The RF looked great so did the finished Dragon. Great editing too! Nicely done Roger 👍👍👌

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Vince, praise indeed! I hope you liked how I used your clip. Thank you so much for allowing me to do that. Hope you are well

@Mymatevince

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair Very well thanks 👍Yes I liked it, very professional and a well thought out fun way to do it👍

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Vince. Glad you are well and that you approve. Its really helped boost views I think the first time I have had 1k views in 24 hrs. Thank You.

Liking the new production elements such as the end music sequence.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks... I am constantly trying to improve my skills and change things up editorially so this feedback is very useful. Thank you

Excellent restoration! Always fascinated with the early 80s computers!

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks tomorrowsphere I have quite a few 8 bit computers yet to tackle so there will be more. Glad you enjoyed the video.

wow spoilt today, vince fixes a speccy and you fix a dragon, quality :D

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks @Sparks N Zeros. Double 8-bit pleasures. Glad to bring some joy to your Sunday. Thanks for your comment.

Man that looks nice, and that display is sharp; well done!

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Fnordathon. Thanks too for all the views and comments

Very Well Done Roger. 👍👏🍻

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mick. I appreciate the encouragement. Hope you are well.

@MikeK-NIreland

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair All good mate 👍🍻

What a great result, you can definitely be proud of that restoration job. It's so rewarding when the finished result is so good. When you were swapping out the video op amps I was thinking, please use a chip holder, and a decent one too, and you didn't let me down!! I like the humour you inject in your videos, made me chuckle. Another awesome video Roger, congrats!

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Matt. Great minds think alike. Yeah I learned my lesson on the chip holders since I started this malarkey! I did swap the amps back and forth a bit off camera too so definitely worth it. Glad you like the odd bit of humour... embrace the mistakes! I say its part of the learning process. People have been generally much friendly with their feedback than I imagined they would be which is nice. Thanks as always for your comments. Glad you enjoyed the video

@matthewbeeson5612

2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad you have friendly subscribers, you put all that effort into providing entertainment for others, the very least you should expect is some appreciation or helpful feedback. Just like Vince, it's great to see your skills growing with every video. As always, looking forward to the next video. 😊

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

@@matthewbeeson5612 Thanks Matt. Means a lot

Thanks for making this vid - I've got a soft spot for the Dragon 32 - despite never owning one when they were new, I did covet the one owned by a friend. Great to see this one repaired and refreshed!

@qster

2 жыл бұрын

I had a hand-me-down Dragon 32 from my dad when I was in primary school. Your username just reminded me of how fascinated I was by my friends Vectrex. Good times!

@amnril

2 жыл бұрын

I bought one new mainly because they were made just down the road from where I grew up in South Wales. It was basically a Tandy TRS Colour (or was it Color?) . It was an ok machine but thank the lord for a Games company called MICRODEAL as their published games were excellent.

As always and excellent video. I used to fix these old computers for a living back in the day, although I don’t know much about the dragon as I mainly worked on Spectrums and C64’s. I would love to see you uploading more often.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ghost Retro. I'm really enjoying learning to repair on the Dragon. It used only off the shelf parts with no custom ULAs or similar. For me that makes it a great way to learn as I can get datasheets, circuit diagrams and the like. Its basically a TRS80 color computer, with just enough changed to save Mettoy a law suit. Thanks for sharing your background. I'm flattered a former pro would like to see more. If I had more time I would definitely upload more often, perhaps one day I can retire from my 2 day jobs and do more of this. Until then Thank you so much for your comments. Glad that you enjoyed the video

@ghost-retro3733

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair If in the future, you are able to make more videos, I think your channel would be at the level of say “Adrian's Digital Basement” in no time at all. When you do upload, the quality of your videos is certainly as good as, if not better than a lot of the top Retro channels.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

@@ghost-retro3733 Thank you so much. That is praise indeed I watch Adrian's Digital Basement a lot. I film everything from a small desk in the hall of my apartment (which I also serves as my office when I work from home) so I have very limited space for tools and equipment, but I do spend a lot of time on the edit trying to improve with each bid. Your encouragement is very much appreciated. Thanks.

awesome. my brother and i have many many happy memories of the dragon 32. had some decent games.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

I think the dragon was a much underrated machine. The speccy was more colourful, the C64 more impressive. But on launch day you had to go a long way to beat the dragon at the price.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the video

@monkeybrains

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair we got ours from Boots if I recall correctly. Had a great clone of donkey kong called 'The King'

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

@@monkeybrains that's right I remember when boots and WH Smiths used to sell computers. The King was originally called Donkey King but Nintendo took exception. The Dragon lost out in PAL regions as in NTSC regions the same video chip could use artifacts to generate more perceived colours. Still a solid machine with some interesting features.

Great transformation.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mark. Thank you for taking the time to comment. It really helps and I appreciate it.

Excellent work on the RF out. I agree that it's nice to be able to use a system as you remember using it (that's what the whole nostalgia thing is about after all). I felt for you after the failed plastic welding attempt. I tried the same thing on an Amstrad CPC a few years ago, the crack was at the front of the case and quite long. After a good half hour and a lot of careful work the same crack is still there, the only difference now is that the plastic on the back is melted and a little burned. I read afterwards that the key to success with this method is light metal mesh or scrim melted into the plastic (from behind of course) to strengthen and hold everything in place. Anyway great work on the video (I always enjoy them) and of course the old Dragon. You managed to get it breathing fire again ;)

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Hi @8bitsinthebasement hope you are well. Thanks for the tip, I've had minor success with the plastic melting in the past and I was annoyed the crack opened up but that's life I guess. I like the scrim idea. Still much better than before. Did you see my repair of the machine on my mate vince ... this thing had been abused and really should have been scrap. Thanks for sharing the amstrad story made me feel a bit better. Glad you are with me on the RF, not sure why I can't get both right. Anyhow...Hope you are well thanks for your continued support.

Dragon 32. Upgrade. And. Return. Of. The. My. Mate. Vince. Dragon

@RetroTechRepair

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment

Fantastic job and nicely done. The Dragon looks great. The Dragon 32 brings back memories for me, my brother has a Dragon 32 in the loft boxed in the original packaging, I think it has been boxed for about 30 years!! So I have no idea what state it would be in.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Awal I'm glad that you enjoyed the video and I really appreciate the kind words. If the loft is dry I bet the dragon can be saved, it might even work out of the box. Although not the best games machine, they were a superb home computer in my opinion, fast, powerful and easy to program at a good price. Anyway thanks again for your comments.

@awall1701

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair I love your channel, I enjoy the feeling of nostalgia. I remember spending hours copying code from the dragon 32 magazine then spending hours trying to debug the program due to my poor typing. My brother had a star trek game on cassette for the dragon, though I dont remember much about the game itself. If I do go up to the loft, I will see if I can find his boxed Astro Wars too and thanks your inspirational channel, I have decided to have a go at repairing my Invaders from Space.

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

@@awall1701 thanks and thanks again for your support. I remember typing those programs in, they were never any good even if yiu did get them working. I have another invaders from space yet to repair. Let me know how it goes and if you get stuck give me a shout.

@awall1701

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair Thank you, I will definitely let you know

@awall1701

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair Finally got round to working on my Invader from Space electronic game. I even purchased a few power jack sockets as a just in case. Opened the game up, there was a bit of corrosion on the battery terminals. Got it working it working again after cleaning them. Again, Thank you for your inspirational channel as I think the game would have just stayed in the loft forever more.

Excelllent! The video on your 64K Dragon 32 looks amazing! I have less than stellar video output on my machine too and was thinking of replacing the first op amp you mentioned, but they seem to be way overpriced. Good to know a cheaper alternative works just as well. I may replace the other one as well after watching this, is it a CA3100 you used? Thanks 🙂

@RetroTechRepair

Жыл бұрын

Thanks trancetrousers. Funny how I didn't identify the replacement part I used. Now unfortunately I can't remember! Very frustrating... sorry. I will check the unedited footage when I get a chance and report back. In the meantime thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed enjoyed the vid. Nice machine the dragon.... I have a TRS80 colour coming to the channel soon. Cheers!

I guess that's a Dragon 64 now :) Nice job! May I ask what kind of desoldering station you were using in this video? I'm thinking of buying one. I have underestimated how hard is to desolder a DIP-28 chip without one :)

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

I find some desoldering is very tricky and I sometimes use braid as well as the desolder tool. I use a duratool desolder Station I got from CPCFarnell because it was among the cheapest I could find, not necessarily the best. I think the Dragon 64 had additional features like a serial port and better support for the ram, so it's not quite as good, but the difference in the cost of ram chips is such that since I had to replace them anyway then why not? Interestingly the chips I had from the factory were "defective" 64k chips with only the lower 32k used. Anyway thank you so much for your comment and questions. Glad that you enjoyed the video.

Hi Roger. I'm currently knee deep refurbing my two Dragon 32's and have terrible video on both like you did. I know that you swapped the top IC for an LM318, but what did you swap the lower one with?

@RetroTechRepair

Жыл бұрын

Hi Scott, for the life of me I cannot remember. You are not the first to ask and I've even looked over my original footage and email receipts to try to figure it out. I'm assuming since I made a stink about one of them not being factory part number that the other was. Can you perhaps let me know the markings on yours and I will use that again in my search? Thanks!

@Uzeless

Жыл бұрын

OK, both chips are marked ‘SFC 2318 DC 218’. Let me know if you can. Appreciate your time!

@RetroTechRepair

Жыл бұрын

Hi Scott, Interesting. In mine they were different. My best guess (and it is a guess) is that Dragon used whatever was cheap and perhaps the SFC 2318 DC was an LM 318 equivalent. This link (for a metal can version) seems to support that theory www.pentod.com/product/5684/integrated-circuit-sfc2318dc-lm318-op-amp.html.en as does this link matthieu.benoit.free.fr/cross/competitive/Sescosem/SESCOSEM_linear_circuits_cross_reference.pdf I am pretty sure now that the lower one is mine was a CA3100E, they are still available if you shop around but are pricey. The pinout looks similar to the LM318 but I am not really sure if ANY of these are compatible. All just my opinion of course, anything you try would be at your risk, but hopefully this is useful. Great Question

@Uzeless

Жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair Thanks for getting back, I appreciate it! I'm gonna be plucky and replace both chips with an LM318 and cross my fingers! Thanks for your help. Oh, and after a bit of screenshotting and cutting/pasting, I found that the lower chip you replaced was a CA3100E. Looking at the datasheet, it's practically the same as an LM318N so all good!

@RetroTechRepair

Жыл бұрын

@@Uzeless I reckon that's what I would do, but I'm no expert. Let me know how it goes

Hi. I just landed on your channel and immediately subscribed after watching this video, as I am looking to improve my Dragon 32 video. Thank you so much for the video. Would you please be so kind to post the OpAmps models, so I could try them ???. Thanks again for such a nice and illustrative video Roger :-)

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Hi welcome along and thanks for the sub! I don't remember both op amp models. I'm sorry I didn't mention them in the video. The hard to find one was an SFC2318 I replaced that with a LM318, the other was a like for like replacement but i don't remember the number. Sorry 😞

@minombredepila1580

2 жыл бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair Thanks for the info. I'll find out the other one. Have been looking at older videos and really like your channel.

does any1 know of a CocoBlast 8gb DVD ?? i bought it once from ebay?? thanks.............

@RetroTechRepair

Жыл бұрын

I haven't seen one for a while, unfortunately. The games I showed I downloaded the .wav files. Sorry I can't help.

When will get another video I need my fix 1🤣👍👍👍

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Debilboy, that's very kind of you to say. I've been shooting lots of vids because I needed to clear some space. I will be editing up the footage soon so hopefully should have a new video out next week. Sorry for the delay. Good news is though that there are a lot of repairs yet to come!

i typed in time clock face for the dragon 32 from dragon user today and it does not seem to work properly it crashes can i send one of u my program can any1 here code at all? can i send any1 my clock time program? thanks..............

@RetroTechRepair

4 ай бұрын

I can't help, but you could try the dragon user Facebook page.

why not use super glue to fix the crack and glue a piece of scrap plastic across the crack also?

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Kaliban. Thanks for your question. Originally the hope was to repair without glue, but when that failed I chose epoxy because unlike superglue it can be applied from behind. Superglue would need to be applied to the surfaces of the crack itself and would likely have been very visible on the outside surface where it would dry very hard. Thanks again for your question. Hope you enjoyed the video

@wayland7150

Жыл бұрын

Superglue to close the crack and bi-carb on the inside to turn the superglue into a very strong filler bridge.

does any1 know of it ? a coco blast 8 gb dvd with lots of programs on it? thanks......... also does any1 know of a grand prix type in game from a book listing? thanks.............

@RetroTechRepair

6 ай бұрын

Not me sorry. Sorry I can't help

Superglue and bicarbonate of soda as a filler.

@RetroTechRepair

Жыл бұрын

Yeah... may be next time. Sadly this one has moved on now. Thanks for your comment. Really appreciated

Hi do a old ps2

@RetroTechRepair

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Audi Bell, I definitely will do a PS2 sometime a great console. I had a Ps1,2,3&4 and a 2 would be a great project. I have a lot lined up just now so ot will be a while, but I will definitely do one at some point.

Very interesting - thanks very much. Cant find the link to the original video on this dragon on @mymatevince. Any chance you could post the link to it? Cheers!

@RetroTechRepair

5 ай бұрын

Thanks! So glad you enjoyed the video. You can find the my mate vince video here.... kzread.info/dash/bejne/p4uNmsqYfs-teqQ.htmlsi=MZT80MVa4WZD942X If 6809e based micros are your thing i also have some trs80 color stuff on my channel you might like. Thanks again!

@gerardgallagher7884

5 ай бұрын

@@RetroTechRepair Thanks!