The IBM 5150 motherboard, illustrated. #retrocomputing

We're going to do it all over again! Very excited to announce RetroFest 2026 to be held at Swindon's STEAM museum on the 30th/31st May. If you'd like to exhibit, just full in the form - and if you'd like to come, why not buy a ticket! They also make wonderful Christmas presents :) - retrofest.uk

The back of a Sphere computer was a mess. Why? There was no "backplane"-- no slots. The whole system was loomed together with 14-connector ribbon cables, and the cards sat in loose slots. Moving the system could easily wiggle out a pin or two somewhere, and maybe the computer wouldn't start up.

This is my Total Microcomputer Model 4000 computer. Technically the last of a rare Motorola 6800 based home computer that was a pioneer in an "all-in-one" computer. Six days left on @bzotto.bsky.social Kickstarter for his book detailing Sphere Corporation here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...

Yes!! Learn about the quick rise and sudden fall of Sphere-- and then the even faster rise and fall of this mysteriously related Total Microcomputer Model 4000--in this cool book coming soon. Santo has kindly contributed information and imagery to the book. Great stories. Check it out!

Hello! I'm very proud to announce that my yearslong research project into the lost Sphere computer, corporation, and community has launched a crowdfunding campaign today for a professionally-printed hardcover book, with a compelling narrative and images! www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...

A beautiful case with an Elektor Junior came into my collection.

With the Digitus KIM-1 on the left, center first version, right Rev A

Being a bit lazy today but I really need to sort through this box of boards

You can’t beat an MK-14 for a wonderful piece of history. I’m really looking forward to getting this one working again 😍

The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley held a sale day to shift some of their unwanted stock and raise money for the museum. I went along to see if I could pick up a bargain. A huge thank you to the sponsor of this video www.pcbway.com

Thanks to @tnmoc.bsky.social for putting on a most excellent jumble sale! I've picked up a couple of projects that will keep me busy for a while 😀

Only the RS232 expansion to get and I can move on to another obsession 😂

If you see this, quote with a time travel movie that's not BACK TO THE FUTURE.

Write once, run anywhere! (1/2) At #retrofest a few weeks ago I really enjoyed the setup @devilishdesign.bsky.social had with an Altair 8800 using a teletype as the user interface. He very kindly printed me off a listing of his BASIC Mandlebrot generator.

Woohoo! Microsoft BASIC 2 loaded from paper tape! 😀

Copy of the tape made. Let's try and load it 😟

Going through some old paper tapes and found this. It's version 2 of Microsoft BASIC from 1975. Version 1 was never released to the public which makes this Microsoft's first commercial product and it's not been archived anywhere! Time to break out my tape reader... 🙂

What's the best thing to do on a sunny day at the seaside? Visit @shortcircuit.org.uk of course! Join me and my pal Thomas as we poke around a vintage computer "Gallery" and chat to the amazing people behind it. We also had ice creams and a lovely seaside lunch.

This morning, I have been mostly testing Apple II disk drives. They all work! 😯

If you didn't get to come to RetroFest last weekend, check out this webpage which now has links to YouTube videos filmed at the event. We're looking forward to next year's event! www.retrofest.uk/ #Swindon #retro #computer #Festival

One source for totally lost games is the desk-sized Noval computer by Gremlin Industries. I just finished going over that portion in my book and it bums me out that none of the software is preserved. There were really advanced arcade and educational games on it.

He may not be a Red Arrow but John does make exceedingly good videos. This one on the OSI Superboard II & UK101 is well worth a watch. www.youtube.com/watch?v=93XW...

Want to see how my weekend went? Hours of driving. Hotel room trying to kill me. AMAZING Retro Festival. Superb fun!

All set up and ready for Retrofest tomorrow! 🙂

It's RetroFest 2025 THIS WEEKEND!! Why not stop by and say hello. www.retrofest.uk

Getting things ready to take to Retrofest. Less than a week to go! Yikes!!

Weekend to myself. Mrs B is off to Lisbon to visit daughter. Going to do my soak testing and packing for RetroFest. Then a short week - bank holiday for those of us in the UK on Monday, and then I'm off on Friday so that I can take my time loading up and travelling down to Swindon. retrofest.uk

ebay.us/m/WmFW4L Ahh crap! Is ebay now offering AI generated images?? 🙁

Isambard Kingdom Brunel would like to remind you that it's just TWO WEEKS until RetroFest! retrofest.uk

Well, THIS is exciting. It's probably France's rarest micro - and it's coming to RetroFest! It's a Matra Alice 8000 and it belongs to @retrokrazy.bsky.social - come and see this (and much, much more) in just over two weeks! (31st May / 1st June, tickets here - www.retrofest.uk/tickets.php)

Spending the afternoon getting things ready for RetroFest later this month. Things are finally starting to work! 😀. #RetroFest www.retrofest.uk

Old computers have so much character. See if you can spot the CPU on the last photo - it's an Intel 8008. These lovely machines all belong to @devilishdesign.bsky.social

Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen

Got my Northern Technologies Vision 1000 VT-100 workalike terminal sort of working. It comes up all weird and when it warms up, it's fine. This one is quite stylish and was designed by Bertoni (the Ferrari Bertoni). It has a built-in tilt screen and a keyboard garage underneath. #vintagecomputer

www.ebay.com/itm/32650670... Recommended!

Oh wow, it's exactly 2 months until RetroFest 2025 in Swindon! If you want to read more about who's coming, take a look at www.retrofest.uk/whowhat.php and if you actually want to see some of them, take a look here! www.youtube.com/@shortcircui...

It's the better looking half of ShortCircuit (I was paid to say that) talking with @morefunmakingit.bsky.social about all things retro - including the up and coming retrofest.uk - www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2On...

My first KIM with a faulty RRIOT CHIP 🙁. Replaced both 6530 RRIOTs with an adaptor board containing two 6532 RIOTs and an EPROM. Looks a bit messy but at least it now works.

We'll be premiering our DSKY restoration video this Sat. 03/15 at 4pm Pacific Time youtu.be/vA0l_xvBmug . Spoiler: it works great.

Day 68 - #retrorandom - Here's a machine I ought to give a little more love - my Amstrad PPC640, one of the few machines I still have from back in the day. I used to take this with me when I visited family - the internal modem and a DOS email client meant I could keep in touch with work!

RETROFEST!!!!!!!

We thought we'd take advantage of our dashing good looks and natural talent in front of the camera to create a video to tell you a little more about us and RetroFest - please do all the subscribe and share stuff if you want updates on the event (or just like looking at us!) youtu.be/UCZ-BtFW9Ok?...

Green KIM, Blue KIM, White KIM, Genuine KIM 😀

We are VERY excited to announce our first major retro event - RetroFest 2025, to be held at STEAM, the GWR museum in Swindon on 31st May / 1st June. Over 40 exhibitors will be bringing a vast range of computers from the 70s, 80s and 90s. More info - retrofest.uk

OMGOMGOMGOMG...! Up to 256 sprites *per layer*, from 8x8 to 32x32, 16 palettes, flip, mirror, window clipping, scrolling, sprite groups... ON A ZX Spectrum! (or MicroBeast, or RC2014 or any 8-bit CPU with a bit of addressable memory). @ericretro.bsky.social's graphics look amazing on VideoBeast

Check out this lovely bit of Commodore engineering. Voltage regulator with a heatsink that snakes over to the cartridge port shielding. How do we attach the heatsink? Rivet to the regulator and use thermal compound & wishful thinking on the other end!

I have rebranded my discord server. I often thought that discord is a fragmented place, and if you want to follow vintage tech youtubers you have to follow multiple discords. I think it would be a nice thing to have a server that can be a central hub. It wont include every channel, many already /1

SNOW!! ❄️