Current Working Machines
BBC Master 128
| Acquired via | eBay (Cambridge Centre for Computing History) |
| Acquisition date | August 2020 |
| Work done | Cleanup PSU recap |
| Current state | Working! Possible RAM issue in top 96KB |
| Restoration blog posts | BBC Master tag |
This BBC Master 128 was acquired in an eBay auction which was to raise funds to keep the computer museum open due to Covid-19. It has a “BBC Radio” branding stamp on it, the history of which is unknown. It is speculated that the machine was used to communicate with broadcasters about incoming callers.
Amiga 500 Plus #1
| Acquired via | Gumtree |
| Acquisition date | August 2020 |
| Work done | Removed leaking battery (and cleanup) Fixed keyboard membrane (caps lock LED) Cleanup Replaced rubber feet Repaired external floppy drive Replaced internal floppy drive with Gotek |
| Current state | Working! PSU to be rebuilt |
| Restoration blog posts | Amiga 500 Plus #1 tag |
This Amiga 500 Plus came with hundreds of disks and many accessories. The accessories alone were worth what I paid for it. I know it had changed hands at least once before and person I had bought it from had never turned it on. It has been fully restored and is my main home Amiga.
In-Restoration Machines
Amiga 500 #2
| Acquired via | eBay |
| Acquisition date | September 2020 |
| Work done | RS232 port replaced A501 shell removed (battery had broken itself off already), sold with A500 #1 RAM chips replaced (fixed yellow screen on boot) RS232 line driver replaced (MC1488 IC) 74LS373 socketed, but turns out it was still good |
| Current state | About 1/3rd of the keyboard doesn’t work (bad membrane), donor keyboard donated by friend to repair it. Metal parts are very rusty Floppy drive faulty (sold off as faulty) |
| Restoration blog posts | Amiga 500 #2 tag |
I managed to acquire this Amiga 500 cheap in an eBay auction. It is machine only (no PSU) and appears to have an official trapdoor A501 memory card in it and is going to require a restoration job. It has a rev. 6a board with kickstart 1.3.
Amiga 500 Plus #2
| Acquired via | eBay |
| Acquisition Date | September 2020 |
| Work Done | Basic diagnostics Removed leaking battery Large corrosion cleanup New Gary socket (was destroyed by corrosion) New socket and chip for 74LS244 (damaged by corrosion) |
| Current state | Black screen at power up 18 PCB tracks around the 74LS244 found broken Some passives may need replacing F-Key missing on keyboard PSU, keyboard and floppy drive untested A lot of cleanup needed |
| Restoration blogs | Amiga 500 Plus #2 tag |
I acquired this Amiga 500 Plus relatively cheaply on eBay (in fact I was the only bidder!), known faulty on purchase. It was still warranty sealed when I got it, had a 512KB memory card in it (working and now in my first Amiga 500 Plus). It also came with some disks including Workbench and Soccer Kid as well as a foot peddle game controller.
Atari 520 STe
| Acquired via | Friend donation |
| Acquisition Date | October 2020 |
| Work Done | Coming soon |
| Current State | Hangs after a few minutes usage |
| Restoration Blogs | Coming soon |
A local friend who is into the retro computing scene gave me this Atari 520 STe to repair along with an Amiga 500 shell and keyboard that had yellowed. The Amiga parts will be used for a future project.
I have been told that the Atari has had a 4MB upgrade and since then it hangs after a few minutes of usage. When the original RAM was put back it was still hanging.
Past Machines
Amiga 500 #1
| Acquired via | eBay |
| Acquisition date | August 2020 |
| Work done | Remove corroded trapdoor board Cleanup board corrosion Cleanup machine Rebuilt PSU Replaced damaged resistor Repaired floppy drive Replaced keyboard (bad membrane) Break in PCB trace RST line wire patched Replaced trapdoor connector Corrosion removed from metal frame and spray painted primer & gunmetal |
| Current state | Working! Sold on eBay |
| Restoration blog posts | Amiga 500 #1 tag |
The Amiga 500 was acquired faulty and rather dirty to give me something to learn to repair Amigas with (and something to play on). It has proved a little bit of a challenge as there has been so many issues with it. But it has now been fully restored. It has a rev. 6a board with kickstart 1.3.
