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[Z80Guy]

I ive in Missouri and was wondering if there are any known sources for Commodore 128(D) stuff around this area ?

Also was wondering if there are any places on the internet that I can order from (besides Ebay, got burned alot there), I need a ram upgrade kit and a 1571 Disk drive (still using a 1541).

Also need to know if there are any places to get blank 5.25 media and an assembler package of somkind.

well that is all the questions I have, sorry if they seem like a lot of dumb questions but most of my internet searches take me to a lot of dead ends or ebay.

Z80guy

[RobertB]

I live in Missouri and was wondering if there are any known sources for Commodore 128(D) stuff around this area ?

The nearest source for you would be the Cincinnati Commodore Computer Club.

Also was wondering if there are any places on the internet that I can order from (besides Ebay, got burned alot there), I need a ram upgrade kit...

alee650 on eBay sells VDC ram upgrades, if that is what you want.  I have never been burned by alee650 in the few times I've used eBay for C= stuff.

...and a 1571 Disk drive (still using a 1541).

Our club has extra 1571 drives.

Also need to know if there are any places to get blank 5.25 media...

There is the Los Angeles company that Andrew Wiskow refers to, the company that has N.O.S. disks.  What's the name of that company again, Andrew?

...and an assembler package of some kind.

Depends on what you want.  A list of assemblers is at

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[Andrew Wiskow]

Also need to know if there are any places to get blank 5.25 media...

There is the Los Angeles company that Andrew Wiskow refers to, the company that has N.O.S. disks.  What's the name of that company again, Andrew?

Athana is the name of the company in the L.A. area, but they don't sell "New Old Stock", they still manufacture new 3.5", 5.25", and even 8" disks in many varieties.  I have purchased disks from Athana, and they are very good quality, and none have failed on me. Check out this page for more info: http://www.athana.com/html/diskette.html

The $100 minimum order that they list on their site no longer applies. Apparently, they haven't updated their site for a while. As for current prices, all you need to do is contact them via e-mail or phone, and ask what the current price is on what you want. I did ask them if they manufacture orders as they come in, or if the disks they sell are manufactured in bulk and then sitting around for a long time. They said that they do, in fact, manufacture orders as they come in, so you can be sure that what you buy from them is "fresh".

Here's some information that may be useful... Current as of the last time I ordered from them (a couple years ago):

The name of the company is ATHANA International, Inc.

Their address is:
24045 Frampton Ave.
Harbor City, CA 90710, U.S.A.

Phone: 800-421-1591 or 310-539-7280
Fax: 310-539-6596
Website: http://www.athana.com/

The disks I found that are ideal for Commodore use are part number 47-7501, which come in an ATHANA box, or part number 47-7501G, which come in a plain white box. These are 5.25 Inch Diskettes DD (Double Sided, Double Density), Unformatted, 48 TPI (Soft Sector). Minimum order is for 2 boxes; each box contains 10 disks. Cost for 2 - 5 boxes is $7.95 each, plus freight. Cost for 6 - 10 boxes is $7.75 each, plus freight. Bulk orders of 500 disks or more are $0.52 per disk. Cost of freight varies, but as an example, I was told that an order of 5 boxes shipped via UPS ground would have a freight charge of $5.25. For any further details, you can call them or e-mail info@athana.com.

I haven't bought any of the 3.5" DSDD disks from them yet, but I'm sure they are just as good as the 5.25" disks they make.  I'm not sure on the price they charge for them, but like I said, all you have to do is ask them.

[RobertB]

...they don't sell "New Old Stock", they still manufacture new 3.5", 5.25", and even 8" disks in many varieties.

Ah, my mistake.  Hmm, I wonder if they have quad-density 5.25" inch disks needed for PET 8050 drives.

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[Andrew Wiskow]

Ah, my mistake.  Hmm, I wonder if they have quad-density 5.25" inch disks needed for PET 8050 drives.

I think you're thinking of the 8250 and 8250lp, not the 8050.  But yes, those are the Athana part # 47-8801 (Double Sided, Double Density, 96 TPI).  That's what you'd need for the 8250 or SFD-1001 drives.  "Quad Density" isn't really what they're called (I think someone just made up that term at one point and the name just stuck).  The difference is in the tracks per inch.  Regular double density disks, such as those used on a 1541 or 1571, are 48 TPI, and those used on the 8250 and SFD-1001 drives are 96 TPI.  But they're both technically double density.

[RobertB]

I think you're thinking of the 8250 and 8250lp, not the 8050.  But yes, those are the Athana part # 47-8801 (Double Sided, Double Density, 96 TPI).  That's what you'd need for the 8250 or SFD-1001 drives.  "Quad Density" isn't really what they're called (I think someone just made up that term at one point and the name just stuck).

With all the PET stuff I picked up on Saturday -- 5 PETs, 3 8050 drives, motherboards, keyboards, boxes of books, manuals, and schematics -- I'll double-check that quad-density reference.

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[Andrew Wiskow]

With all the PET stuff I picked up on Saturday -- 5 PETs, 3 8050 drives, motherboards, keyboards, boxes of books, manuals, and schematics -- I'll double-check that quad-density reference.

After double-checking the info on this page on Bo Zimmerman's site, I think you're right.  Both the 8050 and 8250 drives appear to use the "quad density" disks.  But the 8050 formats the disks single-sided, and the 8250 formats disks double-sided.  So on the 8050, you'll get 512K per disk, and on the 8250, you'll get a full megabyte per disk, just like the SFD-1001.

[RobertB]

So on the 8050, you'll get 512K per disk, and on the 8250, you'll get a full megabyte per disk, just like the SFD-1001.

I've never seen a 8250.  Now what did I do with that SFD-1001 around here? 

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[Andrew Wiskow]

I've never seen a 8250. 

The only 8250 and 8250lp I've ever "seen" are the ones on the page I linked to earlier on Bo Zimmerman's website.  But I've never seen either of those two "in person".  Until yesterday, I'd never seen an 8050 "in person"...  Until you showed me the one in the trunk of your car, Robert. 

[RobertB]

Until you showed me the one in the trunk of your car, Robert. 

It's still there in the trunk of the car, along with two more 8050s, two PETs, and 3 as-yet-unidentified PET motherboards.  Now all I have to do is find another temporary place to store them. 

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[BigDumbDinosaur]

I think you're thinking of the 8250 and 8250lp, not the 8050.  But yes, those are the Athana part # 47-8801 (Double Sided, Double Density, 96 TPI).  That's what you'd need for the 8250 or SFD-1001 drives.  "Quad Density" isn't really what they're called (I think someone just made up that term at one point and the name just stuck).  The difference is in the tracks per inch.  Regular double density disks, such as those used on a 1541 or 1571, are 48 TPI, and those used on the 8250 and SFD-1001 drives are 96 TPI.  But they're both technically double density.

Andrew is correct.  Quad density was a made-up name, which really should have been applied to the PC-AT "high density" style 5 inch disk (which was spun at 360 RPM instead of the more common 300 RPM).  The DSDD 96 TPI disks are correct for the 8x50 and SFD-1001.  Used a lot of them back in the day before I went with the Lt. Kernal.

[RobertB]

Used a lot of them back in the day before I went with the Lt. Kernal.

That reminds me to get more cooling into my Lt. Kernal after hearing Andrew tell how his Lt. Kernal burned up.

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[airship]

I loved the SFD-1001 I had on my C128 at INFO. I could write tons of stuff and then go read/copy them on the 8250 we had hooked up to one of our B128s. If I got a high-capacity drive today, I think I'd prefer the 8250 so I could make copies and do other dual-drive work. But the SFD-1001 was really cool because it looked exactly like a 1541. You could put one in the drive stack and it would just blend in. You really need a bunch of real estate for an 8250.


SFD-1001


8250

Handy Web Reference for PET Hardware: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/pet/index.htm

[RobertB]

I loved the SFD-1001 I had on my C128 at INFO. I could write tons of stuff and then go read/copy them on the 8250 we had hooked up to one of our B128s.

Thanks for telling us more about behind-the-scenes at INFO.

If I got a high-capacity drive today, I think I'd prefer the 8250 so I could make copies and do other dual-drive work.

I'll have to be satisfied with two 1571s/81s/FD-2000s/MSD dual-drive. 

But the SFD-1001 was really cool because it looked exactly like a 1541. You could put one in the drive stack and it would just blend in.

The SFD-1001 is just slightly longer than a 1541.

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