Jump to content
IGNORED

When did you first see/use a TRS-80?


MHaensel

Recommended Posts

I missed out on the Model I-IV/CoCo scene growing up. My first time really using them has been this last year via emulation. Nothing against my Commodore 64, but these are a completely different thing!

 

It's weird. I visited Radio Shack a lot as a kid for the toys, books, and electronics. I don't remember any computers there! They probably had some window displays, but not anything a kid like me could touch or play with. (It was a small Radio Shack, and that would have been a smart move, I was a hyperactive kid . . . ? )

 

The TRS-80s I remember growing up:

One kid had a MC-10 color computer. I don't think his family even bought any games for it! It didn't get used much.

My school may have had a TRS-80 Model II in the front office for keeping student records. I remember all-in-one design and eight inch disks . . .

My neighbor's dad bought a well-equipped TRS-80 model IV that his son was encouraged to use. Orchestra-90 sounded GREAT through a stereo amplifier!

 

What about you? When did you first see/use a TRS-80?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The TRS-80 Model 1 was my first encounter with Microcomputer back in 1980.

Our local library had one in their typing room - and you could sign up to use either devices (Model 1 or the Typewriter) for an hour at a time.

A friend and I would sign up to use the Model 1 for two consecutive hours on Saturday afternoons, and usually no one else signed up after us, so we'd continue to use it for hours until the library closed.

I was also friends with the manager of a local Radio Shack - he'd allow me to sit in front of the Model 3 display model and use it as long as I liked.

He had a couple bootleg games which I copied right on the Model 3 - and I also would pop the cassette versions of the games on the rack into the Model 3 and copy them too when he was in the back room

watching his soap operas.

 

I really wanted to buy a Model 3 for myself, but couldn't afford it.  In 1981, I was a junior and our high school got 3 Model 3s - one of them was connected to a printer.

Students would do their programs on one of the two w/out the printer, and then CSAVE it to their cassette and carry it to the printer equipped machine for creating a hardcopy for turning in.

 

About this time, I managed to find a used Model 1 4K Level 1 machine - and I had it upgraded at Radio Shack to 16K Level 2.

I was then able to do my class assignments at home - and basically read programming books in class.  I just had to reset the printer equipped Model 3 when it was my turn to print,

since it was always defaulting to 1500 baud instead of my Model 1's 500.

 

I was aware of the Atari 800 and I really wanted one, along with the Apple II - but they, along with the Model 3, were out of my reach budget wise.

I continued to upgrade my Model 1 to a disk system - since I had already invested money into it already.

 

In 1984, I retired the Model 1 and bought a CoCo II - since it could use my Model 1 floppy drive and cassette recorder - something the C64 couldn't - so even though they were similarly priced,

I was already locked into the TRS architecture by my previous purchases.

 

In 1987, I moved on and assembled a PC XT clone and thus my original TRS-80 Adventures came to an end...

 

Until in 1993(earlier?) when I found a copy of Volcano Hunter running in a Model 3 emulator someone had created.  It was an all in one package - just an EXE which contained the game and the emulator.

That's when I discovered the joy of emulation and started corresponding with Jeff Vavasour - yep - I knew him before he made it big ?

I registered his Model 1 emulator, and send him ROM dumps from my CoCo 2 when he was working on creating that emulator.

 

I also started corresponding with David Kiel about that time - and he was working on a CoCo emulator also - on par with his Model 1/3 emulators - in that they would use his disk format.

I sent him my CoCo service manual to help him out - and when he was done, he sent it back.

 

Finally in 1995, a co-worker brought a Model 3 to work - and asked if anyone wanted it - I jumped at the chance, and finally after about 15 years of wanting one, I had one!

I made the foolish mistake of then deciding to get rid of my Model 1 and Coco 2 - and since I didn't know about eBay - into the bin they went.  Yes, I tossed them in the garbage.  A sin I shall carry to my grave.

 

In 2000, I discovered the joy of eBay and bought a Model 4, and a Model 4P.

The Model 3 was now being supplanted by the 4s - so I gave it away.  Yes, honestly, I learned my lesson of binning working TRS-80s.

 

In 2007, on a lark I bought an Atari 800XL and an Apple IIgs on eBay dirt cheap - and they sat in storage for 10 years until I dragged them out in 2017 and started experimenting with them.

Those were the days before retrocomputing was the rage it is currently.  I bought the Apple IIgs with 5.25" drive, 3.5" drive, monitor, keyboard, base unit, mouse all for the winning bid of:

$36.  It cost me $47 in shipping and I still have the email notification from ebay when I won ?

 

I have since started investing in Atari computers - since I had always wanted one as a teenager - and now I have multiple 800XLs, the 800 I always wanted, a 600XL, a 1200XL and just for fun, a 400 - with an upgraded keyboard.

 

After reading about "The C64" - as soon as it was available on the US Amazon website for ordering earlier this year, I ordered it - instead of paying a scalper for an EU model.

I received it a couple weeks ago - but haven't plugged it in yet - but I will.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw a Model I in a Radio Shack about an hour's drive away from our town which was too small to have a Radio Shack.  I don't remember exactly when, but I think either 1978 or 79.

 

It was running and the manual was there; I think they encouraged you to try it.  Typed in about the simplest possible BASIC program:

10 INPUT"WHAT IS YOUR NAME";A$
20 PRINT"HELLO, ";A$

I was transfixed.  I'd seen calculators and heard of computers but this ability to record letters and spit them back out at you was something I'd never seen before.

 

I also remember at some point, perhaps a later trip, typing in the entire Lunar Lander program from the back of the Level II manual.  Another fascinating experience for a 13 year old.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

BITD, ( 1982 ), I remember seeing the Model I, II, III and 4 at Radio-Shack and I faintly remember the Color Computer 1.   Since I was into the Apple ][, ( an Apple ][+, 48K at my High School and an Apple ][e at Home ), and a Commodore SX-64, because most of the rest of my family had the C64s.. In college, ( 1985 ),  I had a friend that Started with the Model I, and by the time I met him and his wife, they had moved up to the Model III and Model 4, and a Tandy 2000.  I go to borrow the Tandy 2000 for a month, but is was only MS-DOS compatible, so unless I wanted to write all my own Software, there wasn't much to run..

 

Today, i'm into the Tandy Color Computer, because in 2012 I got a NIB, Color Computer 3, ( CoCo 3 ), that was included with an Apple //e Platinum with Apple Color Monitor ][e and some original software.  At first I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but found it has the MC6809, which is very much like the 6502 family, and since I never had any Color Computer equipment before, so I kept it...

Since then, I have gotten, Two of the CoCoSDCs, Two FD-500 Drives, a Extended Basic 64K CoCo 2, and then a Standard BASIC 16K CoCo 2, with a BONUS, ( reported Non-Working ), 4K CoCo 1.. By the time it arrived, the CoCo 1 worked fine... Three more CoCo2s and another CoCo 3 and a few CoCo Carts.
 
MarkO

 

Edited by MarkO
Added years to story.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hate to say it, but the first time I ever saw a TRS-80 computer in person was at my local computer recycling center about three years ago.  It was a Model III with two floppy drives and a few missing keys.  Fortunately, they're not in the habit of throwing away such treasures.  It ended up getting buried on a low shelf for about two years until they let me dig around.  Long story short, I bought it, fixed it up as best as I could, and now it sits in my bedroom where I blowup pixilated tanks and try to program it to play Tic-Tac-Toe!  

 

There was a Model IV there as well.  But someone got to it before me. 

 

All and all, a happy ending as two TRS-80 computers found new and loving homes! ? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

IIRC it was in 1978.  The Model I kiosk was in front of the store.  The folks had come to town for shopping and I always headed to Radio Shack for parts, new gadgets... as well as to use my handy dandy "Radio Shack Battery Card(s)". ?  I stood in front of that thing for a couple of hours the first time.  My Dad eventually came and got me as he knew exactly where I would be.  When he saw what I was playing with, he let my tardiness slide that time.  Years later I would get a Model III... which I bought in Canada for a very specific reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Omega-TI said:

Years later I would get a Model III... which I bought in Canada for a very specific reason.

Some time after seeing the TRS-80 in Radio Shack our high school business teacher bought a Model I which we used extensively as part of an informal computer club.  Then my brother and I bought a Model III.  From the US because it wasn't going to be available in Canada for a while.

 

So I bought a Model III in the US for a very specific reason.  I'm glad to hear it has balanced out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My uncle used to own the Model III Color Computer; he eventually gave it to us along with two books he had - Getting Started with Color Basic and Going Ahead with Extended Color Basic.

 

I spent many hours typing up programs and such until the computer finally short-circuited beyond repair.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I first saw them at the Radio Shack in the mall, probably around when they first came out.   Back then Radio Shack was a really cool store that I also stopped in when we went to the mall.

 

I was fascinated by them and kinda wanted one, even though I had no idea what I'd do with it at the time.  But you could type a letter and it would appear on the screen,  amazing!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I first saw a PET at Olson Electronics in the Mid-West area. Right when the machines came out, with the punk-ass calculator keyboard.

 

Not too clear on the TRS-80 though. It was likely through print media such as a catalog. Or more likely a book like so.

320471327_51QXdghSlGL._SX369_BO1204203200_.jpg.5371898a945da7717952ee3338f220f9.jpg

 

This was an awesome book. Took it with me wherever I went. Had plenty of photos from a micro-chip die through expansion cards and complete systems. Featuring both desk-sized and desk-top rigs. S-100, Apple, TRS-80, Pet, NorthStar, Cromemco, RCA, Sol, everything up to around 78/79. Written in a style a kid could understand (mostly).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For me, that was at various Radio Shacks (although the closes to me the most often).

Back then, I lived in Los Angeles so there were a wealth of Radio Shacks and most of them had computers.

 

There was one Radio Shack at the mall I would head over to just to play on their TRS-80s when I ran out of quarters at the arcade.. ;-) 

 

That said, I don't recall seeing any TRS-80s out in the wild tho...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Keatah said:

I first saw a PET at Olson Electronics in the Mid-West area. Right when the machines came out, with the punk-ass calculator keyboard.

 

 

Here in North East Ohio we used to have Olson Electronics till the late 80s - I used to LOVE those stores!

They used to sell random boxes of junk, er, parts, in various sizes.  The one I used to frequent also sold PET Computers - that was the only time I ever saw one.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Elementary School only had Apple IIs - my first time touching a computer was a II (maybe a II+?) in second grade (1982-83). In third grade learned to program in Logo, and the school kept investing in Apple, eventually getting a IIc in every classroom by 85-86.

 

Christmas 86 I got my first computer: a 64kB CoCo 2, complete with CCR-82 tape deck, DMP-130 dot matrix printer, and Color ScripsIt cartridge. It was my first exposure to BASIC, and I taught myself to program with the manuals and example listing provided with the system. Eventually acquired a floppy drive and a bunch of games, and even OS-9 that was a mystifying, strange thing that my father somehow agreed to buy for me.

 

Starting Middle School the next year, the computer lab there had TRS-80 IIIs with the integrated monochrome monitors and floppy drives, which is where I first encountered BASIC in school, and by then I was a "seasoned expert". We also played Oregon Trail on those, never on Apple II, like most folks in the US apparently did.

 

By high school, I got my first PC clone at home (a Tandy 1000 HX, because where else would you get a computer than Radio Shack?) and at school they had Apple IIgs's (connected to a handful of Macs) and IBM PS/2s, but no more TRS-80s to be found. I gave away my CoCo 2, and haven't touched any TRS-80 since outside of emulation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First time was in 1983 when my father brought it home. He was a school principal and he had ordered 20 student computers, network 3 and a Model III to control it all. I spend a lot of that summer of 83 at the school working with my father to configure this system for the next year elementary kids could enjoy.

 

A great experience, and 2 years later I was Graduating as a Computer Network Administrator  (CNA) and been in the industry ever since. 

 

I stopped owning TRS-80 model 3 an 4's in 1997, then returned to my roots in 2018 when My wife suggested I got a "hobby", got to love a Geeky woman that understands...

 

Edited by Texas Tandy restorations
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad had two TSR-80’s here in Finland in the very early eighties. I was living with my mum but whenever I visited my dad, I remember playing a lot of the games he had - Robot Attack, Defense Command and a space invaders type game - I don’t remember the name. I guess he still has the machines but they’re not functioning anymore. He also had an early Tandy laptop with a narrow monochrome LCD display. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Winter '84.  My Uncle gave me his TRS-80 model 1, with "Realistic" cassette recorder, Aculab Floppy-Tape drive, and monitor.  It was a Level 2 16K machine with the numeric keypad.  I had various games on cassette and Stringy Floppy , one such floppy game was Robot Attack from Big Five.  Another was an obscure adventure called Gauntlet of Death.  I remember we had this little transistor radio that we'd somehow get sound output from.  I wish I'd kept it all now.  It got packed away in a box when I got my next computer, a Texas Home Computer.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The first one I saw was a Model I at a county fair in the commercial building.
It must have been 1977,  so it would have just been released.
I just remember it was rolling dice to see if you won a battery.
It just printed the numbers you rolled, but I was fascinated by it.
The guy said you could write your own software, and then he listed the program.
 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...