Dick Smith Super 80 computer kit

[Garos]

hi all, just putting out feelers for Dick Smith's Super 80 computer kit enthusiasts/ex

 

I assembled one in 1983 (I think, very first computer), and for it later assembled various expansion boards. Unfortunately this machine met its demize later in the 80's

 

I am now seeking to obtain another, working or not, the main premise being that the pcb is in good nick. So if anyone out there has one that they would like to get rid of (at a fair price) please email me at john_dominion@hotmail.com

 

a fellow Super 80 enthusiast (Peter) is starting a yahoo group for the beast - will keep you posted on that one. He has one he is attempting to make functional.

 

love to hear from people, their Super 80 experiences etc etc etc Robert informs me that he has a few still functioning! (mostly) and seems to have had a fair bit of experience with the machine.

 

cheers

Gary

Edited October 30, 2006 by Garos

[Robert]

Yes I have 3 of these antiques.

 

My original one only works on the odd occasion and is now extremely unreliable.

 

The 2nd kit which I obtained from a friend (for free) in the original packaging still works

 

And, the 3rd one has the 80-column card fitted and I bought this from somebody, it works well too.

 

My entire game library is available on the internet, PM me if you want it.

 

As for emulation of it, you can PM me for that as well.

 

The Super-80 is now extremely rare and I doubt you will be able to find a new PCB - but I wish you good luck in your search!

 

Why don't you get Peter to post here instead of the Yahoo group?

[Garos]

Hi Robert n all

 

The Super-80 is now extremely rare and I doubt you will be able to find a new PCB - but I wish you good luck in your search!

 

I had no delusions about obtaining just a pcb, I enquired at Dick Smith's re the Super 80 and they claimed that they didn't have any record of it (oh well). I had thought that if I can get an accurate image of the top and bottom side of the pcb (the top being obscured by components, of course) using circuit diagrams and a lot of time and patience I should be able to faithfully reproduce the pcb image. Probably very expensive to have one etched though. I had also thought of doing a wire wrap version; it wouldn't quite be a super 80...

 

No; primarily I had hoped to find someone with an old working or otherwise Super 80, for which the pcb hadn't deteriorated, that they would be happy to sell, and then to take the project from there. It would seem that all of the IC's are still available new (and very inexpensive).

 

Why don't you get Peter to post here instead of the Yahoo group?

 

I will suggest it to him, but it may be easier for one vaguely perusing the net for "Dick Smith Super 80" to stumble across a group dedicated to the beast rather than as a sub group of another site (don't you think the poor old Super-80 deserves its own group, hahaha )

[Robert]

Do you have the url of this Yahoo group?

 

and, what city are you and Peter from? If you live near to me we might be able to arrange something.

 

The magazine "Electronics Australia" (now defunct) ran the Super-80 as a feature article over a few issues, I can get you a list of issues. The magazine's content was obtained by Silicon Chip which as far as I know still exists.

 

As for Dick Smith, they were sold to Woolworths and then took over Tandy, so I'm not surprised they no longer have any records. The shop assistants are probably younger than the Super-80! I have the Dick Smith part numbers if you wish to hit them over the head! (they still have the same numbering scheme).

[Garos]

Hi Robert

I emailed Peter and suggested he join 1em, and reply to your questions personally. I don't think that the Dick Smith Super 80 yahoo group is up and running yet.

 

I live in Sydney (Epping).

 

Tell me, did you say that your 80 column card is colour?

[Robert]

You live over the other side of the city from me, I guess that's better than the other side of the country!

 

Yes, my 80-column card is in colour.

[Peter]

Hi Robert,

 

I'm a fellow Super-80 enthusiast, Gary has mentioned me! I have a non functional Super-80 and I'm keen to get it working. we'll I get some video output and that's about it.

 

I've been reading the posts on the Super 80, I'm not sure what's up with the yahoo group but I believe it should be working at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/dick_smith_super-80

 

BTW: I live in Springwood (Blue Mountains)

 

I'm wondering if you have any notes and errata you could share with us. Actually I'm interested in knowing if the EA articles had any of those details before I shell out for the articles. I've got a couple of the original manuals too.

 

 

Cheers,

Peter.

 

Hi Robert

I emailed Peter and suggested he join 1em, and reply to your questions personally. I don't think that the Dick Smith Super 80 yahoo group is up and running yet.

 

I live in Sydney (Epping).

 

Tell me, did you say that your 80 column card is colour?

[Robert]

Springwood is probably easier to get to, traffic-wise, than Epping is.

 

What video output do you get?

[Peter]

The video output seems to be ] characters, 32x16 of them. Very snakey which might indicate some diodes need replacing. There's also a constant scroll from bottom to top and looking at the video signal on a CRO the entire composite signate shifts in voltage, kind of jumps on the CRO screen. I wouldn't say it's mains hum since it low frequency, something like 0.5 to 1 second period.

 

Where abouts are you situated?

 

 

 

Springwood is probably easier to get to, traffic-wise, than Epping is.

 

What video output do you get?

[Robert]

The screen wiggling is normal because the vertical frequency is about 49 hz and it beats with the 50 hz of your tv, creating a 1 hz disturbance. The only way to get rid of it is to use a good quality green-screen monitor.

 

I'm not sure about the ] characters, never seen that before. What happens if you turn on the test mode?

 

I am near Campbelltown.

 

How much RAM do you have? Are the dipswitches set properly?

[James]

Yes I have 3 of these antiques.

Your really starting to show your age

 

Last time I seen a working one of those was when I was around 18 at Mount Druit Tafe library

Anyway I deal with alot of second hand shops I will keep my eye out for one those

 

 

You could also try freecycle http://freecycle.org/display.php?region=Au...uth%20Wales/ACT

You could put out a few feelers on that site

 

http://freecycle.org/

[Peter]

Robert,

Thanks for that info. So I wont panic about the 1 hz difference. I've got an old microbee amberscreen monitor I've been meaning to hookup and I might try that today. I'm assuming they're ] chars but they are a little blurry, could be ?'s . The original RF Modulator is dodgy so i've hooked a new one up and this produces a very black screen with little noise. The orignal is a snowstorm.

 

How do you turn on test mode? I don't know about that. I'm curious. Is it a dip swtich thing? Mine has 48K RAM and I just took delivery of an entirely new batch of 4116's to replace them if they are faulty. Chances are they may have been zapped over the last 20 years. I wonder if the Char Gen chip is OK.

 

It's been a while since I looked at the dip switches, Can you remember what the correct settings are? I have 48K RAM with BASIC in ROM.

 

By the way, can you see the yahoo group?

 

Cheers,

Peter.

 

 

 

The screen wiggling is normal because the vertical frequency is about 49 hz and it beats with the 50 hz of your tv, creating a 1 hz disturbance. The only way to get rid of it is to use a good quality green-screen monitor.

 

I'm not sure about the ] characters, never seen that before. What happens if you turn on the test mode?

 

I am near Campbelltown.

 

How much RAM do you have? Are the dipswitches set properly?

[James]

By the way, can you see the yahoo group?

 

Cheers,

Peter.

 

 

 

Yes I can see it

[Robert]

I can see it.

 

You have 48k ram with 12k of roms, that is good.

 

I would say that the characters probably are "?", that makes more sense.

 

OK, now for the dipswitches. (0 = closed, 1=open, X=don't care)

 

A B C D

1 0 X X TEST PAGE 3E

1 1 X X TEST PAGE C0

0 0 X X START IN BASIC

0 1 X X START IN MONITOR

X X 1 1 16K RAM

X X 0 1 32K RAM

X X X 0 48K RAM

 

You can set the RAM switches to any position if you think there might be some faulty ram.

 

The test mode does not use any RAM, it only uses the monitor rom.

What happens is that the screen, the relay and the LED will turn on and off at a slow rate (4 secs and 8 secs).

 

When you installed the 2532 eproms, did you cut the track as needed?

 

There is a recomended modification involving a couple of extra ICs.

Once you get the machine to boot up, you should add the modification.

[Peter]

OK, now for the dipswitches. (0 = closed, 1=open, X=don't care)

 

A B C D

1 0 X X TEST PAGE 3E

1 1 X X TEST PAGE C0

0 0 X X START IN BASIC

0 1 X X START IN MONITOR

X X 1 1 16K RAM

X X 0 1 32K RAM

X X X 0 48K RAM

 

You can set the RAM switches to any position if you think there might be some faulty ram.

 

OK, I've set it for 16K RAM 1 0 1 1

 

The test mode does not use any RAM, it only uses the monitor rom.

 

What happens is that the screen, the relay and the LED will turn on and off at a slow rate (4 secs and 8 secs).

 

My technical manual makes no mention of the test mode. This is amazing. My LED needs work, the tracks have lifted from the board. I'll use a Logic Probe to see whats happening there.

 

When you installed the 2532 eproms, did you cut the track as needed?

 

There is a recomended modification involving a couple of extra ICs.

Once you get the machine to boot up, you should add the modification.

 

Actually I didn't build the Super-80 I got it from a friend who lived in Eagle Vale back in 1991 or so. I dont know about cutting the tracks for using the 2532 EPROMS. Can you elaborate on that? I'd really like to know about the other mods that are required.

 

My Z80 CPU is quite warm to the touch, not scorching though but I wonder if that's normal?

 

Cheers,

Peter.