[Coco] COCO Video

[Gene Heskett]

On Monday 24 June 2013 11:04:21 billg999 at cs.uofs.edu did opine:

> > On Monday 24 June 2013 10:27:37 billg999 at cs.uofs.edu did opine:
> >> > John, you've probably been asked this before, but what do you think
> >> > of the theory that the 6847 and 6883 were designed specifically
> >> > for Tandy? The 6883
> >> > in particular smells like a breadboard of TTL glue that got the old
> >> > shrinkeroo into a 40 pin DIP.
> >> 
> >> I have seen this comment a few times recently.  To be honest, I don't
> >> think Tandy ever expected the COCO to be anything but a cartridge
> >> based game console like the Atari 2600 (thus the reason they never
> >> did a hard disk for it even though they did for every one of the Z80
> >> based systems). Given that, I can't see them investing that much
> >> effort.
> >> 
> >> bill
> > 
> > Ahh, but they did do a hard drive interface for it, they had one at
> > one of the local shacks that I've had in my hot, sweaty hands several
> > times.  But it was in the late 80's, and $129.95 when child support
> > and the IRS garnishments because she was playing with the returns was
> > eating my lunch.
> > 
> > Not exactly sure how it worked, was full of small scale ic's, 14 & 16
> > pin dips, and was I believe intended to function as an interface for
> > some sort of SAS to MFM controller adapter.  IOW to get to the drive
> > itself took yet another card between it and the drive.  The shack
> > folks could not tell me what else was needed, no clue, I could pay
> > the money and take it home & figure it out for myself.  I do know
> > that os9 had 2 drivers for it, sized for a 5 meg drive, or a 15 meg
> > drive.  Again, zero docs, you figure it out.
> > It had a place in the display case for several years, but I assume it
> > was recycled when they left the coco business.  I never saw it on the
> > tent sale
> > tables at the end either.
> 
> Got a part number?  I have had dozens of catalogs including
> Computer only and European and I never saw that or remember
> seeing it advertised in any of the rags that talked about
> the COCO.  Are you sure it wasn't a non-Tandy product being
> sold by a computer enthusiast who happened to work at Radio
> Shack?
> 
> Time to try some web searching.......
> 
> bill
> 
Yeah, it had a 26- part number, but if I ever had it in memory, 25+ years 
has erased it.  Tandy/Radio Shack label over the cover screw, so yes it was 
a real Ft. Worth product.  One they could have sold & made a nice profit on 
at $29.95, but because they saw it as enabling the coco to use a hard 
drive, they had added a $100 premium to the price just because they could.  
So of course it didn't sell, confirming their theory that we thought of the 
coco as a game console only.  Whether Ed Judge was part of that fiasco I 
have no clue.  Marketroids, gotta love them...

Other people, like Chris Burke and Tony D. eventually filled that gap.  I 
have both of those controllers too. 

Cheers, Gene
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