scuzzblog 1701

I guess when you own as many computers as I do you appreciate the problems of both storage
and meaningful usage. The two are very tricky, as I discovered recently when delving into
various boxes and finding some of the kit that had been previously working, now not working.
The trick for me has always been using the computers. Not that switching them on is a 
guarantee of continued functionality, just that you can very often spot an issue before
it becomes a real problem, and possibly fix it.

Take for instance the 3" drives on the various Amstrads. If you leave these drives in storage
they will eventually just stop functioning. The rubber band will degrade and perish. So by
using the drive daily for how ever a short period will extend the life of the drive.

In addition to keeping the computers and associated peripherals active there is also the issue
of availability. If you want to contribute to discussions on hardware it is very useful having
the equipment available to refer to. Just last night someone asked a specific question in
respect of a computer and I was able to simply switch the computer on and check.

I have given over my home to the computers and have them set up in every available location.
I choose to live in a home made museum and whilst it is congested it is all very ordered and
safely set up. Most important is that the computers can be used and switched on an off with
ease. Nothing is dangerously wired or loaded into cabling and plugs that I cannot access.

The daily / weekly checks are very important and I do various tests on kit to make sure it
is all working as intended. The following is a list of all those computers that I have 
running on a regular basis together with the reason as to why the machines are set up to power on.
You appreciate it is impossible for me to have all machines in the collection working, however,
in addition to the listed computers, I am able to remove any computer from the collection
and set up. So having stations using certain monitors and peripherals set up also gives me
the opportunity to plug in and plug out other machines.

Be aware that since starting my collecting I have never in truth parted with any kit, software or
hardware. All that you see in the collection is still here. To this date I have really only
suffered three fatalities. One through stupid efforts by me to repair, one that literally blew
up ( seriously ) and one that suffered impact damage from another falling computer. I have had 
four computers catch on fire but they don't count as I can and will repair them.

And I present you the current active list of machines that I switch on either daily or weekly.
They are set up permanent and have also all the various books, magazines, software, disks and
drives available in close proximity.

01: Amiga 500 with GVP HD+ sidecar hard drive sitting on special desk tidy with Philips CM 8833-II
monitor. The computer has external floppy drive. I use this machine to test demo disks. L I N K

02: Amiga 4000d-040 running on a Commodore 1084S monitor. This computer has OS3.9, a CD and a very
large hard drive. I store all my ADF files here and Parnet to another Amiga for ZIPS. L I N K

03: Amiga 4000d-040 with PicassoIV running on a Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 92. Large PC monitor for
playing and testing animations I create. I have this machine looping animations in the background. L I N K

04: Amiga A 1200 HD from the Escom era with 3.9 and 3.5" internal hard drive. Has a Squirrel SCSI
plus Tecmar HD, Power Computing CD and another SCSI HD plus ZIP and HD floppy running on a 
Microvitec and with Parnet to A4000d. Used for file transferring and creating disks ZIP/PC/Amiga.
The accelerator is a Blizzard 1230IV with 32mb RAM. L I N K 

05: Amiga 1200 classic with GVP Turbo, internal 2.5" and external XL floppy. Runs on a Microvitec
and is loaded with all my games. Speakers are made by Commodore and has the SGProPad game controller. L I N K

06: Amiga 1200 classic with Blizzard 1230IV Turbo and SCSI kit 32mb RAM and external floppy. The 
SCSI drives two external SCSI hard drives and Power Computing CDROM and Iomega ZIP. There is an
internal 2.5" which has my Amiga full brain. The computer is networked using my own SAMBA configs
through Miami on a PCMCIA ethernet. The monitor is currently a Samsung Syncmaster T220HD. This is 
my prized 1993 computer which has been running since November 1993 to today. L I N K

07: Windows98 AMDDuron with ZIP networked to the Amiga 1200 for file swapping across my network.
Monitor is a Samsung Syncmaster 940BW. Rare these days to get a PC with a floppy drive.

08: WindowsXP Intel Evesham machine running on a Viewsonic flatscreen. Computer has large internal
hard drive and stores the Amiga archive. Externally has a Buffalo HD and SONY remote headphones.
Computer is networked to all the other computers for file transfers and internet files.

09: Amstrad PCW16 generally on all the time. Great utilities. L I N K

10: Acorn RiscStation on Samsung Syncmaster 2232BW. Powerful Acorn with loads of utilities. L I N K

11: CBM Commodore Model 3032 [ PET Style computer ] Working and switched on to keep that way. L I N K

12: Amstrad PC1512DD with own dedicated monitor. Twin drive machine. L I N K

13: Acorn 5000 running on Acorn monitor. Generally switched on. L I N K

14: Acorn 7000 running on a ViewSonic flat screen monitor. Very useful machine and generally in use. L I N K

15: Amstrad MegaPC x 2 with dedicated monitor for playing SONIC.. every single day. L I N K

16: Atari Falcon 030 plus Viewsonic traditional monitor. Checks this computer once a week. L I N K

17: Atari 800XL [ checked once a week ] L I N K

18: Acorn Atom [ Checked once a week ] L I N K

19: Acorn A3010 [ Checked once a week ] L I N K

20: Acorn A3020 [ Checked once a week ] L I N K

21: Acorn A3000 [ Checked once a week ] running on a Microvitec monitor. L I N K

22: Amiga 2000 with GVP accelerator running through a Commodore 1942 monitor. L I N K 

23: Amstrad PCW9512. Recently repaired internal 3" drive. Check the machine daily. L I N K

24: C64C with 1541 running on a 1081 monitor. Has the 1530 Datasette. Mainly used for games. L I N K

25: C64C with 1701 Commodore monitor, two 1541-II 5.25" drives and 1530. This is my main C64 machine
and I have the computer set up all the time with software, disks, cassettes etc. Great machine. I can
also swap out a dozen external floppy drives which I check on a regular basis. L I N K

26: Checkmate 1500 plus 1084S monitor with A590 and external SCSI drive plus external 5.25" floppy and
the Amiga 1010. This is a hybrid A500 in a case with OS2 and running the PC emulator off the card.
Incredibly versatile machine and used daily. L I N K

27: Amstrad PC1512HD20 with own dedicated colour monitor. Single drive machine. L I N K

28: Sharp MZ 80K with own monitor for playing the best version of Space Invaders like ever. L I N K

29: Amiga 600 running off a scart to a SONY Trinitron TV. L I N K 

30: SuperFamicom Junior running on the SONY Trinitron. L I N K

31: Playstation 2 running on the SONY Trinitron. L I N K

32: Tatung Einstein with 3" drive running on the SONY Trinitron. L I N K

33: Atari 2600 cartridge based machine for RiverRaid [ Classic ] L I N K

34: Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3 with recently repaired 3" drive. L I N K

35: Atari 65XE plus 1050 external floppy drive. L I N K

36: Sinclair Spectrum 48K with Binatone datasette. L I N K

37: Colossus Windows 95 machine with SWAP Bay and external ZIP running on Mitsubishi monitor. L I N K

38: Evesham Windows 98 machine on Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 92. All PCs are networked to the Amiga 1200. L I N K

39: Amiga 2000 and Commodore 1081 monitor. I swap out all my 2000 and 1500s for checking here. L I N K

40: Amiga 1200 with internal 2.5" using MagicWB on Microvitec. I use this machine station for testing
my Amigas and also for checking files etc. Useful workstation this. L I N K

41: Amstrad 6128Plus with newly repaired drive running on own dedicated monitor. L I N K

42: Amstrad CPC464 plus 2 x DD1 external drives running through CTM 644 monitor. My main Amstrad station
with loads of other machines sitting adjacent for testing. Used daily. I recently repaired the DD1
drive and therefore check this each day. L I N K

43: Amiga 4000d-030 running through a Commodore 1084S monitor. The computer sits in the disk room
for checking disks and CDs in the library. L I N K

44: Two times Amstrad CPC6128s with newly repaired internal 3" drives running through a CTM644 colour
monitor. Practising my CPM and Arnor here. L I N K

45: Amiga 1200 EZTower with IDEFix and buffered interface powering, CD, ZIP, hard drives. Has a sdflicker
fixer running on a Iiyima Vision Master. Keyboard adaptor and mouse adaptor for use with external.
Includes the HD XL drive. This computer is a beast and runs every day of the week. L I N K

46: Amiga 1200 with external 5.25" floppy drive sitting atop an Amiga 1000 running through a 1084s

47: Amiga 1000 running through a 1084s. L I N K

48: Two times Commodore C128ds the plastic outer case versions desktops with own Commodore monitor
and library of Commodore 5.25" disks. L I N K

49: A600 floppy based games machine.

50: CD32 Amiga games machine. I have the SX32 sitting adjacent. L I N K

51: Amiga A500 with A590 sidecar running on the Commodore 1081. L I N K

52: Amiga 1200 [ Graham ] sitting inside a converted Amiga 2000 case with buffered interface. This computer
is Parnet connected to the A1200 nearby to transfer and swap out hard drives. L I N K

53: Amiga 500 with GVP external hard drive sidecar running on the Commodore 1081.

54: Amiga 500Plus with 40MHz GVP sidecar and hard drive. L I N K

55: Amiga 1200 games machine running on Toshiba TV

56: Atari Woody running on the Toshiba TV L I N K

57: XBOX [ original ] running on the Toshiba TV

58: Philips CDi210 running on the Toshiba TV L I N K

59: Amiga 1200 with Typhoon plus Squirrel SCSI powering 1GB external hard drive and ZIP drive running on
a Microvitec monitor. This machine sits behind me here for light relief. L I N K

60: Amiga 1200 with GVP Jaws II, Amitec 4mb PCMCIA and internal 2.5" and 1080 monitor for Arcade Snooker. L I N K

61: Playstation3 running out through a very large Samsung Syncmaster 240HD

62: Windows7 HP Pavilion i7 main internet machine and which recently fell over. Fully recovered with new
NVIDIA graphics card and fresh install.

63: Windows 10 newly acquired DeLL Inspiron 3668 which is the biggest load of junk I have ever had the
misfortune to own. DO NOT ever like buy a Windows10 machine if you like computing. Its a mobile phone.

So there you have it, 63 computers from a vast army of machines set up to use on a daily / weekly basis.
I don't believe I have ever had all the machines on at the same time. I would suggest at most I have
like [ thinks ] had 20 machines on the go at any one time.

If you can only ever own one retro computer then buy an Amiga 1200. 

[I may just add some current snaps of the machines. However its not as simple as you might think ]