Commodore 64 nostalgia.

[mindprober]

I sought out the least offensive-to-Amiga-owners forum I could post this in. Hope I'm not breaking any rules. I know I could have hunted down a C64 forum elsewhere, but I wanted to get this out quickly.

I just picked up an original Commodore 64 in near-pristine condition via eBay. It looks virtually unused. It came with a surprise, though...

...when I tried to plug in my A/V out cable, I noticed the pins weren't compatible. It confused me for a good 10 minutes while I scrambled to find an old cable with the correct number of pins. I finally did, but its not in the best of condition. Ahh, it works! I was relieved and somewhat disappointed to discover that the C64 I found does not support S-Video out! It has a 5 pin a/v port instead of the expected 8-pin kind. Bummer! I have like 5 or 6 8-pin cables for some reason but only one ratty 5 pin kind. The relief came when I discovered the machine is actully operational (the seller says he could not confirm if it worked or not). So, composite out is working.

I did some research and come to find out that some of the earlier C64's *did* only come with composite out (never knew that). The serial number on this unit is in the low 100,000's and the PCB has 1982 stamped on it. Yup, looks like one of the earlier ones off the assembly line and in near excellent condition!. Neat-o from a collector's standpoint, but oh how I would like to see the s-video out on my 32" CRT.

So as to avoid finding "too old" a machine in the future, does anyone know what serial number range is associated with the 8-pin a/v out? I bought my very first C64 in 1985 and that one did have the 8pin. Kinda wished I didn't let it go years ago. I needed to clean house at the time...but I live somwhere else now with a little more breathing room.    :-D

[weirdami]

Did the C=64 have S-video? I only ever used it with a television. Isn't that the composite out? If so, all of them had it.

In any case, if I have the cable you're looking for, I'll sell it to you. (see signature)

[mindprober]

Yes, the later models with 8-pin A/V ports support Luma/Chroma video out (S-Video). Straight composite is also supported using a 5-pin cable connected to the same port. The stand-alone phono connector is for RF out only, I believe.

weirdami wrote:
Did the C=64 have S-video? I only ever used it with a television. Isn't that the composite out? If so, all of them had it.

In any case, if I have the cable you're looking for, I'll sell it to you. (see signature)

[motrucker]

I still use a C-128 system here. Mostly for my grandchildren (these machines have great educational software, even by todays standards!)
I have about 15 C-64 motherboards. If you are really that interested, I can pull them out and check (mobo) numbers and pin count.
I'll bet all of the (main) chips on your mobo are socketed, aren't they?

[HellCoder]

I love the C64.
My first ever assembly program:
#$C000 INC $D020
#$C003 INC $D021
#$C006 JMP $C000


 If i remember correctly

[TheMagicM]

I dont think he means the actual "s-video" type connector.  none of the c64's had a actual s-vid connector.  just the standard din type.

[mindprober]

Correct. Sorry for the confusion. I meant that the 8-pin supports separated video, not that it actually has a standard s-video out.

TheMagicM wrote:
I dont think he means the actual "s-video" type connector.  none of the c64's had a actual s-vid connector.  just the standard din type.

[mindprober]

I would be interested...just to get a ballpark idea.

You're correct! All main chips are socketed. This really is a museum piece considering the condition of the keyboard and case.

motrucker wrote:

I have about 15 C-64 motherboards. If you are really that interested, I can pull them out and check (mobo) numbers and pin count.
I'll bet all of the (main) chips on your mobo are socketed, aren't they?

[Speelgoedmannetje]

jdryyz wrote:
Yes, the later models with 8-pin A/V ports support Luma/Chroma video out (S-Video). Straight composite is also supported using a 5-pin cable connected to the same port. The stand-alone phono connector is for RF out only, I believe.

weirdami wrote:
Did the C=64 have S-video? I only ever used it with a television. Isn't that the composite out? If so, all of them had it.

In any case, if I have the cable you're looking for, I'll sell it to you. (see signature)

The middle pin of that 5-pin cable is ground, the left two pins are combined for composite video (colour) and the right two pins are for audio. (of vice versa, doesn't matter, you won't blow things up anyway). The two pins of the dedicated signal output are to be connected to each other. The audio output can be plugged in into the left AUX (or tape input) of your amplifier (it's NOT PHONO!).
This kind of output standard is called TTL and it's applied on many machines, like the Sega Megadrive, several 8 bit Atari's and ZX Spectrum (though the latter being slightly altered iirc).

[leirbag28]

I think jdryyz is correct...........the Commodore64 did have Chroma/Luma (aka S-Video) but seperated cables like the 1084s monitors which accept the Chroma Luma inputs..................I think I remember those brown Commodore 64 monitors model 1702 had Chroma Luma also.........this gave the C=64 a clearer RGB like picture.

[motrucker]

jdryyz wrote:
I would be interested...just to get a ballpark idea.

You're correct! All main chips are socketed. This really is a museum piece considering the condition of the keyboard and case.

[/quote]

There are 11 motherboards left. Several are old enough to have most of the chips socketed. All of these boards have the 8 pin video port. Not one five pin in the bunch! Motherboard #s range from 553807(the oldest) to 27111(the newest)?? - Since the serial numbers are paper lables, I can only guess that they were re-numbered when re-furbished.
I notice there two different makers of these motherboards; one says "made in Hong Kong (elec-2)" and the other just are marked "hi-pricP37 B".
These all came from Burried Treasure, a Commodore/Amiga dealer that used to be in Rockville, Maryland - just outside of Washington D.C..

[mindprober]

Thank you for the info!

motrucker wrote:

jdryyz wrote:
I would be interested...just to get a ballpark idea.

You're correct! All main chips are socketed. This really is a museum piece considering the condition of the keyboard and case.

There are 11 motherboards left. Several are old enough to have most of the chips socketed. All of these boards have the 8 pin video port. Not one five pin in the bunch! Motherboard #s range from 553807(the oldest) to 27111(the newest)?? - Since the serial numbers are paper lables, I can only guess that they were re-numbered when re-furbished.
I notice there two different makers of these motherboards; one says "made in Hong Kong (elec-2)" and the other just are marked "hi-pricP37 B".
These all came from Burried Treasure, a Commodore/Amiga dealer that used to be in Rockville, Maryland - just outside of Washington D.C..

[/quote]