Modern 128 Expander

[airship]

Beautiful! I'd never even heard of the VIC-1010, but a Google search yielded this page over on Bo Zimmers's site. He also mentions the VIC-1020 (below), which had the expansion bus inside a metal case, so it was even bigger!



http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/x1020.html

Apparently both were strictly 220v items, so they never released a model in the states.

The closest we ever got for the C64/128 were the various cartridge port expanders from Aprotek, Navaronne, etc.

[Golan Klinger]

Even though my VIC-20 collection is limited, I managed to pickup this VIC-1010 expansion module yesterday in great condition.

I am *really* jealous. I've been trying to find a VIC-1010 for quite some time now.

[Mangelore]

Even though my VIC-20 collection is limited, I managed to pickup this VIC-1010 expansion module yesterday in great condition.

I am *really* jealous. I've been trying to find a VIC-1010 for quite some time now.

I'll keep an eye out for another one for you. However, it wasn't cheap. I'm embarrassed to say how much I paid for it, but it was in such a good condition I couldn't resist.

[airship]

Don't worry. We've all been there. :/

[Golan Klinger]

I'll keep an eye out for another one for you.

Cheers.

However, it wasn't cheap. I'm embarrassed to say how much I paid for it, but it was in such a good condition I couldn't resist.

We've all been there. Fess up, how much? The upside is they're worth a pretty penny and no matter what you paid, there's someone who is willing and able to pay more so if you ever sell it, it's likely you'll make money. Crazy world.

[swordfish1030]

Any chance of adding a few more USB ports to that? After all, it still is in the pre-production stage

[airship]

:::::::BIG HUGE MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT:::::::

We're just about ready to go into pre-pre-pre-production on these incredible C128 Expanders ('we' meaning me and my partner Payton, of course). Deposits will be $10,000 each, but we're only taking a LIMITED NUMBER of pre-pre-pre-orders. Like maybe 1000 or so. Remember, custom circuit boards and injection-molded plastic cases cost a LOT of money!

So go out and promote this thing in all the Commodore chat rooms, and encourage people to PayPal us their deposits soon. And don't miss out yourself, or you'll hate yourself when the first tiny lot of barely-working hand-soldered beta units of this Really Cool Thing is sold out and no more can be made for various inscrutable reasons!

Our production timetable will be 'whenever we get around to it', as we both have day jobs. And there will be the inevitable 'feature creep', too, of course, which will cause redesigns and production delays. As time drags on, our email addresses will change frequently to avoid your inquiries. When we fail to produce any tangible product after a year or two, please feel free to complain about broken promises in the same chat rooms where you initially promoted it.

Hey, at least you've got to admit that we're more honest than MOST of those guys with pie-in-the-sky project plans that never materialize!

 -- Sorry to drag you along with this post, Payton. I just couldn't help myself!

[Guest]

Drag along?  That was freaking hilarious!  Although I was serious about needing to win the Lottery as I'd actually hire Bil Herd's company to build this thing if I could afford it.

[Mangelore]

I'll keep an eye out for another one for you.

Cheers.

However, it wasn't cheap. I'm embarrassed to say how much I paid for it, but it was in such a good condition I couldn't resist.

We've all been there. Fess up, how much? The upside is they're worth a pretty penny and no matter what you paid, there's someone who is willing and able to pay more so if you ever sell it, it's likely you'll make money. Crazy world.

Well, I ended up paying AUS $150 for it... yes, crazy I know... but at the same time I managed to sell a 1581 drive for a similar amount. So, in the end it was like swapping a 1581 for it....

[Golan Klinger]

Actually, that's not bad. I would have paid that much in the blink of an eye.

[airship]

Sure beats the $10,000 the C128 expander is going to cost you!

And here's some MORE GOOD NEWS about the C128 Expander Project! I read a post on an online forum somewhere that they were talking with BIL HERD and he was ON BOARD to design and build it! I wish I could remember where I read that!!! :förvånad:

[swordfish1030]

I'll keep an eye out for another one for you.

Cheers.

However, it wasn't cheap. I'm embarrassed to say how much I paid for it, but it was in such a good condition I couldn't resist.

We've all been there. Fess up, how much? The upside is they're worth a pretty penny and no matter what you paid, there's someone who is willing and able to pay more so if you ever sell it, it's likely you'll make money. Crazy world.

Well, I ended up paying AUS $150 for it... yes, crazy I know... but at the same time I managed to sell a 1581 drive for a similar amount. So, in the end it was like swapping a 1581 for it....

Have any more working 1581's laying around?:cool:

[Golan Klinger]

Have any more working 1581's laying around?:cool:

You really shoudd go to ECCC. The same guy that has the Super Snapshots has 1581 drive kits.

[airship]

Hey! Be quiet about the 1581 kits! I'm going to ECCC and I hope to score two of them!

By the way, I've picked up three of the proper 1581 drives over the last few weeks at my local computer recycler for $3-$5 each. Even if only one or two of them works, I'm still going to come out way ahead of buying a 1581 on eBay, which might work questionably anyway.

Between my two local computer recyclers, I've also purchased 3 C64s, 3 C64 power supplies, 11 1541 drives, a $40 PC to use as a C128 file server using 64HDD, and a 360K 5 1/4" PC drive for file transfers, all at dirt cheap prices. Everything has worked pretty well: 4 of the 1541s were out of alignment, and one has a bad ALPS drive though the board is good. I also got 2 bad CIA chips in my C64s. The first 5 1/4" PC drive I got didn't work, but they let me trade it for one that did. Oh, and for $50 I got a KVM switch and two cables so that I could run my XP box and my C128 server on the same keyboard, mouse, and monitor. If you're handy around hardware, for the money buying recycled is a tremendous bargain. And I think I've finally got them trained to email me first when they get Commodore stuff in - they HATE packing and shipping for eBay sales!

So check out your local recycler. Keep Commodore stuff from going to the chipper/shredder!

[swordfish1030]

managed to score any GOOD 5.25 floppies? and a dick notcher... I need both..

Wish I had a store nearby like you have..

[swordfish1030]

oops forgot to mention I did the vid test and the Rom test on my C128.. I have the last version of both and the vid is 64k..
you seem to know more then I on this.. when did they switch them to 64k video

[airship]

I'll bet you DO have a computer recycler somewhere within driving distance. It seems to be THE startup business of the 21st century. I didn't know about the two in my area until a friend told me about them. The university here also regularly has sales of old equipment. Though they don't have Commodore stuff (obviously), they do have drives, old PCs (for 64HDD or to strip for drives and other parts), monitors, printers, interesting lab stuff that hooks up via serial or parallel, cables, stands, etc. And they all work just fine with my CBM stuff.

I bought 100 sealed 'white box' military surplus 5 1/4" floppy disks on eBay for about $15, shipping included. They work great! Don't ever buy any that aren't still sealed in plastic. 20 years of exposure to air will rust away just about any disk. Though I've got some floppies that have been lying around that long that still work, I bought a pack of 25 'new' disks that weren't sealed, and though the disks looked good they all had fine rust powder in their envelopes and would not work at all.

I managed to score TWO disk notchers on eBay for $15. I thought I was only buying one of them, so when two showed up, I was pleasantly surprised. Too bad you're not going to ECCC, I could bring the spare along for you. -- Trying to provide more incentive for you to attend.

If you have 64K of VDC RAM in a FLAT C64, you got a VERY late model. I've never seen one that had it, though I've read that they did. Does anyone have a serial number range for this?

[Guest]

I would venture a guess that he actually got a modded 128.  I remember back around 1990-1991 that was THE thing to do with a flat 128.

[airship]

It's still THE thing to do with a flat C128, Payton. It was the first thing I did when I got mine.

But you're right - it's much  more likely to have the CLD board in it, or a homemade hack, than it is to be a late-late-late model flat C128 with factory-original 64K VDC RAM.

[airship]

I've been thinking about your whole 'if I won the lottery' scenario, Payton, and I'm not sure...

If I won the lottery I think I'd buy the rights to the C-One, Retro Replay, RR-Net, MMC64, IDE64, and whatever other cool hardware I could track down. Then I'd hire Jeri Ellsworth, Bil Herd, Dave Haynie, and some of the best demo coders and have them put together a small form factor 65816-based machine that could be built into a laptop. It would, of course, have to have rock-solid C128 and C64 cores with SuperCPU and RAMlink compatibility, as well as PET, VIC-20, Plus/4, C65, Atari, Apple, NES, Atari 2600, etc. cores.

Then I'd have them work on the C128 expander as their second project.

[Guest]

As an owner of a C-One I'd have to respectfully disagree about hiring Jeri.

[Golan Klinger]

As an owner of a C-One I'd have to respectfully disagree about hiring Jeri.

Robert should be along momentarily to explain that nothing is Jeri's fault and Jens is Satan incarnate.

[airship]

I don't think there's any disagreement that she's brilliant on 8-bit stuff. The only problem I see is that there's some contention that she (a) didn't deliver what she promised, and (b) didn't finish what she did deliver. Because of the 'brilliant' part, I think she'd be a great addition to the team. Because of the 'unreliable' part, there would have to be others who were willing to to clean up and finish her work.

CAVEAT: I do not personally know Jeri or Jens or anyone else involved in the C-One project. All I knows is what I reads on the InterTubes.

And I'd still love to own a C-One, finished or not. What I keep wondering is, if Jeri didn't deliver then why can't Jens find someone to finish the thing? Or is Jeri so very brilliant that she's irreplaceable?

[Guest]

I'll sell you my C-One.  I've been holding out for a core to make it into an IEC file server, but that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon.  The C-One's motherboard is too big for a small-footprint IEC file server and mini-ITX + 64HDD would make it irrellevant anyways.

Here's the link to a web album of pictures of my C-One before I painted the case black:

Payton's C-One

[RobertB]

As an owner of a C-One I'd have to respectfully disagree about hiring Jeri.

As an owner of a C-One, I'd have to respectfully disagree with Payton.  (Hey, Payton, you had your chance to talk to Jeri personally at the Vintage Computer Festival East and get the story.)  As an owner of C64 DTVs, I know that when Jeri is given the *resources* and the *leeway* to build what she needs to build, she will finish her project and deliver.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug