We don’t know if you’ve looked into it recently, but the prices for vintage computers are through the roof right now. These classic machines are going through something of a renaissance at the moment, with even relatively commonplace computers commanding several hundred dollars if they’re in good condition. For those looking to start a collection without breaking the bank, you may need to accept some specimens that have seen better days.
That’s the situation [Vlado Vince] recently found himself in — he wanted to get his hands on a TRS-80 Model I, but wasn’t willing to spend eBay prices. So he waited until the Vintage Computer Federation’s swap meet in June and was able to snag a “fully functional” example for $95. Unfortunately the seller must have been using some form of that phrase which we were previously unaware of, as it took a considerable amount of work to get it back online.
Getting the machine home [Vlado] was only able to get a very faint video signal out of it, and even then, it had no horizontal sync. Upon opening it up he found considerable corrosion, in addition to signs of previous repairs and bodges. Doing some research he found that one of the corroded ICs was indeed part of the video circuit, so it was carefully extracted and replaced with a socket to take the new chip. He also removed a hacked together memory upgrade that was likely installed in the 1980s, figuring it being there would only complicate the repair.
This still didn’t give him a useful video signal, so he starte ..
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