tep392 Posted October 22 Share Posted October 22 I just made a FB Marketplace purchase for my first TRS-80! I used these in the computer lab back in high school, but have never owned one. The seller told me that it didn't work but were asking $75, so I figured I would take a chance. It's in great cosmetic condition and has 48k, two floppy drives and RS-232 interface, so very well equipped. Turns out it does work but the monitor was misadjusted. She mentioned it turning on but turning off after a second. I'm thinking she was looking at the floppy drive LED. Now I just need to make up some disks and try booting it up. So where is a good place to find floppy images? 8 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
pski Posted October 22 Share Posted October 22 Congrats and welcome to the TRS-80 family. You can get some DOS disks here: https://www.trs-80.com/wordpress/diskette-request-form/ 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5552924 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted October 22 Author Share Posted October 22 Thank you! I forgot to mention that it has an Atari joystick attached to it. I took a closer look and found a small interface board plugged into the bottom of the machine. An Alpha Stick-80. So I should be all set for some arcade gaming. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5552926 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted October 22 Share Posted October 22 That machine is in excellent condition from the looks of it and you got a hell of a deal! 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5552986 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted October 22 Share Posted October 22 Aw, that is a beauty! 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5552990 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted October 22 Share Posted October 22 Congratulations! The Model III was the first computer that I ever used/touched back in around Grade 6. We mostly played games, but there was also some "educational" programs as well. A really smart classmate of mine later went on to become a professional programmer. In about Grade 8, I signed up for Computer Programming, but Typing class (on a manual typewriter!) was a co-requisite so I was obliged to drop it. I eventually took "Computer Science" in Grade 10. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5553112 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted October 22 Author Share Posted October 22 The computer is in excellent condition and the paint is near perfect. I'm sure the cover has been on the computer for most of it's life. I was going to pop it open to check the capaitors and replace the rifa's, but it looks like the warranty seal has never been broken. I would hate to pop that seal when it's seems to be working fine. This is the joystick adapter that was attached to it. I was kind of puzzled when I picked it up and there was an Atari joystick hooked up to it. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5553141 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted October 22 Author Share Posted October 22 1 hour ago, jhd said: Congratulations! The Model III was the first computer that I ever used/touched back in around Grade 6. We mostly played games, but there was also some "educational" programs as well. A really smart classmate of mine later went on to become a professional programmer. In about Grade 8, I signed up for Computer Programming, but Typing class (on a manual typewriter!) was a co-requisite so I was obliged to drop it. I eventually took "Computer Science" in Grade 10. My High School computer lab had a bunch of model 1's that were connected to a model 3 thru a switch box. The 3 had a printer hooked up to it and was used for transferring files to/from the 1's. These were the first computers that I ever interacted with too. I wasn't in a programming class, but would go to the lab after class so I could play Star Trek or some other games. I learned that I could press the break key to interrupt the program and then cheat by jumping to certain line numbers. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5553156 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted October 24 Author Share Posted October 24 Woo-Hoo! I was able to boot DOS! I made a TRSDOS system disk on my PC using David Keil's TRS-80 emulator in DOS, which has the capability to read and write to physical drives. I just had to do a BACKUP from a .DMK image to my 360K PC drive. The process was pretty easy once I had collected all the necessary files. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5554197 Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted October 24 Share Posted October 24 Man, I'm so jealous. 75$ for a working TRS is an unbelievable steal. Here in Europe it's one of the machines I can only dream about purchasing. Great CRT pics too, I'm totally stealing them for my collection 3 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5554212 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted October 24 Author Share Posted October 24 The price was crazy low and I was lucky to get it. I was the first person to respond to the ad and the seller had 13 more replies that day. She knew nothing about the machine. She said she saw it in her cousins basement and asked if she could have it. 2 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5554224 Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted November 5 Author Share Posted November 5 I had the Model 3 apart to repair a drive and replace the rifa caps. The warranty tape was unbroken, so it was kind of sad to open it, but it's inevitable if I want to use it. I though I would post a photo of the TPI Texas Peripherals drive sitting next to an 810 drive. Both use the Tandon TM100 mech. Note the TRS-80 drive has sensors for index and track00. The controller in the Model 3 supports single and double density. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5561065 Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightbit Posted November 6 Share Posted November 6 8 hours ago, tep392 said: The warranty tape was unbroken, so it was kind of sad to open it, but it's inevitable if I want to use it. I know that. But, you have to break eggs in order to make an omelet 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/374216-my-first-trs-80/#findComment-5561255 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
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.