[vcf-midatlantic] Wanted: NEC PC-8001A Mini-Disk Module PC-8031A

[Todd George]

>
> Date: Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:44:33 -0500
> From: william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com>
>
> I checked as I thought, maybe??...Turns out I have a 8201A and a
> 6001A...but no 8001A.  I have a NEC cassette model 6082.
>

Sorry for my delay in reply.  I get the digest version of the list, but do
most of my reading on a mobile.  Replying to the list via digest mode on a
mobile device is not at all convenient.  Seriously considering
re-subscribing under a different e-mail address just to make life easier
that way.

Back to the NEC... Thanks for looking, I finally decided to snag the one I
had been seeing on eBay.  Picked it up a week or so ago, Not sure if I have
buyers' remorse or not.  I'm guessing not, as I don't think I'm likely to
see another one of these pop up anytime soon.  :)


> I am looking for the NEC PC6011A Expansion Unit, which I presume is the
> 6000-level version of what you're looking for.  I have passively been
> looking for the expansion for years.
>

I have to say, this comment was part of what convinced me to jump on the
eBay one.

I don't have any of the PC6xxxA series stuff.  I did bump into one of the
computers themselves recently, but it was quite a bit of a drive and I
opted out of picking it up as I was still in "Acquire PC8xxxA stuff" mode.


> Do you have software?
>

Sadly, no.  I have found a few things scattered around the internet.  Most
of the decent sites I've found are in Japanese.  Google translate does a
respectable job of allowing me to understand what's being communicated.

That said, I've not really located a software repository yet.  I'm sure I
can find more if I dedicate more time to digging.  Been obsessing about the
hardware first.  :)

I did find BASIC and the firmware here:
https://archive.org/download/NEC_PC_8001_TOSEC_2012_04_23

I will also say, I'm enamored by the keyboard on this thing.  It has to be
one of the nicest of any keyboard I've typed on.  Just sheer perfection in
key switch technology.  And I've used some crazy mechanical keyboards in my
time.

I am missing the ribbon cable that goes from the PC to the expansion
chassis.  I do have the one that goes between the expansion unit and the
floppy.  I'm planning on investigating this further.  I found some
references to it being a "straight through" cable, but I have my doubts
based on the construction of the cable that I have.  A few pictures I found
online do seem to use a straight through ribbon cable though.


> Here is my NEC stuff just because NEC stuff is seldom mentioned anywhere:
> http://vintagecomputer.net/nec/
> (the Spinwriter I donated to FKA MARCH)
>

That's awesome, thanks for sharing the pictures.  :)

Thanks again,
-Todd