Lost auctions or over payed auctions

Posted on 28 December 2017 by Frank

Probably every collector will remember the  buying disasters. Paying up simply too much, or getting something for a working price which does not pass the powering up test 🙂 Or just not getting something because the offer wasn’t right.

Well here’s mine…

Robtek Gamekiller.

I wanted this cartridge for my collection, had two of them non-boxed, so when one appeared boxed on Marktplaats I paid 26,95 postage included. It was the box and the cartridge itself…but no manual. Seems that people were watching the final pricing and offering for this item, within one week multiple appeared, one boxed with manual. This time I paid 35 to collect it, with two games on tape and a gun (see below). So now i had 4 cartridges, two boxed, one manual and spend i guess 40 euro’s on the Robtek.

Tried to sell the two cartridges without box, with no luck. And sold the one boxed for 15 euro. In the end i did pay I think a bit too much for a boxed one. I saw them later on eBay for 11 pound.

Commodore set and Videopack G7000.

I had the bright idea to post a request on a certain general selling group on Facebook that i was looking for anything Commodore related. I got myself a nice boxed 1541-II in good state for 25 euro, which is ok. Another guy had a cardboard box full of tapes, a Commodore 64 breadbox and a Videopack G7000. He wasn’t sure about the working state.  I did a quick check what a G7000 would be worth (plenty available and around 50 euro), so I offered 85 euro. Well i got my deal: a non working G7000 and a non working C64, later breadbox model (repairing will mean soldering).

So…in the end i practically had a small box full of tapes with games, most of the original inlays missing etc. I saved them for a later moment for testing.

Since this happens a lot (i still have about 12 C64’s waiting on repairs….) I have decided I need a mini monitor just “for on the road testing”. Still figuring out what i should order at Alibaba and how to connect a C64 on VGA. I watched some blog articles from the Nightfall crew, and he/they use a small, i think, 10″ monitor for repairs. And that perfect to take with you whenever you need to pick up something which hasn’t been confirmed ok!

Fischer technik

I saw and add in Belgium, the guy was selling a complete Fischer Technik set, 4 boxes, including the interface for the Commodore 64. Guess these opportunities won’t come by  very often, but i was too unsure to know at what bid I should start. My opening bid of 75 was probably way too low…and the pack was sold for a unknown price. Would have to love to add this to the collection. Problem with collecting is, that your are never quit sure about pricing and availability.

Koala pad & light pen

There was one available last September, fully boxed, try to get it by direct offering instead of bidding. In the end i went to another happy owner for 75 euro. Quit a lot of money, but not sure if i should have let i pass by.

Simon’s or Simons’ Basic Cartridge

In the beginning during collecting a found a webpage here in Holland, with some Commodore stuff for sale.  There was a Final Cartridge III and Simon’s Basic with a book. I think it was 4th time i bought some Commodore stuff and i didn’t have them. Paid a whopping 53 euro for all, shipping included. Well, I think i overpaid a little bit.

The Simon’s basic cartridge is like a plaque over here, something even worst than a Power cartridge 🙂

Now I’ve got about 8…besides the two I keep for my collection. Tried to sell them all at once, but there is simply no one interested in them.

Someone pointed out that there seems to be two different cartridge writing of the name : Simon’s and Simons’. Seems that with the first release it was not clear if it was the surname or lastname of the guy who wrote the software. Well, i got both at least, whoop whoop!.

 

 

 

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Silver board repair (KU-14194HB) Part 1

Posted on 28 December 2017 by Frank

In the last months i bought some sets of Commodore stuff which both contained, to my surprise,  a silver label with a KU board. One of them was working except the SID (and had a rainbow label, probably due to an RMA repair with the power connector). In both cases i had my car loaded with boxes with stuff and paid about 180 euro for each load.

Both are registered at the c64 preservation project now.

The first silver was not working and showed the following screen, first i thought this might be a VIC issue or the clock generator, but comparison with screen shots from The Pictorial C64 Fault Guide did make it looks like a leaking capacitor problem.

I asked for some feedback on Facebook and it seems that these KU boards quit often have leaky capacitors, especially C107 en C108 near the VIC. So i needed to remove the cover of the shielding box where the VIC is located…to find out that some capacitor is soldered against it 🙁

I checked with the other KU board, to find out there was not capacitor at that location. Seems that i’ve got a REV.A and a REV.B board…which is kinda cool, if it’s important to you 😉

Now i’m quit afraid what i will find after opening it. Will desolder that cap this evening, remove the box. Check C107 and C108, remove them…clean up and i dearly hope no damage is done beneath  the capacitors. Second I need to do some continuity tests on all traces beneath there…or even repair them. Solder in some new caps (get them today)…and fire it up again. Hopefully that’s the only issue with this board. Oh…and i should not forget to solder back the capacitor which was connected to the shield!

To be continued.

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Assembly64 – keeping your SD2IEC up2date

Posted on 27 December 2017 by Frank

One of the first things i bought for my Commodore this year was a SD2IEC and the Epyx Fastload Reloaded cartridge. Use if for the occasional game playing and to bypass the awful loading times with traditional tape and disk. I ordered it from the webshop from the Future Was 8Bit. Later on i got myself the Easyflash cartridge 3 from Retro Innovations. Now I use a second flash card to load images to the Easyflash cartridge, using it for games as well, loading cartridge images, kernels and test tools. Perfect toolset for your Commodore!

 

If you want to keep up to date with all game and tool sets available, you can use the Assembly 64. If you donate you can get even more handy functionality available, just create an account and select what game or tool sets you want to update on your flashcard. Handy!

 

 

 

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Powerplay set Commodore 64 for sale, sadly incomplete

Posted on 27 December 2017 by Frank

Today, on tweedehands.be, a Powerplay box…contacted the seller but the games and joystick are missing. It’s only the box and the C64c itself. I guess that is the difference between 50 and 150 euro or even more. Seller is moving out of his house, his kids are over 40 now and left along time ago. He found this unit when clearing his house.

This set was released in 1990 on the German market, and it is rather rare if you can get your hands on a complete set. Decided not to buy this box, because in the end it will probably quit impossible to get the set complete, which is a shame.

 

The set is well documented on Retroport.

 

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The Final Cartridge

Posted on 26 December 2017 by Frank

The Final Cartridge is, next to the Powercartridge, probably the best known cartridge in the Netherlands. If i recall correctly, i had one of these back then, not quit sure. But in the three months of collecting now, i managed to get some of the different versions of this cartridge.

Seems that in all the FC population it’s quit easy to find the III or the I, but not the II. As far as i am told, the II should be the blue one. Which i have, but not with the sticker on it. As I’ve read the initial version was available as 80K or 96K ram available, i have at least both and not quit sure what other versions are available. As i was told, back then, it was possible to add some features to the cartridge on seller’s request?

The other thing I am looking for was how the FC III was boxed, in the Netherlands and abroad. It is quit impossible to find any photo’s at all, there are from the cartridge and manuals, but not boxed. I asked around on Facebook groups with no success. It seems quit  mysterious exactly how this one was packaged then 🙂 . I might find out soon, since in week 1 of 2018 I’ll be picking up a set in Zoetermeer, bought that one in Belgium and the previous owner will drop it off at family. Thanks Monika and Jean-Pierre. The photos published on the marketplace mentioned a FC III and what it looks like it a small green box hidden behind the rest of the set. I might be lucky, not quit sure.

Anyway, currently in possession:

Within three months of collection i had:

  • three dutch manuals FC III (with some differences in text/pages), left corner
  • cardboard sheet, middle, unclear where it came from
  • two english manuals FC III (with some differences in text/pages), right corner
  • three FC III (yellow, green sticker), on the right, difference in sticker Tasc b.v. and the other one Riska H.P. Computer
  • two FC I, one 80kb ram, the other one 96k
  • manual FC I, in the middle
  • manual FC II/difference with the FC I, included a letter from Riska H.P. Computer (left corner)

 

Still looking for a boxed FC III and the FC II with sticker, or any bootleg FC 🙂

Did you know: the FC II does not work with the SD2IEC drive, the FC III. This is due to the lack of implemented fastload algorithms in the SD2IEC (well probably the FC I won’t work either then. You can actually execute load and followed by run commands, but after the run simply nothing happens). Thanks to facebook, Stormidis Lordios.

 

 

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Shopping list 2018

Posted on 26 December 2017 by Frank

For 2018 i will be shopping for:

Looking forward to play with these goodies…just need to find time 😉

Would love to find the clear housing from the original Kickstarter project. Sometimes you’ll find them on Ebay…but you must be willing to pay up for those 🙁

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Expert Cartridge Cat&Korsh and Trilogic

Posted on 25 December 2017 by Frank

Back in the days I got myself an Expert Cartridge, after a long period of orientating this one was the most promising and packed with all kind of features. I was truly fascinated by everything you could do with it, and probably understood half of it 😉

I got myself the Expert Cartridge from  Cat & Korsh, besides the Final Catridge.

In the end,  guess early nineties, I  sold my whole Commodore collection including the cartridges.  Everything, except  my own program disks and the utility disk of the Expert Cartridge (which renders the cartridge rather unusable for the new owner….sorry about that)

 

That floppy disk is the one of two things ever survived from my childhood set. The other one was a book, “64 Intern” from Data Becker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last November noticed on an Belgium marketplace the Trilogic version of the Expert cartridge.

Obvious the disks are not original, and I am not quit sure if this version shouldn’t have come with a tape or with disk(s). I made an offer of 30 euro and the seller gladly agreed.  I think that any – almost complete – working and boxed cartridge is worth between 15-30 euro’s. Well, that said, next day, somebody offered 50 euro.  But the seller kept his word, a gentleman’s agreement and a week later I received my package. Thanks Rob from Robbie’s Toystore.

Tested both disks with no success…still have to try them in another drive, or otherwise I  will replace them with downloadeed D64 images which I’ll copy to new disks. Would be nice if the original disks were still there…but then again, after 30 years i wonder how many units are still complete and functional!

I am not quit sure if Trilogic licensed the product to Cat&Korsh back then, or just sold the product to them.  At least nice to have both versions, working and with the original packaging.

 

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Selling a C64c boxed & warranty

Posted on 25 December 2017 by Frank

December 2017

I often buy complete sets just to get one or two things to keep. Probably to only way nowadays to extend a collection. And all those sets which i need to sell pile up in my study…until enough is enough. Some of them i do open, check for earlier repairs, remove dust etc. And i always test them on my Commodore 1702 monitor,, run tests with a game cartridge and the dead test cartridge. I test the disk drives, and use a power save between the power supply and the actual commodore. If all ok, we’re good to go and will take some pictures and put the on Marktplaats.

So i had this one for sale. Not the nicest one, but it needed to go. It was quit busy on Martktplaats with a lot of C64’s offered. Set included a bit yellowed C64c, datasette, powercartridge and a lot of tapes. The C64 was boxed.

Sold it for 55 euro to Martin from Zuid-Holland. He came to collect the set two weeks ago and we had some nice conversations. Same evening i got an call that sound was not working…..and i was for sure that this one was tested…requested to disconnect the power supply immediately.

So….what to do. I do sell over 30 year old computers, but i was sure this one was working. Was it just bad luck? Decided to offer to come over, had some spare C64c boards and would just replace one. Sort of guaranty when i sell something (hopefully it doesn’t happen too often).

Anyway, Martin was in the following days nearby and offered to come by. Perfect. His 64C on the test cartridge and on the monitor…all tests successful. His setup was directly on the television, so we tested with the RF connector…and sound was failing. Ok. It seems there is an additional test i should do before i ship out an C64!. Replaced that board for a good one, tested again and perfectly working.

Further investigation of the board we noticed some soldering repairs on the RF unit. It seems that it was either removed for repairs or the RF unit was replaced by a “functional” one. The issue is within the RF unit, or is related to the soldering.

When i have the time i start with re-soldering the RF unit, maybe re-flowing the soldering it might be fixed. Otherwise i have to trace the audio signal. It goes through the RF unit to both the signal for TV and monitor, and since the audio is correctly working for the monitor. This one will take some time to repair i guess.

Martin bought some cable and a bit yellowed 1541-II drive as well for 20 euro’s.

Funny thing is. I was trying to get a nice C64C early version (breadbin board) from Marktplaats. I was the highest bidder and bidding was quiet for some days. I have one already, but yellowed and with a built in reset button, was looking to replace it for a better looking boxed one. I told him enthusiastically that i was trying to get that one…the next bidding started again, to my surprise it was Martin 🙂 He didn’t realized that it was the unit i was telling him about. Weird but of course a free market 😉 In the end bidding stopped, but it seemed that this one was already sold. Shame. Would be nice to have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Keyboard repair SX-64

Posted on 25 December 2017 by Frank

Some of the keys on the SX were not working,  and i couldn’t test anything. Since i was not quit familiar with the internals i started first to look if you can actually get any replacement keyboards. Getting another keyboard is like buying a whole new working or broken SX. Absolutely difficult to get one, unless you probably have a good personal network with other collectors.

As always google is your friend. There are some manuals on dismantling the keyboard and cleaning it. In my case it could be one of the following I guess.

  • dirty keyboard, or broken keyboard
  • I/O board not correctly stuck in the main board
  • CIA chips issues
  • Failing keyboard cable external
  • Failing keyboard cable internal
  • Failing connectors

I started with cleaning the keyboard, which is not quit so easy and a delicate job. There is a tiny membrane in site..which is stuck on the keyboard plane…and difficult to take off (it easily breaks). I just followed the instructions of the following two sites: Azog and Wolfgang Langer.

After cleaning the board carefully with isopropanol and putting it back altogether i still had issues.

I cleaned all the contacts with electronics contact spray, opened the SX. Checked the I/O board if it was still correctly connected in the main board. With no effect.

Then I removed the I/O board, remove both CIA chips and replaced them with good ones…no effect.

Measures resistance of the keyboard cable of all pins, did the same for the wires from the keyboard to the keyboard connector: all ok.

Since I still wasn’t sure it was an keyboard or wiring issue, I managed to take my keyboard to someone else with a SX to test the keyboard and cable. Thanks for that it was definitely an issue in the keyboard itself (thanks Patrick).

Checked actually which keys are failing, to find out that on the keyboard matrix it was actual two vertical lines in which all keys didn’t function: row 1 and 2.

I reopened the keyboard, and actually pressed the little metal bare which is on the left of the function keys….It seems that probably all my effort was in vain. That metal bar was probably initially the problem as well, just ensure proper tightening (and if you take apart the keyboard, just as i did, take photo’s to check for the proper orientation of that bar). After tightening/loosening the keyboard worked fine. Seems that the bare is actually pressing the row contact lines on the membrane.

Lessons learned. I would start next time by checking first if there is actual a relation between the failing keys. If specific rows or columns are failing changes are small that it would be a CIA or I/O board issue.

With some help from the Facebook SX-64 group, Amibay forum and google.

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Commodore SX64 added to the collection

Posted on 25 December 2017 by Frank

November 2017

I got myself a SX 🙂

Yep. Should be part of any C64 collection, not rare, but at times quit expensive. Pricing on eBay starts for a working one at 400-500 euro, so not quit sure what reasonable pricing is, but i got mine for 250 euro.

Early Sunday morning the ad appeared on Marktplaats. Informed Dion and shortly discussed what i should offer. Discussed 350, 200, and everything in between. Decided to send an e-mail offering 250, and proposed a direct pickup. Called the seller and my offer was accepted, while the first public of 200 euro of somebody else came in. Gladly it was accepted! Within 10 minutes I was in my car to Bunnik. Arrived at a totall emptied house, the previous owner passed away and his brother and his daughter were selling the last things. His SX-64. A bit awkward to arrive there and buying the SX-64 in that situation 🙁

The SX booted correctly, and without any further testing i took it home. Manual and disk not included. The SX-64 accessory bag was there, and a power cartridge.

Booting it at home, to find out there are issues with some of the keys. That needed repairs!

 

UPDATE 26/12/2017.

Yesterday a SX appeared on auction website Marktplaats. Current highest bid is 275. Seems that i paid a fair price for the Dutch market. Ebay is a price doubling, same as for Amibay.

 

UPDATE 27/12/2017.

The other SX is at least sold for 300 euro.

 

 

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