I'm not as active on these forums as I would like to be; something about real life keeps getting in the way. However, I did have a bit of fun registering four or five new people yesterday. I don't think we are experiencing a PCjr renaissance so it was probably just coincidence. ;-0
If you are new please take a moment to introduce yourself and say hello. This forum is not as wildly active as some other forums, but I think our signal to noise ratio is very hard to beat.
For those who don't know me I'll go first ...
My first machine was the Timex Sinclair 1000, not the PCjr. I need to restore mine and start hacking on it. The PCjr was my second machine, but my first real machine. I used it nearly continuously from March 1984 until January 1990 when a used IBM AT replaced it. It's still here in the house.
Besides my part-time job defending the honor of the PCjr I also wrote the mTCP TCP/IP programs for DOS, which are explicitly designed to run well on a PCjr. I figure if they run well on a PCjr, they will run on anything. I also slightly helped Hargle on the original XT-IDE board and helped Alan with the BIOS side of the jrIDE, which 6 years later is still an incredible project. (It is the single best add-on for a retro computer that I have ever owned.) My latest venture is organizing and running VCF Pacific Northwest, which is a retrocomputer show here in Seattle. (See http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-c ... northwest/ for details. I am also on the board of directors for the VCFed.)
In real life I live in the Seattle area, still work for a living, and still mow my own lawn. I used to be an active pilot and I'd like to start again before I get too rusty.
I already made a brief intro, but I did not cover my other interests.. besides computing, I like Motorcycles and have a few in my stable. When you own older bikes, you have to like wrenching, which I do. I like machining and own a couple lathes. I also like collecting guitars, though I can barely play a note. And of course the usual.. babes, beer and rock and roll!
To earn income, I service and install pedestrian automatic doors. I have been doing so for the past 38 years working for two companies in South Florida..
Firstly : Thanks Mike for the Forum!
whoami>? well names Randy, I used to run a database business now semi retired (except for my bitcoin teaching adoption venture).
I like computers, probably more that I like some people.
My first taste was when I was in a special learning center for challenged kids I saw and touched Plato.
Then when I saw the atari 2600 I was like why is this so bad (compared to Plato).. lol
Anyhow my first real machine was an Apple II+ which I finally fried in the early 90's. I used to hot swap stuff alot with the power on and it finally gave me a good shock!
My dad got rid of that and all the software while I was away. Im still emotionally scarred.
I must say the PCJr is completely new to me.. I won a few at an auction for like $5-$10 a pice, had no power supply so I rigged an atx to test the units.
Im here because I like Roms. I like Microcontrollers and I feel the PCJr design is incredible. Its like a full single board computer with 2 cartridge slots! I want to burn some Roms. I need knowledge. Im rambling. Good to be here!
