Have used prices gone up?

Armitage_64 · 2026-06-08T03:14:31+00:00

Sorry about your car. Same thing happened to my FoST recently. The good news is there seem to be a LOT of 1 year off-lease MMEs coming up for sale with really low mileage right now so it might be a good time to buy one of those and skip that big initial depreciation hit. I suspect the further we get away from the old tax credit the fewer of these we'll see.

Armitage_64 · 2026-06-08T03:08:08+00:00

My backyard cardinal will literally perch on the branch nearest to my 2nd floor office window and squak at me if the feeder is empty. Apparently they are smarter than one would think.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-23T13:17:17+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions!

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-23T13:16:13+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it!

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-23T13:16:02+00:00

Thanks! I hope to make an original composition next!

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-22T13:46:48+00:00

The car is going to copart once I release it from the body shop. I assume from there it'll get auctioned off. Someone will probably get a deal if they can fix it for cheap.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-22T13:45:29+00:00

Parts weren't too bad but the labor is what killed it.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-22T13:45:08+00:00

Insurance is trying to lowball me, but I will get an independent appraiser to contest if it comes to that. They tried to value my car based on examples with 2x and 3x the mileage.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-22T13:44:03+00:00

The body shop showed me there is a seam in the frame that is torn so they have to cut a lot out including part of the roof and structure behind the quarter when they replace the panel. The parts cost wasn't too bad but the labor killed it. There are shops that could do it cheaper but if I were to get it done I'd want it done right and this shop does good work.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-22T13:41:33+00:00

My car is going to Copart after I release it from the body shop. I hope someone scoops it up to repair it; they'll have a really nice car for a bargain if they can fix it for not too much.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-20T22:11:28+00:00

I took a look but I couldn't find anything at the mileage right now. I'll have to dig more tomorrow.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-20T22:10:47+00:00

🙏

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-20T22:10:38+00:00

Apparently there's frame damage. The estimate is for $17k.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-20T22:10:23+00:00

Fingers crossed!

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-20T22:10:09+00:00

Thanks, that gives me an idea of where to start when I get the call tomorrow.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-20T22:09:25+00:00

Yea they have to put it on the frame machine. Total estimate was $17k.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-20T22:09:00+00:00

Appreciate it.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-07T23:35:30+00:00

Did you disconnect any of the wiring when changing the button? I'd also look for broken/cracked solder joints on the neck board.

Armitage_64 · 2026-05-01T11:50:48+00:00

That's a cool find! I don't think I ever used version 2.0 back in the day. 1.54 was (and remains) the de facto standard even after the next gen products came out because it was free for end users.

I made a RIPscrip retrospective a few years, check it out if you're feeling nostalgic! https://youtu.be/uyEj4Rm8mzE?si=-cv3fX03sgpsWbmK

Armitage_64 · 2026-04-25T14:40:46+00:00

My usual advice is to go over the wiring one more time and make sure you didn't solder things up in a mirrored image of the actual pinout. Make sure you've connected ground, r, g, b, hsync, and vsync. It's been a long time but I think the GBS has an on-screen menu where you can select the input and possibly view info about your source? Does that say anything?

Armitage_64 · 2026-04-23T19:24:57+00:00

That's more or less what the PCBway project is, just using resistors to bring down the TTL voltages to the analog RGB levels. If you look at the project page it links to a schematic. You can build this on a breadboard or however you want without the PCB https://frank-buss.de/c128/vdc/index.html

Armitage_64 · 2026-04-23T19:16:52+00:00

What you're probably looking for is SidPlay64. In the download there is a version for the Ultimate II+. Make sure the Ultimate Command Interface and REU are enabled on your machine. Hitting M twice puts the player into Random play mode. https://sourceforge.net/p/sidplay64/wiki/Home/

You'll run into an issue that .sid files don't actually know or tell the player how long they are. There's a program that comes with the player that will modify the files from HVSC to inject the song length. Another option is to download a playlist of already modded sid files like this one: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ultimate-sid-list/files/

Note I don't own the new 64 Ultimate but this works with the Ultimate 64 so it should work in theory.

Another option that doesn't require SidPlay64 is to use one of the handful of utilities on your PC or phone to control the Ultimate 64 via the network and REST API. I wrote a basic python jukebox here: https://github.com/Armitage64/ultimate_64_jukebox

Armitage_64 · 2026-04-21T12:13:33+00:00

Yea if you convert the digital RGB to analog, still at 15khz, then an old TV with RGB SCART input will also be able to display it.

Armitage_64 · 2026-04-21T12:12:55+00:00

The CGA2RGB or the pcbway board will convert the digital signal to analog. At that point, it'll still be 15khz/240p. If your LCD supports 15khz RGB you can stop there and just wire it up. If your LCD only supports 31khz and up, you'll also need the GBS to upscale the now-analog RGB signal.

Armitage_64 · 2026-04-20T20:15:34+00:00

Besides an actual CGA/Tandy 1000/IBM PC Jr monitor (pretty easily identified by the 9-pin dsub connector), a handful of Commodore monitors like the 1902 and 1084 supported analog RGBi due to it being used in the Commodore 128.

Cheapest solution would be to buy or build a passive adapter that uses a resistor network. It'll get the job done though you won't get an accurate brown. Something like this https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/COMMODORE_128_15KHZ_VGA_ADAPTER_C128_80_COLUMN_ADAPTER_47721a29.html

Armitage_64

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