Commodore 64 help?

[MarkM2112]

Last night, I just got a Commodore 64 for $5.15. However, I know nothing about it, and this thing is completely bare; no Power Supply, no controllers, no TV hookups, no external drives, nuthin', zip, zilch, nada, just the main unit itself. Can anyone tell me the following:

What type of power supply it takes,
What type of tv connection it takes,
What type of game controllers it takes,
What peripherals does it take,
What software works on this,
Is it supposed to do anything if I DO get to hook it up,
Where I can find any of this stuff,
the best websites to get any info on this stuff?

Thanks in advance! I appreciate any help!

[Kid Ice]

You picked up the easiest piece to find. The rest will take a little looking...

Power - you need a Commodore brick, I don't think a trip to Radio Shack will do. The one for the Vic should work, if you can find one.

TV connection - again, you will probably need to find the Commodore part. The Vic one will work if you find that instead. You will also need a standard "TV Game" box a la NES or 2600.

controller - you're OK here. 2600 controllers will work, as will Sega Genesis controllers.

peripherals - you will need the 1541 floppy disk drive, which takes 5 1/4 inch disks. Unless you're just going to play carts, which kinda defeats the purpose of having a C64. The 1541 is fairly easy to find, and if you get one non-working they're easy to fix.

software - Carts for the usual suspects (Defender, Donkey Kong, etc.) For the good games you will need the 5 1/4 inch disks. By "good" I mean the games that have a little depth to them, like RPGs and such.

If you do hook it up, it automatically starts MS Basic. You will see a READY prompt and some other junk.

You can find all of this stuff on ebay. There are also a number of c64 emulators (I prefer Frodo). C64 software is easily available elsewhere on the WWW.

[davidbrit2]

You shouldn't have any trouble hooking it to a TV. The C64 has an RCA jack for RF output on either channel 3 or 4. It's much better than that god awful Vic-20 RF modulator.

[Quazick]

I wouldn't use an un-modified Genesis pad on a c64. :/

[Mayhem]

Exactly, you're likely to blow a chip in it...

[Raedon]

You picked up the easiest piece to find. The rest will take a little looking...

Power - you need a Commodore brick, I don't think a trip to Radio Shack will do. The one for the Vic should work, if you can find one.

TV connection - again, you will probably need to find the Commodore part. The Vic one will work if you find that instead. You will also need a standard "TV Game" box a la NES or 2600.

controller - you're OK here. 2600 controllers will work, as will Sega Genesis controllers.

peripherals - you will need the 1541 floppy disk drive, which takes 5 1/4 inch disks. Unless you're just going to play carts, which kinda defeats the purpose of having a C64. The 1541 is fairly easy to find, and if you get one non-working they're easy to fix.

software - Carts for the usual suspects (Defender, Donkey Kong, etc.) For the good games you will need the 5 1/4 inch disks. By "good" I mean the games that have a little depth to them, like RPGs and such.

If you do hook it up, it automatically starts MS Basic. You will see a READY prompt and some other junk.

You can find all of this stuff on ebay. There are also a number of c64 emulators (I prefer Frodo). C64 software is easily available elsewhere on the WWW.

Some mis-infomation in this post

1) A Vic-20 Power supply won't work

2) There is an RF out on the back of the C64 and a CH 3-4 switch.. Use a Rshack Switch box or RCA>Coax connector. You can also get a A/V cable for your C64.

[JLukas]

Just a note on the A/V cable, if you find one of those instead of the RF adapter. My C64 A/V cable has 4 plugs on the end: yellow, white, red, and black. The catch is they DO NOT correspond with the A/V jacks on the TV. The white cord is for video, the black cord is for audio, and I dunno what the other 2 are for. I'm guessing one is for stereo sound.

[Kid Ice]

Some mis-infomation in this post

1) A Vic-20 Power supply won't work

2) There is an RF out on the back of the C64 and a CH 3-4 switch.. Use a Rshack Switch box or RCA>Coax connector. You can also get a A/V cable for your C64.

Ahh, yeah, I got the switch box thing confused with the Vic 20. I forgot the c64 had the RCA out. Whoops.

[davidbrit2]

Just a note on the A/V cable, if you find one of those instead of the RF adapter. My C64 A/V cable has 4 plugs on the end: yellow, white, red, and black. The catch is they DO NOT correspond with the A/V jacks on the TV. The white cord is for video, the black cord is for audio, and I dunno what the other 2 are for. I'm guessing one is for stereo sound.

The other two plugs might be for luma and chroma. Does anyone know if hacking together a little plug adapter would give you S-Video compatibility?

[Mayhem]

Yes it does as I have such a cable. It fits from video out to Scart socket on the back of the TV, and can give either composite or S-video picture support.

[kevates]

I've got boxes of C64 stuff... and would be happy to get rid of some of it. Be glad to mail you some of it if you pay for shipping. What do you need besides a power supply and RF cable?

Kevin

[davidbrit2]

Yes it does as I have such a cable. It fits from video out to Scart socket on the back of the TV, and can give either composite or S-video picture support.

That's pretty darned cool. Maybe I'll rig one up some day.

[Mayhem]

After 18 years of RF hell, when I finally got the damn cable, it was like a whole new beginning LOL

[Raedon]

Yea, I refuse to use the RF out of my C128.. I have a homemade 8 pin DIN to S-video/Audio cable.