Project Updates - Dealing with the Backlog

It's been a busy year for me and so I haven't got as much retro computing done this year.  That being said, I have been able to sell four computers and give away a couple more this year so I am still having success with thinning out the collection.  For quite a few years I've been building a backlog of interesting broken machines.  I keep this hardware out in the garage and have a list going for each of these potential projects.  When I'm feeling inspired to take on a new project I can go find one any time by looking at the list to see what I'm interested in taking on next.  I've had a bit more time as of late and I've repaired a series of PCs since I kind of like working on groups of similar vintage hardware at the same time.

The first repair is an interesting Zenith 386 PC that came from Free Geek Twin Cities in the spring of last year.  This machine was badly rusted from water damage in and around the power supply.  The Free Geek team handled this machine well, they knew that it should not be powered up, but the machine included a nice matching keyboard and a full box of documentation and software so it was worth some effort to fix it up.  

I started repairing this machine last year right after I got the machine.  I took it all apart and cleaned it up.  It's model number ZBF-3340-EK, an early 386 machine built on a passive backplane.  The backplane is based on ISA but extended to 32 bits.  It was a very good thing that Free Geek didn't power the machine up because there were pieces of rust floating loose inside the power supply.  I took all the metal pieces apart and cleaned the power supply up. I spray painted the rusty pieces to stop further rust, but this wasn't a full restoration, just trying to halt the deterioration enough to get some basic testing done and decide if the PC would be salvageable or not.  To my great surprise after cleaning up the machine and some basic repairs the PC was able to Post!  I got video working with an old VGA card which had been paired with the machine later in life (It originally had a proprietary monitor and video card which are missing now).  It took quite a few hours of effort to reach this point so I set the project aside.  I thought I'd come back to it soon but it ended up being a year till I came back to it.

After moving this PC around in the garage for the 3rd or 4th time I decided it was time to finish this project.  I took the machine apart enough to get a look at the four drives.  It had two 1.2MB 5 1/4" Floppy Disk Drives, and two Full Height MFM Hard Drives.  I cleaned and tested both of the Floppy Drives.  One of them was working and the other was not.  I replaced the non-working drive with a 3 1/2" drive I had in my spares and set the bad drive aside.  Once I figured out the BIOS settings which were needed for the two Hard Drives I was pleased to see that both of them worked (after a few seek errors, which makes alot of sense if the heads had not moved for a decade or more).  It's very cool to have a machine with Dual MFM drives, although I may just leave one in there and keep the second one as a spare.

Adding a clock battery was the final step.  After adding the clock battery the PC still wasn't holding time and BIOS settings.  It turns out there was a bit more corrosion on the board around the battery area so I replaced a few corroded components, some diodes and resistors, and added a bodge wire for a damaged trace.  After that the clock battery worked and it is holding the BIOS settings.  The machine looks nice...

Due to the solid construction, large chassis, and dual full heigh MFM drives, this computer is very heavy.  It's great to have the documentation and a matching keyboard with lovely mechanical switches.

The next PC up on the bench is an XT class machine.  The seller let me know that it had bad tantalum capacitors which had blown.  They didn't want to do a recap on the machine so they sold it to me as a project machine.  This is machine sat on my project intake queue for even longer than the Zenith.  I have several XT PCs so I knew this would be a PC that I wouldn't hold onto for my collection.  It turns out that it had one bad tantalum (which failed short on the +12 volt rail), when I removed that, the computer came up to the BIOS Post screen.  After a few minutes of operation, another tantalum failed (this time on the -12 volt rail), but again that was easily removed after some basic troubleshooting probing around with the multimeter on the board.  I didn't have 4.7 uF Tantalums in stock so I ordered some of those and did the recap when those arrived.

Other than that my main tasks were to take the machine all apart and clean it.  It was quite dusty.  I cleaned the mainboard with my ultrasonic cleaner.  After it dried I cleaned and tested the 360K 5 1/4" Floppy Disk Drive.  It was working good.  Sadly, the MFM hard drive inside the machine was not working.  I set that aside for further troubleshooting.  The faceplates for this machine were incomplete.  I was able to find a second half-height black Floppy Disk Drive to cover the gap in the front panel of the machine and I 3D printed a Full-Height Hard Drive blanking plate for the other drive bay, which completes the cosmetics of the front panel.  The machine is fully functional and I'm happy with how it looks...

The last PC in this group was an original PC, the IBM 5150.  I already have one IBM 5150 that came from a pickup of Facebook Marketplace some years back.  But over the last couple of years I've been making an effort to find a second machine if I can find one at a good price.  I'd been collecting bits and pieces for a second IBM PC for well over a year now and I finally came back to this project since I was already working on the XT Clone from that era.

The IBM PC also had bad tantalums on the main board and that was the reason why the seller sold it to me as a project machine.  I was able to locate the shorted capacitor and replace it.  I also tested the power supply with a load but disconnected from the PC, the power supply voltages were all in range.  I was able to find a VGA card that would works in an 8-bit slot, most VGA cards only work in a 16-bit slot.  This VGA card enabled me to do testing with a more modern monitor and I also left the original Monochrome MDA card in the machine as well, since the IBM PC does support two different types of video cards at the same time.  The machine has 256K of memory (the maximum capacity on that mainboard) and it Posts and comes up as expected.  The next order of business was to clean the two floppy disk drives.  After cleaning they were both working.  I had two cases and so I was able to put together the best cosmetic version of the case.  It's got some rust spots on the top, but as a spare machine it will be just fine and I'm happy to have it in the collection...

Of these three machines, I'll be moving the first two on too new owners, either here locally or at VCF Midwest in the fall.  The IBM PC 5150 will go back into storage to be used as a spare.  Given how long it took me to get to these repairs I probably won't be seeking out more machines of this type to repair, but it is always gratifying to get a broken computer fixed and to have more projects off my to-do list.

If you have any memories of using a Zenith 386, an Ameridata XT PC, or an IBM 5150, please post in the comments below or drop me an email (my email address is in my profile).

Steve's Retro Year in Review for 2025

With 2025 coming to a close it's time to reflect back on another year in Retro Computing.  Alot of great things happened in 2025, some planned and some unexpected.  This is my seventh year being involved in Retro Computing and my interest continues, there seems to always be something new to learn and the forum members of the Vintage Computer Federation and Tinker Different continue to be a source of help and inspiration for new projects.  Also this year I authored my 100th bLog aticle here on Steve's Retro Computer bLog.

In my retrospective article from last year I mentioned that I wanted to downsize the collection.  I added fewer new computers to my collection this year and I said no to quite a few eBay and local listings that were interesting.  I added about 15 machines this year instead of the 20+ machines I'd been adding over the last couple of years and more importantly I sold quite a few of those 20+ machines from previous years as well.  Half of the computers I sold this year are ones I bought to fix up and resell since I really do enjoy the repair process.  It also helps to know ahead of time that I won't be keeping the machines, it makes it easier to sell them when the time comes.

I sell complete systems whenever possible on both Craigslist and FaceBook Market Place (FBMP).  This year I sold about two computers on FBMP for every one on Craigslist, but I will still continue to use both platforms.  I think I get alot more spam from FBMP, but I know I'm getting alot of views on that platform since they show you those statistics now.  I'm still pricing below eBay prices, and I'm seeing machines sell on average after about a 2-3 week wait.

I bought three lots of computers this year, one with seven machines (mostly compact Macs), one with three Macs, and the final lot with eight machines (mostly Apple IIs).  In each of these lots I knew there were only 1 or 2 computers I'd want to keep but having these computers on hand made it easy for me to find an interesting repair project any time.  I plan to keep doing this (assuming that I can continue to find small and medium sized lots of computers in "as is" condition).  If you know anyone that is downsizing or needs help disposing of an old computer collection, please let me know, I'd be glad to buy machines in as-is condition or just even just offer advice about selling.

As I look back at acquisitions this year I made good progress on getting early Apple II hardware.  I got an early Apple II Plus machine and then an original Apple II machine.  I also got to extend my collection of Next computers, adding another NextStation Mono Slab and and an HP PA RISC machine that runs NextStep really well.  I got a new CP/M Machine that I haven't completed repairs on yet and another early MS-DOS compatible Wang PC, so I'm continuing to learn about both of these types of machines.  I added a couple of calculators to the collection, although I do not intend to become a calculator collector, since I'm trying to stay focused in my area of interest for collecting.

I also completed a couple of Unix workstation projects that were a long time coming, first getting a Y2K Era Compaq Alpha Personal Workstation up and running after a long time waiting for parts and then getting a Sun Ultra 10 machine up and running.  The Sun project was a machine I got at VCF Midwest 2024 so that one took a while.  The Apple III Computer parts that I got in the fall of the year were totally unexpected, but alot of fun to repair and learn about.

I don't have much room to display retro computers, so none of the machines I've acquired this year are on display in my office, instead I have an Original IBM PC, a Compaq Portable I, a Macintosh Portable, an Apple Macintosh Perform 550, a Gateway 2000 Slimline 486, a PDP-11 with VT-220 Terminal, and an Apple IIe as shown here...

During 2026 I need to think about focusing my interests even more and continuing to downsize the collection.  I still have more beige box PCs that I don't want in the collection and I will also consider downsizing other categories of machines.

During 2026 I should spend more time with software setup on the machines I already have.  Alternative Operating Systems has long been an interest of mine, and many of these machines support multiple OSes.  Networking is also one of my interests so I'd also like to spend time connecting more of the machines together.

What about you?  Do you have any highlights to share about fixing or using old computers in 2025 or plans for next year that you'd like to share?  Feel free to leave a comment below, or reach out to me via email at the address shown in my Blogger Profile.

Another member of the 1977 Trinity Joins the Collection - Apple II

One of my long term goals for collecting Retro Computers is to get the original Trinity of Home Computers from 1977, the TRS-80 Model 1, an original Apple II and a original Commodore PET.  In 2023 I got a really dirty TRS-80 Model 1 and cleaned it up.  I have a Commodore PET 4016 from 1980, but it's not the original machine.  I've also got an early Apple II Plus machine from 1979 which I've setup with the original ROMs so it would behave like an Apple II.

Earlier this year I found out about a large lot for sale locally and I jumped at the chance to buy the entire lot.  I've blogged about starting in on that lot of repairs here already.  I mentioned that I would set the Apple II aside for repairs.  It didn't sit for to many weeks before I came back too it.  Ironically, this machine was built in 1980, one year after my Apple II Plus but they have the same Revision 4 motherboards inside.  If you look on the timeline on Wikipedia it does not show any overlap between Apple II and II+ production but I think that is incorrect, Apple continued to make Apple II and II Plus at the same time and that may have continued right up till they switched to making the Apple IIe in 1983.

When I got the computer on the workbench I found that the video signal was stable but I was getting garbage characters.  Also, not all the keys on the keyboard were working.  I started by taking the entire machine apart and cleaning it throughly, it wasn't too dirty, but the seller had told me these were stored in a basement for years so the machine was just dusty.  This machine will never be a museum piece.  It came from the University of Minnesota so I've left those asset tags on the machine.  It has quite a few scratches and bumps on it but I don't mind since I intend to actually use this machine.

The Keyboard is a Datanetics type.  I sprayed Deoxit on the keys that were not working and most of them came back to function just by cycling them a few dozen times, but the S key was persistently broken.  I was able to find a couple of Datanetics key switches on eBay so I ordered a couple.  After replacing the S key the keyboard was fully functional, except that the power light was out.  I removed the bulb and tested it, it was working, so it just needed to be reseated into the keyboard and it has been working fine since.

The garbage characters on the screen were a harder fix.  I removed every single socketed IC off the motherboard and sprayed the DIP sockets with Deoxit and replaced them but the problem persisted.  I should have tested all the RAM chips but at the time I didn't have a tester for the 4116 RAM chips used on this machine (I have since got a working tester for these).  Eventually I was able to identify bad 4116 RAM chips by trial and error and swap them out.  Since this is an original Apple II I have configured this with 48K RAM.   I will be leaving the 64K RAM card out, and I will not be adding an Autostart ROM, which makes this more authentic to the original experience.  Since the machine starts up in the ROM Monitor you have to learn at least one ROM Monitor command (Control-B) to get BASIC started every time you boot the machine.  I enjoyed learning about all the different early ROM versions of the Apple II and II+ and this is much more interesting now that I have access to the hardware.  Incidentally, the Apple I also started up in the ROM Monitor, and this was all code written by Steve Wozniak himself.

During the repairs the original power supply failed.  This was not the most common failure of RIFA filter capacitors which can be easily replaced, so I removed the circuit board and replaced it with the Reactive Micro Apple II Power Supply kit.  It still looks original because that fits in the original case, but I enjoy having the peace of mind that comes with a modern power supply.

Although I am interested in experimenting with the original hardware configuration, I'm not thrilled with the idea of loading programs from tape, so I may go ahead and leave the Disk II controller attached even though I know it wasn't an option in 1977.  The Disk II system was and is an amazing "quality of life" upgrade for this machine.

I'm quite happy with how this machine turned out...

Do you have memories of the original Apple II?  If you have stories or thoughts please leave a comment here, or reach out via my email shown in my profile.

Another Retro Lot: Recovery, Repair, and Resale

One of my fellow vintage computer collector friends posted a listing on the Free Geek Twin Cities Discord server in the "Swap Meet" channel about a lot of Vintage Computers posted on Facebook Marketplace.  There were eight computers, mostly Apple IIs of various vintages, untested but priced to sell quickly.  I had some free time on that day and so I immediately jumped on the post.  It's always a pleasant surprise when I'm first in line since so many folks are interested in vintage computers.  I went down within a couple of hours and met seller for the pickup, he had been a huge fan of Apple computers back in the day.  He had collected these machines from the University of Minnesota when they got retired from the computer labs.  He is still involved with software too this day and he was glad to hear that these would be moved to other homes.

This is the third lot I've gotten this year, I already blogged about the first lot here.  I only have one repair left from that lot, a pair of Macintosh 512K machines.  That will be a more complicated repair because servicing the 400K drives is difficult, but I know how to do that now so I expect to be able to bring the drives back to working order.  All the other machines from that lot have been fixed up and resold already.

The second lot had three machines in it but only one I wanted to keep, a Macintosh Quadra 650.  I installed a BlueSCSI in that machine and it's back in good running order.  I still have some big box software but the other two machines (a Macintosh Plus and a Power Mac G4 Quicksilver) have sold and much of the boxed software was donated to Free Geek.

When I got this lot home I was faced with a pile of incoming material to process...

The lot included an original Apple II from 1980, four Apple IIe machines, two green screen monitors for those machines, two Apple IIcs with two CRTs, and a NextStation w/ Keyboard and Mouse (but no monitor).  On the first pass through these machines I had the following results:

The original Apple II is booting and running, but the video is rolling.  Since this is a machine that I want to keep I set this machine aside for a future repair.

Of the four Apple IIe one just worked with some basic cleaning and testing and one with a DuoDisk only needed a new cable, which are avaliable online from this vendor.  I've already sold those two Apple IIe machines, but I have two more which power up with garbage characters on the screen so that will be a future repair.  I've repaired multiple Apple IIes in the past so I'm looking forward to that repair.

Of the two Apple IIc machines only one was complete.  Neither showed signs of life.  The incomplete machine is an early revision which matches the Apple IIc I already have so I'll keep it as a parts machine.  The second Apple IIc didn't work right away but I took it all apart and cleaned and inspected it.  While I was re-assembling it I put deoxit on all the connectors and after that it came back to life.  I ordered a 3rd party power supply to make this a complete listing and it sold.  I also had made a bunch of DOS boot disks and Flapple Bird floppy disks so that I could include software with the Apple IIs as I've been selling them, it's really nice to be able to set people up with a functioning system.

Finally, the NextStation.  These can not be tested without Next hardware as the connectors are proprietary.  I am fortunate to have a complete NextStation setup, so I was able to setup and test this machine.  The Keyboard and Mouse were both working, but I had some trouble with the NextStation itself.  I had forgotten that this machine will not boot at all if the clock battery is dead.  When I moved the good battery over to the new NextStation it booted right up!  I ordered another new battery to replace the dead one.  It may come as no surprise that the Quantum SCSI HDD was dead so I installed a BlueSCSI V2 into the machine and got NextStep 3.3 installed and booting on that.  I'll be holding on to this machine at least for now.

It's been fun to meet the people who buy these machines.  We have some interesting conversations and I get to hear about their experiences with machines like this, and their plans for their new acquisitions.  I've had a couple of repeat customers and even made friends with some of the buyers.  So as I complete a few more of these repairs I look forward to helping people expand their collection while I build my own.

Let me know if you have a lot of retro computers to sell, or if you have memories of using these machines, or have been helped by my repair experiences.  You can comment below or reach out via email with the contact information in my profile.

Oops I Did it Again - Another Lot of Computers Needing Repair

Recently I was browsing the retro computer forums and a for sale ad came up in my city.  A fellow Macintosh computer enthusiast had purchased a lot of Macintosh machines to restore and the project sat for a long time.  He decided to shift the project along to someone else.  The listing had a single photo and some text, the photo showed seven machines and one box full of peripherals.  The text described another box of peripherals not shown but included in the sale.  The price was low enough that I could purchase the entire lot and if my repair attempts failed I'd still have gotten some much needed peripherals for my collection.  But as readers of my blog will know, I really enjoy the repair process and so I was hoping that I'd be able to repair much of this lot and sell it on, since these were all machines that I had, and I even had some parts machines of this type.

When I got the lot home this is what I had...

The lot consisted of; 2 512K Macs, 3 Macintosh Plus machines, a Mac SE and a Mac Classic II along with the peripherals, an external 400K floppy, an HD20, and a couple of different keyboards and even a couple of random vintage PC parts.  As usual I began the intake process with some light cleaning.  It was no surprise but the equipment was quite dusty, including inside of the machines, so I think it was likely these machines spent quite a few years in a garage or basement.

On my initial checks (triage), both of the 512K macs booted to a ?.  I'm quite certain the floppy drives will need lubrication and maintenance so I've set those machines aside for now.

For the Mac Plus machines, 2 of the 3 booted right up to the ?.  The third machine was booting, but showing some odd video corruption of a kind I had not seen before.  On further inspection that machine had a 68030 accelerator board inside of it.  It's possible this accelerator board is damaged, but I need to do some research to figure that out, so I've set the accelerator board aside for now.

The Mac SE booted up to a ?.  This was a project I wanted to work on in the short term because I have a couple of other Mac SEs including one mostly good machine with bad Floppy Drives and one parts machine.  I was hoping to get two working Mac SEs out of these three, but more on that later.

The Mac Classic II made a normal good chime on boot up, but the video did not come up.  These machines from the early 1990s are often damaged for two reasons, the first is an exploding clock battery, and the second is the "Capacitor Plague" where Apple unknowingly used sub-standard electrolytic capacitors that slowly leak out onto the circuit board.  Both of these problems can ruin Mac Classic and Mac Classic II machines and so all of these machines should be serviced ASAP.  Fortunately for me, the clock battery had not leaked, so I removed it.  The capacitors had been leaking so I removed them immediately and got to work cleaning the board to prepare it for a recap.

I worked on the Mac SE and the Classic II at the same time.  For me, a big part of the experience with the original style Mac computers is using the Floppy Disk drives.  Servicing them can be tedious and error prone, but there are some great tutorial videos out there, and once you've done each type of drive a couple of times it starts to come easier.  But it can be tedious when there are many drives to service.  I try to keep one or two of each type of drive in my stock because often drives will require spare parts not just lubrication so I got the drives out of the Classic II and the Mac SE along with some of my spares and got started...

Having these drives ready allowed me to start the repairs in earnest.  As I've mentioned, I had a couple of other Mac SE machines and I checked on those floppy drives that were not working, and they had already been serviced.  It turns out that the reason they weren't booting was because I had some bad boot floppies, so that was one mystery solved.

The Mac SE from this lot had badly yellowed in the sun, but my parts machine was still a great looking platinum case, so I did a case swap on the Mac SE and got a lovely looking fully running machine...

I don't need 3 Macintosh SEs so I currently have this machine listed for sale locally here in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area.

The Mac Classic II repair took a bit longer because I had to order capacitors and wait for those to arrive for the recap.  Also it took a while to clean the logic board of this machine using both water and IPA and multiple manual rinse cycles.  I also had a parts machine for this repair, a Classic machine that I'd previously recapped but that machine never worked quite right after the recap it would boot and run just fine but the external SCSI and FDD ports weren't quite right.  It's possible that further board level work could bring this machine back to full function, but I was able to use the Classic to help troubleshoot the Classic II.

It turns out that not only did the Classic II need a recap on the logic board but the analog board was bad as well.  I did another swap on the analog boards and CRT boards to get a good setup into the Classic II case.  After swapping the Analog board the Classic II came back to life, and with the recap and cleaning, I'm hopeful that this machine will have a long and happy future.  Classics and Classic II machines are not my favorite from this time period, so this is another machine that is for sale here in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area...

I'm still actively working on fixing up the Macintosh Plus machines.  I have all three of them running again because I was able to borrow parts off another parts machine that I had, so the next step is servicing another set of Floppy Disk drives, the earlier 800K drives that came in the Mac Plus and Mac SE...

Since I already have a couple of nice Mac Plus machines I plan to offer these machines for sale when the Floppy Servicing is complete.  Hopefully I can complete the Plus repairs this weekend and get back to the other projects I was working on when this lot came up.  It's been alot of fun doing these repairs but I'll also be glad to move back to my "regularly scheduled programing" of Retro Computer projects.

Do you have memories of using these machine?  Let me know if you have stories you'd like to share in the comments, or my email address is in my profile.  Thanks for following along with this repair story.

2024 Year End Retrospective - Six Years of Vintage Computing

I made a return to Retro Computing in 2018.  Or it may be more accurate to say that it's something I've always enjoyed doing and never stopped completely but in 2018 I started spending more time on the hobby and became aware that there were others out there who also enjoyed fixing up and using old computers.  This happened primarily through finding YouTube channels like The 8-Bit Guy, LGR, and Adrian Black and connecting locally with folks at Free Geek Twin Cities.  In 2018 and 2019, I acquired just a few machines and authored a few articles on my bLog about my adventures in Retro Computing but things changed in 2020.

Just before the pandemic started in early 2020 I purchased my first compact Mac, a Macintosh Plus from Free Geek.  I ended up buying and repairing alot more machines during and after the lockdown.  Some were machines that I'd used and had nostalgic memories like Apple IIe and Macintosh PowerPC machines but others were older machines like the Bell and Howell Apple II Plus and the Tandy Model 102 that allowed me to learn more about repair, the use of the machines, and the history of the development of the machines.  During 2020 I participated in Vintage Computer Festival Midwest for the first time.  It was an online show and I watched most of the talks, learning about disk imaging with the SuperCard Pro, that some people use their crawlspace for storage of Retro Computers, and many other interesting topics.

In 2021 my acquisitions mostly happened all at once, I bought a large lot of Apple Laptops from my friend John Bumstead.  I spent a good deal of my hobby time during that year processing through that lot of computers.  I kept many of the machines and also sold many of them.  it was an amazing experience that helped me understand which of Apple's portable machines I enjoy repairing and using most.  I still have some PowerBooks from the early 2000's, the "Peak Fastener" era for Apple that I haven't processed yet, this is my least favorite era of Apple Laptops. But during 2021 I was also able to acquire some machines that I'd had little or no exposure too like an IBM 5150 that I purchased from Facebook Marketplace and a Next NextStation computer from VCF Midwest.  I also repaired or built up a handful of beige box PCs.

During 2022 I got on a bit of a Commodore kick.  The VIC-20 was my first computer that we had at home, so re-acquring one of those was quite nostalgic for me, but I also acquired older hardware, like a Commodore PET that needed extensive repair, and newer machines like C64 and Amiga 500.  I also acquired my first Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) hardware including a little know CP/M machine called a DEC Robin, and a more common DEC Alpha computer.  I missed VCF Midwest in 2022, but I continued to buy and build beige box PCs.

2023 was another enjoyable year for me in Vintage Computing.  During the year after searching for several years I was able to acquire a Gateway 2000 486 PC, which was my first PC that I had during college.  I got my first of the Original Home Computers from 1977, a Tandy Radio Shack Model 1, getting it clean was a major chore, but I'm glad to have one.  I also got a Kaypro 1 '86 an 8-bit Atari Computer, and several Unix workstations from the 90s including a Sun and an SGI Indy, so there was a great deal to learn and explore in 2023.  I was also able to attend VCF Midwest once again, this time as an exhibitor.  As an exhibitor I didn't acquire many new machines, but I was able to find many parts to help move projects along or complete systems I'd already built up.

As I think about 2024 the IBM RS/6000 is a highlight.  I had purchased one as a parts machine from Free Geek in 2023 and ended up failing in my repair attempt.  I thought I wouldn't get another chance but in 2024 a generous donor offered one on the forums and I took him up on it.  The machine runs great and joins my collection of Unix Workstations.  Also, it was made in Minnesota.  On the history / nostalgia front I acquired a Kaypro II computer, which was something I'd been looking for for a while as my grandpa used to have one of these.  The Compaq Portable III was a fun and challenging repair, and now I have the first three Compaq Portables.  I also got to go back to VCF Midwest this year, and one of my kids came along, so that was fun.  The Tandy 2000 repair was my largest repair effort of the year but my friend and I both came out of that with two working Tandy 2000 computers, which is a very interesting early MS-DOS machine.

So heading into 2025 what aspects of Vintage Computing will I do more of and what will I do less of?  What do I enjoy doing more and what do I enjoy doing less?

I enjoy learning about computers that are "new to me", and I get just as much (or maybe even more) enjoyment from going back in time as from going forward.  I enjoy repairing computers and learning about alternate operating systems.  I want to understand what it was like for the people using the computers at the time, so the CRTs, the Keyboards, and the Disks are important to me and I like that to be original.  I don't mind at all if we can find a way to replace the hidden hard disk drives with reliable solid state storage because we can't use the computers at all if they won't boot up, but that is my primary exception and I like to keep things period correct as much as possible. 

In general, I'm not a fan of computer gaming.  I know that's unusual since gaming is the "killer app" for most retro computer enthusiasts, but I've just never been a huge fan of computer gaming.  I also don't like overclocking vintage hardware or installing period correct processor upgrades, although more RAM is always nice.  In my mind, if you want a faster retro computer, just buy one from a few years later.

Because they are inexpensive and easy to repair I have gotten quite a few "Beige Box" PCs.  Some of these have historical significance like the IBM PC 5150 and the Compaq Portable I and others have nostalgic significance like my Gateway 2000 486, but I am running out of space for storage and I need to sell many of these PCs and stop collecting more "Beige Box" PCs.

During 2023 and 2024 when I exhibited at VCF, I was able to exhibit computers that tell a story and to sell computers at the same time.  I enjoyed that event alot and I hope to continue to be able to participate in VCF Midwest as well as some of the smaller local meet ups as time and budget allow.

Knowing which computers I'm willing to give away or sell also helps me think about preserving the ones I want to keep.  Several times this year when I got a computer out of storage that I had put away in good working order it came out of storage not working and needing repair.  So I've been on the lookout for spare machines for some of my favorites.  I don't need 3-4 of a kind, for me two seems like the sweet spot for space vs. long term usability, but unfortunately I cannot extend this policy to CRTs they are just too bulky.

Another lesson I've learned is that if I let my project list get too long, or if I am feeling too much pressure about a certain repair then it makes the hobby less fun.  If I have had a project on the list for over a year and I haven't gotten too it, it's OK to let that project go and sell or donate the hardware back to another collector or Free Geek and move on to something that's more exciting.

So what is next for vintage computing in 2025?  I have a stack of three Sun Ultra 5 and 10 workstations out in the garage that are "on deck" for repair, expect a bLog article about that in early 2025.  I have lots of little projects planned, small improvements to computers I already own.  In 2024 I've been posting about these smaller projects on Twitter / X and enjoying the community there, so I plan to continue doing that.

And for sure, I will keep an eye out for interesting projects and try to stay focused on buying computers from my wish list...

Apple II (original, not plus not e)
Apple Macintosh PowerBook 100
Apple PowerMac G5, late 2005, dual 2.3Ghz model A1117 (last air cooled G5)
Apple Macintosh SE/30 or Logic Board

Toshiba Libretto Palmtop PC
Grid Systems Laptop w/ Plasma Display
IBM Thinkpad T30 or A31 (Last model with Serial Ports Built In)

Commodore PET 2001 (chiclet Keyboard and Tape Drive)
Tandy Model 100
Digital VaxStation 3100 (w/ monitor, keyboard and mouse)
DEC PDP-11/03 or similar 11/23, etc.
Digital PDP 11
68k Apollo Workstation
68k Sun Workstation

Thanks for reading this long and rambling article, if you've made it this far I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 2024 Recap

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 2024 is in the Review Mirror.  I was happy to be there for my third in-person visit, and my second time as an exhibitor.  This year I had a busy summer, so I wanted to show a display that was easier to setup with no large projects required in order to prepare a hands on exhibit.  So I decided on the topic of "Laptop Evolution: 1988 to 1999".  I prepared 8 laptops to bring down and show off, but because of demo gremlins, I ended up with 6 working computers, then when the Mac Portable's HDD died, I was down to 5 computers on the demo table.

This year for the first time some of my family members expressed interest in tagging along for the roadtrip to Chicago and this made the event more fun for me.  One of my daughters is selling Retro-Computer themed art made out of e-waste.  She almost sold out at the show, but a few items are left on her etsy shop here...
Burbots

Here is what the booth setup looked like...

From left to right on the top of the table; my daughters art, then my interactive display.  Down below on the floor I setup computers that I'd repaired and that were for sale.  I only brought home 3 of the 9 computers I brought to sell, so I was quite happy with that result.

So far the only coverage I've seen online of the event that showed my booth was this video from Chris DeHut.  Chris is absolutely right about the screens, I wanted folks to experience how great the keyboards where and how poor the screens were.  Everyone knows about Moore's law and those of us who are old enough remember when our computers were doubling in speed every time we replaced them but there were a few cool things about the old hardware, including the amazing keyboards and the creative form factors that we used to have before all laptops started looking the same.

I unloaded about 8 parts machines or project machines onto the Free Pile.  This year the Free Pile was a happening place and I don't think anything that I put out there sat for more than a few hours.  The only thing I got off the free pile was a diskette holder for 5 1/4" disks, but since one of my goals for the event was to come home with less material than I left with, I was OK with that.

The only complete "new to me" computer that I brought home was a Sun Ultra 5 machine that I had been offered by a generous donor who is downsizing their collection.  I'm very happy to have this machine and it comes with a special surprise, but I will save that for a future bLog article.

As always, the highlight of the festival is the conversations.  I had many conversations with people I already knew from here in Minnesota or from YouTube but I also met many interesting people, some of who walked into the show because they were in the hotel for a different conference.  I heard many interesting stories from people about their experiences with computers and that is really what makes the show so much fun.  Here's a few of the stickers and cards that I collected, my daughter had an even larger collection...

The new show venue was excellent.  It was so much less stressful not having to worry about the power situation and having space for people to stand and talk and also move around instead of being crapped into tight aisles.  This also helps with the interactive exhibits because people don't feel like they had to move on immediately if they don't want too.  The hotel rooms were a bit more expensive, but I feel that the venue was so much nicer that it was a small price to pay and I would be happy if the organizers could get us back into the same venue next year.

Thanks so much too the organizers of the VCF Midwest event, your efforts are very much appreciated!  This event remains the highlight of the year for me in the retro computing hobby, and the people and ideas that I see at the show will inspire projects and conversations that will continue throughout the year.

Bargain Retro Computer Fixer-Uppers

It is quite common for me and my fellow retro computer collectors to complain about the high prices that Retro computer hardware gets on eBay, but there are still good deals to be had in local markets from people who are doing cleanups.  Personally I use Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.  I find many of these deals as referrals from my network of friends who know I'm looking for these machines.  It's good to have realistic expectations going in, as most of these lower price computers will require repairs of some kind to bring them back to use.  

Recently I've been able to acquire the following small lots:

$70 for an Apple IIe and a tote full of retro PC software and hardware (Apple IIe was advertised as untested, and it had broken keys)

$50 for an Apple Macintosh Plus (Tested at the store before purchase, boots to ? icon)

$80 for an original Mac and a Macintosh Plus (advertised as not working, and without a keyboard, mouse, or other hardware)

None of these computers were advertised as working.  When I see a local ad like this, I look at the other items that this seller has listed.  If they have alot of Retro computer stuff for sale that is working then I'm less likely to believe that items are "untested", tested and not working is more likely.  But sometimes the seller will indicate that they don't have a monitor to test and I find this explanation more believable.  

The Apple IIe was listed this way, stating that the seller didn't have a monitor to test with and so it was sold untested.  Apple IIes are know to be quite reliable (unlike Commodore 64s of the era), and so when I got it home and connected to an Apple II compatible monitor, it fired right up.  I did have to replace a RIFA cap. in the power supply, and I had to remove the keyboard and replace two key switches and key caps.  This was something I knew would be needed going into the purchase from the sellers pictures and description.  I have fixed Apple keyboards before with parts I purchased from an eBay seller that specializes in Apple keyboard parts.  After the keyboard repair the machine was complete and fully functional.

The first Macintosh Plus was purchased because I have several of the early compact Macs and I wanted to have another computer of this type to use as a Parts machine.  This Mac Plus was working at the store, but I ended up spending time reflowing many of the solder joints on the Analog board to get it starting more reliable.  I also took the floppy disk drive out and lubricated and tested that.  This machine is fully working and I stored it with my other compact macs.

The original Mac and Mac Plus lot was not a purchase I had intended to make, but a friend tipped me off and since original Macs don't come up very often at a good price I gave the listing a good look.  The case was clearly in rough condition but I could see from looking at the ports on the back that the logic board was still inside.  So I made an appointment to buy the systems,  They looked as advertised so I paid for them and brought them home.  

At home, I confirmed that both of the systems were not working (the same symptoms the seller had indicated) and I got to work on the original Mac.  I was hoping that there would be enough parts to make at least one working machine from the two.  It turns out that the original mac wasn't booting because it has a memory expansion board that was not properly seated.  I removed the logic board, re-seated the card, and the machine came to life!

The second Mac Plus was more difficult to troubleshoot.  I have narrowed the problem down to the Aanlog board, but there are no obvious burn marks or leaking caps.  I have put this repair on hold for now and will store the Mac Plus with my other parts machines.  Even without getting this final Mac Plus working, this purchase was still a bargain, but I am sure that I'll come back to the Mac Plus at some point.

So, if you enjoy repairing retro computers there are still many bargains to be had on these machines, it just requires patience and a willingness to accept machines that may have some damage.  For me, I very much enjoy the hands on experience with these machines and so I'd rather have a good solid functional machine with some blemishes than a cosmetically perfect machine that doesn't boot up and run.

Have you fixed any vintage tech. recently?  Let me know in the comments below, or feel free to send me an email and let me know what you are working on.

Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 2023 Recap

I've just returned from Vintage Computer Festival Midwest 2023.  I had a great time during my first year as an exhibitor.  The thing I enjoyed most were seeing so many people enjoying the computers I brought along...

Many types of people enjoyed the computers, from those who have never gotten to work on a NeXT machine because they were too young to those who had used the Apple Power Mac G3 w/ the 21" Studio Display back in the day.  It was so much fun hearing about peoples memories with these computers,  answering questions, or hearing small parts of many many different stories.  It was a really great time.

I was also able to connect with some of my favorite YouTubers, purchasing a boxed game from David Murray (the 8-bit guy), meeting Adrian Black for the first time, and even recording a YouTube Short for RetroTech Chris, in addition to hanging out with Steve from Mac84 and Ron from Ron's Computer Videos who I had met 2 years ago at VCF Midwest for the first time.

Also, I was able to purge several project machines that I'd lost interested in onto the "Free Pile".  Hopefully my failures can become part of a successful repair or refurbishment for another collector.  One of my friends, Matt, had a table right next to the free pile and he gave me a couple of items off the pile that he had recovered.  The crowds were so large that the good stuff came and left the free pile pretty quickly!

One goal I had set for myself was to buy only parts and pieces for projects that I already had pending.  I didn't want to leave VCF with a bunch of new projects and I was able to accomplish that goal!  I found many parts and pieces that I was looking for, mostly on Sunday.  I waited till about 11AM on Sunday to make offers.  With only a few hours left in the show many of the vendors were happy to make deals.  I have 4 or 5 projects now that I can complete with parts that I found at the show, including hard to find parts like: a DEC keyboard w/ a PS/2 port, a SUN CRT, and a New Old Stock Floppy Drive.

In summary I had a wonderful time at VCF Midwest 2023.  There were some growing pains that go along with the number of people at the show but my overall impression was quite positive and I hope to return as an exhibitor next year with a completely different set of computers to show and to share.

Assembling an Apple IIgs - Late 80s & Early 90s 16 Bit Retro Computer

In the fall of 2021, I heard from a fellow member of the Retro Computer community on the Free Geek Twin Cities Discord server that they were selling an Apple IIgs.  This machine had been on my Wish List for some time as it has some nostalgia for me.  The IIgs was the "new powerful" machine for me when I was in Junior High and High School, and I looked forward to using it when I was at school as an upgrade over the Apple IIe.  Also, GS/OS was the first Graphical User Interface that I personally used.

As I've become more familiar with the history of Apple II, I've learned that the IIgs was the most powerful Apple II machine and the “end of the line” for this iconic series of machines.  I was able to make a deal with the previous owner and I got the machine home and started to go over it.  The machine had been at a school and mostly just needed cleaning up.

When I first got the IIgs home I had only the base unit. not the correct monitor or keyboard, but since the machine had a Composite output I was able to connect an older Apple IIe Color Monitor that I already had.  This was the first Apple computer to use the ADB bus, and although I didn't have the unique keyboard, I was able to use a different ADB keyboard and mouse that I already had from a late 80s Macintosh.  With these plugged in along with floppy drives and a FloppyEmu that I already had I was able to get the machine booting and running, and to create floppy disks for the machine.

This machine was a Rev 0 machine (not the "Woz" signature edition).  I discovered that many collectors feel that ROM 1 machines had better compatibility than ROM 0, so I looked for a replacement ROM and was able to find this device.  It was a fairly inexpensive addition, easy to install and easily reversible should I decide to go back to ROM 0.

My IIgs included an original Memory Expansion board that was not fully populated with RAM DIPs.  I was able to source the correct RAM DIPs from Jameco and get that card fully populated, bringing the system total to 1.25MB, enough to load GS/OS.   I will point out that the period correct RAM DIPs were not cost effective, dollar for dollar I would have been better off getting a modern RAM upgrade for the IIgs to bring it to closer to it Maximum RAM capacity.

After working with the IIgs a while, I realized that I was really missing the look of the matching monitor and keyboard.  I put out some feelers with the Free Geek community, and was very pleased when a fellow retro computing enthusiast offered to sell me one of their keyboards along with a IIgs Monitor.  I finally had the "matched set"...

Although I know this is a somewhat common Apple II vs. others that I have collected I've really enjoyed this machine due the nostalgia factor that I have with it.  One the most important lessons of this build was being willing to go slow and accumulate the parts as they came.  As usual, the forums have been a great source of information with a community that is more than willing to offer advice and support.

I'm more skeptical than I was about the value of Retrobright since it's likely that computers will just end up yellowing again.  But in this situation the IIgs itself had stickers on it that I've removed and this has left the base un-evenly yellowed.  Also, the Monitor has hardly any yellowing and the Keyboard is the most yellow of all the items so I will be attempting to Retrobright most of this computer during our long days here in Minnesota this summer.

Other than that, this machine is complete.  I've got a flash based storage solution inside this machine, and I've found and loaded a bunch of games on this machine.  I'm especially interested in the 16-bit games from the late eighties and early nineties because I don't have a machine like the Amiga 500 or Atari ST.  Here's a great YouTube playlist that goes through many of these titles.

How to Price Vintage or Retro Computers for Sale on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace

 Hi All,

As readers of my bLog will know, I buy and sell Retro computers on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace in the Minneapolis / St. Paul Metro area.  I see a common mistake being made by people listing computers for sale on these sites, and I want to offer a bit of education.  I think an informed buyer and seller create better outcomes for both parties.

The most common error I see is people asking too much for their Vintage or Retro computers.  One common reason for this is not doing basic searches online to determine what type of computer you have.  Do not assume that all grey IBM PCs are the original IBM 5150 computer.  Do not assume that all beige all-in-one Macintosh computers are the original Macintosh computer, look for model numbers on the back of the computer and do some web searches to figure out what you are selling.  As with all antiques the value is related to the rarity, condition, and completeness.

Another common reason for overpricing comes from the practice of looking up items to sell on eBay first, then asking the same or slightly less than the “Buy it Now” price of the highest active auctions on eBay.  This is not a realistic price, you want to find out what eBay buyers are paying, not what hopeful sellers are asking.

As an example, I will describe the latest computer I have sold, a Macintosh Classic from 1991.  At the end, I will tell you what I got for the computer.

When I do a search on eBay for this computer, the first match for a currently eBay listing is asking $240 and another one is listed for $350.  However, if you look one level deeper, the real value of this computer, what eBay sellers have actually paid, is not hard to find.  This information is available by scrolling down the main eBay search results page and finding the “Sold Items” checkbox on the left side near the bottom, as shown here...

As we browse this, we see that one Macintosh Classic sold for $200, another for $96, and another for $80.  The difference in the price was mainly due to condition.  The highest price system looked really clean in the pictures, was in working condition, and was more complete included the keyboard, mouse, and cords.  The others were sold for parts / not working without a keyboard and mouse.

Once you know the value of the item on eBay, how does that apply to local market selling like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace?  I believe that asking more than 50% of what the item could be sold for on eBay means that you may have to wait a long time to find a buyer, or may not find a buyer at all.   People expect the local market to be cheaper than eBay, and if you want to sell your item quickly, this price point is important.

Using the example of the Macintosh Classic, if we apply the below 50% rule, we should be asking below $100 at the top end and below $40 for this computer in less than ideal condition on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, again primarily based on condition and completeness.

I was able to sell my Macintosh Classic recently on Craiglist for $75 without a keyboard and mouse.  It was listed for about 1 week before it sold.

What do you think about this?  Do you have experience buying and selling Retro and Vintage Computers, or other antiques?  I’d love to hear if you have other thoughts or ideas about how to value these old machines, so leave a comment below, or send me an email.