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My new PET

vbriel

Experienced Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Messages
332
Location
SoCal
Ok, this is probably the most sought after computer I've wanted for a while. It's a bad picture but it is the blue boarder screen and the PET logo is in what I consider perfect condition (like new). The bonus is that it came with the original box!! Serial #0013618 which seems like a pretty low number of the serial numbers I've seen out there. Here's my large picture:

pet.jpg


I need to take more pictures as I restore it. Unfortunately most of the RAM is bad. The good news is that I'm going to get the RAM/ROM upgrade board so that I don't have to worry about RAM any more. I will also be able to use my disk drive that I have now (2031) to play the classic games. For 5 years I've had a 4016 and it is nice and stable but it just doesn't compare to that feeling you get typing on the chicklet keyboard.

The 2nd bonus was the tape drive appears to work and there is a tape in the drive with programs on it! Since I only have 1K RAM working now I can't load any programs to test :(

I may put a blank tape in to test it out but I really want to go through that and make sure all o-rings, belts and rollers are good.

Does anybody have any .wav files of software or know where to get any?

Cheers,

Vince
 
Well, if anybody is interested, the cassette does work, saves and loads small programs. I've bought the 6502 RAM/ROM board to fix my RAM problem, should be here in about a week or two. Anybody have any idea where to get tape files from and how to convert them to wav files?

Vince
 
That is an awesome looking example, Vince. I'm especially impressed that the tape drive works. I haven't seen to many of those internal drives survive this long!

Head on over to Port Commodore for some program files and such. If you email Larry directly he's probably got more that isn't on his site. He gave me a bunch of Commodore stuff a VCF or two ago for my PET 2001.

Enjoy!

Erik
 
A real treasure. I can't promise a mass dump of my tape program collection, but if you want to send me a cassette or two I can make you a "greatest hits tape". Contact me privately. I do it the old-fashioned way by loading a program from tape and then saving to a new tape.

As far as the memory goes, did you actually remove the bad memory, or how did you determine which chips were bad? I would be interested to know more about how to test individual chips on a PET, being that I believe I have one or more bad chips on my 2001 N-16 but I am unsure which one(s) it is.

If you get the RAM extension board won't your programs still reference the first bank of primary memory? I am not an engineer, so this is more a "let me know" kind of question.

Bill
 
Pet memory test

Pet memory test

Well, here's one way to test every bit in memory:

http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/PET_RAM_test.htm

This little gem will hard test every bit of memory you select. For me, the problem was simple, I only get 1023K available. I narrowed it down and only a few IC's actually work, the rest are trashed. When installed, they get hot too (strange). Swapping them around didn't help. I found enough to get 1K program and the video ram to work good. The computer probably had this condition for a while. Previous own had installed a ham radio device. I'm not into ham so I'm not sure what it does. There was a tape installed but I can't load large programs yet.

I'll PM you about getting a tape to you. Once I get the 6502 RAM/ROM board I can use all the software I have on disk because I can use BASIC 4.0 from the flash. Ahhh, space invaders on the PET 2001.

Vince
 
Today I received my 6502 RAM/ROM board and started right in assembling the board. An assembled version is available but I like building kits, so this is the option I choose.

The assembly is fairly easy but the board has some IC's over IC's so you have to pay close attention to building the kit. After the soldering I looked up the dip switch settings and programmed the board to use the onboard RAM and ROM. I removed my ROM and RAM from my PET and removed the 6502. I put the 6502 on the board and plugged the board into the 6502 socket on the PET. Powered it up and SMOKE! Just kidding :) BASIC 4.0 with 32K RAM came up on the screen. Next I fired up my pet with my 2031 disk drive and loaded a program. Works like a champ!

Most of the memory had failed in my PET. The original ROM BASIC was unable to use a disk drive. For $36.20 My original PET 2001 is fully up and running better than original. If I want original, no problem. I can either program the dip switches for 8K BASIC 1.0 or remove the card and put the original RAM and ROM back in!

Bill: I also have a 2001-N16 that has bad RAM. Gives me garage characters instead of the correct characters. I think I have to remove the soldered in RAM before I can use this board in it but I'm going to check into that. That will be sweet if I can get that one working too!

Vince
 
i just love the shape on the pet monitor, well the whole case actually.

just has that 21st century sci-fi look for me.

chris
 
vic user said:
i just love the shape on the pet monitor, well the whole case actually.

just has that 21st century sci-fi look for me.

chris

I agree with that. I only have two SuperPET's myself, but nothing beats the look and feel of a classic all-in-one computer. I also have a TRS-80 Model IV that's quite nifty looking, as well as a Franklin Ace 1200, though that doesn't have an attached monitor. I've always said that they look like "real" computers in the truest classic sense. The look of the things just make you want to jump on and start coding away...
 
vic user said:
was it in many scenes?

maybe used at the science station where they developed the genesis device?

chris

It was in the background in Kirk's Apartment on Earth, when he's drinking Romulan Ale with Dr. McCoy.

God, I need to stop watching that show
 
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