Yesterday marked an important event I've been looking forward to all year: The annual World of Commodore show, hosted by the Toronto Pet User's Group (TPUG). It's an annual event where I get to meet old friends, make some new ones, and revel in the shared nostalgia that is the world of Commodore computers.
Taking place at the Admiral Inn in Mississauga, Ontario, it's apt that this annual event takes place not very far from where Commodore was founded. Greeted by the friendly smiling faces of Greg, Ian, and Tom, the entry fee of $10 for non-members and $5 for members represents excellent value. It was an opportunity for members like myself to renew our annual membership for a mere $10.
One of the things I really look forward to is meeting new people and enjoying the unique displays they put on for attendees. Loui, who operates a vintage computer museum, brought with him a small sampling of rare items, generously offering a hands-on experience. Notable were the Commodore 116, the Commodore MAX machine, and a box for developers of the Commodore 64. Loui was very knowledgeable and friendly, providing a unique insight and background to each item in his collection.
My friend Dan was present, with two Amiga 1200's and a Commodore 64 on display. One Amiga 1200 was playing Youtube videos, while the Commodore 64 played various demos and was connected to the hotel network. I was impressed with a demo of Still Alive from my favourite game, Portal, playing in razor sharp high resolution on his Commodore 64. It appeared to show a true 80 column display.
A regular at World of Commodore, Joe of JP PBM provided his usual variety of Commodore hardware and software, both new and old, for very reasonable prices. I was able to buy JiffyDOS for my Commodore 128 from Joe. Joe is also a great source of information, and a great guy to talk to. He's definitely an asset to the Commodore community in this area.
There was plenty of opportunity to buy vintage Commodore goodness from TPUG, with Amigas and 8 bit Commodores for sale, along with their peripherals, software, cables, manuals, magazines, and more. As usual, there was a freebie table, where I saw a Commodore 128, some Commodore 64's, 1541 disk drives, monitors, and various disks, magazines, and programs. There was also the traditional raffle table, with prizes including a Commodore calculator. There really was something there for everyone.
The first to present was Matt Brudzynski of Comma 8 studios, returning to provide us with an update from last year's presentation. Having brought a modern version of M.U.L.E. to iPhone, Matt provided us with insight to the ongoing process and challenges of this endeavour, sharing with us the harsh criticisms and praise he's received. He's going to use the lessons he's learned thus far to update this great game. I'm looking forward to the Android debut.
Next up was John Hammarberg of Censor Design, demonstrating Pixcen for Windows. Pixcen is an open source application that makes it easy for developers to develop graphics and sprites for their games and demos on the Commodore 64. John's demonstration provided us with a how-to on how to get the most out of this development tool.
Another regular at World of Commodore and Commodore events in general, Leif Bloomquist demonstrated his wireless motion sensing glove for the Commodore 64. Leif began his demonstration by explaining the background on this technology, the SoMo by SonicWear, and how he arrived at the idea of implementing it on the Commodore 64, detailing the reasons why he chose the materials he did. He then provided a demonstration on his favourite game, Zone Ranger. After his presentation, Leif provided opportunity for attendees to try out his glove on various games.
After Leif's demonstration, we were treated to a viewing of Robin Harbron's latest song, History, which is a musical tribute to Robin's personal history leading up to his owning his very first Commodore 64 computer. You can enjoy here:
Next up was Chiron Bramberger, demonstrating his musical experiments on the PET. In his demonstration, Chiron explains the challenges he faced in getting sound from the PET, how he discovered another voice in the PET with the discovery of another oscillator, and how this lead him to discover other voices in the Commodore 64 and Vic 20. He then treated us to demonstrations on how he was able to extend the tonal range of the PET, provide stereo output, and how he made effective use of his discoveries to generate musical tones from the PET.
Keeping with the theme of the musical arts, Dan Laskowski provided us with a demonstration on how he made effective use of MIDI with Fastfingers for the Commodore 64. Most interesting was his ability to translate the velocity of pressure on a key of a KORG keyboard to change the output of the sound being generated.
There was plenty more to see...a working colour PET, a KIM-1, an original PET, interesting case and system modifications, and interesting stories from some great people. It was a day filled with fun, wonder, and vintage computing goodness. I'll leave you with these pictures of the event to enjoy.
At the July 27-28 Commodore Vegas Expo v9, Goog wrote some more efficient BASIC code for the VIC-VODER, the speech synthesis bit of hardware for the VIC-20, C64, and C128. This is what it looks like.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Final work on the C128 VGA adapter is nearing completion. It's been a long wait, because the engineer has a day job helping fire off rockets in the Southern California desert! Here is the latest picture that he sent. He says that he is pleased with the colors and that they are pretty accurate. Now he is looking into production options.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
Just received this in the mail... a fine t-shirt from my friend, Larry Anderson, through his website at http://www.larrymade.com and specifically linking to http://www.cafepress.com/larrymade . The t-shirt comes in other colors, but I chose white, because I wanted the message to pop out.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
In order to keep everything consistent, I have changed the domain name for this blog to blog.retro-link.com. The old blogspot domain name will redirect, but in the future please refer to the new domain name in your links to this site, thanks.
For the curious, this is what Jockey Room 1 looks like, sans Commodore and Amiga decorations. It was set up for us today, Wednesday, in preparation for this weekend's CommVEx. Of course, it won't look this neat when everything is thrown in. :)
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 27-28 Commodore Vegas Expo v9 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
Sunday, 21 July 2013
C128 VGA prototype adapters (right) from 2012
Well, when I went to the TOGA meeting the other day, I was hoping the C128 VGA adapter project engineer had news to tell me, like whether a new 2013 prototype would be show at this year's July 27-28 CommVEx. Nope. However, he has made significant progress in nailing down those elusive color values.
The tech from The Other Group of Amigoids can take a Commodore 64 power supply and upgrade it to have the latest, more powerful, and more reliable components. He goes over to surplus electronics stores, like HSC Electronics and Weird Stuff, and digs through the parts' bins in order to the components he needs. I showed the p.s.'s to Ray Carlsen, C= tech extraordinaire, and he measured the power coming out of them -- very clean 9V AC and very clean 5V DC at about 2.5 volts.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 27-28 Commodore Vegas Expo v9 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
Released on June 24, VIC-VODER is a new voice synthesizer developed by Richard Melick. It works on the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, and Commodore 128. Last Friday I ordered one for $99.95 US, and it came in the mail today, July 1. Above are pictures of the VIC-VODER.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 27-28 Commodore Vegas Expo v9 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
Though there are still a few Sound Ultimate Xpander 6400's still in stock ( http://retro-link.blogspot.com/2011/07/sound-ultimate-expander-6400-audio.html ), I talked to the project engineer on Thursday morning. We bounced around a few ideas, just in case I decide to do another production run of the SUX 6400. A version 2 of the SUX 6400 would have improvement(s) to the components, a microphone input... maybe even memory!
Would there be improvements to the Digimaster 64 and Digimaster 128 software? I'd have to talk to the software engineer about that, but I believe that he is busy on other projects right now.
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 27-28 Commodore Vegas Expo v9 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
C64C running graphics programs, A2000 running games
Another view of the C64C and Amiga
How well can you sketch with Super Sketch and a C64C?
Krik Klein (left), organizer of the exhibit, explains his Apples.
"Six" lets a youngster play on her modded Atari 1200XL.
A view toward the Atari 2600 and HP computers.
R2D2 wants to play, too!
This is what he wants to play!
On May 18-19 I spent 12 hours a day manning the Commodore/Amiga section of the Nostalgic Computers area at Maker Faire. We were packed with hundreds who visited each day. Above are some of the photos of the exhibit. I've been invited to come again next year. Perhaps we will have even more floor space!
Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 27-28 Commodore Vegas Expo v9 -
http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
I just received my Multicart 64 from Charles Gutman of 8-Bit Designs, and it comes with a slew of programs. Here's the list of 63 programs: Alien Sidestep, Astroblitz, Attack of the Mutant Camels, C64 Diagnostic, Calc Result, CCS Mon, Centipede, Checkers, Close Encounters, Cosmic Life, Dance Fantasy, Diagnostic C64, Dot Gobbler, Dot Gobbler 2, Facemaker, Falconian Invaders, Financial Advisor, Fraction Fever, Frog Master, Frogger, Graf64, Gridrunner, Hop Along Counting, Jaw Breaker, Juke Box, Kids on Keys, Kindercomp, Laser Zone, Magic Mon, Marios Brewery, Memory Manor, Minnesota Fats Pool Challenger, Moondust, Mr Cool, Mt TNT, Number Nabber Shape Grabber, Omega Race, Pac Man, Pipes, Pitfall, Princes and Frog, Retro Ball, Save New York, Sea Speller, Song Maker, Space Action, Space Ricoshay, Spitball, Stix, Super Smash, Tank Wars, The Fourth Sarcophagus, The Mutant Spiders, The Pit, Threshold, Trashman, TSI Cycles, TSI Maze Man, Turbo Maze, Tylers Dungeon, Ultrex Quadro Maze, Up and Addem, and Up for Grabs.
For more information on ordering a Multicart 64, go to
Here is the 1541 disk drive autographed by actor/writer/producer/director William Shatner during the William Shatner Weekend in April, 2013. As usual, Jane, the event organizer, explained to Bill what he was signing, but Bill had to peek under the post-it note covering the front so he could see the Commodore name. :)
