Retro Thing

Interview: Bohus Reveals What Makes Retro Thing Tick

The lads from Team Fremont recorded a great interview with Bohus at the recent 2008 Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee. They were kind enough to let us swipe an excerpt for your listening pleasure. Bohus does an eloquent job of discussing our philosophy and approach, especially since he was hopped up on an experimental combination of Sudafed, cough drops and Tootsie Rolls during the interview to ward off a particularly virulent cold.

Longtime readers will note that this interview extends my 35 month stint of staying out of the limelight. Many of you are starting to suspect that I don't really exist (as am I, actually). Part of the problem is that winter in Canada lasts approximately 312 days a year, leaving precious little time to travel safely between the isolated trading posts that pass for metropolitan areas here on the frozen tundra. Besides, my squeaky voice and thick foreign accent are poorly suited to the Wireless.

Click the play button to listen or click here to download.

Retroputing: Build A Classic RCA COSMAC ELF System

The original RCA COSMAC ELF appeared on the front cover of the August 1976 issue of Popular Electronics. It was a complete computer based on the RCA 1802 CPU and cost under $100 to build from a bare board. Another $20 would get you a B&W video display. Outstanding value, and these things lingered in the classified section of magazines like BYTE throughout the early 1980s. Spare Time Gizmos has recreated the machine, and even offers discrete logic replacements for some parts that might be hard to find. The price for a partial kit is around $100, but be warned that you'll have to key in programs using 12 switches on the front panel.

The secret to the ELF's success was its incredibly low price. It was sold through detailed display ads, catering to budget computing enthusiasts who wanted to try their hands at programming but couldn't afford something more advanced. The base unit featured a two digit 7-segment LED display and a mere 256 bytes of program memory.

By early 1979, Netronics Research and Development was offering an assembled ELF II with built-in B&W video and hexadecimal keypad for $99.95. Accessories included a $39.95 "Giant Board" with cassette I/O and various serial and parallel connectors. 4K of static RAM cost $89.95 and an ASCII keyboard was another $64.95. With a bit of forethought, it was possible to build a respectable system over the course of a few months without breaking the bank.

The 1802 processor is still manufactured by Intersil, leading Spare Time Gizmos to release an updated design as the Cosmac ELF 2000. The new machine includes 32K RAM and an optional 32K EPROM containing utilities and BASIC, FORTH and CHIP-8 languages. There's a six-digit LED display. It also supports the original video chip (no longer in production) and there are fully decoded I/O ports. A bare board costs a mere $20 and a partial kit full of the most important components can be yours for a very reasonable $100. Should you wish to add 80 column video, flash program storage or extended I/O, that's possible too.

Check out the Spare Time Gizmos COSMAC ELF 2000
The history of the COSMAC ELF

Maxitrak's Stunning 1:4 Scale Steam Locomotives

Maxitrak in Staplehurst, Kent was founded in 1978. The company produces a stunning range of live steam trains such as 'Jack,' a 1:4 reproduction of the 1898 Hunslet No. 684 locomotive. The original is now in the Leeds Industrial Museum, but this 5-inch gauge reproduction can be yours for just under $25,000 if you skimp on accessories.

The 37-inch long locomotive is capable of hauling 10 adults under ideal conditions, with a working pressure of 900 psi. It weighs 170 lbs and features two gunmetal cylinders, Walschaerts valve gear and mechanical lubricator. Twin Sandboxes are mounted on the top of the boiler in line with the brass steam dome, giving this stunning locomotive a distinctive look.

You'll have to budget an extra $1000 or so for each open bogie passenger wagon or sit-aside trolly for your visitors, and rail costs about $12 per 2.5m length, not including points, rail bending, sleepers or track bed preparation. This is definitely not a cheap hobby -- you'll need tens of thousands of eurobucks for rolling stock and track, and lots of level land to set up your personal railway.

The company has a decidedly modern YouTube channel featuring over 100 videos of their miniature vehicles in operation.

Maxitrak: The Best of Model Rail & Road

Speed Racer Slot Cars Go!!!

Carrera took the wraps off their new Speed Racer slot car set a couple of weeks ago. It features just over 20 ft of track including loop and flyover sections, along with Speed Racer 'Mach 5' and 'Racer X' cars. They're aiming for a price of under $70, which is a solid deal.

The set is a tie-in for the new Warner Bros Speed Racer movie, but don't forget that it's based on the 1967 Japanese TV series 'MachGoGoGo' by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida. The series pitted Speed Racer against the mysterious Racer X. The show was shot and aired at a breakneck pace - a total of 52 episodes were broadcast over a 12 month period. The series has been revived several times over the years, but never with the same success as the original.

The new live-action film is directed by the Wachowski brothers and hits theaters in North America this Friday,  filled with garish neon-inspired race sequences and a vibrant 'real cartoon' look reminiscent of the 'Lazy Town' kid's show.

Unfortunately, the over-the-top style isn't going over well with some reviewers. James Berardinelli of ReelViews writes, "It's what I'd imagine it might be like trapped inside a video game or a pinball machine. It's a kaleidoscope gone mad. Yet this kind of visual overdrive has its limits, and with little else to recommend it, Speed Racer passes the barrier between 21st century innovation and psychedelic diarrhea long before the cars have come close to the finish line. At an exceedingly long 135 minutes, the film needs more than what might result from the explosion of a Crayola factory, and Speed Racer has nothing extra to offer - no heart, no excitement, no moments to cherish."

My advice? Use the money you would have blown on the movie to pick up a few eps of the original anime series and take the new Carrera slot car set for a spin. Speed Racer Go!!!

Speed Racer slot car set at Carrera USA [via just about every gadget blog on earth]

A Turntable That Fits On Your Ring Finger

If you ever get to see a real turntablist ply his trade, keep your eye on his fingers.  Not only can you cop some sweet moves for your next turn behind the wheels of steel, but DJ's have a knack of finding some pretty nice digital adornments.  Here's a handmade ring with a mini turntable on it, along with a tiny disc of real vinyl.  It doesn't play any music, but it looks like just the thing to wear next time you are.

The ring is available in a few different styles, and is going to set you back something over $300 US, which doesn't seem unreasonable for a limited edition and uniquely handcrafted piece of jewelry.  I think that I'll pass though. As much as I like it, I'm such a granny that all I can think of is how I'd constantly get the tiny tonerm caught in my best DJ-ing sweater.

Turntable Ring by Darkcloud Silver [via Red Ferret]

Kodak's First Digital Camera

Way back in 1975 -- when Kodachrome color slides and Kodak Instamatics were all the rage -- Kodak researcher Steve Sasson built the first digicam, cobbled together from spare parts and bleeding edge digital technology.

The lens was from a used parts bin on Kodak's Super 8 camera assembly line, it used a futuristic CCD image sensor (now commonplace) and took 23 seconds to record a crude 100 line black and white image onto cassette tape.

Sasson explains, "On the side of our portable contraption, we shoehorned in a portable digital cassette instrumentation recorder.  Add to that 16 nickel cadmium batteries, a highly temperamental new type of CCD imaging area array, an a/d converter implementation stolen from a digital voltmeter application, several dozen digital and analog circuits all wired together on approximately half a dozen circuit boards, and you have our interpretation of what a portable all electronic still camera might look like."

The device was semi-portable, and a massive VCR-sized microcomputer was used to display the images on a TV screen using a primitive frame store, but I doubt that the Kodak executives saw digital technology as a credible threat to their existing product line.

The Kodak Apparatus Division Research Laboratory team demonstrated the technology to a number of people within Kodak in 1976 as "Film-less Photography." I can't imagine the title went over well, considering Kodak's position as the world's leading producer of photochemical film. Still, 32 years later it turns out to be prophetic as Kodak struggles to reinvent itself as a digital company.

A patent was issued for the technology, but it was decades ahead of its time. Sasson kept the prototype as he moved around the company, but Kodak didn't publicly acknowledge the creation of the world's first digicam until 2001.

Kodak: A thousand nerds - We had no idea

The Adix: Proto-Steampunk Calculator

The Adix is a mechanical column adder from the early 1900s, manufactured by Pallweber & Bordt in Mannheim, Germany. The brass and aluminum mechanism allows you to add only single columns to three digits with a simple reset mechanism. Still, it offered a real keyboard and was much faster than error-prone hand calculations.

Adix calculators in good condition sell for well over $1000. Part of their charm is that - like steam engines - they're fascinating to watch in action. You get the feeling that you understand intimately how they function, even if you don't really grasp the fine details. The charm of precision engineered mechanics is at the heart of the 'steampunk' movement, although lately the term has been co-opted to mean "modern electronics in a neo-Victorian case." This, on the other hand, shows that the steampunk movement is rooted firmly in the mechanical reality of a century ago.

This machine and dozens like it are on display on Nathan Zeldes' "Possibly Interesting... History of Computing" pages which feature dozens of classic computing devices ranging from the obscure (Correntator slide adder) to the commonplace (Apple Newton).

More Adix pix at Nathan's Possibly Interesting Web Site

related:
Curta Miniature Mechanical Calculators

Tiffany Lava Lite - A Classy Take On A Groovy Classic

Even though I'm not exactly the right age, I've always loved Lava Lites. Maybe it's their omnipresence in spy-fi classic "The Prisoner", or maybe it's just because they're still really cool.  They've become a prominent symbol/cliche of the 60's & 70's. Watch any TV show that flashes back to those decades and invariably someone will have a Lava Lite going - possibly wreathed in some "special" smoke.

I've got a couple in my office, including a big three footer. They used to be really hard to find (even though they were once made right here in Chicago), but over the last few years they've become commonplace and quite affordable. Lava Lites are again a standard among students, artists, and pretty much every video edit room I've been in over the past ten years.

This Tiffany-esque Lava Lite takes the same classic silhouette, but dolls it up for Sunday dinner.Our aging baby boomer friends can again embrace the groovy vibe of a Lava Lite while even fitting it in among a collection of classy antiques. There's a Tiffany-style pattern, as well as a mosaic that captures the shape of the usual blob of lava.

It's an interesting idea to find other ways to explore the iconic and historic shape of the Lava Lite, though nothing beats the original burbling masterpiece.

Get your own Tiffany style Lava Lite
Another design with the cool lava pattern

related:
Unusual soft drink in lava lite shaped bottle
Want to help solve a lamp mystery?
Psychedelic lava lite offspring

Marx Toy Soldiers On The March!

The classic figure of a soldier has been captured in toy form many times over the years.  Whether made of lead or a clothespin, there's something about the crisp painted-on uniform, tall hat, and rifle at the ready.  "The Big Parade" is made up of a rank of soldiers in peacetime march.  This 1960's toy by Marx resembles toy soldiers of old, but these troops are made of decidedly modern plastic.  They also require more than just kid power.  An army may march on its stomach, but these guys aren't moving till they get some fresh batteries.

Optimistically referred to as remote controlled, you simply drop in a couple D cells and let the boys march on.  You can twist the front wheel to set the parade off in one direction or another, but that's hardly "remote control" in this man's army.  The original setup also included a plastic baton.  The exciting ad copy on the box makes the wand seem like it's going to do a lot more than just be a piece of plastic, but I'm pretty sure that it's just there to wiggle around to music.  No matter - the soldiers' marching feet and the big bass drum are charming enough.

I haven't gotten this set to work yet - I guess that the 40 year old motor is on a furlough.  It's certainly a cute enough gadget to try and fix.  Today a toy like this would have a sound chip scratching out an endless loop of "Stars and Stripes Forever", but back in the 60's I suppose that you'd just put on a record of military marches (which may sound like an odd music genre, but the thrift stores are full of such recordings) and conduct your own plastic patriots.

It's nice to see a toy that depicts one of the more fun duties of being a soldier.  Make your mamas proud, boys!

related:

Strange World War II stuff
The pocket watch goes to war
Rolex Oyster P.O.W. watch

NES Console Hack Fits Inside Nintendo Cartridge

A sculptor can look at a piece of raw marble and see the sculpture within.  A painter sees limitless possibilities in a blank canvas.  Then there are those modern craftsmen who see the massive bulk of a classic NES game as a work of art waiting to happen.

Kotomi's project fits an entire functioning NES into an old Super Mario cartridge.  I imagine that this mod started with one of the many Nintendo on a chip pirate clones out there.  All the necessary connections are there (the NES' original controller ports are replaced by the pirate Famicom's more compact versions), and all neatly tucked into this amazing and compact package. 

As it is right now, this mini console only plays Japanese Famicom carts - not American NES carts (which would just look odd).  Most of the pirated games are on Famicom style carts anyway - like the not-at-all-legit Super Mario 5 pictured here.  Talk about version number inflation.

Monthenor's Nintendo hack harnesses the mythic custom of blowing into a NES cart.  Instead of making the cart work better, you'll be making music.  His website includes details on the surprisingly simple hack to install a harmonica in the business end of a NES cartridge.  If Guitar Hero isn't your speed, you can puff out "Arkansas Traveler" on your harmoNESica while accompanied by your MIDI enabled NES.

How long before someone fits both projects into one cart?  It'll be the spittiest Famicom hack ever.

[via engadget]

NES console in a cart project page
HarmoNESica project page
YouTube video of HarmoNESica in action

related:

Junior-sized consoles for your own hacks
Play music through your NES via MIDI
Commodore 64 palmtop conversion hack