Another score Tandy Coco

I was just given a couple of computers this week. One of them is a Tandy Coco, the silver one with good keys; not thos e damned chicklet things Tandy used on them for a little while. The Coco is coming with the power supply and cable, and not much else. Which means I need to get a set of cables to connect the Coco to a color TV. I would prefer to use composit video over the RF, but if that's the onely way to make it work... I guess I'll take what I can get.

So where can I get a set of cables? I would also like to get a set to connect to a cassette recorder. I understand that they are the same as those used with the IBM 5150. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance.

A silver one with a "real" keyboard? That's probably an aftermarket modification. Pretty sure that CoCos didn't get sculpted keys until the CoCo2. (Well, I guess some of the late white CoCo1s had the "Melted" keyboard, which looks more like real keys but is actually the same mechanism as the Chicklet. Perhaps someone swapped one of those keyboards in?)

As for cables: An unmodified CoCo doesn't have composite out, RF is the only option. You'll need a plain old RCA cable between the CoCo and the switchbox. (Same box that works on an Atari 2600-style video game system, although I believe you can also use an RC-to-Coaxial adapter to go straight into a TV or VCR tuner input if you don't need the switching ability. Given the death of NTSC broadcasting there's a good chance you don't.)

And yes, same cassette cable as the 5150. (Which is also the same as other TRS-80s going back to the original Model I.)

To get composite, you need to modify it internally. I'm trying to find a reference to a schematic.
patscc

Don't worry, I wouldn't be able to make any serious modifications. However, if you can tell me how to modify one of those RF converters so I don't need that damned switch, that would be a good way to go too, I guess. There is something else too. Since the Coco uses a standard RCA plug to connect the "antenna" what would I need to do to make my own connecting cable?

patscc said:

To get composite, you need to modify it internally. I'm trying to find a reference to a schematic.
patscc

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bettablue said:

Don't worry, I wouldn't be able to make any serious modifications. However, if you can tell me how to modify one of those RF converters so I don't need that damned switch, that would be a good way to go too, I guess. There is something else too. Since the Coco uses a standard RCA plug to connect the "antenna" what would I need to do to make my own connecting cable?

Click to expand...

Here's a picture of the adapter you'd want if you want to just plug the CoCo into the back of a TV that has a coax connector on it without the switchbox. You can probably find one like it at Radio Shack. For the cable itself any old Composite video cable will work. (You could even get away with a stereo speaker wire, but the cables they sell for video are usually shielded so they should produce somewhat better results.)