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eBay CoCo disk lot --Really-- ??

I noticed quite a number of CoCo auctions this week. Wonder why. Did not check to see if these are separate individuals the same seller(s).
 
$415 for someone's collection of vintage warez. Dang. I guess with blank 5 1/4 floppies selling for about a buck each these days... no, still seems a little steep.

It does indeed appear that someone from Wisconsin is flipping a big haul piecemeal. I have to admit, I'm fairly astonished at how much he's getting for the stuff. Is the CoCo suddenly in vogue or is it just symptomatic of some overall mass retrocomputing insanity?
 
Philadelphia metro (within 50 miles) is Tandy central. Not hard to find Tandy items at all. Except for things like stringy floppy, 2000's, exotic stuff.
 
It's not so bad around here. (Central VA) Picked up a PII Dell at the dumpster last week. The case is trashed and it has WinME but the price was right. You just have to dig through old dusty junk shops and go to estate sales. There's an estate sale in Roanoke this weekend with a C64C, two 1541s, a 1571, some Commodore printers and a C128.
 
Which is also why I said that Las Vegs is a dead zone. People have better things to do than to mess around with old computers. Speaking of which, I would love to trade my 2 VIC 20's and all of it's related stuff for a singly good TRS-80 with all of the required cables to connect it to a TV and have it work.

Alas, that's why it took over a year to finally get everything I needed to refurbish my IBM 5161 expansion unit. Keep an eye open for me; will ya guys?
 
It really shouldn't be too hard to get your CoCo talking to the TV. I've been a little confused by some of the posts, so... what is your current situation? Do you have a TV/Game switchbox? Like this?

102688716.01.01.lg.JPG

This is a later one that has a 75 ohm output; that's the one you want. You can adapt the ones that only have the two-wire prongs with a small matching transformer, but every connection you put in the chain will muddy the signal. If you have this part, then all you need is an RCA patch cable like this:

215982821.jpg

To go between the switchbox and the female RCA port marked "To TV" on the back of the coco. Tune your TV to either channel 3 or 4, whichever matches the switch selection on the back of the CoCo, switch the TV switchbox to "Computer" or "Game" (some are labeled differently), and go.

I seem to recall the original Tandy switch box came with a long RCA cable already attached to it, so you didn't need a separate patch cord. But using a generic switch with the patch cable should work fine.

Have you tried wiring things up to a switchbox like that and haven't gotten any video at all, or gotten corrupted output?
 
No, I currently don't have anything at all to connect the Coco to a TV. I'm getting some conflicting info, but I've alreadt weeded all of the stuff I don't need. When done, I'll have a cable with a 75 ofm connector at one end, and an RCA connector on the other. That should work, but I still need to get the parts.

Eudimorphodon said:
It really shouldn't be too hard to get your CoCo talking to the TV. I've been a little confused by some of the posts, so... what is your current situation? Do you have a TV/Game switchbox? Like this?

View attachment 10275

This is a later one that has a 75 ohm output; that's the one you want. You can adapt the ones that only have the two-wire prongs with a small matching transformer, but every connection you put in the chain will muddy the signal. If you have this part, then all you need is an RCA patch cable like this:

View attachment 10276

To go between the switchbox and the female RCA port marked "To TV" on the back of the coco. Tune your TV to either channel 3 or 4, whichever matches the switch selection on the back of the CoCo, switch the TV switchbox to "Computer" or "Game" (some are labeled differently), and go.

I seem to recall the original Tandy switch box came with a long RCA cable already attached to it, so you didn't need a separate patch cord. But using a generic switch with the patch cable should work fine.

Have you tried wiring things up to a switchbox like that and haven't gotten any video at all, or gotten corrupted output?
Click to expand...
 
Question. If I have a somewhat short standard cable, can I just get the cable to RCA adapter(Pictured in my other thread)? can I do the same thing with a TRS-80 series 1 computer too?

Eudimorphodon said:
It really shouldn't be too hard to get your CoCo talking to the TV. I've been a little confused by some of the posts, so... what is your current situation? Do you have a TV/Game switchbox? Like this?

View attachment 10275

This is a later one that has a 75 ohm output; that's the one you want. You can adapt the ones that only have the two-wire prongs with a small matching transformer, but every connection you put in the chain will muddy the signal. If you have this part, then all you need is an RCA patch cable like this:

View attachment 10276

To go between the switchbox and the female RCA port marked "To TV" on the back of the coco. Tune your TV to either channel 3 or 4, whichever matches the switch selection on the back of the CoCo, switch the TV switchbox to "Computer" or "Game" (some are labeled differently), and go.

I seem to recall the original Tandy switch box came with a long RCA cable already attached to it, so you didn't need a separate patch cord. But using a generic switch with the patch cable should work fine.

Have you tried wiring things up to a switchbox like that and haven't gotten any video at all, or gotten corrupted output?
Click to expand...
 
This is what I use for my Coco 1's and 2's. No switch box, just a good rca cable from the computer to this on the back of the tv.


"F" Jack Connector to Phono Plug


http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103471&znt_campaign=Category_CMS&znt_source=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032231

Works well, just remember that the coco's aren't very sharp to begin with. I ended up getting a older 13" tv of Craigslist because they look like crap on the bigger tvs, on my lcd's (15" 4:3 and 20" 4:3) the text is nearly unreadable because of scaling issues. But on a crt it looks good.

Later,
dabone
 
That is exactly what I'll be picking up today. Once I have the Coco cleaned up a bit, I'll try it out.

This thing looks like it was stored in the bottom of a dirtpile. Luckily, the dirt is all on the outside. I saw something that looked like rust where the circuit board is visible through the computes' case, so I opened it up. Inside was a bit dusty, but that's what I would expect from any 30 year electronics. (While I have it open, is there anything I can look at to see about adding more memory, or other resources?)

I'll be finished scrubbing the keyboard surround later today, then I'll button it back up.

Thanks everyone. I'll post the results of my endeavors.

dabone said:
This is what I use for my Coco 1's and 2's. No switch box, just a good rca cable from the computer to this on the back of the tv.


"F" Jack Connector to Phono Plug


http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...ce=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032231

Works well, just remember that the coco's aren't very sharp to begin with. I ended up getting a older 13" tv of Craigslist because they look like crap on the bigger tvs, on my lcd's (15" 4:3 and 20" 4:3) the text is nearly unreadable because of scaling issues. But on a crt it looks good.

Later,
dabone
Click to expand...
 
bettablue said:
Question. If I have a somewhat short standard cable, can I just get the cable to RCA adapter(Pictured in my other thread)? can I do the same thing with a TRS-80 series 1 computer too?
Click to expand...

A TRS-80 Model I has a five-pin connector for the monitor. Annoyingly the Model I uses the *same* DIN plug for the cassette and power supply plugs; you have to make sure you connect them to the correct jacks. The jack supplies a monochrome composite signal and +5v to power an opto-isolator circuit that was in the original monitor. (Tandy went *really cheap* for the monitor and used a TV chassis without an isolation transformer on the AC feed, which could potentially pose a shock hazard. Thus the need for an isolator circuit.) By constructing a cable similar to that needed to get composite video out of a Commodore 64 you can connect a Model I to a generic composite monitor or a modern TV via a *composite video in* jack, not via the RF antenna/cable connector.

However, I would advise caution against trying to use a Model I on a color TV: it will probably look terrible. Its horizontal resolution is high enough that the NTSC circuitry will cause false-color artifacts that will make its 64 column text difficult to read. You're better off with a real mono monitor for one.

One theory, thinking about it, you *could* try if you absolutely had to use a Model I with a modern LCD TV: Construct a cable which would take the B&W signal from the Model I's monitor connection to the "Luma" pin on an S-Video input connector on the TV. That may sidestep the artifacts you'd get from the composite input connection.
 
Ah, but I have more than just the 5 pin connector. There is also an RCA connector too. This is what I want to run to the TV using a standard RCA to RCA cable. Then using the adapter, if needed, I'll connect it to one of the TV's cable inputs, or to the TV's composit video. I'm attaching a picture of the back of my Coco showing the RCA connector.

Hopefully this will end any and all confusion. Because one way or another, I'm using that RCA connection because I don't have the composit cable with RF switch. Besides, I like simple.
 

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Ah, but I have more than just the 5 pin connector.
Click to expand...

The 5 pin he is talking about is a completely different computer, not a coco and doesn't have anything to do with yours.

The coco 1 had NO video out except for RF (Channel 3 or 4).

The RCA jack on the Coco you have is a RF, not straight composite signal, it's the direct output from the RF modulator.
So, it has to be input into the Coax in of a TV and the tv tuned to either channel 3 or 4 to see anything.


Later,
dabone
 
Bingo! That is exactly what I suspected! That's also why I have my wife getting me the adapter tomorrow. I'll know one way or another if this is going to work. Now as far as the standard Tandy TRS-80. I'll be making my own cable for that, once I get the computer. Pins 1 and 4 will be used to connect directly to something very similar to what I'm doing here. The 5 pin plug will only be using 2 pins, which will run to the TV, where the cable end will be a standard cable connector.

Radio Shack is going to be my friend for a few days I think. Especially if I can get the other computer I want.


dabone said:
The 5 pin he is talking about is a completely different computer, not a coco and doesn't have anything to do with yours.

The coco 1 had NO video out except for RF (Channel 3 or 4).

The RCA jack on the Coco you have is a RF, not straight composite signal, it's the direct output from the RF modulator.
So, it has to be input into the Coax in of a TV and the tv tuned to either channel 3 or 4 to see anything.


Later,
dabone
Click to expand...
 
bettablue said:
Ah, but I have more than just the 5 pin connector...
Click to expand...

The CoCo has four DIN sockets, but only one of them has five pins, the cassette plug. (You can see the cassette and serial plugs in your photo) The serial port has four pins, the joystick ports have six. And yes, as been run into the ground, the only way to get video out of an unmodified CoCo is via that RCA jack.

I only brought up the TRS-80 Model I since you keep mentioning it as what you really want. Didn't mean to sow any confusion or anything. It is of course an *entirely* different computer, and here's a photo of the back of one:

800px-TCMI_Radio_Shack_TRS-80_rear.jpg

Three identical 5 pin DIN plugs. The one closest to the center of the computer, next to the power switch, is the power plug, the middle one is video, the furthest one is cassette. The only interchangeable part with the CoCo is the cassette cable.

One more word about the Model I:

The 5 pin plug will only be using 2 pins, which will run to the TV, where the cable end will be a standard cable connector.
Click to expand...

If by "standard cable connector" you mean a 75 coaxial F-plug, that's the wrong thing to adapt the Model I's output to. The Model I's output is *not* RF modulated, it's plain composite video. So the most basic way to get video out of it is to adapt the proper two pins on the DIN plug to an RCA plug, which would then plug into one of the yellow "Video In" composite jacks on the TV. Also, for the record, you keep saying "pins one and four"... it looks like on Model I the correct pins for composite video are 4 and 5. (video on 4, 5 for ground.) Pin #1 is the 5v output, which means you could potentially cause damage if you wired it up to your TV or monitor.

And the note about video quality still stands. The output from a Model I will be "barely readable" at best on a color TV.
 
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