So, where do we go next to fix this? Well as I start reading up on the system for part 2 I've discovered the keyboard may still be the issue. The keyboard has pull ups on the data lines, without the keyboard attached then the lines are in a floating state and the system is reading garbage input. So the first job will be to put some nice headers on the keyboard and system boards with a detachable cable and go from there. I'm looking forward to sharing my progress. Thanks as always for watching - Neil - RMC
That's what I've been reading today. I'll be working on Part 2 next week so can confirm. Either way it will be much nicer to get a couple of headers and a cable on their to make future work on the machine easier with the keyboard easily removed.
Awesome episode. One of my cousins is several years older than me and bought a Model 3 to play around with. I used to go over there with my books full of programs and type them in as a kid. They wouldn't always works straight off the bat due to errors and differences in BASIC, but my cousin and I would figure out the problems and get them working.
If you don't have it already here is a great reference for the hardware. www.heinpragt.com/techniek/algemeen/files/Radio%20Shack%20TRS-80%20Micro%20Computer%20Technical%20Reference%20Handbook%202nd.pdf
I know I've said this a few times, but these are really beautifully assembled episodes. Well lit, clear to follow, informative. Television documentaries so rarely get into enough detail to hold my interest and doing that and keeping up reasonable pace (and not shouting) just makes for such an enjoyable viewing experience. Thank you.
I bought the TRS-80 the first day it was available. This was in Phoenix, Az. I was told by a Radio Shack Salesman, that people were flying in to Phoenix to buy one. Apparently Radio Shack made Phoenix as a test market, and made efforts to have the TRS-80 always available in the city. As a side note, at the time, if You had any stock in Tandy, You would get a 10% discount on any Radio Shack purchase. So I bought one share. Several years later Tandy offered twice the amount I bought the stock for and no brokerage fees. Apparently, the paper work, and notices required for them to send to me every year as a share holder owner, was costly for just one share.
With the chill tunes and the laid back delivery of our esteemed host, this channel is like a bubble bath for a nerdy mind. Kinda glad David took some vacation time and let his friends take over for the week. :-)
Keine Angabe I wholeheartedly agree. These videos are an absolute treat to watch on a Sunday afternoon, lazing around on the sofa. Very calming, dare I say, even therapeutic.
What I really appreciate about Radio Shack and it's line of computers is that they really wanted you to learn about how computers worked. For myself, the TRS-80 was a great way of doing just that! What I learned with these early machines helped me for years to come. Thanks to my Raspberry Pi, I can now emulate a lot old computers as well.
TRS-80 Model I Level II was my family's first computer back in 1978. I learned to solder helping my father build a LNW System Expansion for it. I learned to program on it, connected to my first BBS using it with a Novation Cat 300 modem and typed up my middle school papers using Electric Pencil along with an Epson MX-80 printer which at some point was upgraded with Graftrax roms to allow printing graphics. Christmas 1983 it was replaced for me by a Commodore 64 but my father continued to use it until 1985 when it was finally displaced by an IBM 5160.
I got to the end of the video and was left wanting more! I can't wait for the next part. I got my start on my father's TRS-80 Model 1 when I was around 6 years old. It's crazy how when I see one, they look totally familiar and yet ancient all at the same time. Thank you for posting this!
In 77 I was an electronics student and there was a Tandy store about 100 metres away from the college. They had a model 1 on display and we drove the manager to distraction arriving like a plague of locusts during breaks between lectures and lab sessions, playing around on it, then buggering off having bought nothing. I think we wore out the keyboard.
Lol. I think that's an issue every store throughout history that sold computers and/or games consoles and had public display units has had at one point or another...
My parents had a friend that owned a Trash 80. I remember going over to their place with my parents and going straight to their computer room. They didn't have the official monitor, just an old GoldStar TV. I remember playing nothing but Zaxxon and Zork. The only two games they had. I'm fairly envious of you RMC!
Me and my brother used to hangout at a nearby Radio Shack and play Invasion Force and fool around with Eliza. We were friends with the guys that worked there. Around 1982 I bought a Color Computer then got a Vic-20, then Commodore 64.
I've been wanting a working TRS-80 for many years now - love to see yours getting the TLC it craves. :) Great video: topic is spot-on, filming looks professional, your narration is superb. Captivating stuff! Here's to many more Trash to Treasure videos!
Another interesting history lesson for me, well shot and well presented, as usual. I look forward to Ep. 2. Oh, I do like that shrink tube isolator trick. I've never seen that (or thought of that) before. I will be adopting that little pro tip.
I really appreciate the nostalgic feeling your show brings. I went through all your videos and I couldn't find any about my favourite setup, MSX. I would love to watch it soon.
RetroManCave Are the Phillips models the most common ones found in Europe? If so I would go for that since it would be one more people remember, sadly I don't recall us ever getting any MSX computers here in the US.
When you get back from a 2 hour walk, you're ready for a couple beers and some lunch, and there is a brand new trash to treasure video waiting for you. Life is great.
Awesome video, and I really hope you get this machine working as this model was one of the first computers I ever used in school in typing class, so it brings back a lot of memories for sure.
Ha, that is how I came by my IBM 5160. One of my electronics professors was clearing out his attic and found it, gave it to me as he knew I had interest in older tech (our first family computers were a TI99/4a followed by an Apple IIc). Cleaned it up, fixed the caps on the video card...working well.
PeanutbutterJellyfishSandwich No, I was 7 at the time and my parents that it was too much to add to our "toy". But I really wanted one. Funny thing... My parents wouldn't even pay for the TI tape deck. They bought an off the self deck that worked with the cables.
Eh, I was probably about the same age as you (I am 39 now). We had a bunch of cartridges, the speech synth, but no tape deck, and a monochrome amber monitor.
I had a fully loaded (maxed out mem/fdd's/exp bay/voice syn, etc.) way back in 79-84. Learned Z-80 Assembly on it, which of course served me well on the Apple II when I dove into 6502 and then PC's 80x86. I've been coding for work and play for roughly 34 years now. In '87 I worked for Radio Shack/Tandy Training and Support as a Systems Engineer. Each Area Training and Support Office (ATSO) was housed along side a Radio Shack Repair Center. They were still actively repairing Model 1's in 1989. Somewhere around the 20 year mark it transitioned from fun into work. I have a lot of fond memories of the Model 1, considering it helped me build the foundation for a profitable career. It has been a fund ride, but... TBH... at this point, I hate computers. I've managed to keep up on modern development technologies... actively coding handheld, phones and supporting PC/Server apps. But today I take more pride in molding young, new developers.... helping my employees make smarter coding decisions. Thanks for the video.... It did bring back some great memories.
Thank you so much for making this video. I started to learn how to program on a trs-80 computer in the start of the 80s and now as a software engineer therefor nice to see you bring this one back to life. The trs-80 was a great solid machine in those days. Keep up the good work!
The trs80 model 1 is a very fascinating machine. Many don't realize that it was the highest selling personal computer up until the early 80s. It even outsold the apple II by quite a large margin. I can't wait to see your take on the expansion interface. The first time I opened mine up, I was a little confused by the power supplies, lol.
I love the TRS-80! Had one earlier this year but had to get rid of it since it took up so much damn space with the monitor and accessories. There's just something awesome about using a computer twice your age :)
One of my first few computers. I liked it despite having only 16KB of RAM and a cassette to save and load programs on. Later in life I eventually got a LOBO expansion interface with 32KB more memory. Even later in life someone gave me a complete system that started life as a 4KB Level 1 system and was upgraded over time to have 16KB Level II and lower case mod internally and a Radio Shack expansion interface with 32KB of RAM, serial board and 2 very heavy TRS-80 single density floppy drives. It was a beast. You have a slightly newer version than I started with as mine didn't have a textured keyboard and did not include a numeric keypad.
Oh wow, A restoration series. Nice choice Neil. I love seeing the many parts that gamers contribute themselves trying to make them into showroom condition. This will be fantastic for sure. 8^) Nice to see this Neil, can't wait to see what you have in store with it. 8^) Anthony
Mr RMC - when I first came across your channel, I though 'Oh Gawd, /another/ retro console computer channel' however... These are so fantastically produced, highly professional and worthy of TV quality. I can see the T2T series (and your other videos) highly releasable on DVD or Bluray as the definitive history of old computing. I am quite sure that out of all the retro PC / gaming channels I subscribe to - yours, is without a doubt, the most highly polished and enjoyable to watch. /glowing review off :-)
My very first computer that set me on my lifelong journey of wonder and discovery. I wish I could have afforded the monitor and expansion unit back in the day. Mine is at the back of my loft somewhere.
I do like these machines and would love one on my retro shelf next to the videopac and aquarius. Looking forward to a fix and demo. Top notch as always!
Yep the video RAM ran from 0x3C00 to 0x3FFF - 1024 bytes. And on my TRS-80 Model 1 I noted one day that the bottoms of the characters were dropping out. Traced it to a bad memory chip and replace and all was well.
Enjoyed the show. Just pulled out a couple of Model 1 TRS-80s that I picked up recently. I keyboard and the two Monitors working. The other keyboard, does have some sort of display, but has a problem with the vertical hold. I have another Model 1 Keyboard that seems to power on, but then the power light starts going on and off frequently. Look forward to watching more videos. Thank you
Another fantastic video here! I've been wanting to get one of these, or perhaps even a later Coco for awhile now. These old Tandy machines always had an allure to them!
I hope you get this TRS-80 fixed. I used to work part time in a Tandy shop in the late 70s and, because I was doing O-level Computer Science, I was the only person in the shop who knew anything about them. I used to take a TRS-80 (Level I, 4K RAM) home with me to play with on a Sunday. They were not bad machines but suffered from a lack of real support (i.e. knowledge) by shop staff (me excluded, of course!) and not having the coolness of the PET's metal case/futuristic design and the Apple II's colour graphics.
Trash-80 to Treasure? My fondest memory of the Model I was that ribbon cable to the expansion box, and how the machine would reset if the connection was even a little off, which as it aged, became much more likely. Luckily never my primary machine, but I did learn Z80 assembly on it, which landed me a job many years later.
When I was a kid, my friend's dad had a Model 1 and we played scarfman and a clone of Space Invaders on it (when his dad wasn't using it for "work") Seeing that machine, and then a VIC-20 put me on a path to getting a home computer... even if it meant saving my comic book money. :) What a time to be alive...
My first ever computer I used :-) Exactly the same as that one, including the worn off paint from the palm resting position. My uncle was the owner, and I was happy to sit there for hours typing in magazine program listings. I also remember there was a maze shooting game that had sound effects that it played out through the cassette recorder (you had to press the bit in the mechanism to allow record button to be pressed without a tape in there) - eventually this went, and was replaced by an Atari 400 which had much better graphics and sound.
19 minutes of this stuff is way too short :) Interesting beast here, can't wait for the next episode to find out what this intriguing Z80 can achieve :) Thank you, Neil!
We still have a bunch of TRS-80 computers, all of which my dad bought new. We have a Model I (w/monitor), Model III, several Model 4s and Color Computer 2 and 3 as well as a couple of 1000 TXs.
Great and informative video! One nitpick: At 11:00 you mention that "later models" did have colour graphics, but this is not the case. None of the later TRS-80 models (II, III, 4, 12, 16, 16B) had colour graphics. Perhaps you are confused with the TRS-80 Color Computer, which is a completely different line of computer and not compatible with the TRS-80 at all. In fact, not even the models II, 12 and 16(B) are fully compatible with the first model, only the model III and 4. I hope you can get this one fixed!
Truly the first computer I tried to learn how to program. Ah the nostalgia. I tell you if I could actually get my hands on a working model, I'd pick it up just for memory sake.
The first thing I would try is to unstack the character generator mod and fix the trace to see if it works with upper only mode. At least you'll have that user-mod ruled out as being the cause. Then work backwards by removing the ram upgrade etc.
Charles Napier! "Yeaaaaaah brotherrrrrrrr!" (he played one of the space hippies in the original Star Trek episode, "The Way to Eden", among many great character roles).
Hi Neil I always wanted a trs80 but never got one. Great 1st episode although could have been longer and can't wait for ep2 so don't keep us in suspense.😀😀😀😀Kim 😀😀😀😀
OMG, I used to work for Tandy Australia head office repairing these and they were so old lol. even Model 3 and others but I started out on the Color Computer 2 long back base. hahaha
Synthematix Under normal circumstances I would be less than eager to agree with you. But, in the case of this spider, he appears to be more mineral than Animal.
I always wanted to have a go on a TRS-80.... I'd go into Tandy and they'd have these marvellous sci-fi looking SILVER computers. So many of the other home computers were that horrible insipid cream or, if we were lucky, a nice matt black... but only the TRS-80 looked like it had fallen off a spaceship. Sadly, I never had a decent go, so watching videos like this, in later life, partly make up for the missed opportunity. I'm sat typing this on my Asus laptop - which is, of course, SILVER!
The absolute first (well, second really) thing I do on these kind of machines after opening them is to press firmly on both ends of all of the socketed chips to reseat them. That solves about 99% of all the problems I've ever seen. The first thing? Look for leaky caps and replace them. You look good to go there. There still may be bad ones, but no obviously deathly bad ones. But try reseating those chips before you do much more than repairing that keyboard cable.
I believe you have a machine from 1981. The date codes I saw on the chips we're mostly from late 1980, but some (such as the CPU) we're from 1981. The 8113 on the chip means week 13, 1981.
I have a TRS-80. Originally it is Level 1 basic and 4KB ram. Shorty after my uncle purchased it he upgraded it to level 2 and 16KB or ram. He regretted hacking it up and wished he would have just purchased one with 16KB, and level 2 built in. When he was still alive I was planning on purchasing a radioshack portable CD player off ebay and burn level 3 basic audio dump to a CD and call it the TRS-80 CD-Rom upgrade package.
My first encounter with a microcomputer was an ABC 80, a Swedish Z81-based machine, and was the thing that triggered my interest in programming. This must have been around '79-80, and this marvelous machine was at my school's computer section and you had to be a member and to reserve a time to use it. I spent a lot of after school time on this, and even missed my train home at one time so my mother had to pick me up late at night. She wasn't too thrilled, that was a over 80km journey back an forth. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_80
A pristine TRS-80 is one of the jewels of my collection. I took it to a convention some years ago just to exhibit, along with the black and white monitor (still works, too!), and it got more attention than anything else on my table.
Kids today could never possibly imagine that there was a time when you needed an after-market upgrade that needed to be soldered into your motherboard just so you didn't have to talk in ALL CAPS.
Very nice. You have a wonderful speaking voice and a soothing way of presenting the material. The only place where I can find fault is why someone would want to invest all of that time and effort into such a limited machine. A Pi is much more powerful and with a lot more software to boot ( No pun intended. ) If you are trying to teach fixing computers and logical ( Again, no pun.) problem solving, that puts things in a new light. Cheers,
Very interesting! That ribbon did look a bit decrepit lol. Maybe the ribbon will fix it! That ribbon is one reason some people don't like going inside the TRS-80.
Didn't know this computer was released already in 1977, by the looks of it, I thought it's an early 80's computer. Must've been a bit ahead of it's time? In February 1977 I was just a little over 2 years old so I don't remember :D
Nothing in the history of home computers was really ahead of time. Everything only became available when it became possible, enabled by technology accesibility and costs. It basically all followed the Moore's law.
This is the first computer I actually worked on. At my secondary school, we had one of these, and a bunch of the Level 2 models. They have a somewhat nicer keyboard, that is textured rather than smooth, and the monitor is a green one, which is sharper than the white/blue one. They also don't have the power LED in that position, although I forgot (we're talking 35+ years ago) where they put it.
You said, "We'll start w/ the CPU on the right..." and I looked and looked and couldn't find it. I was looking for the more modern style of a large square, lol.
That issue with the power socket being the same as the tape drive socket and the video socket has to be one of the dumbest things I have heard in a while. I can imagine that many owners must have been shocked (heh) when they realized that they plugged the power cord into the wrong place.
So, where do we go next to fix this? Well as I start reading up on the system for part 2 I've discovered the keyboard may still be the issue. The keyboard has pull ups on the data lines, without the keyboard attached then the lines are in a floating state and the system is reading garbage input. So the first job will be to put some nice headers on the keyboard and system boards with a detachable cable and go from there. I'm looking forward to sharing my progress. Thanks as always for watching - Neil - RMC
so they put the pullups on the keyboard side and not the board!?!?
That's what I've been reading today. I'll be working on Part 2 next week so can confirm. Either way it will be much nicer to get a couple of headers and a cable on their to make future work on the machine easier with the keyboard easily removed.
I look forward to the next episode :D
Awesome episode. One of my cousins is several years older than me and bought a Model 3 to play around with. I used to go over there with my books full of programs and type them in as a kid. They wouldn't always works straight off the bat due to errors and differences in BASIC, but my cousin and I would figure out the problems and get them working.
If you don't have it already here is a great reference for the hardware. www.heinpragt.com/techniek/algemeen/files/Radio%20Shack%20TRS-80%20Micro%20Computer%20Technical%20Reference%20Handbook%202nd.pdf
I know I've said this a few times, but these are really beautifully assembled episodes. Well lit, clear to follow, informative. Television documentaries so rarely get into enough detail to hold my interest and doing that and keeping up reasonable pace (and not shouting) just makes for such an enjoyable viewing experience. Thank you.
I bought the TRS-80 the first day it was available. This was in Phoenix, Az. I was told by a Radio Shack Salesman, that people were flying in to Phoenix to buy one. Apparently Radio Shack made Phoenix as a test market, and made efforts to have the TRS-80 always available in the city. As a side note, at the time, if You had any stock in Tandy, You would get a 10% discount on any Radio Shack purchase. So I bought one share. Several years later Tandy offered twice the amount I bought the stock for and no brokerage fees. Apparently, the paper work, and notices required for them to send to me every year as a share holder owner, was costly for just one share.
With the chill tunes and the laid back delivery of our esteemed host, this channel is like a bubble bath for a nerdy mind.
Kinda glad David took some vacation time and let his friends take over for the week. :-)
God I love these, you could so easily think this is a television episode as it’s soooo well done.
Thank you I appreciate the kind comments
Yeah, I really love to watch one of these coming home from work to wind down. Thanks!
Keine Angabe I wholeheartedly agree. These videos are an absolute treat to watch on a Sunday afternoon, lazing around on the sofa. Very calming, dare I say, even therapeutic.
What I really appreciate about Radio Shack and it's line of computers is that they really wanted you to learn about how computers worked. For myself, the TRS-80 was a great way of doing just that! What I learned with these early machines helped me for years to come. Thanks to my Raspberry Pi, I can now emulate a lot old computers as well.
TRS-80 Model I Level II was my family's first computer back in 1978. I learned to solder helping my father build a LNW System Expansion for it. I learned to program on it, connected to my first BBS using it with a Novation Cat 300 modem and typed up my middle school papers using Electric Pencil along with an Epson MX-80 printer which at some point was upgraded with Graftrax roms to allow printing graphics. Christmas 1983 it was replaced for me by a Commodore 64 but my father continued to use it until 1985 when it was finally displaced by an IBM 5160.
Looks to be an interesting project! Looking forward to the outcome
I got to the end of the video and was left wanting more! I can't wait for the next part. I got my start on my father's TRS-80 Model 1 when I was around 6 years old. It's crazy how when I see one, they look totally familiar and yet ancient all at the same time. Thank you for posting this!
My first computer was a TRS80 purchased at the San Ysidro, CA RS back in 1979. I still have it.
In 77 I was an electronics student and there was a Tandy store about 100 metres away from the college. They had a model 1 on display and we drove the manager to distraction arriving like a plague of locusts during breaks between lectures and lab sessions, playing around on it, then buggering off having bought nothing. I think we wore out the keyboard.
Lol. I think that's an issue every store throughout history that sold computers and/or games consoles and had public display units has had at one point or another...
It's great how computers bring back fond memories.
My parents had a friend that owned a Trash 80. I remember going over to their place with my parents and going straight to their computer room. They didn't have the official monitor, just an old GoldStar TV. I remember playing nothing but Zaxxon and Zork. The only two games they had. I'm fairly envious of you RMC!
I have Zaxxon for it, it does seem like a perfect machine to play Zork on
Me and my brother used to hangout at a nearby Radio Shack and play Invasion Force and fool around with Eliza. We were friends with the guys that worked there. Around 1982 I bought a Color Computer then got a Vic-20, then Commodore 64.
Yup, same with me and my brother. TRS-80 in the store, and later I owned a VIC-20 and a C64. Much later I owned a TRS-80 Model 16.
thank you for your great videos, they are so well produced/edited
I've been wanting a working TRS-80 for many years now - love to see yours getting the TLC it craves. :)
Great video: topic is spot-on, filming looks professional, your narration is superb. Captivating stuff!
Here's to many more Trash to Treasure videos!
Thank you!
Another interesting history lesson for me, well shot and well presented, as usual. I look forward to Ep. 2. Oh, I do like that shrink tube isolator trick. I've never seen that (or thought of that) before. I will be adopting that little pro tip.
I really appreciate the nostalgic feeling your show brings. I went through all your videos and I couldn't find any about my favourite setup, MSX. I would love to watch it soon.
The MSX is a range that definitely needs to be covered at some point. I just can't decide which one to go for, there are a lot of quite unique models.
RetroManCave Are the Phillips models the most common ones found in Europe? If so I would go for that since it would be one more people remember, sadly I don't recall us ever getting any MSX computers here in the US.
When you get back from a 2 hour walk, you're ready for a couple beers and some lunch, and there is a brand new trash to treasure video waiting for you. Life is great.
Awesome video, and I really hope you get this machine working as this model was one of the first computers I ever used in school in typing class, so it brings back a lot of memories for sure.
Ha, that is how I came by my IBM 5160. One of my electronics professors was clearing out his attic and found it, gave it to me as he knew I had interest in older tech (our first family computers were a TI99/4a followed by an Apple IIc). Cleaned it up, fixed the caps on the video card...working well.
PeanutbutterJellyfishSandwich Thats how I started my computng life as well... Great memories.
Did you have the speech sythesizer for the TI99? We did...that was like magic back then. Also typing in "bad words" was pretty funny.
PeanutbutterJellyfishSandwich No, I was 7 at the time and my parents that it was too much to add to our "toy". But I really wanted one. Funny thing... My parents wouldn't even pay for the TI tape deck. They bought an off the self deck that worked with the cables.
Eh, I was probably about the same age as you (I am 39 now). We had a bunch of cartridges, the speech synth, but no tape deck, and a monochrome amber monitor.
The TI was my first computer also. Way back in 1983. I have one now in mint condition.
I had a fully loaded (maxed out mem/fdd's/exp bay/voice syn, etc.) way back in 79-84. Learned Z-80 Assembly on it, which of course served me well on the Apple II when I dove into 6502 and then PC's 80x86.
I've been coding for work and play for roughly 34 years now. In '87 I worked for Radio Shack/Tandy Training and Support as a Systems Engineer. Each Area Training and Support Office (ATSO) was housed along side a Radio Shack Repair Center. They were still actively repairing Model 1's in 1989.
Somewhere around the 20 year mark it transitioned from fun into work. I have a lot of fond memories of the Model 1, considering it helped me build the foundation for a profitable career.
It has been a fund ride, but... TBH... at this point, I hate computers. I've managed to keep up on modern development technologies... actively coding handheld, phones and supporting PC/Server apps. But today I take more pride in molding young, new developers.... helping my employees make smarter coding decisions.
Thanks for the video.... It did bring back some great memories.
13:00 that's a great tip for testing pins on those kinds of connectors without shorting anything! :)
Thank you so much for making this video. I started to learn how to program on a trs-80 computer in the start of the 80s and now as a software engineer therefor nice to see you bring this one back to life. The trs-80 was a great solid machine in those days. Keep up the good work!
The trs80 model 1 is a very fascinating machine. Many don't realize that it was the highest selling personal computer up until the early 80s. It even outsold the apple II by quite a large margin. I can't wait to see your take on the expansion interface. The first time I opened mine up, I was a little confused by the power supplies, lol.
I love the TRS-80! Had one earlier this year but had to get rid of it since it took up so much damn space with the monitor and accessories.
There's just something awesome about using a computer twice your age :)
Being an old fart, most if not all microcomputers there has ever been are half my age or less haha.
I love this series. I learn something new and/or interesting every time.
Hi, great video. I love the way the 2nd chip was mounted on the other one. Ingenuity at it's finest.
Great work Neil!!
Cheers Howard, come and have a poke around next week if you like
My very first computer was a TRS80. I loved that machine.
One of my first few computers. I liked it despite having only 16KB of RAM and a cassette to save and load programs on. Later in life I eventually got a LOBO expansion interface with 32KB more memory. Even later in life someone gave me a complete system that started life as a 4KB Level 1 system and was upgraded over time to have 16KB Level II and lower case mod internally and a Radio Shack expansion interface with 32KB of RAM, serial board and 2 very heavy TRS-80 single density floppy drives. It was a beast. You have a slightly newer version than I started with as mine didn't have a textured keyboard and did not include a numeric keypad.
A prehistoric arachnid stuck in amber. Let's create a theme park!
Oh no, please no Arachnid Park
Trash (TRS) World.
I'll get the shaving cream.
Excellent! We had these in our school. Brings back memories.
Yes! I have been waiting to see if you’d cover this gem! Love your treatment of the first computer I ever used.
So much electronic magic in these series! Looking forward to Pt. 2
Oh wow,
A restoration series. Nice choice Neil. I love seeing the many parts that gamers contribute themselves trying to make them into showroom condition. This will be fantastic for sure. 8^)
Nice to see this Neil, can't wait to see what you have in store with it. 8^)
Anthony
Mr RMC - when I first came across your channel, I though 'Oh Gawd, /another/ retro console computer channel' however...
These are so fantastically produced, highly professional and worthy of TV quality. I can see the T2T series (and your other videos) highly releasable on DVD or Bluray as the definitive history of old computing. I am quite sure that out of all the retro PC / gaming channels I subscribe to - yours, is without a doubt, the most highly polished and enjoyable to watch.
/glowing review off :-)
Very enjoyable and therapeutic reminiscing for me.
Looking forward to the next episode of this project!
My very first computer that set me on my lifelong journey of wonder and discovery. I wish I could have afforded the monitor and expansion unit back in the day. Mine is at the back of my loft somewhere.
I do like these machines and would love one on my retro shelf next to the videopac and aquarius. Looking forward to a fix and demo. Top notch as always!
What a nice piece of history you found! :) I'm looking forward to the next episode and fixing the machine. :)
Yep the video RAM ran from 0x3C00 to 0x3FFF - 1024 bytes. And on my TRS-80 Model 1 I noted one day that the bottoms of the characters were dropping out. Traced it to a bad memory chip and replace and all was well.
I love the pace of your videos. I grew up with a Dragon 32. I'd love to see one appear on your channel some day.
great heat strink usage!!! Thanks
Oh boy, another Trash to Treasure episode!
Trash-80 to Treasure.
Enjoyed the show. Just pulled out a couple of Model 1 TRS-80s that I picked up recently. I keyboard and the two Monitors working. The other keyboard, does have some sort of display,
but has a problem with the vertical hold. I have another Model 1 Keyboard that seems to power on, but then the power light starts going on and off frequently.
Look forward to watching more videos. Thank you
Another fantastic video here! I've been wanting to get one of these, or perhaps even a later Coco for awhile now. These old Tandy machines always had an allure to them!
Ok, feeling nostalgic now! Going to have to fire up our Commodore 64 SX, call the kids, and have a game party! Those were the days!
I hope you get this TRS-80 fixed.
I used to work part time in a Tandy shop in the late 70s and, because I was doing O-level Computer Science, I was the only person in the shop who knew anything about them.
I used to take a TRS-80 (Level I, 4K RAM) home with me to play with on a Sunday. They were not bad machines but suffered from a lack of real support (i.e. knowledge) by shop staff (me excluded, of course!) and not having the coolness of the PET's metal case/futuristic design and the Apple II's colour graphics.
Trash-80 to Treasure? My fondest memory of the Model I was that ribbon cable to the expansion box, and how the machine would reset if the connection was even a little off, which as it aged, became much more likely. Luckily never my primary machine, but I did learn Z80 assembly on it, which landed me a job many years later.
This is by far my favorite series! Looking forward to part 2. (and on..)
When I was a kid, my friend's dad had a Model 1 and we played scarfman and a clone of Space Invaders on it (when his dad wasn't using it for "work") Seeing that machine, and then a VIC-20 put me on a path to getting a home computer... even if it meant saving my comic book money. :) What a time to be alive...
was I the only one who's jaw was on the floor as you cut that keyboard ribbon cable? lol
Hehe don't panic. I removed all the pins today and it's all ready for a new cable
It certainly wasn't the first thing I would have considered doing. Perfectly serviceable cable, as long as you don't flex it too many times.
My first ever computer I used :-) Exactly the same as that one, including the worn off paint from the palm resting position. My uncle was the owner, and I was happy to sit there for hours typing in magazine program listings. I also remember there was a maze shooting game that had sound effects that it played out through the cassette recorder (you had to press the bit in the mechanism to allow record button to be pressed without a tape in there) - eventually this went, and was replaced by an Atari 400 which had much better graphics and sound.
These videos are simply terrific. :D
According to Zilog, there are 6 BILLION z80's in use today.
Never heard of the TRS-80, but I always find these videos fascinating 😎
I remember the TRS80 - GOTO line X, GOTO Line X - awesome video, thx
19 minutes of this stuff is way too short :) Interesting beast here, can't wait for the next episode to find out what this intriguing Z80 can achieve :) Thank you, Neil!
Sorry about that :D Looking forward to getting the next part out to you
Great video! Really enjoyed it.
We still have a bunch of TRS-80 computers, all of which my dad bought new. We have a Model I (w/monitor), Model III, several Model 4s and Color Computer 2 and 3 as well as a couple of 1000 TXs.
Great and informative video! One nitpick: At 11:00 you mention that "later models" did have colour graphics, but this is not the case. None of the later TRS-80 models (II, III, 4, 12, 16, 16B) had colour graphics. Perhaps you are confused with the TRS-80 Color Computer, which is a completely different line of computer and not compatible with the TRS-80 at all. In fact, not even the models II, 12 and 16(B) are fully compatible with the first model, only the model III and 4. I hope you can get this one fixed!
Love these trash to treasure vids
Awesome video as always
A new Trash to Treasure \o/ I love these videos. Looking forward to see how you'll fix the keyboard issue.
Truly the first computer I tried to learn how to program. Ah the nostalgia. I tell you if I could actually get my hands on a working model, I'd pick it up just for memory sake.
The trs80 was my first computer, even though in 88' it was deemed outdated I had alot of fun with it.Man I miss that Computer...
Ah, the old ID10T error! 😉
The first thing I would try is to unstack the character generator mod and fix the trace to see if it works with upper only mode. At least you'll have that user-mod ruled out as being the cause. Then work backwards by removing the ram upgrade etc.
Charles Napier! "Yeaaaaaah brotherrrrrrrr!" (he played one of the space hippies in the original Star Trek episode, "The Way to Eden", among many great character roles).
Great video. Not got a Tandy but I love my Atari 400, 600XL and 800 XL's!
I worked at Tandy in York as a part time Christmas job as a "kid" ....... happy days!
Hi Neil I always wanted a trs80 but never got one. Great 1st episode although could have been longer and can't wait for ep2 so don't keep us in suspense.😀😀😀😀Kim 😀😀😀😀
Love tune at the start :-)
What a gem of a channel! Subbed. btw Serpentza sent me.
Thanks! Winston rocks
OMG, I used to work for Tandy Australia head office repairing these and they were so old lol. even Model 3 and others but I started out on the Color Computer 2 long back base. hahaha
No animals were harmed in the making of this video... oh wait... nevermind... RIP Spider.
Technically it wasn't since it died long before the making of this video :-)
Unfortunately a spider isnt an animal.
Synthematix Under normal circumstances I would be less than eager to agree with you. But, in the case of this spider, he appears to be more mineral than Animal.
Animal Facts hmm.. I didn't realize fossilization could occur in a power block.. 😁
Daniel Davis well, that power block is rather ancient. 😂
I always liked the Model III and its replacement the Model IV. I just like the all in one aesthetic. :)
I always wanted to have a go on a TRS-80.... I'd go into Tandy and they'd have these marvellous sci-fi looking SILVER computers. So many of the other home computers were that horrible insipid cream or, if we were lucky, a nice matt black... but only the TRS-80 looked like it had fallen off a spaceship. Sadly, I never had a decent go, so watching videos like this, in later life, partly make up for the missed opportunity. I'm sat typing this on my Asus laptop - which is, of course, SILVER!
10:28
Boys and Girls, let's discover how baby microchips are made
Nice video, love Tandy stuff
The absolute first (well, second really) thing I do on these kind of machines after opening them is to press firmly on both ends of all of the socketed chips to reseat them. That solves about 99% of all the problems I've ever seen.
The first thing? Look for leaky caps and replace them. You look good to go there. There still may be bad ones, but no obviously deathly bad ones. But try reseating those chips before you do much more than repairing that keyboard cable.
I believe you have a machine from 1981. The date codes I saw on the chips we're mostly from late 1980, but some (such as the CPU) we're from 1981. The 8113 on the chip means week 13, 1981.
I learned some intro basic on TSR80 model 3s with 16 kb of ram...very cool times.. wish I had one for nostalgia.
I have a TRS-80. Originally it is Level 1 basic and 4KB ram. Shorty after my uncle purchased it he upgraded it to level 2 and 16KB or ram. He regretted hacking it up and wished he would have just purchased one with 16KB, and level 2 built in. When he was still alive I was planning on purchasing a radioshack portable CD player off ebay and burn level 3 basic audio dump to a CD and call it the TRS-80 CD-Rom upgrade package.
My first encounter with a microcomputer was an ABC 80, a Swedish Z81-based machine, and was the thing that triggered my interest in programming. This must have been around '79-80, and this marvelous machine was at my school's computer section and you had to be a member and to reserve a time to use it. I spent a lot of after school time on this, and even missed my train home at one time so my mother had to pick me up late at night. She wasn't too thrilled, that was a over 80km journey back an forth.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_80
My first computer. Put the TRS-80 on Layaway for 6 month. I still have my TRS-80 in the box.
This was my first PC as a kid. My dad let me use it. Cassette loaded games!
A pristine TRS-80 is one of the jewels of my collection. I took it to a convention some years ago just to exhibit, along with the black and white monitor (still works, too!), and it got more attention than anything else on my table.
Kids today could never possibly imagine that there was a time when you needed an after-market upgrade that needed to be soldered into your motherboard just so you didn't have to talk in ALL CAPS.
Very nice. You have a wonderful speaking voice and a soothing way of presenting the material. The only place where I can find fault is why someone would want to invest all of that time and effort into such a limited machine. A Pi is much more powerful and with a lot more software to boot ( No pun intended. ) If you are trying to teach fixing computers and logical ( Again, no pun.) problem solving, that puts things in a new light. Cheers,
Mate get hold of a SEIKO UC-2000 computer watch from the mid 80s, it was my first delve into computers, and that thing was just awesome
Very interesting! That ribbon did look a bit decrepit lol. Maybe the ribbon will fix it! That ribbon is one reason some people don't like going inside the TRS-80.
Didn't know this computer was released already in 1977, by the looks of it, I thought it's an early 80's computer. Must've been a bit ahead of it's time? In February 1977 I was just a little over 2 years old so I don't remember :D
Nothing in the history of home computers was really ahead of time. Everything only became available when it became possible, enabled by technology accesibility and costs. It basically all followed the Moore's law.
Try to dump all the user upgrades and then try it. Also reseat the chips, and verify the solder joints are all good.
This is the first computer I actually worked on. At my secondary school, we had one of these, and a bunch of the Level 2 models. They have a somewhat nicer keyboard, that is textured rather than smooth, and the monitor is a green one, which is sharper than the white/blue one. They also don't have the power LED in that position, although I forgot (we're talking 35+ years ago) where they put it.
...which you ,mentioned about 5 seconds after I restarted the video. Never mind, I'll shut up now.
I once wrote a Mandelbrot set generator for one of these. Can't say it was very fast though.
Great video as always, i love this video's :)
The first computer I learned BASIC on, during my senior year in high school. 1979-1980
You said, "We'll start w/ the CPU on the right..." and I looked and looked and couldn't find it. I was looking for the more modern style of a large square, lol.
That issue with the power socket being the same as the tape drive socket and the video socket has to be one of the dumbest things I have heard in a while. I can imagine that many owners must have been shocked (heh) when they realized that they plugged the power cord into the wrong place.