After taking that pic, I got done cleaning the CBM. The entire Body, Board and keys all look a lot better now and im glad to say that after all of that, it turned on no problem as well! (Before and after)
Now that I finally get to use this thing properly, there are a couple of oddities which are worth a second look I reccon!
For one, it runs Basic V1, so I asume this machine must be from the early run of production? The 2 chip expansions which can be seen on the board, seem to be “Exbasic: Level II” which is a Basic Expansion sorta thing that replaces the original Basic if loaded. It too, fully works.
3 of the issues I noticed thus far is that for one, pressing the " Button has some odd effects on the top row of the num pad, in which if I press a button up there, instead of them doing thier normal thing, they type in Letters and Symbols with the Background change thing. Pressing " again reverts it back to normal… still quite annoying tho, since those are were the cursor keys are at. I’ve also cleaned both the keyboard as well as its actual Circuitboard underneath, so I’m not sure whats causing this.
Another odditie is that sometimes at pure random, all the Characters on screen change to @'s and P’s… then they revert back after a minute or two…
And for the final thing I’ll definetly wanna fix with no clue how, is that the Monitor is oddly Zoomed out. The text is all further back then it should be making for a weird look. Old Burn-in from when this thing was actively used also assures me of that. No clue how one can fix that, any suggestions?
Also working on getting a SD-2-PET so I can run games and Diagnostics too, but thats for some another time! I also wanna thank this community for all the feedback! Couldn’t have gotten this thing running if it wasnt for you!
I’m old enough to have used one of those in school. And now get off my lawn, damn kids!
Very nice!!
Now, do you know the syntax to run anything on it? That was my problem with my BBC Micro XD
Also you need to be very careful working inside the monitor, particularly as you’ve run it recently. There are some beefy capacitors in there that store a potentially fatal charge.
The trick is to touch them with the back of your hand, so that the shock causes you to clench your fist and arm, and punch yourself in the face for being a fucking moron who almost killed himself.
Got me in the first half
That’s why they call it a fly back transformer. You touch it and fly back
If you don’t get answers to your remaining issues here, you might see what responses turn up if you tell the whole story (and link the photos) over at Hacker News. I reckon there are at least a few readers over there who would enjoy it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them recognize the symptoms you describe.
Posting during weekday business hours is probably best for visibility.
I love a good cleanup and resto! Nice job.
Congratulations, and thanks for including us in the project!
Thank you all for helping me so much! Truly couldn’t have done any of this without the help and support all of you gave me!
This is a blast from the past… My first computer was a Commodore Pet - though I recall it had a built-in tape drive? I learned to program on it and ended up having a career in software engineering. I still have a soft spot for it…
Yeah that was the 2001 Series PET, only from 1977! Must’ve been an interessting experience typing in that original “Mickey Mouse” Keyboard they had
And for the final thing I’ll definetly wanna fix with no clue how, is that the Monitor is oddly Zoomed out. The text is all further back then it should be making for a weird look. Old Burn-in from when this thing was actively used also assures me of that. No clue how one can fix that, any suggestions?
Most CRT displays have potentiometers, adjustable by screw or knob, to control horizontal and vertical size. As always, be careful with flyback transformers, etc., so as not to die.
Burn in is a real and AFAIK permanent thing.
Watch some of Adrian Black’s videos on YouTube where he works on monitors. He shows how he does some adjustments to correct funky image calibration.
Great to see one in such good condition! This is a special computer for me. In the late 1970s our primary school headmaster realized computers would be important and bought one (a CBM 3032 or 4032) for the school. It was very exciting; we had never seen anything like it. We’d book time during lunchbreak to use it, and he started a computing class where we learned BASIC and showed each other our programs. I still view the PET/CBM as the archetypal computer, and that green screen gives me thrills, as do the keys with symbols on the front sides.
Man, I’ve been so invested in your PET project (pun intended). So glad to see it well!
Wonder if there’s a way run Doom on it
Yes actually, I’ve seen someone do that before!
