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Offline scuzzb494Topic starter

Incredible
« on: May 19, 2015, 09:28:35 PM »
Hi

Anyone that knows me will understand that I have a lot of Amigas. Today I was trying to salvage some parts for a camera and came across not only an Amiga 1000 that I didn't know I had but also a full 1200 rig which I had obviously carefully packed away complete, probably five or six years ago. Anyway quite incredible that she breaths again.... and this is what happened today.

[ diary ]

So I cleaned away all the nasty spiders from behind the big Mitsubishi monitor and placed it in the lounge. Next up I set up the Microvitec for the Amiga. I decided I needed to check whether the A1200 was still working given that she had not been on for over five years. This computer has a 3.5” hard drive inside. Anyway she dithered a bit but then she would have been searching for the Squirrel and the external drives. In very little time she fired up and I had forgotten she had OS3.9 on her.

So I placed the two external SCSI drives, CDRom and Iomega ZIP drive next to the 1200 and connected the Squirrel. I then fired up the external drives with their own power switch and all seemed fine. Next I plugged in the HD external floppy drive and I was ready to rock and roll. On went the brick and the mount list launched showing the Squirrel being accessed from the PCMCIA and next there was a whir from the drives and she was running.

I opened Dopus and found all the drives working. There was even a CU Amiga CD in the CD drive. I played a few of my old animations. Ran Valhalla and Sensible Soccer from the hard drive and she was working perfectly. The clock is registering 2009 for some reason. I even opened YAM and read some of my mails from 2005.

So that was a warm glow I have to say.

The computer was purchased through Amibench from a guy in Southampton in 2002. It came with a tower which never really worked. In the end I salvaged it and installed a new motherboard.  And so some 13 years on the computer is still running fine. Saying that all my computers tend to work. Well I hope they do.

I say incredible, because, anyone who has played Valhalla will know its what the small guy says in game all the time. Well that and 'I'm not scared'.

Happy days.

scuzz

Offline danbeaver

Re: Incredible(s)
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2015, 10:04:26 PM »
 

Offline DutchinUSA

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Re: Incredible
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2015, 10:52:19 PM »
Better get those capacitors replaced if they are still the original ones :flame:
 

Offline mindprober

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Re: Incredible
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2015, 02:52:38 AM »
I'm confused. Your website shows lots of Amigas already in your collection. So what makes this find so special?

Or, are all those items in your collection no longer with you?  :(
 

Offline scuzzb494Topic starter

Re: Incredible
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2015, 08:43:16 AM »
Quote from: jdryyz;789582
I'm confused. Your website shows lots of Amigas already in your collection. So what makes this find so special?

Or, are all those items in your collection no longer with you?  :(


All my Amigas are special. Thing is I can only have so many machines out at any one time. Most are in storage. I get gifted large collections and in 2010 around the time I got the KIM I had to debunk a whole section of my workshop because a guy gave me a whole atic full of Amiga kit. I must have put this workstation away and it dropped to the bottom of a pile. So it was switched off, stored and then forgotton. Along with the Amiga 1000. The pile it was in was listed as Dreamcast, Nintendo and ancient Japanese console items and I had forgotten all about it.

I have been struggling these last few days with camera issues as I am unable to replicate images similar to those I had with the Epson. I gave up in the end and have now purchased another Epson off Ebay. But I needed the cables. Luck would have it I could see the old camera through the plastic large case at the bottom of a stack of boxes. My surprise was finding the Amiga and all complete with the drives, mouse, cables etc. So it was fingers crossed cus these external SCSI drives can be very flakey.

It just amazes me when I fire up the Amiga it always works. And then I have the joy of seeing a snapshot of my life for a period of time. And then all the memories flood back. This computer was very active from around 2002 to 2010 and has all my YAM mail for the various groups along with all the files for that period. So dipping into the pool is just so magical.

Also playing Valhalla was cool along with Sensi and a few other games. My icon collection is also on the machine. I did have to get the computer working in the early days and fit the Blizzard and add the external drives and stuff. She is a bit of a beast as the inside was hacked by the previous owner. It is an Amiga 1200 labelled as HD and I think it must be an Escom model.

Anyway.... I have like over 25 Amiga 1200s. Probably my favourite machine. I do collect computers and I do get gifted a lot. So I can get confused and lost a bit as to what is what. But I am in Aladins cave here every day and its always fun tripping over computers. I have hundreds, if not close to a thousand.

And they are all very special..... This week I have been mostly getting an Amiga 500+ working again and that has been a different but equally magical experience. Next week it will be something else. How lucky am I ?

Offline scuzzb494Topic starter

Re: Incredible
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2015, 08:50:06 AM »
Quote from: DutchinUSA;789573
Better get those capacitors replaced if they are still the original ones :flame:


I have lots of Amiga 1200's. I think it was 25 at the last count. And when you add the dozens and dozens of other similar machines I have it would be a giant task to focus on the issue. I have never had a problem so I guess the computers live and die with me. I am aware there are problems ... mostly I just focus on the batteries and get them removed and the motherboards tidied up. I have rebuilt whole machines from the ground up but am not skilled in such matters and living in a remote forest I really have no access to technical help.

Thanks for the response though.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0507/a_scuzz_retro_0507_329.jpg

Offline DutchinUSA

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Re: Incredible
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2015, 03:55:58 PM »
Fair enough, it's your stuff and you can do with it what you want :)
 

Offline mindprober

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Re: Incredible
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2015, 04:07:08 PM »
Nice story. Thanks for sharing.

Quote from: scuzzb494;789592
All my Amigas are special. Thing is I can only have so many machines out at any one time. Most are in storage. I get gifted large collections and in 2010 around the time I got the KIM I had to debunk a whole section of my workshop because a guy gave me a whole atic full of Amiga kit. I must have put this workstation away and it dropped to the bottom of a pile. So it was switched off, stored and then forgotton. Along with the Amiga 1000. The pile it was in was listed as Dreamcast, Nintendo and ancient Japanese console items and I had forgotten all about it.

I have been struggling these last few days with camera issues as I am unable to replicate images similar to those I had with the Epson. I gave up in the end and have now purchased another Epson off Ebay. But I needed the cables. Luck would have it I could see the old camera through the plastic large case at the bottom of a stack of boxes. My surprise was finding the Amiga and all complete with the drives, mouse, cables etc. So it was fingers crossed cus these external SCSI drives can be very flakey.

It just amazes me when I fire up the Amiga it always works. And then I have the joy of seeing a snapshot of my life for a period of time. And then all the memories flood back. This computer was very active from around 2002 to 2010 and has all my YAM mail for the various groups along with all the files for that period. So dipping into the pool is just so magical.

Also playing Valhalla was cool along with Sensi and a few other games. My icon collection is also on the machine. I did have to get the computer working in the early days and fit the Blizzard and add the external drives and stuff. She is a bit of a beast as the inside was hacked by the previous owner. It is an Amiga 1200 labelled as HD and I think it must be an Escom model.

Anyway.... I have like over 25 Amiga 1200s. Probably my favourite machine. I do collect computers and I do get gifted a lot. So I can get confused and lost a bit as to what is what. But I am in Aladins cave here every day and its always fun tripping over computers. I have hundreds, if not close to a thousand.

And they are all very special..... This week I have been mostly getting an Amiga 500+ working again and that has been a different but equally magical experience. Next week it will be something else. How lucky am I ?
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: Incredible
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2015, 07:08:42 PM »
Quote from: scuzzb494;789592
The pile it was in was listed as Dreamcast, Nintendo and ancient Japanese console items and I had forgotten all about it.

...

Anyway.... I have like over 25 Amiga 1200s.

Must be a nice problem to have!  I'll think of you next time I see someone post how they can't find a single A1200 for sale for love nor money, haha.  :lol:

j/k, I wonder how much it would cost to have all of them re-capped?!  :roflmao:
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline scuzzb494Topic starter

Re: Incredible
« Reply #9 on: May 20, 2015, 07:52:10 PM »
Quote from: Oldsmobile_Mike;789630
Must be a nice problem to have!  I'll think of you next time I see someone post how they can't find a single A1200 for sale for love nor money, haha.  :lol:

j/k, I wonder how much it would cost to have all of them re-capped?!  :roflmao:


Interestingly my original A1200 has served me well for 22 years. I only really started collecting for fear of not being able to find replacement parts. And then it just snowballed.

This is the computer I set up yesterday and been having a blast all day.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_m2015_02/car_m2015_18.jpg

Happy days... always an Amiga day.

Offline paul1981

Re: Incredible
« Reply #10 on: May 20, 2015, 08:17:42 PM »
Quote from: scuzzb494;789634
Interestingly my original A1200 has served me well for 22 years. I only really started collecting for fear of not being able to find replacement parts. And then it just snowballed.

This is the computer I set up yesterday and been having a blast all day.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_m2015_02/car_m2015_18.jpg

Happy days... always an Amiga day.


Ahhh...the Zydec Amiga mouse... Mine's broken now, can't remember what happened to it, but it is a lovely mouse and probably my favourite.
 

Offline scuzzb494Topic starter

Re: Incredible
« Reply #11 on: May 20, 2015, 09:33:42 PM »
Quote from: paul1981;789639
Ahhh...the Zydec Amiga mouse... Mine's broken now, can't remember what happened to it, but it is a lovely mouse and probably my favourite.


You gotta say it was just magic compared to Commodore's own product.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_m2015_01/car_m2015_12.jpg

By the way.. the card there is also a Zydec. Not an Amiga 1200 obviously. The Amram 500+.

Offline paul1981

Re: Incredible
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2015, 12:50:37 PM »
Quote from: scuzzb494;789643
You gotta say it was just magic compared to Commodore's own product.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_m2015_01/car_m2015_12.jpg

By the way.. the card there is also a Zydec. Not an Amiga 1200 obviously. The Amram 500+.


Yep, compared to that awful Commodore mouse that came with my A1200, the Zydec was luxury. Mine's yellow though and broken, but I'll fix it one day :)