• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Just got some TRS-80 2000s

GWXerxes

New Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2011
Messages
8
Location
Florida
Just managed to find some Tandy TRS-80 Model 2000s at a garage sale today. I got two of them but only the computers themselves. No monitor or keyboard. So I'm wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction on where I can find original hardware or how I can interface modern hardware with them. I have found alot of information from various sources but no real documentation on how the video adapter works, what video mode the 9Pin Color or DIN-9 Monochrome uses. Or if any old AT Keyboard will work with them.

I would also be willing to sell one of the units in standard configuration with the Hard Disk Controller Card addon. I live in south Florida. Also willing to scrap one for parts if anybody needs any.

http://img268.imageshack.us/f/1000681b.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/f/1000681b.jpg

Sorry about the image hosting company. Here are some links from ImageShack
 
Last edited:
GWXerxes,

Sorry, but when I clicked on your images to see a larger version they were being hosted by a site that told me "Welcome to Get It On" .. generally not safe for work.

Please repost, but pick a more appropriate image hosting service. If it happens again we're going to assume it was intentional.


Mike
 
Just managed to find some Tandy TRS-80 Model 2000s at a garage sale today. I got two of them but only the computers themselves. No monitor or keyboard. So I'm wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction on where I can find original hardware or how I can interface modern hardware with them. I have found alot of information from various sources but no real documentation on how the video adapter works, what video mode the 9Pin Color or DIN-9 Monochrome uses. Or if any old AT Keyboard will work with them.

I would also be willing to sell one of the units in standard configuration with the Hard Disk Controller Card addon. I live in south Florida. Also willing to scrap one for parts if anybody needs any.

http://img268.imageshack.us/f/1000681b.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/f/1000681b.jpg

Sorry about the image hosting company. Here are some links from ImageShack
The first 2000 that I ever saw was a working demo model at a Tandy Computer Center. That was a long time ago - early 80's. What I remember was the dispaly. It appeared to a red plasma screen, about 17 inches. I know that later on there was a color vga monitor available. The problem with the 2000 is that the it was almost 100% proprietary Tandy. You're almost certainly going to have to find Tandy software. DOS based programs could probably work. Good luck!
 
Last edited:
I don't think the display was plasma--just a monochrome CRT with an orange phosphor--not uncommon for the time.

The 2000 used an 80186, which executes the 8086 (and some 80286) instruction set. The problem was that the on-chip peripheral organization was very different from the IBM PC. Generic DOS programs will work, but anything that depends on direct access to the hardware will have issues.
 
Thank you Chuck(G) and Agent Orange for your information on the computer. That's more helpful than anything I have found on the internet so far! I have been doing some more reading and I keep seeing people throwing the terms EGA and CGA which I understand to be two video modes. Is one for the Monochrome video adapter and one for the High-Resolution Video adapter? My main concern at the moment is being able to interface with the things and I just need a push in the right direction

Thanks in advance,
GWXerxes
 
There were two basic monitors for the Tandy 2K, the VM-1 monochrome (green in Canada, your colour may vary) and the CM-1 EGA (sorta).

I have one of each.

However, someone thought it would be a great idea to make the cables detachable at both ends and they get lost. My T2K came with no monitor cables at all and, someday, I will have to make them.

Add to this the fact that neither monitor took any sort of standard cable (VM-1 is a 8? pin DIN to 8? pin DIN and CM-1 was a DB-9 to some EIA thing) and they didn't really adhere to monochrome or EGA standards and you're probably going to have a tough time finding something that will hook up to it. There may be some multi-sync monitors that will work on the High-Res output, but I can't say for sure.
 
So If I'm understanding everything correctly I'm going to need an old Multi-Synch EGA Monitor and if the sixth moon of Saturn is in eclipse with Mercury then we just might have a chance it could work. Sounds like a plan to me. My last question is: The front keyboard input fits a regular AT keyboard, but will it work?
 
Monitors

Monitors

As someone else pointed out, the 2000 required either the CM-1 (color) monitor or the VM-1 (green monochrome) monitor. Synch frequencies are different from normal monitors, and a few multi-synch monitors would work as well.

Look in the back of of the computers and see if any of them have a video card in one of the horizontal slots. The VM-1 could be operated without the video card (limited to text and low-resolution graphics). Adding the video card allowed the VM-1 to produce good green-screen graphics.

The CM-1 required the optional video card with a "color chip set" installed on it.

Monitors were a problem for a lot of people picking up used 2000s. They were a great machine and used a new keyboard design (function keys along the top) and the faster 80186 processor. There were some DOS programs that would work, but the BIOS routines were different, so if software made calls direct to hardware, there were problems. But as long as an application went through DOS, it would generally work.
 
The 2000 will not use a standard keyboard. If memory serves me right I think it used an 8 pin type din connector. You will definately need a Multisync monitor to get it up and running. When I had one I used a Sony Multisync VGA which would also handle EGA/CGA the scan rate was 25.6 KHz. The graphics are far superior the the IBM/PC but as was mentioned it's not really a PC compatible more of a DOS compatible.
 
Back
Top