Blog Index

So I have actually had a 48k speccy sat in a box for quite some time but it is in pretty bad shape so didn’t consider it as part of my collection. Recently I was given a bundle of retro bits and included were another two 48ks. One was a board only and one was […]

Some of you may be familiar with RGBtoHDMI project (https://github.com/hoglet67/RGBtoHDMI) Which uses a raspberry pi board to convert the RGB signals from old computers into a HDMI signal for modern TV’s. It was originally designed for the BBC Micro but was then extended to include other computers such as the Spectrum and the Amiga. I […]

Another new edition to the collection. The Panasonic FZ-1 3DO console. This console launched in 1993 in the UK at a price of £400, which is roughly around £830 in today’s money. Safe to say I have never owned one of these before now! This only came with one game called Striker, and I am […]

One of the issue with having all these computers is having a display screen to use them on. I don’t just want to collect computer, I want to be able to play on them, so every system I have is hooked up and usable. Most of my devices go through OSSC’s and then plugged into […]

I have just finished putting together a guide on how to build and connect an ESP8266 based WiFi Modem to the BBC Micro so it can be used to visit old BBS’s and the Telstar system. Check it out here: http://localhost/wordpress/getting-the-bbc-micro-online-via-wifi/

I was meant to post this a week ago but was busy building up the new display unit, so it got forgotten. Anyway, the good news is the CPC464 lives again! I stripped it all down and checked the temp of all the chips on the board and found one of the memory chips was […]

I was starting to run out of places to put new computers/consoles so I busted out SketchUp and put together a 3D model for a new display cabinet which would give me some storage space and some extra slots to fill with retro goodness. I drew the unit to scale so I could take all […]

I’m currently running low on places to put new systems until I build my new display unit (hopefully next week). So until then any system I bought needed to be small and easy to store. What better system than the Cambridge Z88 from Clive Sinclair. This system couldn’t be branded as a Sinclair system because […]

So here we have my first donation to the archive. An Amstrad CPC464 with the GT65 green screen monitor and a nice box of games. The CPC464 itself was nonworking so this was my first attempt at bringing an old computer back from the dead. I will put together a small write-up soon of how […]

Back in the days of DOS-based games and mainly point-and-click adventures, when you set up a game you had to choose your soundcard. Most people had a Soundblaster Compatible, some had the Adlib soundcard. However, there was also an option of the MT-32 or MPU401. I didn’t know anyone who had one of these and […]

One issue people have these days is writing floppy images back to 3.5inch floppy disks so they can be used in retro computers such as the Amiga, Sam and Atari ST etc. The first mistake people make is they just go out and buy a USB floppy drive. The problem is these devices don’t give […]

I got bored so broke out Sketchup and drew this model of the Spectrum Dizzy sprite. It prints in two parts, the black part has cutouts so the white parts can push fit inside it (or in my case I used a hammer! I guess I still need to calibrate my printer a bit more). […]