Old C64 guy, new Amiga guy

Jeff_Birt · 13 July 2019, 04:10

Hi all,

I'm an old time C64 guy who recently got his first Amiga ever. By sheer dumb luck I happened to find two New In Box Amiga 500's. What a treat, it was just like being back in 1987 and getting a new machine.

I bought the machines sight unseen other than a crappy picture of them leaning up against a shelf. I turned on the camera and did an unboxing video and a few follow-ups. It has been an adventure learning all about the A500 and troubleshooting a bad plunger.

I have an external drive case (non-working drive) and a Gotek on the way to do an external drive set up and managed to machine down a DB25 this evening to make a 23 pin connector for the video output. So far I have just been using the A520 that came with the A500. I'm going to try next to connect the RG output to one of my Extron video scalers which I think might handle the 15kHz scan rate.

I was not aware of this forum before but found out about it after inquiring about a dual Kickstart ROM and jumped right over to join. I understand they have some new even better gizmo coming out soon.

Oh, if anyone is interested in the videos here is the link to the first one.

[ Show youtube player ]

turrican3 · 13 July 2019, 05:05

hello jeff,
welcome the amiga community !!!
i would like so much to have a full new amiga !!
Keep it safe !!
you have so much games to discover !!! enjoy !
Can't wait to see your next video !
1 st game you should try, why not "agony" !! But there is so much more !

chip · 13 July 2019, 07:29

Welcome to the "Amiga World" then

You will surely enjoy all the games and demos that are available for this wonderful machine

4pLaY · 13 July 2019, 18:42

Nice find

.

TjLaZer · 13 July 2019, 21:31

With a gotek as external you won’t be able to boot games and demos as they require them to be drive 1, or DF0: so you’ll need an internal mod with switch to swap the internal drive as external, etc. that way the gotek will be the boot drive. Another work around is getting a Kickstart 3.1 ROM so you can enter the early boot menu to select the gotek as the boot drive.

lovebus5 · 15 August 2019, 16:24

Wow, new in box!

Aaaaaaaah

512k · 15 August 2019, 17:01

Welcome

amiman99 · 15 August 2019, 18:30

Very nice find!
I'm pretty sure CAPS are Ok, The Amigas that have the CAP problems are the one's with SMT CAPs, like A600, A1200, A4000 and CD32.
Good luck and have fun with your new A500.

Jeff_Birt · 15 August 2019, 19:55

The caps were fine. Have had a handful of key plungers become high enough resistance they don't work. This is caused by contamination from the greased used on the keys with the metal hinge wires (every key with a metal hinge wire had this issue.) Will investigate fixed in an upcoming video. For now have swapped them for keypad key stems.

13 July 2019, 04:10	#1
Jeff_Birt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Rolla Posts: 55	Old C64 guy, new Amiga guy Hi all, I'm an old time C64 guy who recently got his first Amiga ever. By sheer dumb luck I happened to find two New In Box Amiga 500's. What a treat, it was just like being back in 1987 and getting a new machine. I bought the machines sight unseen other than a crappy picture of them leaning up against a shelf. I turned on the camera and did an unboxing video and a few follow-ups. It has been an adventure learning all about the A500 and troubleshooting a bad plunger. I have an external drive case (non-working drive) and a Gotek on the way to do an external drive set up and managed to machine down a DB25 this evening to make a 23 pin connector for the video output. So far I have just been using the A520 that came with the A500. I'm going to try next to connect the RG output to one of my Extron video scalers which I think might handle the 15kHz scan rate. I was not aware of this forum before but found out about it after inquiring about a dual Kickstart ROM and jumped right over to join. I understand they have some new even better gizmo coming out soon. Oh, if anyone is interested in the videos here is the link to the first one. [ Show youtube player ]

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13 July 2019, 05:05	#2
turrican3 Moon 1969 = amiga 1985 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: belgium Age: 48 Posts: 3,913	hello jeff, welcome the amiga community !!! i would like so much to have a full new amiga !! Keep it safe !! you have so much games to discover !!! enjoy ! Can't wait to see your next video ! 1 st game you should try, why not "agony" !! But there is so much more !

13 July 2019, 07:29	#3
chip Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Italy Age: 49 Posts: 2,942	Welcome to the "Amiga World" then You will surely enjoy all the games and demos that are available for this wonderful machine

13 July 2019, 18:42	#4
4pLaY www.resistance.no Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 200	Nice find .

13 July 2019, 21:31	#5
TjLaZer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Tacoma, WA USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,917	With a gotek as external you won’t be able to boot games and demos as they require them to be drive 1, or DF0: so you’ll need an internal mod with switch to swap the internal drive as external, etc. that way the gotek will be the boot drive. Another work around is getting a Kickstart 3.1 ROM so you can enter the early boot menu to select the gotek as the boot drive.

15 August 2019, 16:24	#6
lovebus5 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Lidingö Posts: 52	Wow, new in box! Aaaaaaaah

15 August 2019, 17:01	#7
512k Registered User Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Creatures Land Posts: 202	Welcome

15 August 2019, 18:30	#8
amiman99 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: San Antonio, TX USA Age: 50 Posts: 1,184	Very nice find! I'm pretty sure CAPS are Ok, The Amigas that have the CAP problems are the one's with SMT CAPs, like A600, A1200, A4000 and CD32. Good luck and have fun with your new A500.

15 August 2019, 19:55	#9
Jeff_Birt Registered User Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: Rolla Posts: 55	The caps were fine. Have had a handful of key plungers become high enough resistance they don't work. This is caused by contamination from the greased used on the keys with the metal hinge wires (every key with a metal hinge wire had this issue.) Will investigate fixed in an upcoming video. For now have swapped them for keypad key stems.

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