Commodore VIC20 Acquisition thread.

YAAAAAAS!
Another item ticked off my #RETROGAMING bucket list!
This will be the start of a thread once I get home and start to explore. There’s a couple of very interesting things that came with this…
#vic20

And we’re off!
Looks really good. Very grubby. No knocks or gouges.
One thing really struck me.
It smells pretty bad.
Like something took a dump in it, that bad. This is getting the full treatment, inside and out.

The seller forgot to give me this Cosmic Cruncher cartridge. I had to drive back and collect it. Not too far though and they were really nice. Said they might have a C64 for sale soon and they’ll message me first 😁👍

This came with it. Apparently, this is a ram expansion with an added EPROM socket on the side.
Weird case. Tricky to get inside if it doesn’t work with those plastic rivets…

Not very useful even if it works. I have no Vic20 software on cassette. I do have the Tapecart for my C64C but I don’t think that’s compatible. I’ll need to find something that will work with the Vic20

A cheapo joystick. Made in Taiwan. Nice to see a pass-through port. This will eventually be restored too.

An external modulator with yards of cable. Typical clunky metal case.
And the PSU. Also with miles of cable.
Both of these have proprietary connectors so hopefully they work OK.
I’ll check the PSU output before I plug it in.
@CommodoreLad has been giving advice… 😁

Turning out over to get at the screws. A bit of a cable burn on the base needs attention.
Inside the original cardboard rf shield.
I think everyone ditches these?
And finally, the motherboard.
Gorgeous. This era of board design is my favourite. This is basically art.

Date codes are all late 81. So this is a 40-year-old machine. What do you think the chances are it’s still working?

Missing screw. Someone had been here before…

The back of the board is really clean. Lovely colour.
Closer inspection shows a few dodgy, crusty joints. Probably fine but worth noting if there’s a problem

Should have said in the last tweet, the only sign of work is the power connections have been reflowed.
Also, the heat sink on the power regulator was loose. Thanks to @CommodoreLad for the heads up on that possible problem.

I might be strange, but this is a thing of great beauty to me.
It’s a shame it’s hidden away.

The back of the keyboard PCB. I’ll have to look into the best way to clean the keyboard.
Look at that wiring. Somebody took great care to make that look so good, knowing it would probably never be seen.

PSU outputs 11v AC. This is within spec. No reason not to switch this on!

Excuse the mess. The 3d printer shenanigans I’ve been having the last few days has really messed up my main bench.
All ready for switch on!
Can I string this out any longer? 🤣

Well then!
On the downside, I don’t have to fix it. 🤔
On the upside, I don’t have to fix it! 😜

Almost forgot. This is the only damage on the whole of the case. I’m 12 years older than this and I can tell you for nothing I’ve not fared nearly as well 🤣

Well, something was bound to be non-working. This cartridge does nothing.
Could it be a dirty slot or connectors?

They don’t look too bad…
Let’s clean them anyway.

Well then! Looks can certainly be deceiving! Filth! Topside even more so!
Will that fix it though?

Yes!
Awesome! I have a working game 😁
The slot is REALLY hard to insert and remove the cart. No fun at all yanking it free.

How about this weird ram expansion card. Surely this is toast.
Might as well clean it before trying.
Looks a lot better after a scrub

All switches are in the off position and we still have the same memory.

With SW2 set to on, we are suddenly swimming in bytes!
It’s working! Channelling my inner @craig1black there.

And that’s that!
I’ll probably make a video about the cleanup. I won’t be briting this. It has a little yellow but I think it actually looks fitting in this instance.
Hope you enjoyed the thread 😁👍