As work continues on the Heathkit H8 Computer, that I acquired at VCF West event, it’s time to get the system’s dual floppy disk drive running. This will mark the completion of the entire H8 system, and the ability to run HDOS 2.0 from floppy disk. Follow along as I restore this classic 1970s retro computer from the “Golden Age” of personal computing and hobby electronics
As work continues on the Heathkit H8 Computer, that I acquired at the VCF West event in August 2024, it’s time to troubleshoot the problems with the H9 Terminal, and get it repaired.Hopefully it is a working terminal. Follow along as I restore this classic 1970s computer from the “Golden Age” of personal computing and hobby electronics.
As work continues on the Heathkit H8 Computer, that I acquired at the VCF West event in August 2024, it’s time to give its matching Heathkit H9 Terminal some attention. I’ll be doing a teardown and basic cleanup of the terminal, and then do its first power up. Hopefully it is a working terminal. Follow along as I restore this classic 1970s computer from the “Golden Age” of personal computing and hobby electronics.
As work continues on the Heathkit H8 Computer, that I acquired at VCF West event, it’s time to make the H8 do something more productive. I’ll attempt to get the H8 working with a terminal, and running Benton Harbor Basic. Follow along as I restore this classic 1970s computer from the “Golden Age” of personal computing and hobby electronics.
As work continues on the Heathkit H8 Computer, that I acquired at VCF West event, I need a way to save programs. Using the Heathkit H8-5 I/O card I’ll try to get the system to work with cassette tape. I’ll also be sharing what is coming up next with the H8 project. Follow along as I restore this classic 1970s computer from the “Golden Age” of personal computing and hobby electronics.
In the last video we got a first look at the Heathkit H8 Computer, that I acquired at the Vintage Computer Federation’s VCF West event, along with its peripherals in the form of the H9 Terminal, and H17 Dual-disk Drive. Now it’s time to see if we can get this classic 1970s vintage computer running. Repairs will be necessary.
After years of wanting a Heathkit H8 computer, I finally found one at VCF West. In this video, I’ll take a first look at the Heathkit H8 computer, H9 terminal, and H17 disk drive. I’m really looking forward to bringing this 1970’s vintage computer back to full functionality.
I visited a surviving Radio Shack dealer in Panguitch, Utah and picked up an Electronic Dice kit. I used to enjoy kit building (Radio Shack and Heathkit) when I was young (1970s/1980s), and I thought this would be a fun and nostalgic project. I decided to video the build, and along the way, I share a lot of random, and somewhat (in)coherent, thoughts about things mostly related to the electronics hobby. My ramblings may be interesting, or might just be a cure for insomnia
In my last video, I repaired the keyboard on my CoCo 2). In this video, I will begin upgrading this machine with more RAM, and an Extended color (colour) BASIC ROM. This Coco 2 has a rev. 20261044 system board which will make the upgrade process fairly easy. I am still researching how I want to go about the video upgrade on this retro-computer , so if you have any recommendations about the best method, please comment.
Be sure to watch the first video where I repair the keyboard membrane. Part 1: https://youtu.be/TvSog3ZTf9c?si=80Ag_tB194CMRVSB
I also have other videos related to the original Tandy Radio Shack Color (Colour) Computer. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB0ffa2MA6bti0f6EMWmbwltB-piJwbSB&si=_of8N-D16_T0VkJq
I finally got ahold of a TRS-80 Color Computer 2. In this video I’ll look at DIY methods to repair the broken keyboard without replacing the keyboard’s Mylar membrane. This CoCo 2 is a non-extended 16K machine, and I’m looking forward to upgrading it to 64K with Extended Color Basic, and composite video. First though, I need to get this Tandy Radio Shack retro beauty fully operational.