Model 1 mods (was Re: obnoxious subject header)

From: J. Maynard Gelinas <maynard_at_jmg.com>
Date: Sun Apr 12 21:15:15 1998

> From: allisonp_at_world.std.com (Allison J Parent)
> Subject: Re: A%%****<---drop this too!
>
> <IIRC, the Tandy modifications were the L2 basic board, 16K RAM, Numeric
> <keypad, and the lower case mod. All others were 3rd party. I could make a
> <slight case that 3rd party mods are slightly less original, but I'm not
> <going to press the point. I don't think Tandy ever offered a *2 speedup.

     IIRC my family had a model 1 upgraded from a 4K level I basic
     unit to a 16k level II with numeric keypad; during the upgrade my
     dad also sprung for a lowercase mod (this had to have been around
     late 1978). We were waiting for an Expansion Interface and disk
     unit (original Shugart single density drive), which were on
     backorder and didn't arrive for _months_. I seem to remember one
     of the advantages of buying a later Model 1 was that the
     keyboard, while unable to remove the keycaps for cleaning,
     actually _solved_ the keybounce problem. My current model 1 has
     the old type keyboard and continues to bounce keys (no keypad);
     rather annoying.

>
> The *2 speed up was not RS, however the concession was that machine
> modified with those in for repair would be serviced at normal rates if
> the mod was unrelated to the problem. If a new logic was required do to
> extensive damage the pricing was different (expensive).
>
     Wasn't there a Dennis Kitz speedup mod published in an old
     80 Micro article? He wrote a _bunch_ of articles containing
     useful mods to the model 1... really an amazing guy. I wonder
     what happened to him.


> <They may well have offered various fixes to the cassette interface - I
> <don't know.
>
> They did! The best one was a little board with a 4040/4001 on it.
>
> <There were many 3rd party mods. I've seen a M1 with 48K RAM in the
> <keyboard unit. I've even seen one (much hacked) power up with a CASS?
> <prompt. Yes, it was running M3 BASIC.
>
> there were some rally nice mods too.

     The coolest mod he published an article about was a high
     resolution adapter which fit inside the model 1 case supporting
     384x192x1 bit graphics. Anyone know any history on this? I used
     to drool over that article, but at the time my dad wouldn't let
     me open the machine up... being the only home computer at the
     time, and my age at about 10 or 11, I don't really blame him. ;-)

--jmg
Received on Sun Apr 12 1998 - 21:15:15 BST