This is an introduction to my website about retro computing and my hobby.
After some preliminary work - research on content management systems, web design, familiarization with WordPress and setting up the basic web design - I am now starting to talk a little bit about my hobby "Retro Computing".
As a child of the 70s and 80s, I witnessed the beginnings of the "home computer era". A few years ago I rediscovered the topic by accident (I came across a great forum on the Internet, the forum of the Association for the preservation of classical computer eV and decided to buy an Atari 1040ST for small money on eBay. And now I am collecting for about 3 years old computers, accessories and literature from this period in time.
It all started as a teenager with a home computer from Texas Instruments, the TI99/4a. The computer was a bit ahead of its time (technically), but it did not last for long. At least in Germany it also did not have a large fan base. My classmates all had a Commodore C64, which I was a bit jealous of. But I did not get one at that time - but now I have one.
With the appearance of the Atari ST series I then switched to an Atari 1040STF and stayed with it for many years. Working with this computer (during my high school and university times) has made me an Atari fan. My current collection also started with this model (and its successors), but has relatively quickly extended to the 8bit series (XL / XE).
Interestingly, the 8bit series are my main focus now - 8bit is more than enough 😉
In my private live I prefer Apple devices (Mac, iPhone, iPad), so - of course - older Apple computers are also part of my collection.
And well: a TI99/4a and a C64, as well as Sinclair computers and even a Sun Workstation, are now also part of my collection.
some members of my collection
I will provide more details about my collection over time in this Blog - bit by bit...
Of course, besides home computers, game consoles are also part of my collection. Again, the focus is - how could it be different - of course with Atari: VCS aka 2600, 7800 ProSystem and Lynx. But also the different variants of the Nintendo Gameboy have raised my attention. In addition to the consoles, of course, a number of games have accumulated.
In the course of this hobby, I have come to know the relevant Internet forums (there are a surprising number of people in this community) as an invaluable source of knowledge. I have listed some of them on my "Links and Credits" page. In some of these forums I am registered and active under the name LarryL.
Well, being active is exaggerated - I have not participated so much, yet. But that will change!
As a conclusion, my hobby has three main focusses:
- Collect and restore (put into operation, if necessary repair) of home computers and game consoles of the 80s
- Collect games for the various Atari consoles. If possible in original packaging - where not available, I create quite pretty reproductions of the packaging
- Hardware projects, mainly based on Atari 8bit computers. A special highlight here is the complete rebuilding of an XL computer with (almost) all currently available extensions. More details can be found at the AtariAge forum in the 1088XEL thread (AtariAge member Mytek).
In the following blog entries (available over time), I will go into more details.
So, that's it for an introduction.
So long...
Michael (LarryL)