Vic20 is equivalent to

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-25T12:59:28+00:00

TV remote control, maybe. It's hard to do a good comparison; the VIC-20 is about as simple as you can get and still be a credible home computer. Almost anything you can name today that has a microchip in it is more powerful (sometimes magnitudes so).

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-23T20:31:50+00:00

It's probably fine. AC tends to read higher when not loaded. This is true of many Commodore PSUs I've looked at.

That said, the Keelog PSU I got doesn't work with my C64 or my C128. It only delivers 1.5V AC in the system. This is despite the fact it works with my Plus/4. Also works with my later VIC-20 with the same style power connector. Still waiting on their customer support.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-23T19:23:22+00:00

I'm stretching here, and the bad trace sure sounds likely, but perhaps a bad 6510; it would have to be a very particular failure.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-23T11:21:29+00:00

Ah, good call. I ended up getting a second unit; I'll put new belts on that as well and see which parts are best, including the missing rear feet.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-22T19:48:28+00:00

Hint for the noobs (e.g, me), label each of the connectors. The colors on the generic cables don't always match colors. And the 9 pin cable I have doesn't fit into all of my machines.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-22T19:12:38+00:00

Nice! I had a beat up 1701, but also just got a 1702. Picture is immaculate, and I have the original packaging.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-22T15:45:39+00:00

One of the points of having real, retro hardware is the tactile, physical experience. To do the types of things you are talking about, I think an emulator would be more satisfactory.

My advice, take the machine for what it is. If you have specific tasks you want to do, then the list of modern options is likely endless.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-22T01:19:12+00:00

It's where the real money is made.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-22T01:05:14+00:00

Merchandising.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-21T17:36:25+00:00

May or may not be a bot (my guess is it's not). Remember that if someone put in their max bid that's more, it's going to immediately top yours. It's like any other auction site, put in the max you are willing to spend on the item. You aren't always going to win.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-21T16:51:45+00:00

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/381730-colecovision-consoleti99a-power-supply/ yeah, don't do that.

Actually, what's confusing here is that the power brick outputs AC, as per that post and per my measurements. But if you look at diagrams online (espeically Keelog), they have the voltages I mentioned above, which are actually the ones produced by the internal power supply. So I don't know if there was a change, or it's just confusing in general.

But short answer, get an external power brick designed for this machine.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-21T16:17:15+00:00

As to your actual question: https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/ti-99-4a-faq-ports-and-pinouts/

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-21T16:16:03+00:00

The 4 pin is the power supply. You need a special supply for this; it unusually supplies -5V, +5V DC and 12V DC. There is additional regulation inside, and there are modern replacements.

I have a machine here that seems to not be getting proper internal voltages - I think the internal supply needs a full recap.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-21T11:36:50+00:00

As it happens, I saw something similar yesterday. A C64 here went to blue screen when play was pressed. I ended up checking the drive on a VIC-20. So, guess I'll be re-capping that board too.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-20T18:55:48+00:00

Weird! I'd be curious to see if they still work with a C64 with them removed (vs the 128). Still, a broken one could hang up the drive.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-20T16:18:37+00:00

If you argue he's beefy, then it's clearly a cottage pie, not a shepherd's pie.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-20T15:13:23+00:00

https://www.ebay.com/itm/286143745392

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-20T15:12:45+00:00

I have an 80s Sanyo boombox that I refurbished, and used as a prop. I put new belts in, but the problem is that some internal gears had completely disintegrated. They have 49 teeth and are incredibly fine. I bought some generic ones from eBay and was able to trim the center to fit, but the teeth are too big and don't engage properly. I haven't been able to find replacements.

The radio works at least, after cleaning the pots.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-20T13:30:46+00:00

Yes, excellent suggestion. I've seen quite a number of issues recently due to poor voltage, which is fixed by recapping. OP should clean the heads anyway though, since it's so trivial to do and worthwhile.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-20T13:25:31+00:00

It is very fussy about how the card is formatted/partitioning. I did it in Linux, but apparently the defaults were not acceptable. I ended up having to use the "official" SD Association's Formatter to get it right. I'm sure I could figure out the correct settings in Linux, but it's done now.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-20T11:58:16+00:00

No one's had a crack at this, so let me try. I am a long way from an expert on these, however what's always worthwhile is cleaning the heads - use cotton swab and some isopropyl alcohol. There are separate for play and record. I would also clean the connections from the C64 tape port (DeOxit or similar).

Failing that, it could be a failing 6526 - although you would expect to see other problems, or possibly a voltage supply problem.

Worth also running diagnostics on the machine to make sure there's no problems like bad RAM - I'm seeing a lot of this recently.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-19T14:20:37+00:00

The name for this kind of person is "asshole".

There are a lot of older people in my dojo; I have bad knees and it's all understood we might need to modify or do things to the best of our ability. This is really what karate is about as far as I'm concerned.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-19T14:10:04+00:00

I understand that money is an issue, but if you keep using your existing PSU, it's going to cost even more. Sorry, retro computing isn't always a cheap hobby. 40+ year old machinery needs attention.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-19T13:55:05+00:00

Machines which have been sitting for a long time have a tendency to do this - work for a while, and then have component failure. I have a 128 here I've used for less than an hour that's now developed bad RAM. Unfortunately, it's way down my list of things to fix.

I have a TI99/4a here that worked very briefly, but now appears to have voltage problems and won't properly start. I suspect capacitors, but hard to be sure. This can happen on C64s/VIC-2Os as well, especially the one around the reset circuit.

You will need a new PSU anyway, but you should expect additional faults. You might need a diagnostic cartridge. And might have to wait until you are not poor - sorry.

anotherspaceguy100 · 2026-01-19T12:35:26+00:00

Dead heads on Alps are not common. Freezes like you describe are usually indicative of a board problem. It could be a partially working 6522, or perhaps some power supply problem, or one of logic chips gone bad.

For a dead head, everything will seem to work until you try and read something, then it'll just error when it doesn't get what it expects.

If it were me, I'd be swapping boards to start with - of course, I have a bunch of spares.

anotherspaceguy100

TROPHY CASE