Proud new owner of a Coco 2 by fate or destiny?

[Gunstar]

I recently acquired the Coco 2 26-3026 model. I've been searching for another vintage 8-bit to get into; I'm sort of a collector, but I don't put things on display and never use them, they get well used in my home, but I keep them is top-shape and in fact part of my hobby is repairing and restoring vintage electronics, mostly computers and consoles. And I  have been keeping buy-it-now listings in my watch list including C64, Coco's and Coleco ADAM as they are the 8-bit computers beside my Atari 8-bits that interest and intrigue me the most, plus, obviously I like the underdog and the Coco's were indeed underdog's just like my Atari's.

But I feel like finally acquiring a Coco 2, was fate or destiny for me at this time. You see the Coco 2 I got was one of these listed computers, all apparently in need of some repair and love and care, the way I like them as I know I can fix them myself and restore them cosmetically to if I must. But I do look for non-working computers in the best cosmetic condition possible. The seller of the Coco 2 I got was asking $85 plus $20 shipping for a "power on but not working" Coco 2 and I felt that was a bit much, but with vintage computer and console prices going up and up I saved the listing among dozens of others.

Well a while later, my business partner gave me a bag full of old computer cords and stuff as he knows I'm into the old junk, and his father gave them to him and he didn't need any of this old stuff, so he passed it on to me. Inside that bag among common phone cords and RCA cables were some strange cables that I guessed had to do with MIDI as the plugs on one end looked like MIDI plugs, but the other ends had headphone/mic style jacks or RCA jacks or 9-pin com style jacks. There were also a pair of TRS-80 analog joysticks and a black TRS-80 analog mouse.

I put the cables in a storage bin with other cables of various types and put them away. The controllers I decided I was going to mod to work with my Atari 8-bits as they also can use analog controls through the Atari 8-bit POKEY custom I.C. (POT & KEY, and also a great sound chip). About another week passes, before I mod the controllers, and I get an offer from the seller of a listing I was watching for this Coco 2 for $50 plus $20 shipping and I decided it was fate, combined with the other hardware I got in the bag-o-bones, and took the offer.

The computer was in far better condition that I thought when it arrived. The outside case was dirty and needed a good cleaning with a cloth and some glass cleaner, but not UV yellowed slightly like it looked in the listing picture. After cleaning it was pristine and no UV discoloring at all! So, I plug it in, turn it on, and sure enough, it powers on and I get a green screen, but with a bunch of garbage all over it like in the screen picture in the seller's listing. So I go to take it apart and start trouble-shooting the Coco 2. I find five screw holes and remove them,but the case won't come apart and is still held up in one corner. I search for another screw for a minute again until I realize that it is hidden under the never-touched warranty sticker and that this Coco has never been opened! Ok, so that means it is stock for sure, just a 16K machine with 8K Basic.

But to my delight, when I open it up, there is not one spec of dust or dirt to be found inside the case or on the motherboard. This thing looks like it just came off the factory floor on the inside! I see the one empty socket for Extended Basic and the 16K drams and start researching how to upgrade to Extended Basic and 64K. I find out I have the proper 4164x8 drams on hand for the ram upgrade, left over from upgrading my Atari's with 41256x8 for 256/512K ram upgrades I did to them at one time. So I pull the old 30405 (or whatever they were numbered) drams and install my spare 4164's.Solder the points at W1 together and a 64K upgrade is done.

Having already noticed the vast majority if IC's were socketed, with an interior this clean I suspected the issue might merely be some of the chips need to be re-seated in their sockets.So I go over every socketed chip and make sure they are fully seated. I found half a dozen, ranging from main IC's to 74LSxx IC's not fully seated and I plug them in fully.

I close up the Coco 2, plug it in, plug in the RF, set channel 4 and turn on the TV to channel 4, and PRESTO! I am greeted with a clear green screen and the words "color basic 1.2 (c) 1982 Tandy" and an OK with a flashing color cursor! So I look up how to check memory and stumble upon the whole BASIC 32K limit deal due to legacy hardware, blah, blah,blah but I type ?MEM and it comes back showing just over 31000 bytes or about 31K, about what would be left after I/O takes up upper memory and without the extended basic installed that would then give back about 24K free memory. So I think I can deduce that my 64K memory is working at least.

So I am now the proud owner of a 64K Coco 2 with the melted keyboard (reminds me of the Atari 130XE keyboard-kind of mushy feeling) but it's better than a "chiclet" keyboard! And it is in immaculate condition, inside and out, after an exterior cleaning! I still need the extended basic rom chip, but I have an eprom burner I use with my Atari 8-bits for burning game and OS roms and I have the proper 2764 eproms on hand to burn my own extended basic eprom, which I will do this weekend as well and the video/s-video mod and get rid of the horrid RF output!


My Coco 2 as listed on Ebay, though they lie about the selling price, the offer I accepted via pm was for $50+$19.95 for shipping:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184740223761

 

The first two pictures are before and after shots of the exterior case with cleaning. The rest are untouched pictures of the Pristine case interior and motherboard.The the screen showing it working and the last images are controllers and what believe to be Coco cassette and serial cables(?) that were given to me. These pictures were compressed from 6MB to under 2MB to accommodate image restrictions on another Coco forum I joined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Gunstar

[jhd]

1 hour ago, Gunstar said:

obviously I like the underdog and the Coco's were indeed underdog's just like my Atari's.

 

I have never before heard the Atari 8-Bit described as an underdog platform. It certainly received significantly more third-party support than the Coco ever did. It also lasted much longer in the marketplace (counting the last-gasp XEGS).

 

Quote

 

These are very early joysticks, with the metal shafts. I bought my Coco in 1983, and they had already been replaced by a model with plastic shafts. The Coco mouse was released ca. 1984. It is functionally the same as a joystick. FYI, with the correct driver software, it will also work on some models of the Tandy 1000 series.  

 

Quote

 

The black cable on top is not for a Coco. 

 

It appears that you do have a cassette cable on the left and perhaps another on the right.  A clearer photo of the cable ends would be helpful to identify them better.

Edited September 21, 2021 by jhd

[+Torrax]

The black cable on top is a TI-99/4A dual cassette cable.  The "1" and "2" on the cable are for CS1 and CS2 of that system.

[Gunstar]

I pulled all those cables out again I first guessed might have something to do with MIDI, and it turns out I actually have 5 distinct Coco cassette drive cables(two need repair on the jack end of things)! What I thought could have been a serial port cable is actually an 8-din to 6-din computer-to-monitor cable. Since Coco's don't have monitor ports I suspect this cable goes to a TI-99/4A like the other cassette drive cable in the bunch, with the 9-pin Atari plug.

 

So at least I am ready to go with tape software as I do have a portable cassette deck with all three jack connectors that are on these Coco cassette deck cables! And I have a couple of old Avalon Hill cassette games for my Atari that have Coco versions on the tape too! VC and Conflict 2500, so I can now test out my Coco with real software! I'll of course get some .wav or other versions of Coco tape games I can put back onto cassette tape.

 

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Gunstar

[Gunstar]

There were other different types of cables in the bag of cables and junk that included these and the Coco mouse and joystick: RCA cables, phone cables, LAN cables, microphones for portable cassette decks, and several types of probes w/clip (large old-school style) with connectors at the other end that look similar to the type that connect to my old-school  Tektronics 5103 Oscilloscope, but with about 50% larger diameter. My guess was either much older or much larger industrial Oscilloscope stuff that I haven't encountered before. Also a foot-pedal made by Norelco (the electric shaver company) that appears to be for guitars and amps, but I guess it could go to a sewing machine too, for all I know (I just didn't think electric sewing pedals used 5-pin din plugs and connectors) with two cable protruding with 5-pin din plugs. Below are the more unique items besides the Coco and TI-99/4A cables and controllers.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Gunstar

[JamesD]

Looks like an early CoCo 2 given the fact that it has the "melted" keyboard.
Some of your cables look like they are for an oscilloscope.

The one thing this machine doesn't have that you will need is extended color basic.  It's required for disk basic.
Not sure if you can program that onto something like the CoCo SDC or if it still has to go internally.

Edited September 23, 2021 by JamesD

[Gunstar]

4 hours ago, JamesD said:

Looks like an early CoCo 2 given the fact that it has the "melted" keyboard.
Some of your cables look like they are for an oscilloscope.

The one thing this machine doesn't have that you will need is extended color basic.  It's required for disk basic.
Not sure if you can program that onto something like the CoCo SDC or if it still has to go internally.

Thanks! I've been doing a lot of research the last couple of days. Yes, you are right about the model, the early 16K and Color Basic 1.2.

 

I have already installed 4164 drams and jumped the W1 points and now have 64K. I have ordered a 24-pin to 28-pin IC board from the Coco "new upgrade/mod/re-manufacture" producer/dealer 'The Zippster Zone' for $10+$8 shipping. that accommodates the 8K 28-pin 2764 eproms in the original 24-pin Extended Basic socket. And I have an eprom burner peripheral and burning software for my Atari 8-bit computer that is compatible with 2764-27512 (8K-64K) eproms, so I can burn my own ECB rom.

 

I'll also have it upgraded with composite and S-video outputs by the weekend. This baby will have everything from extended ram (beyond 64K), to DriveWire! and the later revision video chip so it has true lower case, and what ever else, including the kitchen sink, I can throw in this puppy. I'm hunting for a Coco 1 to add to my collection and do the same upgrades for it too. When I do, I intend to install the "melted" keyboard in the Coco 1 and get the full-travel, hopefully Coco 3 type aftermarket version if I can find one will get installed into my Coco 2.

 

Below is a picture of my Coco 2 as I have just set it up next to my Atari 1200XL system at my computer system desk I made for my house., and I moved the Atari 800 system that was there to my shop/office. When I get the Coco 1, it will go next to the 1200XL (and use the metallic grey TV you see in the pic for a close-matching color to the Coco 1) and the Coco 2 will be moved out to my shop/office with the 800.