I will not be buildling or buying a power supply for my TRS-80 (model I, level II), which I've had since my Dad bought it in the 70's when I was in middle school. All I have left is the computer. What I want to know, is: Can I power the board directly with DC power? I understand I need +5, -5, and +12 VDC. I just want to bench test it but don't want to spend any money to make a power supply only to find out the computer is trash. I really only need encouragement (and any hints) but if you know of a reason why I can't poke some power onto the board, and with a handmade video cable find out if the thing has a chance. I did try searching the forum but had no luck.
Thank you for your time.
p.s. In case anyone cares, this is the computer I learned to write Basic an Assembly on, first typing programs from Byte magazine then writing my own assembly. I ended up as a software developer for Xerox for 13 years (Electrical Engineer by education). I spent a lot of time in my teens with this computer. I don't now what happened to the rest of the equipment, tape, power supply, monitor, etc. I found the computer in my parents house when we moved them to a care facility and... well I'd like to see if it still works, because I'm curious.
Thank you for your time.
p.s. In case anyone cares, this is the computer I learned to write Basic an Assembly on, first typing programs from Byte magazine then writing my own assembly. I ended up as a software developer for Xerox for 13 years (Electrical Engineer by education). I spent a lot of time in my teens with this computer. I don't now what happened to the rest of the equipment, tape, power supply, monitor, etc. I found the computer in my parents house when we moved them to a care facility and... well I'd like to see if it still works, because I'm curious.
