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+--- Thread: New to 99erland (/showthread.php?tid=654)
New to 99erland - cheshirenoir - 10-17-2022
Hey Folks,
New here, so I apologise if I'm off base at all.
I have some hardware questions, but first a little background :-)
I'm a "general" collector of 8 and 16 bit retro systems, triggered by a friend of mine giving me an Amiga CD32 about 8 years back. (Up until then, I'd been a fan of retro emulation). I'd been slowly growing my collection of "core" systems to cover the majority of 8 and 16 bit systems to the point where I was really only missing two main systems, that being the TRS-80 Model 1 and the TI-99/4A.
Then the past weekend, while going through, cleaning up a "trashpile" of old systems, I managed to find a Dick Smith System 80, which is a clone of the TRS-80 Model 1, as well as a pair of TI-99/4As! (One beige and one silver)
So now I have a collection that spans the majority of mainstream 8 and 16 bit systems :-)
(I have [deep breath], an Acorn BBC Micro B, BBC Master, Master Compact, Electron and Archimedes 440, an Amstrad CPC 464, an Apple 2 europlus, 2e, 2gs, Mac se/30 and Quadra 950, an Applied Technology Microbee 16, Microbee PC85, Microbee 128k and Microbee 128k premium, An Atari 800xl, STfm and STe, A Commodore PET 4032, VIC 20, C64, 128D, Amiga 1000, 500, 600, 1200 and 2000, Sinclair Spectrum 48k, Tandy Color Computer 2, VTech CreatiVision and a clone MSX 2 I assembled myself :-) )
Back to the TI-99/4A, neither system came with modulator or power supply.
I've been looking into my options for getting power in and picture out, but until I know the units are actually working, I don't want to put too much money into them. I'm also in Australia (PAL region) so ordering stuff from Ebay tends to mean I pay twice what the goods are worth in shipping, so DIY is my preferred option.
On the power front, I was thinking of getting a suitable MeanWell and use it to bypass the internal regulator entirely... It'll work in my initial testing. The other alternative I have is I can get a transformer locally that's rated for 2A that has a 18V outer and 9V center tap I could possibly use? Is the extra 0.5v on the smaller winding going to be an issue?
On the video front, well, that's more of an issue. I know PAL units do a "component" out. What are the chances I can feed that (Possibly with suitable resistors) into a Component capable monitor? (I have an old LCD TV I use for a lot of my systems)
Anyway, great to enter the 99er club, even if my systems don't yet work :-)
Cheers!
John
RE: New to 99erland - Six - 10-27-2022
Glad to see there's another multi-platform collector around!
I'd probably use a power converter that plugged into the mains rather than wiring up something directly, but everyone has their own flavor.
For video, the Amiga monitors are pretty versatile, but you'd have to have one with chroma/luma or composite.
I run my PAL C64 (I'm in NTSC-land) on a Sony PVM and it's really crisp.
hth