New Zealand Vintage Computer Forums

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2011 5:46 pm**

I just ran across this news group post I made in 2000:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DaeMon <dae...@godzilla.gen.nz>
Date: Jan 6 2000, 8:00 pm
Subject: Wanted old or broken
To: nz.reg.dunedin.general

Alan Powell wrote:

> Now what would you want with an 8-bit non-msdos machine?
> I have a Sega somewhere (my first computer, sentimental value stuff) I even
> have a floppy disk thing for it. They gave it a grand name and charged the
> earth for them. Antique now, must be worth upwards of $1,000 :-)

LOL
> <cough,gasp>...... Oh, OK then, maybe $10 at a push. I might give it to
> you if I like what you want it for.

That wouldn't be a SEGA SC-3000 or SC-3000H would it?

I'm very keen on it - especially the floppy interface thingimy. I'm
collecting old 8-bit machines so that they don't just vanish off into
rubbish dumps. A preliminary website has been constructed but I haven't
put much in the way of data in it yet. So far I have a fair collection
of boxes - off hand they consist of;

1/2 a ZX80 (not currently functional - no CPU, RF modulator or top
cover)
3 x ZX81 (1 non-functional, 1 with blown ULA, 1 fully functional)
1 x ZX81 16KB RAM Pack with a dodgy 4116 chip in it
1 x Spectrum 16k
1 x Spectrum 16k upgraded to 48k with Saga One keyboard (dodgy RAM)
1 x Spectrum+
2 x Sinclair IF1 with 3x Microdrives
1 x Sinclair IF2
1 x Sinclair printer
1 x Spectrum 2+
1 x Sinclair SJS1 Joystick
Assorted 3rd party Spectrum peripherals
2 x Amstrad 464 (1 functional 1 non-functional)
1 x Amstrad Colour monitor for 464
1 x Amstrad Mono monitor for 464
1 x SEGA SC-3000 and Tapedeck
1 x Mattel Aquarius with Printer
1 x Tandy CoCo3
1 x Dick Smith VZ200
1 x Dick Smith System 80
Several Acorn Atom with A/D cards. (unknown condition)
Several BBC Model B (1 Functional with 6502 Second processor)
1 x BBC Master 128
1 x Acorn Archimedes 310
1 x Acorn Archimedes 3000
1 x Atari 800XL
1 x Touch Tablet for Atari
1 x Atari 1050 Floppy drive
1 x Atari 1010 Tapedeck
1 x Atari 7800 console
1 x Atari 2600 console with carts
1 x CBM Vic20 with C2N Cassette
1 x CBM C64 with 1541 Floppy drive
1 x CBM C64C with 1541II Floppy drive
1 x CBM Amiga 500
1 x pair Commodore paddles
1 x Apple //e with 2 floppy, 80col Serial, Parallel interfaces
1 x Circle ][e with 2 floppy
1 x Fountain Programmable Video System (TV console) with carts
1 x Spectravideo SV-328
1 x Spectravideo 605 expander with dual floppy and 80col card
1 x Macintosh Plus with broken external SCSI drive

In the "DOS-But-Unusual-anyway" Department;

1 x Amstrad PC1512SD with original packgaing and disks
1 x Amstrad PC1640DD fitted with HDD (no mouse)
2 x Amstrad PPC640
2 x IBM Personal Portable Computer 5515 (Anything but portable and
distinctly impersonal!)

A few machines may be missing from this list.

--
Andrew Stephen

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2011 6:02 pm**

Did you score that SC/SF combo in the end?

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2011 6:17 pm**

Carcenomy wrote:Did you score that SC/SF combo in the end?

As it happens, yes

I was donated an SF-7000 a few years ago by a friend who was clearing out his father's estate. It is one of the things I haven't had opportunity to test & repair. I have a couple of 3000's and a 3000H in working condition, as well as spare parts for both.

Almost everything I have is because I had some personal association with it from the 80s. My interest in the Sega's came from a) my friend Paul had an SC-3000 and kept telling me how much better it was than my Speccy (or it might still have been a ZX81) and b) A guy named Graeme used to bring one to the Central City Computer Interests Group in Dunedin - Graeme had the SC/SF and was the coolest thing since.. the last cool thing.

--
Andrew

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2011 6:56 pm**

The SCs really are quite a neat wee machine. I've got one of each model with the Sega deck etc, the only thing I have ever had issues with is the state of the cartridge slot - it can take a bit of tongue angling and curse words to get them to boot

Similar-ish collection to mine at the time, just with slightly different disciplines - I was a Commodore boy, not so much Speccies.

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2011 10:15 pm**

No "purely business" CP/M machines in the list Andrew? (Osborne, Kaypro, Epson QX etc.?) or Apple IIs?. No interest in these at that time?

So after 11 years have you added to the list or has the original one been culled a little?

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2011 11:09 pm**

tezza wrote:No "purely business" CP/M machines in the list Andrew? (Osborne, Kaypro, Epson QX etc.?) or Apple IIs?. No interest in these at that time?

At the time I was on a very low income and supporting a wife and young child, so I made the decision to stick strictly to 8 bit home PCs. The Plus mentioned in that post got sold off, the Amstrad PCs got left with friends, and one of the 5155s has gone missing along with the original parts.

tezza wrote:So after 11 years have you added to the list or has the original one been culled a little?

The list now stands approximately like this:

Code: Select all: Brand Model Note ACORN COMPUTER Archimedes A-3000 ACORN COMPUTER Archimedes A-310 ACORN COMPUTER ATOM Need PSU and some reassembly. ACORN COMPUTER ATOM Some assembly required. ACORN COMPUTER BBC Master 128 ACORN COMPUTER BBC Master Compact With external floppy drive unit ACORN COMPUTER BBC Model A Upgraded to Model B spec by previous owner ACORN COMPUTER BBC Model B ACORN COMPUTER BBC Model B Parts machine ACORN COMPUTER Electron With ROM expansion unit ACORN COMPUTER Electron ACORN COMPUTER Electron ACORN COMPUTER RISC-PC 700 Serie Worked but needs replacement PSU AMSTRAD CPC 464 Mono, monitor works, computer AMSTRAD CPC 464 Colour AMSTRAD CPC 6128 AMSTRAD CPC 6128 Parts machine AMSTRAD PCW 8256/Joyce With printer AMSTRAD PCW 8256/Joyce AMSTRAD PPC 640 LCD damage but works APPLE Apple II Plus With Disk ][ Unit APPLE Apple IIc APPLE Apple IIc APPLE Apple IIe APPLE Apple IIe APPLE Apple IIe Platinum Average condition, ex school computer. Single Apple 5.25 APPLE Apple IIGS APPLE Macintosh 512k ED APPLE Macintosh Plus APPLE Macintosh SE Alone. Sadly alone. APPLE Powerbook 100 Faulty HDD, other wise all goes. With External floppy. APPLE Powerbook 160 All works, but seems to have developed floppy drive fault. APPLE Powerbook 180c Battery leaked APPLE Powerbook 190 190cs, in original laptop bag ATARI 1040 STFM ATARI 130 XE Box in excellent condition ATARI 130 XE Box has packing tape all over ATARI 2600 (wood/6 switches) ATARI 2600 (wood/6 switches) ATARI 2600 jr ATARI 2600 jr ATARI 2600A (black/4 switches) ATARI 400 With ROM and 810 ATARI 400 No ROM. NTSC ATARI 520 STe ATARI 600 XL ATARI 600 XL ATARI 7800 ATARI 7800 ATARI 800 XL ATARI Flashback ATARI Lynx II ATARI Portfolio ATARI XE Game System polys, no box ATARI XE Game System CASIO PB-110 CASIO PB-80 With original manual. COLECO Colecovision COMMODORE Amiga 1000 COMMODORE Amiga 1000 COMMODORE Amiga 500 COMMODORE Amiga CD32 Machine mint, box average COMMODORE Amiga CD32 COMMODORE C 116 No PSU, Case slightly damaged. COMMODORE C 128D COMMODORE C 16 Looks to be in mint condition. COMMODORE C 64 COMMODORE C 64c COMMODORE C 64c Looks like it might have an original C64 keyboard in it. COMMODORE CDTV With keyboard, remote, external floppy COMMODORE Plus 4 Missing =" key, below average condition. For parts." COMMODORE Plus 4 Boxed US model COMMODORE SX 64 COMMODORE VIC-20 COMMODORE VIC-20 Damaged key glued back on. DICK SMITH ELECTRONICS System 80 Box is a bit warped but original. DICK SMITH ELECTRONICS System 80 Blue Label, RF cable standoffs, reset & video cut buttons missing. DICK SMITH ELECTRONICS VZ 200 With 16k RAM expansion DICK SMITH ELECTRONICS VZ 200 DICK SMITH ELECTRONICS VZ 300 DICK SMITH ELECTRONICS Wizzard DRAGON DATA Dragon 32 With joysticks EACA COMPUTER LTD. Colour Genie EG-2000 EACA COMPUTER LTD. Colour Genie EG-2000 FOUNTAIN Force 2 Black FOUNTAIN Force 2 White FOUNTAIN Force 2 Black FOUNTAIN Force 2 Black GAMEPARK GP2X GP2x Wiz GRANDSTAND Videomaster HANIMEX TVG-070C HEWLETT PACKARD HP-85 IBM 5140 Convertible With printer + CRT interface IBM PC Portable - Model 5155 Upgraded to XT spec. Used to run, not sure now. ICL OPD - One Per Desk In need of repair ICL OPD - One Per Desk In need of repair MATTEL Intellivision MATTEL ELECTRONICS Aquarius MICROSOFT Xbox Compelte Interactive Display Unit, minor CD drive issues. MICROSOFT Xbox Xbox Media Centre MICROSOFT Xbox Parts. MULTITECH Micro Professor MPF-1 NEXT COMPUTERS NeXT Station /Turbo Some screen burn but wiorks well. NINTENDO 64 NINTENDO Game Boy Advance Translucent Blue, damaged battery cover. NINTENDO Game Boy Micro NINTENDO NES NINTENDO NES Entertainment Pack with light gun NINTENDO SNES NINTENDO Super Famicom (Japanese) ORIC ORIC 1 Boxed, yellowed but in good working order OSBORNE Osborne-1 Starts but displays garbled text. PANASONIC R-E-A-L 3DO PHILIPS NMS-8280 Boxed near mint condition, with accessories. All manuals in Dutch. PHILIPS VG 8020 In very good condition PSION Series 3 LCD prints only every 2nd line but is readable. With serial cable and manuals SEGA Game Gear TV tuner and all sorts :) SEGA Master System SEGA Master System 2 SEGA Mega CD II SEGA Megadrive SEGA SC 3000 SEGA SC 3000 Parts SEGA SC 3000 SEGA SC 3000 Parts SEGA SC 3000 Parts SEGA SC 3000H SEGA SC 3000H Parts. SHARP PC-1350 Mint SILVER STAR Silver Star SINCLAIR Cambridge Z88 Complete, 512K RAM, 1MB Flash, EPROM & Eraser, TOPPER + more! SINCLAIR Cambridge Z88 SINCLAIR QL Keys missing, parts machine SINCLAIR QL Keyboard membrane damaged SINCLAIR ZX 80 Top case, CPU and modulator missing. SINCLAIR ZX 80 Near mint, imported from US. SINCLAIR ZX 81 For parts SINCLAIR ZX 81 For parts SINCLAIR ZX 81 For parts SINCLAIR ZX 81 Original kit, mint boxed SINCLAIR ZX 81 Original box, average condition SINCLAIR ZX 81 Polys, no box SINCLAIR ZX 81 Original kit, not yet assembled. Mint boxed. SINCLAIR ZX 81 Issue One board only, no cpu SINCLAIR ZX 81 With Sinclair 16k expansion SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum 16k, box in below average condition. SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum 16k upgraded to 48k and Saga One Emperor keyboard SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum 16K in mint condition, in Excellent condition box with polys SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum 48K with box in average condition. SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum + Some keyboard problems but otherwise good. SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum + Parts machine. SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum +2 SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum +3 Box in damaged condition SINCLAIR ZX Spectrum 128 Keyboard problems SONY Hit Bit HB-75 Box tatty, machine in above average condition SONY Playstation SCPH-5502 SONY Playstation SCPH-9002 SONY Playstation In original PSone Combo box, but no LCD. SONY PS-One PSone + LCD Combo package in riginal box. SORD M-23 Mark III SPECTRAVIDEO SVI-318 Missing the little red joystick SPECTRAVIDEO SVI-328 TANDY Color Computer 3 TANDY TRS-80 Model 100 TANDY TRS-80 Model II In pretty bad condition TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI-99 / 4A TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TI-99 / 4A TIGER R-Zone Headgear TIMEX SINCLAIR 1000 TIMEX SINCLAIR 2068 Large red and white stripes on power. TOSHIBA HX-10 TUNIX HA-1 VIDEO TECHNOLOGY CreatiVision Membrane keypad/joysticks. VIDEO TECHNOLOGY CreatiVision Rubber keyboard, shift keys missing VIDEO TECHNOLOGY Laser 128

Posted: **Tue May 24, 2011 11:17 pm**

That's a serious collection.

I know you want to add an Apple Lisa. No hankering for any of the IBM classics? (PC, XT, AT, PS/2)? Good to see someone else with a Colour Genie or two

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2011 6:55 am**

tezza wrote:That's a serious collection.

I know you want to add an Apple Lisa. No hankering for any of the IBM classics? (PC, XT, AT, PS/2)? Good to see someone else with a Colour Genie or two

I'd like a 5150, but nothing more recent. Even the PC Convertible is an aberration, but a particularly cool one - it's a "laptop" that stands taller than my 4 yr old! (well, not quite, but it makes a good story).

My focus at the beginning was on Sinclair systems, as these were what I had as a lad. I was specifically *not* interested in Apple at the time, aside from the IIgs, because they had no personal relevance to me and, from my perpective in 1997 or thereabouts, they were common as muck and weren't particularly notable historically. I left Commodore to Alan Gilchrist, as he had done a better job than I could hope to. Though, if anything came up cheap I'd grab it - somebody would want it if I didn't.

The Colour Genies seemed a good fit as System 80s were one of the really popular hobbyist machines that I remember, and a friend had a VZ200 with all the trimmings, so the Dick Smith connection was strong

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2011 9:04 am**

It seems like the "personal connection" factor is a big part of your collection choice. I can relate. While my PURCHASE focus has been on what I regard as "classics" there are a few machines I have which are in the collection (or which I want) because of this personal connection. The Colour Genie, the TRS-80 Colour Computer and TRS-80 Model IV for example. Also the Epson QX-10 and Compucolour which I'm seeking. Those machines are not necessarily "notable" but I did know people with them or I saw them in magazines or shops at the time and would now like to own one.

Of course others are in the collection because people just gave them to me. You can't say no when people give you a working 1980s computer.

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2011 9:27 am**

Yes, the personal connection has been the main driver for me, though that connection is often of the form "These looked really cool when I saw the ads in magazines"; both my Oric and Dragon 32 fall into this category as I never saw one in the flesh until I shipped them over myself. Whenever I see a computer and I get butterflies in my stomach, that's when I make the decision that I should have one.

I always sumarised my specialisation as "8 bit home computers, and revolutionary firsts," thus neatly allowing the original Amiga, Mac, IBM PC and Archimedes 310 in, amongst others. I have been somewhat liberal, as the Sinclair QL is neither 8 bit (well, kinda) nor revolutionary - but that fits in the Sinclair bucket anyway.

My "collector type" profile would be something like "Sentimental fool, preservationist and borderline hoarder."

With some small fear that the "hoarder" component is getting more of a foothold. :/

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2011 1:04 pm**

lizardb0y wrote:My "collector type" profile would be something like "Sentimental fool, preservationist and borderline hoarder."

LOL!

I've always thought how much fun it would be to get together as a group nationally, with some of our more weird and wonderful machines dragged out to show each other. A kind of NZ Vintage Computer "meet". We're all pretty familiar with C64s and Apple IIes but I'd love to see a Dragon and Oric in the flesh and some folks might like to see my working Lisas, my OSI Challenger, early-model Kaypro II and some of the other less common ones I have. It would also be fun to meet others who chat on here. Swapping/selling is also a possibility.

A thought for the future perhaps?

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2011 1:33 pm**

tezza wrote:
lizardb0y wrote:My "collector type" profile would be something like "Sentimental fool, preservationist and borderline hoarder."

LOL!

I've always thought how much fun it would be to get together as a group nationally, with some of our more weird and wonderful machines dragged out to show each other. A kind of NZ Vintage Computer "meet".

It's funny you should bring that up. Over the past month or so I've found myself reflecting that, with the Intel 4004 turning 40 on the 15th November, that it's about time New Zealand had a "Vintage Computer Faire," or its close equivalent. I have fond memories of attending Expos in the late 70s and early 80s in Dunedin, and think that a retrospectively focussed event could be quite successful.

Planning for such an event would need to get underway fairly promptly, and I have no idea where to start.

Posted: **Wed May 25, 2011 1:47 pm**

lizardb0y wrote:
tezza wrote:
lizardb0y wrote:My "collector type" profile would be something like "Sentimental fool, preservationist and borderline hoarder."

LOL!

I've always thought how much fun it would be to get together as a group nationally, with some of our more weird and wonderful machines dragged out to show each other. A kind of NZ Vintage Computer "meet".

It's funny you should bring that up. Over the past month or so I've found myself reflecting that, with the Intel 4004 turning 40 on the 15th November, that it's about time New Zealand had a "Vintage Computer Faire," or its close equivalent. I have fond memories of attending Expos in the late 70s and early 80s in Dunedin, and think that a retrospectively focussed event could be quite successful.

Planning for such an event would need to get underway fairly promptly, and I have no idea where to start.

Yes. However, a large public (and publicised) "event" (no doubt with commercial sponsors etc.) is much grander in term of scale, cost preparation etc. than a dozen or so enthusiasts getting together to look at some machines, share a beer and tell some stories . I was thinking initially of something more modest.

Anyway it might be fun to throw some ideas around on here. I'll start a new thread.

Posted: **Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:53 am**

I'll just throw in some comments...

If computing is your interest - then I can perhaps see why someone would collect the ones which never took off - such as Oric and Dragon 32. But when you show these to Joe Public - they'll ask - is that all it can do?

If however videogaming is your interest? Then perhaps the Vectrex and Colecovision might seem worthwhile to have ... although these would have to be USA or UK imports. The former being USA, and I did see a Colecovision running in Bootes in London.

Showing off a system, just for system sake - will only confirm why it never took off, or was outdated to start off with. Compare the same TRS-80 game on it, with the Atari version - and notice the difference? (Sea Dragon?)

An easy way for a vintage computer expo - is to run it within some other event - Armageddon comes to mind? Or how about the anniversary edition of Octacon - which will be in June, I think - in Dunedin. I wasn't planning on attending. It'll be cheaper to rent a stall, than a whole hall or convention centre, etc.
Anyway - it'll be a lot of work involved - but you just need a core keen group who will turn up...

Harvey

Posted: **Sun Aug 26, 2012 10:26 pm**

tezza wrote:That's a serious collection.

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