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Tandy CoCo2 New Owner

M

mozartpc27

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
48
Location
Philadelphia, PA
Hello All,

I am mostly a Commodore enthusiast, but, when I was a lad, my grade school at the Tandy RadioShack Color Computer 2 as the main computer in our computer lab (they probably had 15 or so, maybe more). I've always therefore had a soft spot for them, and recently I was able to acquire a Color Computer 2 on craigslist with a dot matrix printer, a modem, and a disk drive. I was very excited to get all this new stuff, but a little dismayed when I got it all out and home and discovered that whatever was used to connect the disk drive to the rest of the system appeared to be missing, as none of the included cables would fit it.

I've now done some basic research, and it looks like what I am missing is the color computer controller and spectra strip. I see there is a disk drive on ebay right now that probably doesn't work for $40 but does appear to have the necessary equipment. I really don't need to spend any more money on this right now, however, so before I proceed I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice. What exactly do I need? Anyone have an "extra" controller and spectra strip they'd like to get to me? If not, where could I find such items? How much should I expect to pay?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
 
The CC FDC and ribbon cable is what you need. The going rate for an FDC is $USD40-60 in the USA and the come up regularly. The cable can be easily made yourself if you have any experience crimping ribbon cables (most of us do).

Beware of that $40 one on eBay, I know the one you are talking about and every Coco item he has listed looks like its spent some time in the rain. The FDC may look ok bit I bet water ingress will ultimately make it a waste of $.

If you are looking for info on which FDC to buy, check my videos, but basically the 26-3022 FDC is the only one which won't work on your CC2.

Cheers,

Ian.
 
TRS-Ian said:
The CC FDC and ribbon cable is what you need. The going rate for an FDC is $USD40-60 in the USA and the come up regularly. The cable can be easily made yourself if you have any experience crimping ribbon cables (most of us do).

Beware of that $40 one on eBay, I know the one you are talking about and every Coco item he has listed looks like its spent some time in the rain. The FDC may look ok bit I bet water ingress will ultimately make it a waste of $.

If you are looking for info on which FDC to buy, check my videos, but basically the 26-3022 FDC is the only one which won't work on your CC2.

Cheers,

Ian.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for this information! How regularly do you see them on ebay? I've looked every day admittedly for only the last week, but the one attached to this disk drive in the "rained on" auction is the only one I've ever seen.
 
Ok, I didn't see where to send you a private message, maybe you don't have enough posts.
I have a 26-3029 controller that I will sell for $20 + shipping, but I couldn't find any extra cables.

If you do want it, I'll test it this weekend before shipping, but it worked last year.

I also have a 26-3022 with the extra gold connectors soldered to both the bus and floppy connectors, but it only works with a coco1 directly, you need a multipack to use it with a coco2.

Later,
dabone
 
Hi dabone,

Thanks for the offer. I am tempted to take it, but as I am new to navigating these machines, I am a *little* concerned about the ribbon cable. I understand it is a cable of a standard sort, but how available are they? Does anyone know? If they are something that it is easy to pick up (cheaply) on ebay, I will be happy to buy what you have in terms of the controller.
 
What cables are coming out of your floppy drive?
Can you post pics?


I'm not understanding what you mean by a spectra strip.
The floppy needs a 34pin cable to the computer that ends with a 34pin female idc connector that plugs into the controller.

Later,
dabone
 
Also tell us which Tandy floppy drive you are using. If you are using a 26-3022, 3023, 1160, 1161, 1164, or 3029 then you need a cable which has:

All teeth in place at the FDC end
Teeth 12,14 and 32 pulled at the drive 0 plug
and Teeth 10,14 and 32 pulled at the drive 1 plug.

Straight through cable MAY work but confuse the OS if using more than one drive.

Ian.
 
The drive has only its power cord coming out of it. Clearly, a ribbon cable is needed to connect, but nothing of the kind was included. The drive is a 26-3029.

While I am on the subject, the drive does not appear itself to work, but I figure if I get the appropriate controller I can get a matching drive at some point. When I plug it in and flip the power switch, I get absolutely no response of any kind.

The CoCo2 is model 26-3127 if that helps.
 
mozartpc27 said:
The drive has only its power cord coming out of it. Clearly, a ribbon cable is needed to connect, but nothing of the kind was included. The drive is a 26-3029.

While I am on the subject, the drive does not appear itself to work, but I figure if I get the appropriate controller I can get a matching drive at some point. When I plug it in and flip the power switch, I get absolutely no response of any kind.

The CoCo2 is model 26-3127 if that helps.
Click to expand...

Does this information help to identify any potential issues?
 
A Coco drive is not an intelligent peripheral like a 1541. You won't get any action from the drive until you attach it to a Coco through the disk controller.

You might consider getting Drivewire 4, which is a free program to use a PC as a server over a serial cable to serve disk images of Coco software. People often use this instead of a floppy drive, though I prefer having both.

You can buy both floppy cables and Drivewire cables from Cloud9 ( http://www.cloud9tech.com/ )

You can get Drivewire here: https://sites.google.com/site/drivewire4/

Another good Coco resource is the CoCoList: https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco

BTW - I'd jump on that $20 disk controller. That's a great price!
 
TRS-Ian said:
<< SNIP >>

If you are looking for info on which FDC to buy, check my videos, but basically the 26-3022 FDC is the only one which won't work on your CC2.

Cheers,

Ian.
Click to expand...

I am fairly new to CoCo's also.. I have only owned a CoCo 3 for a couple years, and last year got a CoCo 2.


Actually, if you do get a 26-3022 Controller, it can be easily converted to work on the CoCo 2 and CoCo 3..

I have Pictures and a Description on AtariAge in the Gallery ( You need an AtariAge Account to View the Galleries ) at Link #1 and Link #2.

Basically, you replace the Western Digital FD1793B-02 IC, which requires 12VDC that is not present on the CoCo 2 and CoCo 3 with the Fujitsu MB8877A, which is Totally Pin Compatible, but does not require 12VDC.

Fujitsu MB8877A can currently found on eBay, at Link #1 or Link #2.

MarkO
 
MarkO_ said:
I am fairly new to CoCo's also.. I have only owned a CoCo 3 for a couple years, and last year got a CoCo 2.


Actually, if you do get a 26-3022 Controller, it can be easily converted to work on the CoCo 2 and CoCo 3..

I have Pictures and a Description on AtariAge in the Gallery ( You need an AtariAge Account to View the Galleries ) at Link #1 and Link #2.

Basically, you replace the Western Digital FD1793B-02 IC, which requires 12VDC that is not present on the CoCo 2 and CoCo 3 with the Fujitsu MB8877A, which is Totally Pin Compatible, but does not require 12VDC.

Fujitsu MB8877A can currently found on eBay, at Link #1 or Link #2.

MarkO
Click to expand...

Those links to AtariAge don't work. I get invalid link.
 
Yep the AtariAge links don't work unless you are a member there.

Do you just prise out the old 1793 and drop in the MB8877? If so I'll try it next time I have my Coco 3 set up... I have a 3022 and a MB8877 on hand at the moment.

Cheers,

Ian.
 
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