Saturday 17 December 2011

Picking up Commodore goods


Entering the house
Listening to Chuck's stories
Taking stock of some of the load

Chuck and his ham radio set-up

(photos by Alfredo M.)

Several times a year I am contacted to pick up Commodore and/or Amiga goods that are no longer wanted by their owners. On November 27, I made a return visit to Chuck W.'s house in Stockton in order to pick up the remainder of his C= goods. This time, filmmakers Rory Muir and Jerold Kress came along to film footage for their documentary, and I was helped by FCUG member Alfredo M.

Merry Christmas!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Friday 18 November 2011

Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network







The Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network (SCCAN) celebrates its sixth anniversary this December. SCCAN covers both Commodore 8-bit and Amiga computers.

Above are some photos from the last few meetings, held at Panera Bread Restaurant, 19662 Nordhoff St., Northridge, California. The next SCCAN meeting will be on January 14, 2012.

Speaking for SCCAN,
Robert Bernardo
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

Sunday 13 November 2011

Retro-Link will reside at blogger

Due to on-going unresolved technical issues experienced by Robert with the Wordpress version of this blog, it has been decided that retro-link blog posts will resume indefinitely at retro-link.blogspot.com. In addition, the retro-link.com domain name will be redirected to here. I will migrate relevant entries over shortly.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

retro-link.blogspot.com is now retro-link.com

Good news for retro-link fans!  This blog has been migrated to a Wordpress blog which is hosted at retro-link.com, where it belongs.  The blogspot version will exist in order to prevent dead links, but please update your bookmarks and direct your attention to retro-link.com for the latest from Robert and Paul.

Sunday 9 October 2011





















A few weeks ago, Judy Ranheim, widow of John Ranheim of the Jason Ranheim Company, contacted our user group. The Jason Ranheim Company was a company which made specialized boards for the Commodore and advertised in all the Commodore magazines of the 1980's and 1990's.

Judy wanted to give the remainders of the company to our group, and on a Sunday night, I visited her house and packed my car with loads of goods from her. At next Sunday's FCUG meeting, the members will be able to pick out what they want. Above are some of her photos of the items.

Membership has its privileges,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Friday 16 September 2011

Got the new PETdisk for the Commodore PET

This came in the mail today, just 2 days after being shipped out of San Francisco. I'll have to pull out one of my working PETs just to try out this new micro-SD drive. Oh, the website is http://www.bitfixer.com/bf/PETdisk , and it's $25 US (not including shipping).

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Friday 2 September 2011

MCC-216 at the Amiwest Show 2011


At the Oct. 21-23 Amiwest Show in Sacramento, California, I intend to have a working exhibit of ArcadeRetroGaming.com's Multiple Classic Computer 216 (MCC-216), VGA version. It will have the Amiga 500, Commodore 64, and Atari 2600 cores (possibly even the new Apple II core). Now all I have to do is grab some free table space from a friend or a vendor. :)

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Friday 26 August 2011

Digimaster screenshots



(Screencaps from a video by Robert Bernardo)

You wanted screenshots of Digimaster... you've got screenshots of Digimaster. This is the software which uses the Sound Ultimate Xpander 6400 cartridge in order to capture and play back audio in 8-bit quality.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Thursday 25 August 2011

CommVEx v8, July 28-29, 2012

"Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in." :) A few hours ago, I signed and faxed back the agreement between me and the Las Vegas Club Hotel for the Commodore Vegas Expo v8 2012. Yup, CommVEx is returning next year to the third floor Left Field Room at the hotel on 18 E. Fremont Street. How many more years can I keep this up? :)

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Tuesday 23 August 2011

SUX 6400's on hold

Ack! I have more people ordering the SUX 6400 / Digimaster packages, but I have no more in stock. I am waiting on more to be assembled in Oregon and shipped down to me in California. I'm hoping the customers are patient.

That just SUX,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Wednesday 17 August 2011

First comment on the SUX 6400

JG writes,

"I received my digitizer today and I love it! Thanks a lot."

It's always good to have a satisfied customer. :)

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Saturday 13 August 2011

Jeri and her SUX 6400



Jeri Ellsworth is hacking her SUX 6400 in the first picture (oooo, big drill press!). In the second picture is her vanilla ice cream "chimichanga" from La Carreta Mexican Restaurant in Portland, Oregon.

In an early birthday celebration for her,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Prototype of the SUX 6400




Here are some photos of what I call "prototype #0" of the SUX 6400. It was created by Steve Ramirez years ago.

Writing from Las Vegas,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Friday 12 August 2011

The Jumpdisk Preservation Project

The Jumpdisk Preservation Project was something I started in 2008, after I discovered that Amiga Jumpdisks were nowhere to be found on the internet (or otherwise).  My own disks were starting to fail, so I fixed what I could and archived the rest, then put that archive on-line with a simple web interface.  At first, these were on a Red Hat server I personally ran from my home using my high speed connection, then later I migrated the files to a paid host.  Three years later, I continue to ensure Jumpdisk is freely available to anyone who wants it.

While my collection represented the most complete collection available, it wasn't complete, and so I had called on others to help me.  My ultimate goal is to obtain each and every thing ever published by Jumpdisk, then create an ISO image of that collection to freely distribute and share, ensuring that Jumpdisk will live on.  Bear in mind that Jumpdisk was a commercial venture.  I started this project purely for historical archival purposes; but I would respect the wishes of Richard Ramella.  I paid for each and every issue I had, as I know how Richard felt about pirating.  I wish to make clear that this archive is not a pirate effort.

Recently, I got a message from Syd Bolton of the Personal Computer Museum.  Syd indicates that he's currently in possession of a unique collection of Jumpdisk disks, and wishes to contribute to the project.  It's giving, community-minded people like Syd who help to make the retro computing community great.  I look forward to Syd's contributions to the project, and have my fingers crossed that it will complete the collection.

Tuesday 26 July 2011

SUX 6400 / Digimaster combo released!

(first photo by Larry Anderson)

The Sound Ultimate Xpander 6400 audio digitizer and its accompanying Digimaster software were released on July 24, 2011 at the Commodore Vegas Expo v7. The CommVEx attendees were curious and enthusiastic about the hardware, and when they saw the software in operation, they were sold. Sales were good at CommVEx, with the SUX 6400 / Digimaster combo going for the CommVEx special price of $20 or $23 if the cartridge case was included.

Hydrophilic's Digimaster 128 for the C128 in 40-column mode now comes in the package.

The regular price is $22 US or $25 US if the cartridge case is included. Within the United States, shipping is $5.95 US Priority Mail flat-rate. Shipping to other countries is to be determined at the time of the order. To order the combo package, send check or money order to

D. Estel
185 W. Pilgrim Lane
Clovis, California 93612
U.S.A.

Payment by Paypal is available. Send your inquiry to rbernardo(at)iglou.com

Back from CommVEx,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

Because of the wacky wi-fi connection at the Las Vegas Club Hotel (the venue for the Commodore Vegas Expo v7), these photos couldn't be uploaded before the show. But here they are now! Three bottles were were distributed as door prizes.

After CommVEx,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

Thursday 21 July 2011

Commodore Wine at CommVEx v7 2011

These are some pictures of the Syrah wine which will be door prizes at the Commodore Vegas Expo v7 2011 on July 23-24. The wine is dedicated to CBM engineer, Chuck Peddle.

Thanks to Baysinger Cellars,
Robert Bernardo
organizer - Commodore Vegas Expo v7 2011
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex

Wednesday 13 July 2011

SUX 6400 now in production!



(photos by the Goog)

The assembly line for the SUX 6400 started on Sunday! Looks as if it will meet its release deadline at the July 23-24 Commodore Vegas Expo. :)

The calm before CommVEx,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 23-24 Commodore Vegas Expo v7 2011 - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex

Monday 4 July 2011

SUX 6400 - pre-production model #1


(photo by the Goog)

Here is the SUX 6400 pre-production model #1. This is what it will look like, except the production models will have a semi-transparent case. Assembly starts this month!

To read more about the SUX 6400, go to http://retro-link.blogspot.com/2011/05/6400-first-look.html

Writing from Haywards Heath, England,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 23-24 Commodore Vegas Expo - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex

Thursday 23 June 2011

Another visit to AmigaKit.com




Here are some photos I took at my visit to AmigaKit this past Monday and Tuesday in Cardiff, Wales, the United Kingdom. The first is the almighty leader, Matthew Leaman. The second is their test bench C64 (with famous AmigaKit glue gun!), and the last is of the stalwart AmigaKit v.p. in charge of post and packing, Dave. :)