13-02-2022, 06:22 PM
Hi ChesireNoir,
I am informed, that the previous own was a bit of a collector - he passed away a few years ago - and his daughter is managing the sale of his old computers. There is also a commodore 128 and an Ollivetti M24 with 2 CRTs from the same seller (https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/red55shoes/m...pg=&_from=)
The Microbee has its original box, receipts and a few manuals and publications -- If I can get it operational - I want it to be fully functional, and displayed nicely - should be able to make it quite visible in the background for zoom meetings as well ---- will become quite the conversational piece i think.
Thanks for the link to the mcd-adapter - looks interesting - I see its using a PLD - I assume its much the same as the one I linked to - but they replaced the 2 chips into 1 PLD to reduce size - not a bad idea - will certainly check it out.
For the upconverting to VGA frequency - I have some GBS8200 (and also a OSSC) --- i know they work - due to my other retro activity (been playing with RC2014 kits and extending it with full MSX compatibility - its a lot of fun exploring Japan's take on the Z80 (https://hackaday.io/project/175574-msx-c...for-rc2014) - that was my pandemic distraction. Now retro computing has become more of an obsession!
I have previously looked at the GBS-control mod - but so far I have not needed the extra quality/control - but I would like to do the mod one day!
I was reading thru the repository last night - and found the original schematics for the colour boards (there is some really cool stuff in there) -- there were 2 schematics I found. I don't really know too much about video stuff, but it seem to me the Microbee colour is more EGA than CGA - as it has an intensity signal for each colour - not just the single intensity. Also there appeared to have been 2 versions --- one where the RGB analogue signals are also suppled -- no idea if both were made, and what version would be in my machine.
I did attempt to power on the machine this afternoon - just a quick test -- unfortunately no speaker sound on powering - but also no smoke or other scary things happened. I really feel I want a full day -- take my time with it - next month should have a bit more time.
Dean.
I am informed, that the previous own was a bit of a collector - he passed away a few years ago - and his daughter is managing the sale of his old computers. There is also a commodore 128 and an Ollivetti M24 with 2 CRTs from the same seller (https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/red55shoes/m...pg=&_from=)
The Microbee has its original box, receipts and a few manuals and publications -- If I can get it operational - I want it to be fully functional, and displayed nicely - should be able to make it quite visible in the background for zoom meetings as well ---- will become quite the conversational piece i think.
Thanks for the link to the mcd-adapter - looks interesting - I see its using a PLD - I assume its much the same as the one I linked to - but they replaced the 2 chips into 1 PLD to reduce size - not a bad idea - will certainly check it out.
For the upconverting to VGA frequency - I have some GBS8200 (and also a OSSC) --- i know they work - due to my other retro activity (been playing with RC2014 kits and extending it with full MSX compatibility - its a lot of fun exploring Japan's take on the Z80 (https://hackaday.io/project/175574-msx-c...for-rc2014) - that was my pandemic distraction. Now retro computing has become more of an obsession!
I have previously looked at the GBS-control mod - but so far I have not needed the extra quality/control - but I would like to do the mod one day!
I was reading thru the repository last night - and found the original schematics for the colour boards (there is some really cool stuff in there) -- there were 2 schematics I found. I don't really know too much about video stuff, but it seem to me the Microbee colour is more EGA than CGA - as it has an intensity signal for each colour - not just the single intensity. Also there appeared to have been 2 versions --- one where the RGB analogue signals are also suppled -- no idea if both were made, and what version would be in my machine.
I did attempt to power on the machine this afternoon - just a quick test -- unfortunately no speaker sound on powering - but also no smoke or other scary things happened. I really feel I want a full day -- take my time with it - next month should have a bit more time.
Dean.