The Commodore VIC-20, My First Computer

The Commodore VIC-20 is a special computer for me as it was the first computer we ever had in our home.  My Uncle Frank gave me his old computer in the '80s.  At that time, I had shown some interest in electronics, but it was generous and a bit of a risk on his part because I hadn't really demonstrated any affinity for computers.

Anyway, one Summer Uncle Frank brought a huge box of stuff, including the computer, tape drive, game cartridges, printer, and tons of software on Cassette.  Of course the Commodore manuals were also there along with some other computer books about learning how to program.  This was back in the day when our computer learning came mostly from books so having these was a huge benefit.

I think my Grandma gave us an old Color TV set that she had in her bedroom to use as a monitor for the computer since my folks didn't want me to take over the main TV set in the living room with the machine. I'm sure they realized that I'd be wanting to use the computer during Prime Time, and they were right.  I read the books cover to cover and did several of the "Type In" programs, although I was fortunate to have so much software saved on tape.  There was a large library of material there, and I'm not sure I even ever got through it all.  I experimented with Basic, with Poke and Peek commands and I learned about manipulating sounds and the colors on the screen.  I never got far enough in to learn Assembly language, and I wouldn't get into that until College days, but it was a wonderful experience and I have found memories of using the VIC-20.

I wish I'd have saved the machine, or at least taken pictures of it.  I do not think that any pictures of the setup survived.   I believe that I ended up damaging the machine by trying to wire an electronics experiment onto an edge connector on the back.  After I'd damaged it, making repairs of the unit was beyond my skill at the time and so that was the end of my Commodore involvement in the 80s.

Fast forward to the present day, as my readers will know I've been learning alot about fixing Retro computers from the 8-Bit era.  There's a ton of documentation and how-to repair videos on the Internet.  When I want to wire up an experiment to a computer, I use a Raspberry Pi (Which I can easily afford to loose).  So, it was safe once again for me to buy and use my first ever computer, the Commodore VIC-20.

Thanks to my friend Matt for selling me a Commodore VIC-20 out of his collection.  This is a nice early example.  It has an external 9 VAC adapter and a linear power supply inside the case.  It's got the old badge style, but not the PET style keyboard.  From the price tag on the box it looks like the original owners bought this machine for $99 at Target in 1981.  I also got a matching VIC-1541 drive, and an assortment of Cartridges.  Here's a picture of the setup when I was still testing out in my garage...

Since the pictures, I've gotten a Datasette from my friend John, a Joystick from Free Geek Twin Cities and I have the entire thing paired up with a large Sony Trinitron Flat Square CRT Television.  Of course it goes without saying that I never remember the VIC-20 looking so good.

"Avengers", the Space Invaders clone for the system has become my favorite cartridge.  The VIC-20 is an amazing computer and I'm so glad to have one in the collection.