Commodore Clubs?

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Next FCUG meeting - Sunday, February 17

Post by rbernardo »

Happy Valentine's Day, C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00+ p.m., Sunday, February 17, at

Bobby Salazar's Mexican Restaurant
2839 North Blackstone Ave. (corner of Blackstone and Michigan)
Fresno, California
(559) 227-1686

This month we'll talk about the April Commodore Los Angeles Super Show (CLASS), the June Pacific Commodore Expo NW (PaCommEx), and the August Commodore Vegas Expo (CommVEx), plus the other general events, the Livermore Innovation Fair and the Bay Area Maker Faire, both in May.

Because it is Valentine's Day, we will look at the C64 disk, "Love Letters 1: A Selection of Famous Love Letters for use on Wordwriter", by One Step Software and published by Green Valley Publishing, Inc.. The new Ultimate 64 (http://ultimate64.com) returns for further testing. This is also the meeting where we try to catch up on those VIC-20, Plus/4, and Amiga items with which we ran out-of-time in previous meetings
.
If you have anything for Ray Carlsen to repair, give it to me, because around March 23 I'll be traveling (again) to his house in the Pacific NW.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Re: Commodore Clubs?

Post by HarmlessHal »

After donating a C64, I was named a lifetime member of the Tidewater Commodore User's Club. I'd be very surprised if it were holding monthly meetings today, as it was in the day... :)
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Re: Commodore Clubs?

Post by rbernardo »

I had to look you up, but I see that the Tidewater Commodore User Group was out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Truly,
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Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Re: Commodore Clubs?

Post by HarmlessHal »

True. That was my only lifetime membership, but I also participated in the Commodore User's Group of Pensacola, and The Commodore Advantage, also of Pensacola, FL.

I see you're in the Fresno area. In the early 90s, I enjoyed the lovely drive from Monterrey to Fresno, and back, for the California professional engineer examination. It's great to see that there's still an active Commodore User Group there.
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Re: Commodore Clubs?

Post by rbernardo »

HarmlessHal wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:41 pmIn the early 90s, I enjoyed the lovely drive from Monterrey to Fresno, and back, for the California professional engineer examination.
Well, it is a long drive between Fresno and Monterey. :)
It's great to see that there's still an active Commodore User Group there.
Yeah, we're celebrating our 38th year, and we're the oldest, surviving club in the USA.

Truly,
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Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Next SCCAN meeting - Saturday, March 9

Post by rbernardo »

Happy Fat Tuesday, C= and Ami comrades!

The next meeting of the Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network is Saturday, March 9, from 2 to 5+ p.m. at

Panera Bread Restaurant
19662 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, California
(818) 407-9400

This will be our meeting before the April 27-28 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show (CLASS) in Chatsworth, and talk will center around getting everything organized. Especially if you are going to exhibit or speak at CLASS, this is the meeting to attend! If you haven't visited the CLASS website yet, it is at

http://www.portcommodore.com/class

Everybody is invited to CLASS; spread the word to your friends and colleagues!

Member Sev will bring in his Pi1541; it'll be great to hear how he got it set up. Though it gave problems at the last Fresno Commodore User Group meeting, my Ultimate 64 will return, this time in a different case. Of course, the Plus/4, SX-64, and VIC-20 will be at the ready, too. On the Amiga side, the A600 returns, this time with a Chip RAM expander from AmigaKit.com

I will see hardware repair tech Ray Carlsen around March 23; if you have any 8-bit Commodore items for him to repair, give them to me, and I will deliver them to him.

As always, bring in any Commodore/Amiga hardware and/or software you wish to share!

Speaking for SCCAN,
Robert Bernardo
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
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Next FCUG meeting - Saturday, March 16

Post by rbernardo »

Happy St. Patrick's Day, C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00+ p.m., Saturday, March 16, at

Bobby Salazar's Mexican Restaurant
2839 North Blackstone Ave. (corner of Blackstone and Michigan)
Fresno, California
(559) 227-1686

Note the different day for our meeting, a Saturday instead of a Sunday!

In this meeting, we'll talk about the Commodore L.A. Super Show which is getting near, and v.p. Roger will talk about program transfer via television video! (Watch the flashing light!) He'll even have a Youtube video that shows how this done. Another one is Rob Clarke's Youtube video on the rare Commodore PET 4010 Voice Response Unit!

The Ultimate 64 (http://ultimate64.com) comes back with a new firmware revision, a newly-painted case, and a new carrying case. Also the Amiga 600 returns, this time with a one megabyte Chip RAM expander from AmigaKit.com

In software, we have a busy schedule of items. For the VIC-20, we have Go-moku (24K expansion), Snake, Spaceship, and Two Days to the Race (32K expansion), Realms of Quest V Beta Track, and Purple Planet Yo (32K expansion). For the C64, we have Bruce Lee - Return to Fury, Boulderdash Junior II, and Street Defender v1.6 for the VR64. For the Plus/4, we have Two Days to the Race (yup, a version for this machine), Go-moku (yup, another version for this machine), and Tenebra Macabre. For the C128, we have Knight Lore v1.10 (40 and 80-column versions), Two Days to the Race (another platform version), and the Space Invaders demo.

If you have anything for Ray Carlsen to repair, give it to me, because I'll be leaving for the Pacific Northwest in a few days.

Hoping for no snow on the road at the California/Oregon border,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group -
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Next FCUG meeting - Sunday, April 14

Post by rbernardo »

Happy Easter, C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00+ p.m., Sunday, April 14, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/meet_loc.htm

Note the new location for our meeting! After 6 1/2 years at our previous venue, we now have different one! Also note that instead of our customary third Sunday of the month meeting, we are meeting on the second Sunday, due to the fact that Easter falls on that third Sunday.

The day before the meeting, Bernardo Studios will open up in Fresno, where we will film videos for the upcoming April Commodore Los Angeles Super Show, the June Pacific Commodore Expo, and the August Commodore Vegas Expo.

At the actual FCUG meeting, we'll look at the new items to be sold at the shows - the Vintage Commodore 128 Handbook by Margaret Morabito, and from Tim Harris of SharewarePlus, the C64/128 FM Radio Module, the Final Cartridge III+, LumaFix 128, C64 Multicart+, Trackdisplay for the 1541-II, Pi1541 (Raspberry Pi not included), the 1541 Diagnostic cartridge, cynthCART 64, and SD2IEC for the C64/128/VIC-20/SX-64 user port. Speaking of SD2IEC, we'll check out the petSD+ from Dave Stevenson, which gives a SD card drive for the Commodore PET (PET 4032 being brought to the meeting). Time to download C= PET programs from commodoregamebase.com !

Naturally, we'll play around with the latest games for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64, do more testing with the Ultimate 64, and p.d. disking with the Amiga 600.

Truly,
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Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Next FCUG meeting - Sunday, May 5

Post by rbernardo »

Happy May Day, C= and Ami aficionados

Our next meeting is Sunday, May 5, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/meet_loc.htm

Note the date for our meeting! We had to move it due to member conflicts for all the other weekends.

Note our meeting location! We met at Panera Bread last month, and I talked to those behind counter. They were smiling broadly and were very enthusiastic about our club being there, saying that we were no problem at all and that we had not even been noticed until later. As with last month's meeting, we'll be in the back or maybe even in the covered patio!

For this month, we'll discuss last weekend's Commodore L.A. Super Show and the upcoming Bay Area Maker Faire and the Pacific Commodore Expo NW. At CLASS I had several computers go down. :/ So, I will be counting on v.p. Roger to bring in a VIC-20, and I'll bring in Ultimate 64 and Amiga 600 (the Plus/4 is toast right now).

In software we'll look at the latest VIC-20 and C64 software releases, including the infamous Super Mario 64 which had several download sites shut down by Nintendo. For the A600, we'll have more public domain disks, courtesy of The Other Group of Amigoids.

Truly,
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Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Next SCCAN meeting - Saturday, May 25

Post by rbernardo »

Happy 3-Day Weekend, C= and Ami comrades!

The next meeting of the Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network is Saturday, May 25, from 2 to 5+ p.m. at

Panera Bread Restaurant
19662 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, California
(818) 407-9400

This is our first meeting after the April 27-28 Commodore Los Angeles Super Show (CLASS), and I will be gathering everybody's opinions on the very successful show. I am already looking into a second annual CLASS in April, 2020
.
I will be traveling from the Del Mar area this time, because I am expecting to pick up a C= collection from there. Because my car will be full, I only intend to bring the Ultimate 64, now upgraded to firmware v1.18! The stereo UltiSIDs sound better than ever before! Perhaps Mario can bring in his Amiga 1000 so can have some Ami representation. :) Though there will be less computers on exhibit, there will be goodies to go through in the aforementioned collection!

I will see hardware repair tech Ray Carlsen around the time of June 8-9 Pacific Commodore Expo NW in Seattle; if you have any 8-bit Commodore items for him to repair, give them to me, and I will deliver them to him. Speaking of PaCommEx, you are all invited to the show there. See

http://www.portcommodore.com/pacommex

There will be exhibits, presentations, and a free raffle!

As always, for the meeting bring in any Commodore/Amiga hardware and/or software you wish to share!

Speaking for SCCAN,
Robert Bernardo
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network -
http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
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Next FCUG meeting - Sunday, June 23

Post by rbernardo »

Happy Summer, C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00+ p.m., Sunday, June 23, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/meet_loc.htm

Note the date for our meeting! It is NOT this Sunday, due to Father's Day.

For this month, I'll report on the June 8-9 Pacific Commodore Expo NW, we'll discuss the latest happenings with August 10-11 Commodore Vegas Expo, and we'll try to figure what happened to the Maker Faire organization.

In hardware/software, we have the return of the Amiga CD32 with its slew of CDs, especially the CD that was the hit of the Bay Area Maker Faire and PaCommEx, Street Fighter II Turbo! For the C64 (or Ultimate 64 that has the optional user port adapter), the Tech Sketch Music Port keyboard returns, which was the hit of the Commodore Los Angeles Super Show and the Pacific Commodore Expo. We'll look at SpeedCalc 2019, which was based on the classic C64 SpeedCalc. If v.p. Roger brings his VIC-20 with 24K ram expander or if I plug in the Plus/4, we can try out the new game, Robots Rumble. (Yes, there is a version for the C64, too.) :)

Writing from Yreka, CA,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Next SCCAN meeting - Saturday, July 13

Post by rbernardo »

Happy July, C= and Ami comrades!

The next meeting of the Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network is Saturday, July 13, from 2 to 5+ p.m. at

Panera Bread Restaurant
19662 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, California
(818) 407-9400

This is our last meeting before the August 10-11 Commodore Vegas Expo v15 (CommVEx) -- http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex Now is the chance to give any last-minute suggestions for the show. :) Also I'll be bringing some equipment for member(s) to transport (with permission, of course) to CommVEx.

In other show news, we'll talk about the June Pacific Commodore Expo NW and the Dec. 7 Downtown L.A. Mini Maker Faire (yup, that Maker Faire continues, even though the parent organization is gone).

For the meeting, I'll be bringing the Ultimate 64, now upgraded to firmware v1.21, along with Unijoysticle 2 and two 8BitDo NES30 Bluetooth gamepads, and for those who want a wired connection, two new C=/Atari gamepads from eBay's "retrogameboyz" Mike. Also the Amiga 600 will appear, last seen at the PaCommEx. If the SD2IEC can be found, we'll be looking through the SD2IEC-Ready Games Collection (1986 onwards) for the VIC-20.

Guest Santiago G. may be appearing with his Amiga 2500 or with his Mac Mini that has MorphOS. As usual, if you have any hardware or software to present, bring it to the meeting!

Speaking for SCCAN,
Robert Bernardo
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan
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Next FCUG meeting - Sunday, July 21

Post by rbernardo »

Happy Ice Cream Day (Sunday), C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00+ p.m., Sunday, July 21, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/meet_loc.htm

It's only a few weeks before the August 10-11 Commodore Vegas Expo v15 (CommVEx), and we'll be talking about the latest happenings with that show. Also the Classic Los Angeles Computers! exhibit has just been approved for the Dec. 7 Downtown Los Angeles Maker Faire, and we'll talk about that, too.

Speaking of CommVEx, if you haven't seen it yet, we'll look at the CommVEx 2019 commercial which shows some of the Commodore/Amiga personalities that have graced the show since 2005. Also for those who cannot make it to the show, we'll look at the video presentation of Roger Van Pelt demonstrating Giga-CAD+ with the SuperCPU.

In hardware/software, the Ultimate 64 will have the new 2019 games -- Crystal Caverns, Death Weapon, Run Demon Run, Super Goatron, Stercore XD, Super Galax-I-Birds, and the silly Royal Hunt. We ran out of time at the last meeting for Robots Rumble on the VIC-20/Plus4, and we'll get to it this time. Also there is the new SD2IEC-Ready Games Collection (1986 onwards) for the VIC-20. The Amiga 1200 returns, and we'll look at some of the software loaded up on its hard drive.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

P.S. Though our venue doesn't sell ice cream, you can still celebrate Ice Cream Day at the Sonic Drive-In down the street. :)
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Next FCUG meeting - Sunday, August 25

Post by rbernardo »

Happy Labor Day, C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00+ p.m., Sunday, August 25, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/meet_loc.htm

Note that the meeting is on August 25, not our regular third Sunday on August 18.

The Commodore Vegas Expo v15 (CommVEx) is over! Expect a full show report -- exhibit-wise, financial, and observations!

Also, expect some fresh videos taken at the show, for example, the PETpix 2.1 which is streaming .MP4 video of any length into the C64 and Koalamin (think of the musical instrument Theramin except for the C64)!

If I can handle it, the Amiga 2000 Video Toaster comes to the meeting, complete with 3 video monitors (hey, the car is already packed with them). For the C64, we'll have the new Super Duper Blaster game and the steering controller for the Street Defender program and the VR64 glasses. For the VIC-20, we'll try out the new-from-Australia VIC-2066 cartridge which provides up to 35K memory and a built-in SD2IEC drive. Watch out VIC-20 Doom!

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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Next FCUG meeting - Sunday, Sept. 15

Post by rbernardo »

Happy Almost Autumn, C= and Ami aficionados!

The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00+ p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15, at

Panera Bread Restaurant
3590 W Shaw Ave. (corner of W. Shaw Ave. and Marty Ave.)
Fresno, CA 93711
(559) 271-0104
http://www.dickestel.com/meet_loc.htm

This is our now semi-regular meeting where we try to catch up on all the content that we missed in previous meetings, whether the content is C64, C128, Plus/4, VIC-20, or Amiga.

Especially for the C128, we will be looking at programs such as Pedigree 128, Electropaint 128 v2, ST View ][,Sidplayer 128, Speedscript 128+, Millifoot 128, Fast Hack'em 128 v6.00, Brainstorm 128, and more! Also vice-president Roger may have his presentation ready on CAD 3D from IHT Software.

Not only that but we'll look into the huge box of software donated by none other than Ray Carlsen!

Writing from Seattle, Washington,
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Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
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