Category: Apple II

Old Computers, New Monitor

Over the years I have set up and broken down my old gaming systems and computers many, many times. Sometimes — often times, actually — it seems like I spend more time connecting and configuring and reconnecting and reconfiguring them than I do actually playing games on them. When it comes to old hardware I have a softer spot in my heart for old computers than old console gaming systems, but the biggest problem with them is that they take up so much space. At one time in our old house I had over 20 video game consoles sitting on… (read more)

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YDKF Episode 123: The CFFA 3000

Leaping from moderately mainstream to moderately obscure, Episode 123 of You Don’t Know Flack is dedicated to the CFFA 3000, a relatively new card that plugs into vintage Apple II computers and allows retro hobbyists to load virtual disk images and convert physical disks to virtual disk images (and back). I also coin the word “floppycentric” in this episode. Link: YDKF Episode 123: The CFFA 3000 Facebook: You Don’t Know Flack What on Earth would anyone use an Apple II for?

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CFFA3000: Initial Thoughts

The CFFA3000 is a new card for vintage Apple II computers that allows users to load Apple II .DSK files directly from Compact Flash or USB storage. It also allows for the dumping of physical Apple II media to .DSK files. In spirit, it is the Apple II version of the 1541 Ultimate for the Commodore 64. I got mine earlier this week. Here are my initial thoughts, with much more testing, playing and writing to come over the next few weeks. Here is the card installed in one of my Apple IIe computers. Between the garage and my computer… (read more)

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A Bushel of Apple (Computers)

While killing time during the two-hour drive to Tulsa for the Oklahoma Video Game Expo (OVGE) last weekend, I reminisced to the passengers in my car (Jeff and Robb) about the time I “accidentally” bought 300 computer keyboards. I just searched robohara.com and can’t find a post dedicated to that story, so later this week I’ll correct that omission. The gist of the story is, while not paying attention at an auction one time, I bought 300 (mostly useless and broken) computer keyboards for $10.50. As I often say, I told you that story to tell you this one. One… (read more)

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Oklahoma Video Game Expo 2011: GET TEXT

I can think of three reasons why anybody would rent table space at a video game convention. The first is, you own a video game store. Those guys are there to sell games and promote their stores. The second reason is, you’re a video game collector looking to (a) sell video games (often duplicate titles from your own collection) and (b) trade video games with other vendors. And then there are people like me — people who rent table space for the sole purpose of showing off things. At OVGE 2004 I displayed my collection of vintage console copiers (old… (read more)

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Oklahoma Video Game Expo: June 18, 2011

The 8th (!) annual Oklahoma Video Game Expo (OVGE) will take place this Saturday at the Spirit Bank Event Center in Tulsa, OK. Out of the seven OVGE shows (there was no show in 2007) I’ve had a table at five of them, each year with a different theme. So far I’ve done Console Copiers (2004), Star Wars games (2005), Commodork (2006), Invading Spaces (2008), and “Stuff For Sale!” (2009). This year I’ll be doing GET TEXT, a tribute to text adventures. GET TEXT will consist of several retro computers (Commodore 64, Apple II, Amiga 1200, DOS) running classic text… (read more)

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ZoomFloppy (First Impressions)

Today I will be giving my first impressions of the ZoomFloppy, a new PCB that allows people to connect old Commodore floppy disk drives to modern PCs via USB. (I’ll pause a minute while most of you leave the room. You are excused. See you tomorrow.) I have, on several occasions, talked about the process (and difficulties) of converting physical Commodore 1541 diskettes into D64 disk images, the format used by most Commodore 64 emulators (including WinVice). Most recently, I talked about it here, here, and here. To save you an hour of back-digging, here’s the gist of those posts:… (read more)

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FC5025: The Review, Part I

I am, as the kids like to say, “old school”. I like old technology, I like old video games, I like old arcade games, and I particularly like old computers. When I say “old computers”, I am mostly referring to 8-bit machines from the 1980s: the Commodore 64, the Apple II, the TRS-80, and so on. In the spirit of Jeopardy, if the preceding paragraph was the answer, the question would be, “What kind of person would be interested in purchasing (or would even have a use for) an FC5025?” The FC5025 is a custom USB drive controller for 5… (read more)

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Monitor Memories

In honor of yesterday’s departure of a few monitors, here are a few other monitor memories. The first color computer monitor my family ever owned was an Amdek, which was actually the third computer monitor we ever owned. Our first was the TRS-80 Model III’s internal black and white monitor; our second was an amber-tinted one for our Apple clone. Amdek monitors last forever and come with a built-in handle which makes toting them around a breeze. When my Dad graduated from the Apple II to the PC XT, I inherited the Amdek monitor and used it with my Commodore… (read more)

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Aztec (Apple II/Commodore)

I’ve been playing a lot of old Commodore games while doing “research” for my upcoming book of game reviews (it’s a good day when you can call playing old video games “research”), and recently I ran across Aztec, a game I haven’t played in twenty years or more. Obviously influenced by Raiders of the Lost Ark, Aztec is a platform game in which the goal is to explore a tomb, find a jade idol, and make it back to the surface alive. Along the way you will encounter traps, animals and Aztec Warriors. Aztec was released before joysticks were common… (read more)

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