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Commodore Free 16
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t.iv al
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u
Interview with Al Anger
Hardware modder
http://alanger.net/
Hello Nigel. Thanks for the interview.
To use this, I require it be included
as is, with no changes of any kind to
your questions or my answers. If you
can not abide by this requirement, do
not use it.
Thanks for your understanding.
Q - Please introduce yourself to our reader
A - Hi, I'm Al.
Q - Can you tell us about your
computing history what was your first
machine etc
A - IBM Card Punch. Followed by the IBM
Card Sorter. And then the IBM403
Accounting Machine. This was in 1967.
In my Jr. & Sr. years of high school, I
took the regular classes, math,
history, etc. in the morning. In the
afternoons I road a school bus, by
myself (plus the driver, of course), 50
some miles to Buffalo NY. There I took
the local community collage classes in
Data Processing, as it was called then.
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/
history/026.html
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/
history/sorter.html
I've included pictures of a panel
similar to one that plugged into the
403. The banana tip jumpers were how
the machine was programmed. They told
the machine where to print various bits
of information. More here:
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/
history/407.html
These machines were from the 50s to
early 60s, but were still used for
teaching in the late 60s.
I was not the type to wear the thin
black tie, so after high school I moved
to Miami FL. and worked at restoring
old wooden boats. I played with
computers on the side during the 70s.
Mostly building computer kits.
In the 80s, I took classes at Miami
Dade Community Collage. Mostly program-
ming classes, just for fun, not for
credit. In 82, I bought a VIC 20. That
began a life long love affaire with C=
Which runs through today.
In the mid 80s, I was asked by a friend
to manage a computer store; Computer
Warehouse. We sold everything from the
Adam to Zenith laptops.
In the 90s, I managed 150 desktops for
an import/export broker. They had 8
offices from Tennessee to Florida.
Q - Can you tell our reader what you do
for a living?
A - As little as possible. Right now
it's running a small PC repair shop.
Q - Can you tell our reader about your
website?
A - It has a blue background, & lots of
pictures.
Q - Can you tell our reader about your
collection of machines (C= & non C=)
A - I don't collect anymore. I've given
away or sold most of what I don't use.
I don't need to have stuff, just to
have stuff.
Q - What is the term "modding" & how
does this relate to C= machines?
A - Mod is short for modifying. It
relates to C= as to modifying anything
else.
Q - Why did you decide to Modify C=
Machines?
A - Because I had lots of them, & they
are relatively cheap. If you braeak it,
no big loss, financially.
Q - Are any of the modded machines
available for sale?
A - No. I tested the waters with a sale
on eBay, & didn't receive near what it
was worth.
Q - Can you tell our reader about Ray
Allen's 128DCR, how was the project
started & why.
A - I had taken a few years off from
modding. I wanted to do something again
& made some remark on IRC or mailing
list, I forget now. He had the courage
to follow up on it.
Q - Ray Allen's 128DCR project looks
brilliant do you have plans for any
more maybe to sell off or was this
purely a 1 of?
A - Thanks for the kind words. It is a
one of. No one wants to pay what it's
worth. even at say, $20/hour; it took
hundreds of hours.
Q - Did you think about painting the
drives in Ray Allen's 128DCR, blue so
they matched the case?
A - No I didn't.
Q - Ray Allen's 128DCR did you come to
a point where you thought you had
"bitten of more than you could chew" &
think about giving up?
A- No, not at all. I enjoyed every
minute of it.
Q - How long did the project take &
what would be the costs involved in
time & materials
A - I didn't keep track of the time.
100s of hours. The materials were
minimal. IIRC less that $200.
Q - Did you have any problems obtaining
materials for the conversion?
A - No. With the exception of the power
supply. Danny crapped out on us. He's
an idiot.
Q - The Commodore 128 in a tower case
of course still looks great can you
give our reader information on what you
managed to fit into this Modification
A - http://alanger.net/comm/tower/
index.html
A C128 installed in a PC tower case.
Installed in the tower are a Ramlink;
CMD FD 4000; CMD Hard Drive; & 14.4
modem attached to a SwiftLink.
Every connector on the motherboard was
modified.
What you see is what you get, as the
expression goes.
Q - How long would a tower conversion
of a C= system take, I presume this is
a question like how long is a piece of
string
A - 100s of hours.
Q - The problem most users have is with
power supplies, have you ever thought
about going into production modifying
power supplies for these tower
conversions
A - Nope. No thanks. :)
Q- I asked C= gaming if they would do a
"tower case and psu" to convert a C64
or C128 they said they may think about
it depending on the Sales of their PCs
have you any thoughts, do you think
there is any Commercial value in such a
product
A -I really don't know. I have no
experience in large (relatively) scale
production. Generally, I don't think
there is enough market for C= to make
any real money.
Q - Have you seen Commodore Gamings
cases and do you have any comments
A - Yes, I've seen them. De gustibus
non est disputandum.(google is your
friend :)
Q- Do you think its still good to see
the C= name on products even if they
are just PC systems
A - rose by any other name would still
have thorns.
Q - What C= mod are you most proud of?
A - That's like asking which child I
like the most. (if I had children) Very
hard to answer. How 'bout; whichever
one I'm looking at?
Q - Do you still actively use C=
machines?
A - Less all the time. Haven't turned
one on in several months. A case of
been there done that; made the T shirt.
Q - Do you think If Commodore was still
in business they would be creating just
PC systems or do you think they would
carry on building on the Amiga system
A - C= missed the boat years ago. The
Amiga, or some derivative, should/could
have been the PC in widespread use
today.
Best Regards,
al