That's not the styrofoam squeaking on the way home. It's the VIC-20's excitedly chattering to each other about finally having a new loving home.

Those "mystery" boards with the RCA, MIDI and DB25 ports are the internal boards for the rack-mount unit that accompanied the SMPL system. The DIN ports are MIDI, the leftmost two RCA ports are Roland Sync, the next three RCA ports are SMTPE timecode, and the remaining RCA and DB25 ports are interfaces to professional studio tape machines, to control the tape transport and transmit/receive SMTPE timecode to/from them.

Back in the 1980's programmable thermostats were just coming online and were costly. Being handy, I ran my home furnace with an Atari 400. I added a full keyboard & modified it to 65Kb ram. With a real time clock and custom software to accommodate a personalized HVAC schedule it ran until I sold the house. It would also reboot itself after a power outage. It was fun building it.

I'd keep the MOS KIM-1 as close to it's current state as possible, but of course gently clean it and take required actions to ensure no further degradation. I believe it's better to leave it with all it's modifications as it was clearly being used for something, that history is much more important than returning it to pristine factory condition.

I think the only part of that museum piece I would even consider changing is the power cord. Everything else (even the green board) might be potentially significant to someone investigating it later.

That mouse doorbell was brilliant!

The video socket is meant for a video card called the TVT-6. It was created by Don Lancaster who designed the TV Typewriter. It could display up to 4000 characters on a television. A popular configuration was 16 lines by 32 columns of characters. Hope this helps.

Hey, I saw this laptop thing called the "Canon NoteJet 486" which is essentially a printer built into a laptop, in 1993.

How could you resist pressing the middle mouse button

If this man is happy by finding old computer parts, then I'm happy too

Just imagine all of the abandoned buildings that have been sitting for 35+ years loaded up with this kind of stuff.

The KIM is a piece of history in the condition it's in. It's something of a work of contextual art. Leaving everything fitted to it shows how it was utilized and will help future generations better understand uses for early "micro computer" tech.

It's good to see a KIM-1 again. It was my first 'pc'; I purchased one at the computer fair in Chicago late in 1977 while I was attending IBM's base school for new CEs. I remember doing a show-and-tell to the class and instructors pointing out similar features to the IBM 360 we were learning. I also remember the instructors being amazed. They had no idea about the start of personal computing that I was showing them.

In the 80s I helped to develop a system to collect, measure, and process vibration signals from some massive machines used in the steel industry. The basis was a ZX 81 and all the programming was done in assembly and believe me, to program FFT on that was a challenge :)

I'd mount the KIM-1 on a new spunky block of wood with a modern brick frame PSU. It likely contains the original monitor ROM so may boot to a LED and keypad monitor interface.

You guys find all the cool stuff out that way. Here in Idaho we never find stuff like that. I was lucky enough to find a C64 and a VIC20 at an electronics reseller a few months ago. Both of them work great, and with cleaning tips from your videos I was able to clean them up and both function just fine. Had to buy a power supply but well worth it to have some nostalgic Commodore stuff other than just my C128.

"no problem, i have a spare working cpu" Of course you do.

"I just happened to have some VIC-20 RAM" *has a million VIC-20s*

+1 for leaving the KIM-1 exactly the way it is -- it's as important to the history to users build them as it is to know what they looked like new in box. For a museum display, I'd have it on a desk strewn with test equipment and components, with a blurb explaining how the development process is often messy.

It is so nice that there are people like The 8-Bit Guy , who really do care about all of those old machines, how they evolved what steps did their creators took, their mistakes and success. All of that absolutely needs to be preserved and displayed to show how that technology helped shape man and society, and vice versa. It really puts tears in my eyes to see that it is being done today and they even inspire more people to do so. A truly amazing channel.

Back in the days, I was 14 and had a Commodore 64. I wanted to program eproms, but buying a factory programmer was way above my budget, so I built my own. Got a design from the 'fidonet' (.512 ) where I was node, and etched the PCB myself using ferrochloride. My mom still remembers all the yellow stains in my clothing and carpet in my room. Somehow the etching worked and I managed to procure all the parts and built the entire thing. I was really proud of myself. Then it didn't work. Spent weeks on it, why didn't it work. It turned out, I printed the PCB layout as is, while I should have mirrored it. So the entire thing was built wrong.

My dad was an engineer in the UK he retired only 5 years ago, even then they were still using a C64 to control one of the milling machines. I suspect its still being used to this day.

I absolutely love the music you use in the background of these videos. The track you've been using in this one has such a Knight Rider theme to it. I seriously need all of your tracks to just listen to all day every day.

Cool episode. The 80's was rife with specialised conversions like this. I used to work for a UK company in the mid-80's that converted Epson HX-20's into full blown POS terminals which also carried out inventory control for various retail sectors. We even attached cash-drawers to them which were functional (opened by toggling the cassette stop/start signal through a simple relay).

The big slot on the KIM-1 is probably an S-100 slot. The KIM-1 is not very rare but this one is: It's an early one from before Commodore bought MOS. I wonder if the 6502 has the ROR bug.

Personally i would just clean up the kim-1, especially if you're donating it to a museum I'd like to see what the original owner did modifying it

Video toaster, wow memories there. More good news your channel is now always on my homepage. so the UKposts algorithum must be elevating you

"If you were using it to control something, the Vic-20 was a logical choice" I see what you did there.

What you have is a pre-Commodore MOS KIM-1. It is very valuable. All of the components with the exception of the 6530's are available, should you wish to restore it. The 6530's have a masked ROM which was programmed at MOS technology and contain the KIM Monitor. If either of them are non-functional, then the KIM-1 won't work. There are work arounds, but it requires replacing the defective parts with a daughter board. This is a very valuable piece of computing equipment. And as Indy said "It belongs in a museum". It is very capable as it is. For instance, it can connect to a terminal and a cassette. There are still folks building expansion cards for it, including memory expansions which will bring it to 64K. That said, I would at least try to see if it will function. Great find and great video!

I love these kind of videos. You're like a tech-Indiana Jones looking for ancient artifacts.

Great to see these being donated and used to support good causes, and I'll be able to visit the one VIC-20 being shipped to NL :)

I love his vlog style videos. He is such a genuinely nice guy.

I can never pass up these 8bit guy videos, they're so fun to watch.

3:04: Yeah, there was a UKpostsr who dealt in these. He called himself the iBook guy or something. Whatever happened to that guy, I wonder?

I had a Commodore Vic 20 when I was a kid. I sure wish I still had it. Channels like this one make me feel happy knowing that there are people out there that love these old machines and give them a another shot at functioning again.

I really like your videos David, specifically your thumbnails, it's always nice to see a new upload from you where it's you smiling with a piece of hardware, you're smile brings some joy to my day, watching your videos of restoring hardware adds even more joy!

Seeing that eeprom programmer had me feeling all nostalgic about only 10 years ago when me and my brother were making our own homebrew games for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive. :) We would sit in my basement, look online for donor cartridges, program games, design label and box art, make labels, make boxes, test the games with an emulator and when we were happy with them we would write the games to new blank roms with the eeprom programmer and then put the donor cart back together, put the new labels on, print out a manual and put everything in our own box with our design on it, wrap it with plastic and put it up for sale. :) At the same time, I was flashing new hacked firmware to Xbox 360 DVD drives and reset glitch hacking and jailbreaking consoles for a living. Best memory I have. Good times.

2:22 Ah yes, a septic tank alarm for when it overflows. How lovely.

That squeaky styorofoam reminds me of the time I went on a road trip with my parents and we had a styrofoam cooler in the back that squeaked just like that. At that time my dad really lost his temper pretty easily and he was mad about the noise for the whole trip and I remember him smashing it into pieces after we got home. Never had a cooler on any trips we did after that, we would just buy whatever we needed on route

I had an early ceramic chip KIM-1 a long time ago! I loved that thing but I lend it out to a friend and never saw it again :( Great show, as always! Cheers!

I'm really glad they didn't end up recycled, a less knowledgeable recycler may have just destroyed them. As for the Kim, I think it's really interesting in its current state, It's such an interesting prototype, and someone probably spent a good deal of time creating that set up to test and to research. Really interesting video.

omg the styrofoam noise... I would've lost my damned mind. 🤣

Wow - you have been studying those catalogs with products for the Commodore for so long and you have a memory about this "Promenade" programming device in your head! Human memory is still something incredible sometimes =))) Seeing the KIM-1, I immediately thought about the museum ... and how glad I was that you would donate this computer to the museum without hesitation! =) Thank you for the video!!!

That brought back some memories, had one of the old style case vic20's with the 2 pin power supply back when I was a kid... and one of the old 'vertical' cassette drives, not the round cornered later style 'wide' ones... The vic actually was really easy to interface through the user port, turning the outputs on and off just by 'poking' them lol

VIC 20's were reliable, could run for months without intervention. I made a test system that was used for >10years.

“I just happened to have some vic 20 memory chips laying around” ... and who doesn’t? 😂😂 you’re the main nerd. You live the nerd life I’m too lazy to live. Much respect ✊

I’m so glad that I subscribe to and support a person who does good for our community. Thank you David.

I was at soil testing lab auction back in the mid 90's I picked up a bunch of Vic-20's cheap. One was mounted to a green board along with the datasets. It also had a couple interface adaptors that were homebrewed that plugged into the user port. But just another example how the Vic performed arduino type functions.

Thank you for donating a VIC-20 to the museum in the Netherlands, I will be sure to check it out!

The "mystery" keyboard at 1:53 is actually part of a Burroughs Corporation terminal setup, probably from around '74-'77 or so. Also, I've been to that Riverwind Casino. I learned some good Roulette strategies from an old man over there. I've also been to the Chickasaw Nation nearby. Great video, by the way.

Good video Dave, I really enjoyed it. My first PC was a VIC-20, will forever love these machines and the C=64 as well.

Ah the early VIC20 GS…….seriously great on you to donate give away such rare finds allowing them to be enjoyed by others.

The thing about native lands having casinos reminded me of when I visited the USA for the maximum time, a few of the friends I stayed with always drove out to the nearby petrol station on native land to not pay any fuel taxes on it. Even tho it was 10 minutes out of their way, the tax avoidance savings more than made up for it.

3:15 8-Bit Guy realizes he's old and getting older. I feel the pain.

This channel comforts me. Never change the intro and keep up the good work.

I grew up with a ZX-81, then VIC, then 64, and A500. Long time lover of Commodore. My high school back in the late 80s early 90s had received C64 teleprompting systems which used a proprietary cartridge and came in some of those game bundle C64 system boxes. I thought it was so cool to see the C64 being used that way. Oh, we also had Amigas and the Digi-View camera with the color wheel. Boy, those were different days.

After all those years it's still alive.

14:15 When I was around 12-13 yo I used to look at some "other" magazines and see pictures of things "I didn't know what exactly it was supposed to do." At the time I also thought "I'd never thought I'd see one in person." LOL!

Hey-hey-hey, ask him if he has an IBM 5100, our future may depend on this guy!

What an amazing find, sir. Well worth the relatively long drive!! Thanks for yet another great video! :)

Many years ago I bought a book called "The Cheap Video cookbook" by Don Lancaster and it has hardware designs for a Kim 1 based video circuit.

Cool stuff..... I too use to bring my computer manual to school and read it... As well as computer magazines. I know for sure I was reading my Vic-20 manual in english class on more than one occasion haha. Wow that seems like 4 lifetimes ago, crazy how life seems so long yet so short at the same time. Signed.... 46 year old

This brings back memories of playing our VIC 20 growing up. Good times!

Nice video 8-bit Guy, keep up the fine work! Hello from Canada!!

I can't believe I've never heard of this place. I used to live 4 miles from it!! Literally right down the road

When is hear term electric recycling it breaks my heart. My Grandma recently throw out old Olivetti 286 in great shape to garbage because it was taking too much space

Great video. I love seeing these old computers from back in the day.

The TVT-6 project appeared on the cover on Popular Electronics in July 1977. The complete kit could be ordered from PAiA Electronics. That is what the expansion slot is for at the top of the board, so yeah a display adapter chip plugged into it. Nice stuff you got there David. Big fan of the old Commodores here.

I love your road trips. Here in the uk we can’t really travel for more than 2 hours without falling in the sea.

I've been there! Jeremiah is a cool guy, and he's a GWAR fan. Cool video, David!

These machine's would sync two 24 track recorders together(MCI,Studer), VIDEO and MIDI back in the 80's. It Sync's everything up.

Very interesting as usual. I always love your Commodore Vic 20 / 64 stuff. Please - never change your intro music. It makes me feel nostalgic and happy!! :o)

OKC is my hometown. Glad to see you found some treasures here.

This guy has the best into on the entire UKposts!

Hey David, I really love your videos but this one is superb. Thank you for this episode.

Had no idea that recycler existed. You got some great finds and I hope to see that KIM system in a future video.

10:00 In high school, I ran the electronic scoreboard at basketball games for extra cash. I swear I used something very close to this. Hell, it was decades ago...can't be sure.

My now-deceased grandparents lived in OKC so I took that trip up there more times than I could count. As soon as you brought it up, the first thing that came to my mind was "he's going to mention the windmills, he's going to mention the windmills, he's going to mention the windmills..." and lo and behold. Also not at all surprised you mentioned the casino either, haha. That was an interesting look into the electronics recycling dealer. In the back of your mind you're just always wondering what it looks like to see what they have collected before it actually gets sent off to be recycled and that was a neat behind-the-scenes peek. And yeah, the unusual VIC-20 was certainly interesting to learn about, but also seems to be another timeless tale that rare =/= remarkable. I mean...it's basically just a VIC-20 with fewer keys. Still neat to see this all covered though and I enjoyed the dive into the other things you ended up with too.

Awesome that you're donating one to the home computer museum here in the Netherlands! Greetings from a long time fan from NL :)

I just love the aesthetic of this channel.

ayyy GWAR shirt alright :D i lived about an hour from their hometown (richmond, VA) so you know there were some great shows ;) haven't seen them since dave brockie passed though

you should send one to "Look mum no computer", he does audio stuff with old computers and retro tech, and this seems pretty fitting

Love the stuff you do, especially if it includes Commodore stuff. Keep it up! :)

Have to love the dreaded green goo from the old wires. I remember Franlab having an issue with it on an old amp in a recent video.

Cool vintage parts. I would have picked up the hazeltine terminal because such a terminal was on the Kraftwerk album sleeve „computerworld“. It is just a piece to display. Keep up the good work. Stay safe. Stay healthy.

Dude's wearing a Gwar shirt. Awesome.

I remember using a Kim-1 SBC when I took an intro to microprocessor course while I was stationed in Virginia Beach. Loved the course so much I bought one (used) and wound up never using it again, as I bought an Apple II+ immediately afterward. Wonderful times with wonderful "toys".

Thanks for the video David. Much appreciated!

The Recyclers GWAR t-shirt is awesome, rock on brother...

Please make a detailed video about Kim-1, it's history, what it does, how it works etc. :)

Nice to see it's being donated to the Home Computer Museum in the Netherlands, I look forward to seeing it on my next visit!

Wow that recycling shop makes mine look organized. Been a while since I have gotten a retro haul myself. The last one was a couple truckloads of tandy equipment.

As an European, I didn't know about this weird law with this loophole. I think South Park had and episode about a casino that was run by Native Americans (7x07). Now I understand the basis of that episode. I must be a dream to work at a place like this if you know what you are dealing with, he might come up to a lot of treasure. Aaaand, just like that, 19 minutes just flew away like it was nothing. That KIM-1 belongs in a museum! :D

Were I you, I wouldn't do anything with the KIM-1. The odds of damaging it or otherwise messing it up are exponentially higher than the odds of improving it.

Seeing the 2600 brought back memories. Not only did my family have one, but my grandparents on my father's side of the family had one as well. Mom and spent quite a lot of time playing on them, and whenever we went to my grandparents we more often the not brought our games along.

Ah, fond memories. I had to use the KIM-1 at college in Glasgow, Scotland in 1980. I seem to remember they were hooked up to a bunch of LEDs and we had to program a traffic light system.

a few things i remember as a kid growing up playing gorf on a vic 20 now im 43 and still gaming

*sees notification* *its from the 8 bit guy* *ITS ALMOST 20 MINUTES LONG* *ITS RELATED TO C O M M O D O R E*

Wow brings back memories. Great find 👍🏼