Exidy Sorcerer acquisition & questions

[GanjaTron]

Hi folks,

I finally got round to checking out an Exidy Sorcerer (ubiquitous 2nd model, not the original) I got last year. Despite the fact the case was damaged in transit (fixed tho still noticeable on close inspection), it appears to be working fine.

Tho I remember the Sorcerer from catalogs back in the day (notably from Dick Smith, the sole importer in Oz), I'm totally new to this system. I got a few questions I hope some of the Sorcerer experts can answer:

-- I noticed the Sorcerer stinks when it warms up. Okay, all vintage stuff does that. But once it reaches operating temperature, it runs hot. I mean INSANELY hot. There's a big fat ca. 5W (10W?) resistor on the PSU board that's hot enuff to fry an egg on! Is this normal? Does the Sorcerer have such a huge current draw?

-- Has anyone ever managed to build their own ROMpacs? While ROM dumps are available online, it seems the pacs themselves are impossible to find. The case is just a standard 8-track, but from photos I've seen they also appear to contain some supporting logic rather than just a ROM.

-- Does anyone have tape files in MP3 format they're willing to share? There used to be some on the now defunct Mike's Exidy Sorcerer Page. While it's in the web archive (http://web.archive.org/web/20061005064000/http://www.lisp.com.au/~michael/exidy/), the MP3s aren't. Anyone kept them?

Thanks for the info,

--Roland

 

[tezza]

Roland,

I can't answer any of your questions but I'm writing just to congratulate you on the Sorcerer. It's one of the few computers still on my wanted list.

Tez

 

[GanjaTron]

G'day Tez,

thanks for the congrats, wasn't exactly cheap tho. And without a ROMpac it's of limited use; all you get is the built-in ML monitor. SW appears to be pretty scarce on the net.

It also has the nastiest keybounce I've seen yet. The build quality (particularly the case) is not up to that of the competition; it pales next to an Apple ][ or an original steel-cased PET.

Remember Dick(head) Smith? He imported them to Oz (and NZ too I'm sure). Got it listed in an '82/'83 catalog for $1395, which praised it as "Famous EXIDY SYSTEMS made in USA -- The most powerful microcomputer & the lowest cost CP/M based system: the Sorcerer!". What it doesn't mention is that by that time it had actually long been withdrawn from the US market.

See ya,

--Roland (ex-Melburnian)