.26 plus shipping.


The repack is alive and well. It's sitting on a stand at the new house next to my PC. Just waiting for the final closing on my house then I'm either going to build a garage or a big ass shed and Evil Lab South East will be functional again. With all of the projects I've got going, the sooner the better. I need to finish my Christmas light sequencers so in September I can start hanging the lights and testing them.


Catch y'all later...


Brian

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House update - 4/30/07

Well, two weeks ago my house was actually moved to it's lot. In that time since, quite a bit has been accomplished. Figured I'd post a few pics of the progress:



Here's the first section being brought in.




And the second half...





Here they are trying to position them together...


I'll post more later...


Brian

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Site banner

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, Motorola didn't make the 6309, Hitachi did. I'll change it tonight... :p...


Brian


Update 4/30/07 ... Okay, so, it was a few days later, so sue me :-)

Anyway, I'd like some feedback on the banner. I tried to give the CoCo more of a bad-ass attitude and I kinda like it (which is really all that counts ;-) ) What does everyone else think???

Sporadic updates...

I'll be posting sporadic updates in the coming weeks. I just re-acquired the title of 'Home Owner' for the first time since my bankruptcy in 2002. As such, I will be spending the majority of my time checking on the construction company's progress, packing and actually moving. Sadly, I will not have a place to set up my CoCo stuff immediately. However, I will be building a 12' X 40' shed for my workshop, climate controlled of course (gotta be CoCo friendly), for all of my computer stuff and tools.



I will continue my ruminations on CaptCPU's CoCoCollector and the CoCo Hut Bulletin Board, as well as frequenting the CoCo3.com chat room and forums when possible.



Later,



(B)

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Sock Master does the impossible (again)!!!

Will this guy EVER cease to amaze the CoCoCommunity??



John 'Sock Master' Kowalski has ported Donkey Kong to the CoCo3. Actually, ported may not be the correct phrase. What he has done is create an emulator that runs on the CoCo3, and actually runs the arcade game. And it runs at full speed. You do need a 512k CoCo3, and using the RGB for video gives the best picture, hands down. But, oh what a game!!! Been playing it all day long on the TV (the repack is only 128k right now).



This is truly the best damn port to hit the CoCo evah!!!!



For more info, see Sock Master's site, coco3.com or visit Cris's blog.



Damn good stuff going on in the world of CoCo!!!

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Quick update (don't become a Darwin candidate like me!!!)

Well, last night was just... interesting. I guess this really starts yesterday afternoon at lunch. Since the first of the year, I've been on a diet of sorts, trying to get my body back to something that resembles human form. To that end, I've lost 21lbs. since January 4th. Well, yesterday at lunch, I had a 4" Garlic Roastbeef Melt and a cup of chili at Beef O'Brady's sports pub, say around 12:30ish. I left work around 5:45 to go home. Sometime in the neighborhood of 6:30, I make myself a turkey sandwich, which my youngest daughter promptly charms away from me. Had I know her sisters had not fed her yet, I would have made one for her anyway. At any rate, I fail to make myself anything else and go get changed, getting ready for the inevitable "daddy, can we play ball?" I knew I would get.

Somewhere around 7:00, it happened, and we go outside to pass softball (this is my 7 year olds first year). Then my 16 year old comes out and decides to join the fray. So, we alternate with my 16 y.o. throwing wild pop flies to me running me all over the front yard. This goes on until 8:10ish when it is too dark to see the fluorescent yellow ball. So, I go in and start working on the repack (bet you were wondering what all this had to do with the blog, eh?).

I was feeling tired and drained (figured the blood sugar was a little low), but, decided to mount the LCD to the Model III case. Drilled the holes for the nylon binding posts I'm using, no problem. Hot-glued them in place, no problem. Time to trim them down so the LCD will fit flush to the side if the case. This is where the problem occurs. There are times in life the saying "the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing" becomes VERY appropriate. This is one of those times.

My oldest daughter had just come into Evil Lab East (Cris has Evil Lab Central, I suppose) to tell me she was back with some lasagna. I was feeling rather funky at this point, not having eaten anything in 8 hours or so and having just ran around our yard for an hour, but, I figured I'd just trim those pesky binding posts, then go eat. Well, the right hand was holding the exacto knife, left hand was holding the case, and my mind was thinking "I'd better signal the left hand to move bef.. #@!$^$#%$ * Yeah... I cut the everliving crap out of my left thumb.

So, in the spirit hygiene, I go to rinse my thumb out, and call my daughter because I feel a lot funkier than I had been. Ears start ringing, taking deep breathes... aaand that wave passes. My oldest is getting the first aid kit, I am trying to tell my middle to get into the Easter candy so I can get some sugar in my system before I pass out... too late... ringing in the ears is back, BP drops, and I become a vacuum cleaner speed bump (alright a BIG speed bump).

A minute or so later (that's how long they tell me I was out), I begin opening my eyes. I am looking at a yellow Reese's peanut butter egg wrapper just under my nose on the floor next to where my carcass had fallen. My oldest is rubbing my head and talking to me and my middle child is messing with my cut thumb. The oldest opens the egg and I slowly begin to chew on it as the middle (who almost became a UFO at this point) was applying ANTISEPTIC GEL directly to the wound, UNDER the cut skin flap. To say this sobered me up quickly would be as big an understatement as saying Hilliary lies occasionally...

The important lesson here is this: before beginning work on you prized repack, EAT SOME DAMN FOOD!!! And to make matters worse, I DO posses a hot knife, which had I used it, none of this would have happened...

Hope to have some better updates later in the week....

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MAJOR update w/pics!!!!

I finally got Omidisk working this weekend. What better way to celebrate than making a few disks of demos and watching them to see how they look on a monitor that is 20 years younger than the CoCo III itself.

I have also taken the time to make a cable and install 2-3.5" Floppies and 1-5 1/4" floppy so making backups will be much easier. Now I've got to get up the testicular fortitude to make an MPI extender cable and mount the MPI and the continue awaiting the arrival of Cloud-9's SuperBoard (which is when the fun begins :D )

This first grouping of pics is from the Spectral Associates/Tandy demo from Curtis Boyle's website.
































































































































If your not familiar with the guy who made the demo which provided these next two pics, you've been living a VERY sheltered life. Sock Master is nothing short of a genius. The rumor mill is rife with tales of his upcoming proggy which is set to debut at this years CoCoFest. Nick and Mary are 'in the know' and I hear Briza will as well in the coming days...

So, while these folks will be full of wisdom, the rest of us get to suffer and wait unit the 'Fest (those of us who cannot go, even longer... :P )

Quick pic & update

Just a quick pic of my repack running Nitros9. Was able to make a 720k disk using Omniflop and it worked!!!

Now I've just got to learn what to do with it???

Later.

Playing and testing

Here's my latest test - FlightsimII running. The Monitor is just sitting on Model III case right now. I intend to use a switch similar to the original Model III and get rid of the toggle that is shown dangling out from under the LCD. I will be soldering a power cable to the AC input of the ATX for the LCD (it's power supply is internal).

As you can see, there is an issue with centering on this monitor. I believe this is due to the fact that this monitor prefers 1024x768 and it's only being driven at 640x480. Whenever I try to adjust the settings, a message pops up saying 'OSD Locked Out.' This message is from the LCD itself and not Roy's adapter. I am working with Roy to resolve this issue and I'm sure we'll be able to.

I am now using the Model IV keyboard. After many painstaking hours of working out the key matrix difference between the CoCo3 and the Model IV, I started to cut traces, soldered jumper wires, got out the chicken bones and Holy Water and drew a couple pentagrams for good measure, only to find it still didn't work real well. After much looking at traces and jumpers, I began to look at the header for the keyboard cable. It seems that in the real world, the 20 pin connector I used for the keyboard cable has the odd and even rows reversed. After flipping all 10 pairs of ribbon wires, Frankenstein's monster lives (well, at least Brian's does...)

That's all for now....


Brian


UPDATE!!!! Fixed the offset issue!!!


Here's an up close view of FSII.





























As the Linux folks say RTFM!!! (In my defense, I didn't have the manual. I had to look it up on HP's website.... :) )

Quick update...

Re-wired a spare Model IV keyboard to work with the CoCo3. Even hooked up the FD-501 controller to test the system out. Works well so far. Only real issue is the big 'Enter' button doesn't want to work. Too dang tired to fix it and take and post pics right now. Maybe tomorrow. G'night, all.



Brian

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