Hello from sunny Torquay

[EnglishRob]

Hi folks,

I just wanted to drop by and say hi. I've just joined the forums after lurking a bit and getting myself another Amiga.

I'm based in Torquay in Sunny Devon, UK and I enjoy collecting old retro computers although my collection (if you can call it that) is pretty small at the moment.

So yesterday I managed to pick up an Amiga 500 locally off eBay. I'd been after one for a while and this one seemed pretty good for the money (I paid about £17) and it included an Epson dot matrix printer, MIDI interface, flight stick, A501 memory upgrade and a whole bundle of disks.

The only issues that I've got are that it doesn't come with a copy of Workbench, the modulator only displays in black and white (I've already googled it and found that it might need some try joints re-soldering or something tweaking?) and I don't have a mouse for it. I also found that it has a 512K upgrade fitted already (although I haven't tested it properly and I'm not sure if the A501 upgrade works either).

So I guess I'm going to be doing lots of reading up about the Amiga. I had one years ago (in the early 90s) and remember it fondly (I'd upgraded from a broken ST) and I'm excited about reliving some of the experiences I had when I was younger and hopefully show my kids what cool stuff the Amiga can do (if I can prise them off their laptops for more than 5 minutes).

Rob

[wilshy]

Welcome and enjoy. That modulator issue maybe more hassle than it's worth, buy a new one unless you're really handy with a soldering iron.

I probably shouldn't say this, but a handy google around will get you Workbench disks fairly easily. You're not missing much with Workbench 1.3, not that can't wait a while, get the gaming underway

[Retroplay]

Torquay, the English Riviera, according to Basil Fawlty.

[EnglishRob]

Thanks Wilshy,

I was looking at Amiga Explorer (although my PCs run Linux and I haven't got a Null modem cable kicking around). I'm thinking of just biting the bullet and buying a Scart cable, I friend of mine has some old Amiga disks so I might ask him if he can see if he has Workbench too. Sods law most of the games I've tried are copies so need a mouse to get pass the intro screens :-)

Retroplay, yep it is, although we don't have any Wildebeest or Hanging Gardens of Babylon which is a shame :-)

Technically I'm in Exeter at the moment at work but I live in Torquay :-)

Rob

[TCD]

Hi Rob and welcome to EAB

Originally Posted by EnglishRob

Sods law most of the games I've tried are copies so need a mouse to get pass the intro screens :-)

You can try to connect your joystick in port 1 and press the fire button.

[modrobert]

Originally Posted by EnglishRob

I had one years ago (in the early 90s) and remember it fondly (I'd upgraded from a broken ST) and I'm excited about reliving some of the experiences I had when I was younger and hopefully show my kids what cool stuff the Amiga can do (if I can prise them off their laptops for more than 5 minutes).

My kids (Boy 3 years old, girl 5 years old) are only mildly interested when trying to play Xbox360 or PS3 games, but when they see me firing up an Amiga game, no matter what, they come running (not even Shaun the sheep video clips can keep them away), and that's just using an emulator...imagine what the real hardware could do.

Cheers, you'll feel right at home here.

[DonAmiga]

Hello and Welcome I'd say a Scart cable is probably the best way to go, this is where all the fun begins now that you've got your Amiga its now about getting everything else

[EnglishRob]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome :-)

Originally Posted by modrobert

My kids (Boy 3 years old, girl 5 years old) are only mildly interested when trying to play Xbox360 or PS3 games, but when they see me firing up an Amiga game, no matter what, they come running (not even Shaun the sheep video clips can keep them away), and that's just using an emulator...imagine what the real hardware could do.

Cheers, you'll feel right at home here.

My elder girls (11 and 10) are interested in the PS3 and XBOX 360 but they just didn't seem interested when I tried to fire up the "super awesome" Speccy that I bought years ago on eBay and finally found a working PSU for :-)

They haven't really seen much of the Amiga yet, just Kickstart 1.3 on it (I think they wondered why there was a big hand on the TV).

I'm hoping that some of the games will get them interested and maybe some of the demos too like Pugs In Space (it was one of the first demos I saw on my friend's Amiga years back), and my youngest daughter (who is 5) might like the Noddy game I have for it :-)

TheCyberDruid, I didn't think of that. Erm... right, got to find a joystick now. I think I have one kicking around somewhere, failing that I have a Megadrive joypad :-)

Long term I'm wondering if I'm better off buying a new mouse which seem to go for about 15 quid on eBay or buy one of those Amiga to USB adapters (for about 25 quid) and use a standard USB mouse.

DonAmiga, I've been looking at Scart cables, I'm a bit confused, one I've seen on eBay mentions about an extra pin so it'll work on LCD TVs. I'm probably going to use the Amiga on both the main TV (42" Plasma) and the kids TV (28" CRT), would I be better off getting one of these DIY scart cables with the extra pins attached?

This is one of the cables I've seen which is from a UK seller or then there is this one from a guy in Greece which is a bit cheaper but would probably take another week to come through.

I'm thinking too longer term I'm going to try making a batch of retrobrite as the Amiga has yellowed a bit, it's not too bad but I'd like to clean it up a bit.

Rob

[DonAmiga]

The first one from the UK looks like he's sold a few and I know of some which have got cable from that seller. Not all lcd tv give a great picture as I have a couple of tv's setup and one which is older dosen't give the best picture but my newer lcd tv is great.

Just out of curiosity have you found Amigakit? They do cables http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=226 and other things

[EnglishRob]

Ahh thanks I'll check it out. :-)

I've been getting a bit of an information overload at the moment, seems there is so much info out there which is great but can be a little confusing too :-)

Rob

[Twiggy]

Welcome EnglishRob, I'm from the same neck of the woods.

[amigakit.com]

Hello and welcome!

[EnglishRob]

Hey Twiggy,

Where abouts in Devon are you? Are you in Torquay too?

Hi AmigaKit.com

Just an update on my Amiga, I've given up on the modulator (although I did get it apart). This evening amongst other things I've taken the lid off my Amiga and given it a good clean. Not perfect but it's not as grubby as it was (guess it has been living in a loft for a few years). I also found a disk head cleaner at work too which I can hopefully borrow :-)

Rob

[Twiggy]

Hi. I'm from Newton Abbot, so not too far away from Torquay.