Most liked posts in thread: What's new Pussycat too?

Definitely need at least 2MB of RAM to load some of games off HDD especially ones that needed 1MB on disk. Seems to be the general rule of thumb that you double the RAM needed when running from a hard drive. Exxos’s shop has two versions of 4MB upgrade so will have a think. I think there is a way to disable the onboard RAM by tying some resistors to 5v, I don’t fancy desoldering the original onboard 512KB. It’s a neat little gadget this ACSI2STM. It has a RTC as well as 3 micro SD slots so in theory you could have 9 partitions I think. Loads games in seconds ( Pera’s site has HD ready games to download ) can copy downloaded games from PC to SD Card just by drag and drop.
I was going to get a PiStorm for my Amiga but you’re straying into the realms of emulation and I could have the same performance or better using Amibian on my Pi 3+. So I was looking at Terriblefire Accelerator or ACA500Plus instead but they are not cheap. So that’s for later, I tried to buy an A590 HD yesterday but was outbid sadly so I’ll keep trying.

 

After my latest raid across the border I managed to pick up a few retro goodies. I'm sure either Paul or Andy made a joke about making 5 purchases. Well, I managed it lol



The majority of the above I picked up on the last day or two. So we have from top left clockwise;
1) an Atari ST mug
2) couple of copies of Raid Over Mosco for the Amstrad CPC (that might give a clue to what is going to in the next photo...)
3) Galaga 7800 - I saw this on a Gumtree advert and it was only a 40 mile or so diversion on the way home so just had to go pick it up, good condition box and came complete with manual. One of my Holy Grail titles.
4) F1 for the Megadrive. I didn't realise berfore that this was based on Vroom so had to snap it up when I saw it fully boxed in CEX
5) Striker for the Megadrive, because it's a football game and I love football games
6) a floppy disk created out of bead art
6) Warlords 2600, really chuffed with this as I think it's a great game and although I already had the cart on it's own this was a sealed copy complete with manual. Got it from one of my favourite retro games shops, in Scarborough, for a bargaintastic £8.
7) Saroo SSHD loader - this was something I ordered online from eBay before going on holiday. An SD card solution for the Sega Saturn that plugs into the cartridge slot so you don't need to remove the cd drive or open up the console. So far it has ran everything I've tried and the load speeds are amazing. It also acts as a ram and save cartridge as well as running both import and UK games.
8) North West Computer Museum user guide - on the Holiday Monday I made a trip to this great computer museum about 40 miles from Blackpool. It was amazing. I'll do a seperate post about it when I get a chance as it is worthy of it's own thread.

and now to reveal....


Yes! I managed to get an Amstrad CPC 464 again. This was something I'd been keeping an eye on from eBay and when it hadn't sold I contacted the seller and managed to agree an offer and pick it up near Leeds on the way home. It came with a box load of around 30 games on cassette (belt recently replaced) and the colour monitor. Haven't had a chance to set it up yet, but will give it a good clean and hopefully manage a little play at some point over the weekend.

With all the above it means I spent a little bit more than I really should have so have cancelled my planned trip to Blackpool Play Expo in October but think this lot will keep me busy anyway

 

Brilliant, Al.
You never fail to hit the target on these cross-border raids of yours - another huge success by looks of things! Paul, clearly that Hadrian geezer who you put up to put a wall up with a bit of bish bosh brickying and plastering aint done a very good job has he, pal? He's bleedin letting Al and his retro troops kilt their way through our collections

Eeh, what's he like? Anyhow, I'm gonna start in reverse order - I lurve to see someone splashing out a bit and buying a system and the Amstrad CPC464 all-in-one set-up never fails to impress and I like the back-story too - you were patient, made an offer and picked up on yer way home - you'd done your homework and you deserved that little win with a little beauty you've got there (and 30 games tapes PLUS those Raids Over Moscow should be loading up before very much longer!)

And what else have you got in there - some of it I aint got a clue but get the general gist eg. Saroo and F1/Vroom. So, the former's a Sega Saturn SD card solution - and more and the other is a racing game for the Megadrive? Reet, got it - check point - extended play - Al, select top gear and play yer heart out, my good man. Oh, and Striker too - was this out on the Amiga too? I seem to recall the title... maybe not.

PLUS! Bead art - snazzy and an ST mug and Warlords - a fab 2600 title. Mate, you've done your Xmas shopping early this year - that haul is full of personal treats and why the hell not, I mean what do we work for - just paying bills? I think not - excellent purchases and do tell us more about the Blackpool / North West museum in your next post, mate.

By heck, pal, both you and ya wallet must be...

KNACKERED!?

I know what - brew on, feet oop and get that Amstrad booted THEN relax!

 

You got it, Al.

I'll be there, fella.

You pick Rich up and I'll nip down and pick-up Paul from Ull International... tram shed (we aint got an airport, Paul). We did have then someone ran orf with the runway...

 

Thanks Richie, very kind of you to offer. I'm going to try and pick up an SD card solution though as I am rapidly running out of space with well over 200 original software titles. Have barely been able to look through the box of games that came with the CPC but think there might be closer to 60 tapes.

Is the DDI-5 still the best SD solution for the Arnold?

 

If you want a really good expansion get an M4 from Duke on the CPCWiki group ( WiFi & SD Card )

 

No you would need one of them as well but you can have 30 Rom banks that you can use and switch in and out. You can get a 1MB RAM expansion fairly cheap and then then get a M4 expansion board so you can have several expansions connected at the same time.
I have one of these boards kicking around. I might have a RAM board as well in my spares bin. I’ll have to check.

 

Started to give the 464 a clean and remove the stickers that had been put on the monitor casing. Had time for a quick game of Storm (budget Gauntlet style game) earlier and it's looking and sounding good. Still got another box of tapes to work through but after some research think I'm going to save up for the DDI-5 SD card and memory expansion as it seems to do everything I want with the minimum of fuss. The cave has now reached it's capacity just about!

 

Oh dear Andy, so excited to find a game on the old Oric that you mix it up with a totally different game on another 8bitter

Oric Stormlord looks pretty neat for the system, have you played it? I've not played the CPC version but I did find a video of it on YouTube and it looks a right cracker, very colourful land good chiptune music.

 

No, I'm still to properly engage with this little beauty on the Oric, Al.

It looks a work of art on the CPC464.

Have only watched the You Tube clip a few times and keep saying, like I do with the Klyde's Collection post, I MUST GET ROUND TO DOING THIS ONE DAY!

Unfortunately, right now folks like my uncle Russ need support (his wife still very ill in hossie with a hazy patch on her lungs), as does me mam (less confident, more anxious and doddery by the day) and even uncle Harry relies on his weekly fish n chips courtesy of yours truly making a trip out to his, so there's always somewhere I'm dashing to after work.

As you guys'll know, some days there just aint enough hrs in the day to be a retronaut...

 

Too true Andy, that's why it's nice to be able to jump on here when we do have a bit of time and share our bits and bobs with like minded folks

 

Finally made my way through the bundle of tapes that came along with the CPC 464. Sixty six titles in total including some right gems such as Batman, Rainbow Islands, Harrier Attack, Kane and Storm. Have kept around a dozen titles including the must haves mentioned here and will take the rest along to my local vintage store at the weekend. Want to see if I can find Oh Mummy, 180 Darts, and 3D Death Chase. That will keep me going while I save for the DDI-5 SD card reader.

 

My mate at work was an old Amstrad fanatic back in the late 80s, Al...

His fave choices - Oh Mummy and Harrier Attack! Great bundle you've picked up there.

Enjoy!

 

Managed to get Oh Mummy and 180 Darts at my pals shop today, bargain £1 each. He has a pile of cassette games for the Atari, Speccy, C64 and Acorn.

I also just found out that Deathchase isn't an original eighties Amstrad title. It was only made about 15 years ago so no chance of getting that!

 

Lovely jubbly... any chance of a list of these £1 a pop titles,Al? I might be interested in 1 or 5?!

 

I'll probably be down in the next week or so, will take a few photos and send them to you Andy, no problem.

 

Cheers, Al.
Many thanks in advance.

 

My visit to the North West Computer Museum a couple of weeks and its collection of 80/90's beige PC's with chunky IBM keyboards and mice made me yearn a bit for the old days.... so a couple of weeks later and I have added a couple of new bits to my PC at home.



The keyboard is from Periboard, one I've had my eye on for a while and heard good reports about. As well as nailing the aesthetic it has a good clicky sounding key action. Mouse is from a brand you may or may not know, Cherry. It's fully optical but also old school enough that it comes with a usb to ps/2 adaptor

Also on the way but not quite here yet are a set of Creative speakers to finish the look. What do you guys think?

My lovely Trust Mechanical gaming keyboard and mouse are sitting spare at the moment but will make a great swap-in for when I feel like a change agaiin.

 

Yeah, that little set-up has got Old School writ large all ovver it, Al - nice work, fella!
Yes, Cherry are well known for their keyboards but never heard of a Cherry mouse before but one had to come along some time soon

TRUST you to nail both, mate.

Well done.

Show us the full kaboodle, when yer ready, Al - like you, I love the old solid and clicky key sound feedback - when keyboards where PROPER keyboards (and blokes knew where they were and the gals were glad of it!!).

Eeeeh, I'll just dig mesen a deeper hole before I get me coat and sod off owt of it!



I'm thinking of summat like this for Al's PC workstation, resplendent running Win 3.1 with a good ol clunky CRT too - if not, I'll be seriously disappointed

 

I was thinking of maybe something like that Andy. Got an old 14" CRT svga monitor in storage so all I'd need is a beige tower and I would be in clover. What I'd really like though is a proper old style IBM PC XT base unit and montior. They go for silly money nowadays though. I suppose the PC usually sits out of the way though so not as important maybe as the contact points of keyboard and mouse.

Right, I'm off to download a copy of Dosbox and Wolfenstein.....

 

Had a couple of retro related items arrive into the cave this week

Latest issue of Pixel Addict is looking good. Lots of interesting little articles as usual. Really enjoy this magazine.

Shareware Heroes book I heard about on a podcast somewhere. Looks quite text heavy and slanted towards America but should be an interesting read nonetheless.

The N64 Visual Compendium is the latest in the series from Bitmap Books. The quality is top notch as usual with lots of lovely screenshots, mini reviews and some more in-depth articles.

The Atari Gamepad is the CX78+ controller for the Atari 2600+ (works on the original 2600 and 7800 consoles as well). My old pad was getting a bit sticky so this arrived just in time and they have done a great job with it, feels just like the original but slightly better perhaps on the d-pad itself. Got quite a kick from opening up a new Atari accessory!

Lastly the wooden Atari Games and 2600 signs were laser etched on wood by a good friend of mine. He is trying out some designs for a new business and thought he would surprise me. Cool guy that he is




I suppose my 'new' Amstrad green screen monitor should be included as well but I won't pick that up from Andy until later in the summer lol. Apart from that I'm bidding on a boxed copy of Video Olympics for the 2600 and still looking at SD devices for the Amstrad 464....

 

Some tasty retro treats there, Al, and boy you work hard for em battling away in the NHS (National Hardware Section).

That Pixel Addict release with the ELITE articles looks damn good and I also like the look of your new Atari gamepad which I know you will get a LOT of use out of and certainly won't be sat there gathering dust.

Mate, yep, yer green screen CT64 monitor is all boxed and ready for you and with a bit of luck you'll have it on your next visit down.

I've got some new bits to reveal but am struggling at the mo with me hayfever and available time/energy but will reveal some tasty titbits like Al for weekend... all being well

Oh, and don't mention ENGLAND's lacklustre performances of late - I am sure the retro England team will be spinning on their Subbuteo bases Utter garbage and I've watched more interesting grass growing contests. Unlucky Scotland - Al, your boys deserved better, should've had a pen against those Hungarians but in the end were found wanting in the striking dept. Unlucky lads...

 

Looking forward to your relevations Andy... Always good fun to see new (or old) stuff so please post some pics at the weekend if you get a chance mate

I will also take some pictures of the 1050 and 1029 in the next couple of days for you, sorry about the delay in that.

 

Heaven only knows, Paul, re the 1029 ribbons but if I do recall, they were the same as something like a Seikosha GP100 and they manufactured 100,000s of them so there might be some NOS lying around... somewhere. No worries whatsoever, Al. Those peripherals still do look attractive on display so don't blame you wanting them still and hoping to get a new set-up, up and running and doing a real cool show and tell with em, as it were.
Good luck with the new retro computer desk acquistion and display and of course in the future, when you are ready to wave em goodbye, I'm likely to be still more than interested, mate.
Lovely pics btw, you should be a retro computer photo journalist, you've missed yer calling, Al, and I loved Paul's stories printing out virtual Print Shop (great software by Broderbund) banners with HAPPY BOFFDAY and cakes and stuff on - I used to love all that dot matrix banner fun too back in the day - nice one, fellas.
Enjoy, your retro computing guys - you never fail to raise a smile on this old fart's fizzer!

 

Thanks guys, ribbon leads much appreciated. I do have a NOS for it so will need to give it a try once I get things all set up. Your name is still top of the list if I can't make the retro space work though Andy. In the meantime I'm going to take a look at the printer emulation under Altirra, that sounds interesting!