Like we know well the keyboard of the Commodore 116 may NOT be fixed because you can’t open it without break it.

The only way is break the plastic pins that hold the keyboard PCB and find the right way to close the whole thing, i leave you the right way for do this.

Once you have open it, we realize that this keyboard is a colossal shit, the conductive material of the keys is ridiculous a thin layer that is consumed very briefly.

The only way before you throw it is use the “Kontakt Chemie Graphit 33” but without spraying directly on the tiny conductive part of the key but first try on a plastic surface and then with a very fine brush take the graphite to paint the conductive part of the key.

The “Kontakt Chemie Graphit 33” with the days/months or years tends to dry, this solution make a new life to the keyboard, but not for always.

Another classic failure and is the FPC Connector (18 pins) for the keyboard flat that can be easily replaced if you find an FPC connector with 18 pins ;-D

The conditions of this Commodore 8296 (TAN Case) are really bad. The CBM 8296 is left for over 25 years in a dovecote.

The cleaning, repairing and restoration have taken a very long time, but the result is more than acceptable.

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Defects:

• The Commodore 8296 was completely dead (Black screen of death).
• Little problems of CRT geometry.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced PLA U6 with a OTP EPROM 27C512R 70ns + Adapter
• Replaced the ROM 2 x 2764 Eprom with 1 x 27C128 Eprom (spare parts from a original cbm pcb)

Note:

I have replaced the original ROM (2 x EPROM) pcb because the PLA adapter is fat. I could insert a small castle (photo) between the ROM pcb and the Main Motherboard but in this time i have prefered to replace with a single Eprom.

Gallery of repair and cleaning:

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Autopsy:

This product is GVP’s flagship SCSI controller.

This controller has room to mount, directly on the card, a 3.5″ SCSI hard drive as well as the capability to hold up to eight (8) megabytes of Fast RAM.

Download: GVP Impact A2000 Manual (2011)

source: amiga.resource.cx

I thank Fabio Bovelacci (Frater Sinister) for the donation.

Donated item:

• Commodore Amiga 500 with PSU, Mouse, Manual.
• GVP HC+8 Series II for Amiga 2000/3000/4000.
• Compatible 512k Memory Expansion for Commodore Amiga 500
• Psion Organiser II with Serial Cable.
• Sharp – EL-6200 Organiser
• Motorola FPU 68882RC50 50MHZ

Autopsy:

The JD-560 and JD -562 are a series of Floppy disk drives that can be connected externally of the computer.

They are completely applicable to IBM PC/XT/AT/386/486 compatible computers and need no any special interface cards.

Payed €12,50 a piece, that is the right price.

Practically, the price of a good pizza and a glass of water ;-D

This is a Commodore CBM 8296-D Motherboard repaired for a Friend.

Gallery of the repair:

Defect:

• Black screen of death without startup beep and after replacing U5 and U6 black screen of death with startup beep.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced PLA U5 with a original PLA MOS 324745-01.
• Replaced PLA U6 with a OTP EPROM 27C512R 70ns + Adapter
• Replaced a dual FlipFlop 74LS74 UD4.

* The replacement of the two PLA has already been made earlier by my friend.

The conditions of this Commodore 8032-SK (Gold Label) are really bad. The CBM 8032-SK is left for over 25 years in a dovecote.

The cleaning, repairing and restoration have taken a very long time, but the result is more than acceptable.

Defects:

• The Commodore 8032-SK was completely dead (Black screen of death).
• Little problems of CRT geometry.

Repair:

• Replaced the CPU 6502.
• Yoke calibration of the CRT

Gallery of repair and cleaning:

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Autopsy:

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This version of Coleco Vision SECAM (Péritel/Euroconnector) uses a PCB 91162 REV D which differs from the classical version with PCB 91209 because integrates an internal video encoder from Y (BY) (RY) to RGB which is separate from the motherboard.

This makes think that in theory all PAL versions that use the VDP 9929A with PCB 91162 REV D and RF output can be modified to have a RGB output signal by adding this external video encoder.

from Wikipedia homepage:

The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries’ second generation home video game console, which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered near-arcade-quality graphics and gaming style along with the means to expand the system’s basic hardware. Released with a catalog of 12 launch titles, with an additional 10 games announced for 1982, approximately 145 titles in total were published as ROM cartridges for the system between 1982 and 1984. River West Brands currently owns the ColecoVision brand name.

In 2009, IGN named the ColecoVision their 12th best video game console out of their list of 25, citing “its incredible accuracy in bringing current-generation arcade hits home.”

Coleco licensed Nintendo’s Donkey Kong as the official pack-in cartridge for all ColecoVision consoles, helping to boost the console’s popularity. By Christmas of 1982, Coleco had sold more than 500,000 units, in part on the strength of its bundled game. The ColecoVision’s main competitor was the arguably more advanced but less commercially successful Atari 5200.

The ColecoVision was distributed by CBS Electronics outside of North America, and was branded the CBS ColecoVision.

Sales quickly passed 1 million in early 1983, before the video game crash of 1983. By the beginning of 1984, quarterly sales of the ColecoVision had dramatically decreased.

Over the next 18 months, the Coleco company ramped down its video game division, ultimately withdrawing from the video game market by the end of the summer of 1985. The ColecoVision was officially discontinued by October 1985. Total sales of the ColecoVision are uncertain but were ultimately in excess of 2 million units, as sales had reached that number by the spring of 1984, while the console continued to sell modestly up until its discontinuation the following year.

In 1986, Bit Corporation produced a ColecoVision clone called the Dina, which was sold in the United States by Telegames as the Telegames Personal Arcade.

source: wikipedia

Autopsy:

The Intelli-Table is a round, plastic activity table with a blue, removable top that uses three interchangeable play rings to help children learn numbers, music, and games.

The curiosity of this device that was developed by Mattel in cooperation with Microsoft and distributed by Fisher Price in late 90s.

This game are been withdrawn from the market for construction problems, like say the Mattel Bulletin.

Video:

The conditions of this Commodore Dual Disk 8250 LP are really bad. The CBM 8250 LP is left for over 25 years in a dovecote.

The cleaning, repairing and restoration have taken a long time, but the result is more than acceptable.

Defects:

• Floppy Disk Drive completely dead.
• Main motherboard failure: Status LED green but with the Floppy Disk Drive LEDs (red) that blink 3 times and then repeat in loop.
• Directory displayed with extra chars.

Repair:

• Replaced all the electrolytic capacitors of the two Floppy Disk Drive.
• Replaced the IC RIOT MOS 901869-01 (Memory, I / O, Timer array)
• Replaced the IC RIOT MOS 6532 (RAM-I/O-Timer)

Gallery of repair and cleaning:

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Gallery of repair and cleaning:

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This computer is arrived for a repair from a friend. The defect is the classic Black Screen of Death and also the PCB has certainly seen better days.

Defects found:

• Short circuits.
• Tracks interrupted or broken.
• Tracks partially raised.
• Jumpers with flying leads.
• Some components are partially unsoldered and soldered to other components.

Repair:

• Rebuild all the tracks interrupted or partially raised.
• Arrangement of all components removed or partially unsoldered.
• Removing flying jumpers
• Replaced CPU Zilog Z80
• Replaced a RAM 2114
• Replaced a Multiplexer 74LS157
• Replaced the ZX-81 Rom with a Eprom 2532 with programmed the ZX-80 Rom.

Mod:

• Composite video output (simple version without Transistor). It was made only to make easiest the repair.

Autopsy:

The ZX Spectrum +2A was Amstrad’s first Spectrum, coming shortly after their purchase of the Spectrum range and “Sinclair” brand in 1986. The machine featured an all-new grey enclosure featuring a spring-loaded keyboard, dual joystick ports, and a built-in cassette recorder dubbed the “Datacorder” (like the Amstrad CPC 464, but was otherwise identical to the ZX Spectrum 128 in looks. Production costs had been reduced and the retail price dropped to £139–£149
 
The machine was built in Taiwan (making it the first Sinclair product built outside the UK) and Amstrad’s greater emphasis on quality control made it far more reliable than the first Spectrums.
 
Amstrad also took a very different line in marketing the ZX Spectrum +2A. Unlike Sinclair, Amstrad did not attempt to market the Spectrum as anything other than a games machine and sold it in packages such as the “James Bond 007 Action Pack” (with bundled games and a light gun). This approach was extremely successful, and the ZX Spectrum +2A sold very well.

The gun connects to the BT style serial ports on the 128K versions of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and allows you to point the gun at your TV screen – the programs then interpret the position of the gun on the screen when you press the trigger, giving you the feel and action of using a real gun to hit targets.

source: computinghistory.org.uk

Gallery:

Software titles:

• The Great Escape – Ocean Software (without tape inlay)
• Road Runner and Wilee Coyote – Hi Tec (without tape inlay)
• Helichopper – Firebird
• Chase H.Q. – Taito
• Rapid Fire – Mastertronic
• Barry McGuigan World Championship Boxing – Gamestar/Mastertronic
• RockMan – Mastertronic
• Professional Footballer – Cult Games
• 3D Starfighter – Codemaster
• Gauntlet – US Gold Ltd/Kixx
• Red Heat – Ocean Software
• Play for Your Life – Imagine Software
• Advance Pinball Simulator / Fruit Machine / Pub Trivia / Fastfood – Codemaster
• Commando – Elite
• Back to the Future – Firebird
• Operation Wolf – Ocean Software
• Frank Bruno’s Boxing – Encore
• River Raid – Activision/Firebird
• Renegade – Imagine Software
• Sword Slayer – Players
• Advance Dougeons & Dragons Heroes of the Lance – US Gold Ltd/Kixx/SSI
• Masters of the Universe the Movie – Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd/Kixx
• Qarx - Your Sinclair/Greg Jackson
• SuperCom – Atlantis Software Ltd
• Mutant Fortress - Players Premiere
• Rollaround – Mastertronic
• Bruce Lee – US Gold Ltd/Americana
• Subway Vigilante – Players Premiere
• Rampage – Kixx/Activision
• Spy Hunter – US Gold Ltd/Kixx/Bally Midway
• Hungry Horace – Sinclair Research Ltd/Psion/Melbourne House
• Chequered Flag – Sinclair Research Ltd/Psion
• Horace Goes Skiing – Sinclair Research Ltd/Psion/Melbourne House
• Saboteur – Durell Software Ltd/Encore
• Make-A-Chip – Sinclair Research Ltd/Incognito Software
• Survival – Five Ways Software
• Tasword Two – Tasman Software
• Computer Scrabble – Sinclair Research Ltd/Psion/Little Genius LTD
• Alchemist – Imagine Software
• Jet Set Willy – Software Project Ltd

Autopsy:

from Wikipedia homepage:

The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of “intelligent television”. Over 3 million Intellivision units were sold and a total of 125 games were released for the console.

In 2009, video game website IGN named the Intellivision the No. 14 greatest video game console of all time. It became Mattel’s first video game console, though it was their only console until the release of the HyperScan in 2006.

The Intellivision was developed by Mattel Electronics, a subsidiary of Mattel formed expressly for the development of electronic games. The console was test marketed in Fresno, California, in 1979 with a total of four games available, and was released nationwide in 1980 with a price tag of US$299 and a pack-in game: Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack. Though not the first system to challenge Atari, it was the first to pose a serious threat to Atari’s dominance. A series of advertisements featuring George Plimpton were produced, that demonstrated the superiority of the Intellivision’s graphics and sound to those of the Atari 2600, using side-by-side game comparisons.

Mattel Intellivision SECAM Motherboard:

source: wikipedia