World of Commodore Toronto, December 1, 2007

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:39 am

gklinger wrote:This year the fun won't top when the sun goes down.

This year, my fun will stop when it's time for my son to go down.

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:13 am

DigitalQuirk wrote:
gklinger wrote:This year the fun won't top when the sun goes down.
This year, my fun will stop when it's time for my son to go down.

Haha! My retro-computer fun begins as soon as my daughter goes to bed (she keeps me pretty occupied until then). After that's, there's about 1 hour of uninterupted "quiet time" for me to do what I want to before my own fatigue sets in (she gets me up early too).

Still, no regrets at all. Kids will only be young once and it's great to spend time with them while you can!

Schema · Post by **Schema** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:33 am

Jeff-20 wrote:I wish I could go...

Yeah, would be great to see you again Jeff!

There is a carload of SWRAP members coming from Chicago that you could carpool with...probably too late for this year though!

6502dude · Post by **6502dude** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:16 pm

I had car problems today which made me late for WOC show and I also left my box with known good working Vic-20 at home.

Demo of MegaCart did not go well.

MegaCart started ok with a few power on/off cycles, but had black screen most of the time.

A second Vic-20 was brought out, but it also did not work correctly.

I managed only to show menu, games listing for carts, and only start one game - Atlantis. After this, Vic-20 would not show anything but black screen.

I suspect dirty contacts on edge card socket for both of these Vic-20s which I think were in storage for several years.

I finished talk, but I am very disappointed that I was unable to show off features and that some people may think this is a MegaCart cartridge problem.

When I got home, I plugged in MegaCart and it worked fine.

Murphy's law ruled the day!

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 6:03 pm

I'm sorry to hear that you couldn't find one reliable VIC-20 on a World of Commodore meeting (or at least not one that you could borrow for a while).

6502dude · Post by **6502dude** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:04 pm

carlsson wrote:I'm sorry to hear that you couldn't find one reliable VIC-20 on a World of Commodore meeting (or at least not one that you could borrow for a while).

People did hear you MegaCart song at start of the presentation, amplified though a sound system.

My presentation started at noon and the presentation was under time pressure so folks could break for lunch.

A 2nd Vic-20 was brought into room, but also appeared to have edge card connector problem. I had no such problem at retro party about a month ago and the contacts on MegaCart #1 are extremely clean.

In all, it was a bad day, with a broken windshield, Vic-20 problems, car key problem, etc.

Perhaps Dec 1 is just a bad luck day for me.

Eslapion had a demo to do later for a "secret project"
Hopefully he had a Vic-20 that was working ok.

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:51 pm

6502dude wrote:
carlsson wrote:I'm sorry to hear that you couldn't find one reliable VIC-20 on a World of Commodore meeting (or at least not one that you could borrow for a while).
People did hear you MegaCart song at start of the presentation, amplified though a sound system.

My presentation started at noon and the presentation was under time pressure so folks could break for lunch.

A 2nd Vic-20 was brought into room, but also appeared to have edge card connector problem. I had no such problem at retro party about a month ago and the contacts on MegaCart #1 are extremely clean.

In all, it was a bad day, with a broken windshield, Vic-20 problems, car key problem, etc.

Perhaps Dec 1 is just a bad luck day for me.

Eslapion had a demo to do later for a "secret project"
Hopefully he had a Vic-20 that was working ok.

And a 2nd set of car keys wouldn't of hurt me either

Got so damn excited dropping off my Commodore loot into the trunk of my car that the keys got tangled up in a whack of cables and 3 hours later....

But I learnt how to jimmy a lock 2 different ways today though

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:11 pm

A shot of the Denial members, sans Centallica and 6502dude; who left prior to the taking of this photograph:

And now, my haul, which would probably be grounds for divorce if my wife ever found out the extent of it all:

For the record, my son now has a fully working Commodore 64 outfit from the "Free" table. My prize is the mint condition Amiga 2000 with perfect keyboard and mouse for $50; as well as a Kickstart ROM 1.3/2.4/3.1 with a 3 way switch, made by our very own eslapion. Very nicely done, I might add.

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:00 pm

Hey Paul,
Its been great meeting you!

I am writing this right now from the Stay Inn hotel! There's beer and a couple of people waiting for me downstairs!

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 8:44 am

WOW! Fun....gotta make an effort to go next year! What is that Amiga looking card on top of the yellow looking C64c?

Also....can anyone put names to the face in the Denial group photo? I recognise:

Schema, Golan, [unidentified], Francois, DigitalQuirk with son (I am assuming) and [unidentified].

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:18 am

Eslapion, it was a pleasure to get to finally meet you as well. I'm quite pleased with the A2000 and the kickstart chip you made for it. I mounted the switch on the back in one of the silver port plates; the wire is just long enough. Thanks to Golan as well for all the Amiga games and disks. Actually, I probably ought to thank a lot of people, but I didn't really keep very good track of who put what on the free table, and my son kept running up and grabbing stuff.

Ral-clan, It is my son, who is very proud of his very own Commodore 64 system. On the right (my left) is MacbthPSW. What a motley crew we make!

The Amiga looking card on top of the yellow looking 64c (which is the one that works perfectly; haven't tested the other one yet) is actually two Amiga cards that work together; one's an accelerator with an '020, the other is a memory card, presumably fully populated with 8MB. According to the schematics in the documentation I got with them, I may have to modify the motherboard in my A2000 to get them to work; not something I'm entirely comfortable with just yet. I need to replace the battery; I think that will be my first motherboard hardware "Hack", besides popping in eslapion's multi-kickstart chip and mounting the 3 way switch.

nbla000 · Post by **nbla000** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:46 am

6502dude wrote: In all, it was a bad day, with a broken windshield, Vic-20 problems, car key problem, etc.

Perhaps Dec 1 is just a bad luck day for me.

Don't worry Brian, today i had a meeting with my brother and some friends at my commodore room (OK just Vic-20 / C64 / Amiga 1200) and we enjoyed the MegaCart for 2 hours !!!!

Since there was a lot of people anxious to play with the MegaCart, attention was for multiplayer games included the new addition "Gladiator" by Empa Kendo and my PONG, after there was a MS Pacman tournament, i was first

Eslapion had a demo to do later for a "secret project"
Hopefully he had a Vic-20 that was working ok.

Wow, is so secret that denial members cannot know ? any information ? for Vic or other Commodore Systems ?

PS: I love the READY. t-shirt.

6502dude · Post by **6502dude** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 1:39 pm

nbla000 wrote:
6502dude wrote: In all, it was a bad day, with a broken windshield, Vic-20 problems, car key problem, etc.

Perhaps Dec 1 is just a bad luck day for me.
Don't worry Brian, today i had a meeting with my brother and some friends at my commodore room (OK just Vic-20 / C64 / Amiga 1200) and we enjoyed the MegaCart for 2 hours !!!!

Since there was a lot of people anxious to play with the MegaCart, attention was for multiplayer games included the new addition "Gladiator" by Empa Kendo and my PONG, after there was a MS Pacman tournament, i was first

I glad to hear people your family and friends had a chance to enjoy MegaCart

I have not loaded up new images yet with Gladiator or tested the new easter eggs, but I plan to this afternoon

I understand that Eslapion encountered the same problem that I did with Vic-20 hardware at the WOC 2007.

My lesson learned - to always bring my own Vic-20 which I know does not have a defective cartridge port.

nbla000 wrote:
6502dude wrote:Eslapion had a demo to do later for a "secret project"
Hopefully he had a Vic-20 that was working ok.
Wow, is so secret that denial members cannot know ? any information ? for Vic or other Commodore Systems ?

Apparently the "secret project" is to wait until MegaCart is completed and for Eslapion to copy it.

Pretty lame IMHO

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:09 pm

The disappearance of the keys in the trunk incident messed up the last few hours to chat with fellow Denial Members more

MacbethPSW...pm me you phone number in case I have time when in TBAY this month...we can connect for some C-times

Where in the world did Ian C. go? (new game for the Vic-20)

Leif you were there one minute gone the next everytime I looked around

I got a 1541, 3.5" floppy storage box, (2) Vic keyboards, (2) Amiga power supplies, Whack of Amiga games on disc, spare C64 top/bottom covers, some fuses from the freebie table

Great trade with Golan for one of these:

and a few Amiga boxed RPG games thrown in

and as he cannibalized a Vic-20 for the PET style keyboard he gave me the corpse afterwards and realized the boad has a different layout than I remembered from the Vic's I have and notice the Japanese stickers on the chips (think I'll sell to Leif as a VIC 1001 Board

).

Produced in Japan July 1981:

That's a Revision "A" on the 6502 btw

and got to see 6502dudes dungeon of electronic terror after I dropped him off at home too

6502dude · Post by **6502dude** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:12 pm

Centallica wrote:That's a Revision "A" on the 6502 btw

The A indicates that it is 1Mhz CPU, B = 2Mhz, & C = 3Mhz

and got to see 6502dudes dungeon of electronic terror after I dropped him off at home too

I prefer to think of this as an electronics graveyard

You didn't see the piles of stuff stored in the garage

It was made to fit two cars and I have never had my car in it.

I did manage to get about a half dozen things fixed today, so they will exit the dungeon soon.