Beautiful work. My first A8 was a 600XL back in 1983 and I've had a fondness for them ever since... currently own four, unfortunately that doesn't include the '83 unit.
You got me all giddy with the Star Trek music... How can we tell if it is PAL or NTSC if you add the port in? At least that is the only way I can tell right away. Did Europeans not have a choice between 3 and 4?
As long as the keyboard switches are somewhat standard that is a super easy fix. It does require de-soldering, but once that’s done it’s a breeze. You can get stiffer higher quality springs that will last almost indefinitely. Or depending on the pin layout you could just out right replace them. Classic style switches are a commodity, and can sometimes be worth something. Edit* After looking up with switches while I believe the springs *could* be replaced, replacing switches is a different story. I’d find it hard to believe there isn’t some way to convert the keyboard to a modern version tbh. That would be interesting.
Jon, are there any signals needed by the U1MB that aren't available on the Parallel bus connector? With the reproduction of the 1090XL I wonder if the U1MB could be moved to a card plugged into the PBI. Or, would the PBI code on the U1MB conflict with the PBI as implemented by the 1090XL?
HLT isn't on the PBI bus, but Candle must have found a way around that since an external PBI version of U1MB already exists and simply needs time for further hardware and firmware development: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UN-8P3iK1IM.html
@@flashjazzcat I do recall watching that video and thought a lot of that was on hold due to chip shortages. Having invested in the 1090XL, I'd like to see the U1MB and VBXE produced to work with it.
@@michaelstoliker971 I have no idea whether Candle's designs will/could be adapted for the 1090XL, but in any case: the delays regarding the new hardware appear to be primarily caused by lack of time (certainly in my case, anyway).,
8-bit Commodore and Atari computers use Chroma levels of 1Vpp, while the contemporary S-Video standard defines it as 0.3Vpp... that's why the image is so dark.
