Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

News, reviews, and a discussion of the Commodore PET:

• history
• peripherals
• tech specs
• books/magazines/software
• emulation
• user groups
• current Web sites

Links mentioned in the show:

• Better World Books - http://www.betterworldbooks.com
• VCF Midwest - http://vcfmw.org
• 2013 Chicago TI International World Faire - http://www.chicagotiug.com/tiki-index.php?page=Faire
• World Longest Yard Sale - http://www.127sale.com
• Historically Brewed book by David Greelish - http://www.classiccomputing.com/CC/HB_Book.html
• The Commodore Pet at wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_pet
• Commodore's version of PET history - http://www.commodore.ca/products/pet/commodore_pet.htm
• Book, Commodore a company on the edge by Brian Bagnall - http://www.amazon.com/Commodore-Company-Edge-Brian-Bagnall/dp/0973864966
• VICE Emulator - http://sourceforge.net/projects/vice-emu/?source=directory
• Chicago B128 Users Group (CBUG) software archive - http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/b/CBUG/
• Toronto PET User's Group - http://www.tpug.ca/
• World of Commodore – http://www.worldofcommodore.ca
• Terry Stewart (Tezza) video demonstration of PET 2001 - http://youtu.be/bBJNSX_DKvo
• Port Commodore - http://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=larry:comp:commodore:pet:start
• Edward Shockley's Pet B&P-series Website - http://www.insectria.org/b128.html
• CBM Pet File Archive - http://www.zimmers.net/anonftp/pub/cbm/pet/index.html
• PET Index at 6502.org - http://www.6502.org/users/andre/petindex/index.html

Floppy Days 104 - Interview with Leonard Tramiel

Welcome to Floppy Days episode 104 for June, 2021. Randy Kindig here again, as your usual host, to talk about vintage computer topics.

For this month, I have another interview for you in which Commodore and Atari fans will have special interest. One of the most iconic figures in vintage computer history, and one who was a big part of the home computer wars back in the late 70’s and into the mid-to-late 80’s was Jack Tramiel. Jack at one time owned Commodore and later Atari, and involved his sons intimately in the business. Although Jack is no longer around there are plenty of interviews available on YouTube and other places where you can see and hear Jack. For this episode, however, I was able to track down one of Jack’s sons, Leonard, and get his perspective on being involved in home computers with his father during that time. Leonard was particularly involved in the development of the Atari ST and much of this interview will revolve around that, but there is a lot of other content here as well.

For this month, I’m going to forgo any other content and just focus on the interview itself.

This interview took place February 2, 2020.

Please enjoy!

Links:

• Leonard Tramiel, Computer History Museum profile - https://computerhistory.org/profile/leonard-tramiel/
• Interview at Arcade Attack - https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/leonard-tramiel/
• The story of Commodore and the 8-bit generation | Leonard Tramiel | TEDxMidAtlantic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRBU8pEDWwY
• Leonard Tramiel Greets Those at CommVEx 2017 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNGEd7QbLjI

Bill Gates' recollections of the Altair and Altair BASIC, history of the machine, specifications, peripherals, cost of the machine, magazines/books, connectivity to modern computers, emulation, simulation, replicas, current Web sites.

Links mentioned in the show:

• wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_8800
• Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer, by Stan Veit - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566640237
• Gates' memories of the Altair on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqAg0GJLPGk
• David Greelish, "Ed Roberts Interview With Historically Brewed Magazine" - http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Historically-Brewed-David-Greelish/dp/0615538126
• Computer Notes - http://www.virtualaltair.com/virtualaltair.com/vac_comp_notes.asp
• The Tenth anniversary of the Altair 8800, with Forrest Mims III (helped form MITS), January, 1985 Computers & Electronics - http://www.1000bit.it/support/manuali/altair/pe0185er.pdf
• Cracking Open the Altair 8800, Cnet - http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-6204753.html
• Altair Peripheral Emulator - http://home.comcast.net/~forbin376/
• Altair32 Emulator - http://www.classiccmp.org/altair32/
• Altair 8800 demonstration on YouTube, by Don Russ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAhp_LzvSWk
• Virtual Altair Museum - http://www.virtualaltair.com/
• SIMH Altair 8800 Simulator - http://www.schorn.ch/altair.html
• iAltair and iAltairHD Emulator for the iPhone/iPad, by Peter Schorn - http://www.schorn.ch/ialtair.html
• Hack A Day - http://hackaday.com/2010/04/26/altair-8800-pc-case-can-emulate-the-original-hardware/
• Briel Computers (Altair replica) - http://www.brielcomputers.com/
• Altair Group on Yahoo - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/altaircomputerclub/

Interview with John Grant - Developer of the OS & BASIC for the Sinclair ZX80

In the last show Earl Evans and I covered part I of the Sinclair ZX80/81 line of home computers; its history and tech specs. Before delving into part II, we’re going to have a topic-relevant interview this month. I was able to, with the help of Kevin Palser, track down and interview Mr. John Grant, a man whose name we mentioned several times last month when going through the Sinclair ZX80 history. You see, John is literally the gentleman who wrote the operating system and BASIC for the ZX80. He still owns Nine Tiles today and still has the rights to that OS. I think you’ll enjoy this discussion with a true vintage computer pioneer.

• Nine Tiles - http://www.ninetiles.com/
• John Grant at LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngrantninetiles/
• John’s current work - https://uk5g.org/discover/read-articles/packet-routing-for-the-other-two-corners/

Interview with Forrest Mims III, Electronics Author

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays

Sponsors:

• 8-Bit Classics
• Arcade Shopper

Books:

• Forrest's first memoir "Siliconnections: Coming of Age in the Electronic Era" - https://amzn.to/48wmIao
• Forrest's best-selling book "Getting Started in Electronics" - https://amzn.to/3LDExdY
• Forrest's upcoming book "Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist" - https://amzn.to/3PAgP3k

Hello, and welcome to episode 130 of the Floppy Days Podcast for September 2023. I’m your host, Randy Kindig, and I’ll be bringing you this podcast as the beautiful fall weather and foliage descends on central Indiana. I love the podcast, and I love the computer shows that start popping up in the fall, which you’ll hear more about on this show.

I feel like I’ve been EXTREMELY lucky lately, in being able to get interviews with some outstanding contributors to the early home computer era of the late 70’s and early 80’s. As you know, I’ve had interviews recently published with Paul Terrell, who jump-started the early Apple Computer with his purchase of their first 50 Apple I’s. Those interviews will continue as Paul and I continue to talk. Additionally, I also recently was able to talk with one of the most prolific, impactful authors of electronics books and kits on the planet, Mr. Forrest Mims III. I would be surprised if just about every listener of this podcast hasn’t heard of Forrest and wasn’t impacted in some positive manner by his terrific tutorials on electronics. In this episode, Forrest and I talk about his early involvement with the creation of MITS and the Altair, how he got into publishing numerous books for Radio Shack, and much, much more. Forrest is still extremely busy and involved with the scientific community today and was happy to share his story. Almost as happy as we are to have been able to talk with him.

Before we talk with Forrest, I will give a short run-down of what I’ve been up to and new acquisitions (that’s where the computer show discussion comes in).

New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To

• TS2068 Twister/HDMI board - https://www.andertone.com/product/the-twist/
• TS2068 OS64 board - https://www.andertone.com/product/zebra-os-64-cartridge-for-timex-sinclair-2068/
• HDMI cable - https://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Original-Master-System-Console/dp/B07Z5W7QS7/
• 2068 Personal Color Computer User Manual - https://www.andertone.com/product/timex-sinclair-2068-personal-color-computer-user-manual/
• T/S 2068 Basics and Beyond by Sharon Zardetto Aker - https://www.andertone.com/product/t-s-2068-basics-and-beyond/
• The Essential Guide to Timex/Sinclair Home Computers - https://www.andertone.com/product/the-essential-guide-to-timex-sinclair-home-computers/
• TS2068 group on groups.io - https://groups.io/g/TS2068
• “Back Into the Storm” by Bil Herd and Margaret Morabito (autographed) - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/back-into-the-storm-a-design-engineers-story-of-commodore-computers-in-the-1980s/
• modern power supply for TS2068 - https://www.andertone.com/product/ts-2068-power-supply/
• M100/T102/T200 TPDD1 boot disk - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/TPDD1-disk-26-3808/p/141211027
• TI99 CF7+ case - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/3D-printed-case-for-CF7/p/80201708

Upcoming Shows

• Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/ <...