What's new Pussycat too?

May go down that one one day re the Pi and the hat...As it's the season of the new year's bills starting the old quids need to be looked after carefully...

Maybe nearer my old 60th in June...

 

Quick response as Unforgotten about to start on telly and a brew on with a tiramisu (dust free version).

Subbuteo - loved it as a kid - still got some old goals, a creased pitch and about 2-3 teams with about 5-6 players left (the rest got trod on/kneeled on). Got a pic of me somewhere playing it with my cousin back in the late 70s. Flick to kick wasn't it and I even had a the ruddy floodlights though I seem to remember the battery didn't last long in there. All the accessories cost a packet, eg. 4 crowd figures = £5 (a LOT of money back then), so if you wanted to recreate a crowd with stands and scoreboards etc, it would probably be cheaper to buy the REAL THING! PMSL - great toy, super memories. My cousins had dozens of the teams - they might still have Darlo somewhere hidden in the depths of their wardrobes with their old ouija board too - they had a reet scary encounter "playing" with that one night...

Al making his way to E Yorkshire early May? Count us in for a meet and if you can stomach building site dust (rather than retro gear dust) then come over and see us/stay for a day or two if you fancy, Al.

All that Commodore stuff is whetting my whistle too - can't wait to explore further with my 64 using some of Richie's great add ons - just the ticket!

Reet, telly n Bev calling - catch you fellas, later.

 

Big thanks to Andy for my parcel, a couple of Atari carts ( UNO cart and a The!Cart 64/512 ) I spent most of the afternoon creating a workbook for The!Cart and it will take some filling up based on how far I have got. Lord knows what people do with the 128MB version that came out later! and more importantly he also sent some sweets! some nice York fruits which I haven’t had for donkeys and taste great. I think they count as one of your five a day
I will have a neb at your LED wotsitz’s and fix them...
I built a couple more Composite/Back Porch mods for the ZX81 so if anyone wants one drop me a PM.

 

As ever, Rich, you are so very welcome.
I'm not sure if the York Fruits are Atari compatible but you never know as they are juicy and cool schmule and as you say, loaded with vitamins so they may constitute a contribution to your retro 5-a-day!
Do enjoy those carts, mate.
I am so glad you are already get stuck in and giving them a good run out.
Those lights are more a back burner project if you get time and run out of things to play with/fix.
Thanking you.
The ZX81 backdoor porch video mod wotist sounds intriguing...I might have a donor that could do with a mod to improve its output.
Once more, once we get settled and sorted out here in the next month or two, I am gonna give some of my more "exotic" rarer micros out like the old ded-ex, give em a once over again with the old 3D Monster Maze, Flight Simulator, Mazogs and original Kevin Toms Footie manager and then report back as I believe I may well have an 81 with video issues, bud, so please reserve one for me.
Cheers Rich and all at Atari Owner.
Have a relaxing Easter break and if anyone fancies an hour either tomorrow avvy or tomorrow evening for a vid meet up then just holler.

 

Nothing new Atari wise for me this last little while. But I did receive my Kickstarter backed ZZap 64 annual. Even thought I'm not a C64 fan it is still an awesome retro read. Also got a new Subbuteo book and won an EBay auction for an old team that I played with when I was a mere youngster. Did spend sometime today playing old racing games on the original xbox. Incredible to think that even that machine is 20 years old now.

How's everyone else's Easter been?

 

Quiet thankfully Allan, no neighbours for the weekend (so far), did nip out to get some mechanical scales for the wife, it seems you can't wash them as the old ones were a bit grubby so I washed them and the buggers just seized up. Way too much traffic on the roads, took forever to go 4 miles...

Just sat here waiting for the only TV worth watching, Line of Duty to come on....12 mins to go...

And lastly, dunno why but I've turned in to a walking methane stink bomb, its an egg smell that is rank as hell, blooming awful but dead handy today as the people at Agos were not social distancing behind me, 2 secs later there was no one behind me bar what looked like a green fog The folks legged it after my present..

Must have eaten an Oric???

 

LOL! That's one way of keeping folk at bay, Paul - chemical warfare!
Quiet this end other than Bev's folks came down to celebrate a late late late Xmas with us, Al.
First time they've seen the new kitchen etc.
Mind, they had to turn around again and gan back home as we all agreed it's too early to have folks stop over which was a shame as they ended-up doing a 200mile trip...no fun in their late 70s.

 

That's a long way to travel Andy, must have been lovely to see them though.

Will definitely need to try and squeeze in a meetup when I'm down Filey way in May.

 

Absolutely, Al.
Awful shame as they've had both their jabs and we've had our 1st but none of us can take any chances so that was that.
Yes, do give us a heads-up on your dates down in this neck of the woods next month, Al.
We'll see what we can do to get a meet arranged.

 

Heading down on Monday 3rd May then back up the road again on Friday 7th. Have booked a caravan in Filey so just going to go for walks on beaches and drink plenty of Yorkshire Tea while eating plates of scones

Can't beat the North Yorkshire coast for a lovely wee break. Already got a long weekend booked for August 14-17th as well so either are good for me Andy. Fingers crossed planning to also visit Richie on the way back home to pick up a little Arnold...

 

Sounds a plan, Al.
We could maybe meet up in either Filey or Brid one tea time?
We'll have to see what the lifting of lockdown restrictions looks like that 1st week in May and/or wait til August if it denies us ganning for a good old fish n chips tea with some Theakstons ale to wash it down with plus a bucket of Yaarkshire tea afterwards to seal our guts good n proper, mate!
Cheers, Al.
I'm determined to pop in at Richie's as well this year and squeeze a brew out of him too!

 

Bridlington would be good, I'm yet to try the fish and chps there! We'll see how things transpire over the next couple of weeks matey

 

I don't think I've gotten anything new, since my last post, as far as what the community might be interested in.

I'm currently juggling house renovations and maintenance that can't be put off anymore, with my brothers help, also preparing for the new season in lawn and maintenance work, I've had to repair just about all of my equipment after it sat through the winter. I'm still waiting on parts to arrive for a mower and a blower.

I did purchase several new power tools for the business, including a Stihl chainsaw ( and fixed my old one with a new carburator), and Stihl trimmer. Also a plethora of new hand tools. I've double a triple of most machines at this point, but that's needed to make sure you have what you need to get the job done in my business. I also purchased new business shirts and hats and vehicle advertising magnets. A friend in the vinyl window decal business is currently producing company decals for my trucks rear hatch windows.

I've also been busy with actual customer jobs as well. Leaf clean up, tree trimming and brush/junk haul-aways. We did are first lawn and garden mulch job of the season Saturday and tomorrow (Monday) is our first full day of lawn care jobs.

The bottom line is I've been too busy to do much with any of my hobbies at the moment and a rare few minutes every other day or so to check up and post on the forums. Things will steady out to a pace where I'll have a bit of free evening time again, and maybe weekends, but a lot less than I have over the winters, but still a lot as there is still a bunch of home improvement and maintenance and landscaping to be done to my property. But at least the long days of mechanical work fixing all of my business equipment is nearing an end, with only to power machines left to fix. But one of them is a complete re-build with a new cylinder!

My hands have never been more "chewed up" from DIY mechanics in my life!

 

Ruddy hell, Matt.
You have been busy prepping and working up a head of steam for the new growing / gardening season.
Cracking job there all round, mate - certainly, those mitts of yours are getting some hammer!
Take it easy where you can and get in some relaxing Easter hols retro action where possible - you've been missed.

 

@Matt, Glad to see you have business ready and waiting, sort those hands out asap. Keep well and safe me old mate..

@Bazz, shame about bevs lot but it was a correct choice and in this day and age its good to see common sense being used rather than the old 'I do what I like' stuff. Never has 'better safe than sorry' been more true.

@Allan, enjoy the old trip to Yorkshire, been up there a few times due to work (head office in Barnsley) in the past, never saw sunshine though...Lovely place though..

 

It is lovely Paul. If I was giving to live elsewhere in the UK it would be on that coast. Love all the little villages and coastal walks. It's got to the stage now where I thnk my car could probably find it's own way down

 

Me, I'd move to Cornwall or nearby, again like your choice it's all coastal walks and little villages, went there as a kid and didn't appreciate it properly (no fun fairs around me) but when I see it now on TV it looks idyllic but then again I lived in the countryside a fair part of my life and then the city for another chunk, prefer the countryside..

 

There are some lovely walks, country and coastal, in all the areas you mention, fellas: East Yorks/East Riding; Cornwall of course, Scotland - without doubt and also Northumberland around Lindisfarne and Morpeth. The UK has some terrific scenery and areas of natural beauty and it also has...at times, the most unseasonal weather like today's arctic blasts of freezing cold wind! Lol. You've gotta take the rough with the smooth but like you and Al, Paul, I personally don't think you can beat being out and feeling as one with nature/yer other half in the country or by the sea. The city is for shops, stress and strain (endless traffic jams). Fek it. Embrace the fresh air every time and leave the rat race behind etc.

 

Before we came to the city I spent so much time just roaming forests, trails, the odd coast line (rarely) and it was just great, even as a kid I was climbing every tree I could find. If I wasn't doing any of these I was on my bike in the forest all over the place..

In door playing with toys, hardly ever. The only place I didn't like was the River Lagan because it had leeches everywhere..

One of the best walks I did was around the Lake District, through Kendal etc....Just beautiful scenery everywhere..

 

The new piston for my petrol-fueled blower/vaccum arrived today. I mistakenly called it a cylinder yesterday. Hopefully the cylinder is fine, and maybe even the piston, and it just needs a new ring, but I bought the entire piston assembly too, just in case. I can send it back if it's not needed. It's a cute little thing...


I pretty much tore down the entire machine this evening, I'm down to the engine block, but one of the bolts that holds the cylinder block to the manifold is seized so I'm soaking it overnight in hopes of freeing it.

Atari objects are for common size reference.

 

I received the dual-PIA boards and controller I/O boards that go with them from @Graham yesterday. Thanks Graham! I'm very much looking forward to installing them on both my 800 boards and a complete install and new ports in my Incognito 800. I guess I'll finally install the replacement Sophia 2 board in it at the same time. But it will be a bit yet as I'm still busy with the business, remodeling and taking care of the place, my mom and the dogs. So I have some priorities and it may be another couple of weeks or a month before I can really sit down and practice my hobbies again. My room is currently in disarray anyway as I do some repairs and additions to my 'XL Command Center' area that started with my moving all the consoles to the entertainment cabinet in my room to hook up to my projector since I have a screen for it again.


In other news, we now have 5 dogs. Our two Huskies, the blood hound, the Shepard mutt and last week my brother found another abandoned puppy in the woods on our ten acres that we have adopted. She looks like a full-blooded Rottweiler to us, and that's what the dog identifier app on my phone says as well. She is barely weened, with all her puppy teeth still. But we can tell she'll be big soon, like our rescue hound dog, with the hugely over-sized paws for her current body.


In other doggie news, our female Husky, Bella was in heat and mated with Beaux, our other Husky. We had to pull them apart twice when he got stuck in her. But unfortunately, two weeks later, she doesn't appear to be pregnant and my brother wants to get her fixed (she's his dog, Beaux is mine) because he's tired of dealing with keeping her separate from the other males we have. So I guess I'm not going to get a replacement for my Beaux, who is ten years old now. The deed should have been done though, so we think either Bella is underdeveloped as she is a runt of the litter and smaller than normal or Beaux is too old and shooting blanks.

 

That's a great delivery incoming from Graham there, Matt.
I'm sure those I/O boards won't be shooting blanks and it sounds like you've more than got your hands (and paws) full there already, buddy, so maybe just as well you won't be hearing the patter of any more tiny paws...just yet!
All the best with the business and your ongoing works and of course looking after your mam, Matt.
Sounds like you're performing miracles, fella - all credit to you - it will be much appreciated at home and your folks are fortunate to have such a dedicated, caring and skilled guy around to run things so well.
Good on yer, pal and I'm sure we'll all catch up with your retro developments as and when you can get on here, bud.
You take of you, too, in the meanwhile.

 

The next step in my diabolical mad-scientist project to create a mad robot has begun. Since I received the dual-PIA boards from @Graham , I decided it was time to order the first part of my robot; the arm. Though it must be coming from China (ordered off of Amazon) as the delivery date isn't until the last half of June.

So I have plenty of time to install the upgrade in my 800 in preparation and anticipation. It's a 6DOF (degrees of freedom) robot arm that stands just over 18 inches or about 47 centimeters tall. It's equivalent to robot arms averaging $150-200, but I paid less than a $100 since it comes in kit form. It is compatible with Uno Arduino's if I choose to use one or more of those in the project.

The 800 will be the core brain, but I may need some modern hardware for the 800 to "manage" Arduino's and other stuff, though I don't think I'll go as far as Rasberry Pi, etc., but if I do the 800/6502 will manage them at least, to allow the robot to go beyond what the 800 can do itself, even with all the new I/O. I'll use as little support hardware as possible though, and would like it all to remain 8-bit if I can manage it.(overlooking the fact that Fujinet, Incognito and other upgrades technically, IIRC, use 32-bit IC's)

Eventually, along with an 800 board and other sensors, it will be mounted on a chassis which will most likely be "tank" tread style, and to get a decent sized chassis it looks like it will cost at least several hundred dollars. All lower priced ones are far to small. You know it's a small toy and not for a practical-sized robot when dimensions are given in millimeters instead of centimeters or inches...

I'll also be using my 3D printer for small bits and enhancements. For example I've already decided from looking at the picture, that I'll have to design some better and larger surface area grips for the grabber. I'm sure I'll think of other adapters and enhancements I can print as I go along with the whole project. I'll probably print a case for a 400 keyboard I'll get to interface to the 800 board, it will be a detachable keyboard (from the robot), I'm not sure if it will have a cable, or maybe I can make it blue-tooth capable like SIO2BT. Though with the advent of Fujinet since my plans to build a robot, it will most likely have Fujinet, so then I'll have both Wi-fi and BT for communication possibilities and may decide not to have an on-board keyboard at all, and all I/O will be from my 800/1200XL to the robot wire-lessly.

At this point I'm just excited that my project plan is moving on from all talk to actual fruition with Graham's boards and major amounts of technical info to help me learn to use and program the new PIA/SIA I/O to make it all much less a learning curve and a higher quality upgrade than my own DIY board efforts would have been.

 

The Atari 8 bits first Wanking Machine is on the way!!

 

LOL! I don't think I can use the hard plastic filament of the 3D printer to make something acceptable for that type of...thing.