Tandy Assembly

Tandy Assembly is excited to announce that Steve Leininger, the designer of the original TRS-80, will be giving the keynote presentation on Saturday morning at this year's Tandy Assembly!

See more details at http://www.tandyassembly.com/speakers.html

With only weeks out from TA24 let's look at some of the exhibitors. Today I feature Bill Bright's new innovation "The Tandy Workshop". Think of it as a walk-up free examination of your non-working or rare Tandy TRS-80 item by Bill and his team of experts (mostly other exhibitors like myself). We can suggest repair paths, or other info needed to get that project running again.

This stems from previous TA events, where people brought along their non-working machines and experts were able to fix them, or advise if it's a lost cause.

For people with rarely seen items think of an Antiques Roadshow type system where experts can give you a little information on your prize, though valuations are beyond our scope.

Please form an orderly queue, as this is bound to be a popular exhibit table! -Mav.

We have tables available! Typically TA has 30 tables and 25 are already booked, so we have around 5 available for the show. If you are still undecided or thought all tables are already taken, now is your chance to get one and be part of the action. Contact us a.s.a.p so we can add you to the show and get the publicity out there. -Mav.

Thank you to all of the Tandy Assembly 2024 sponsors! We could not do this show without your generous support.

http://www.tandyassembly.com/sponsors.html

With 2 months to go before TA24 I think it's worthwhile mentioning the day before the show. Did you know that an unofficial day out on the Thursday before the event occurs each year? It's purpose is a social gathering of those to arrive a day early (usually Wednesday night), often from long distances, to just adjust to the new time-zone and catch up with old friends and discuss the show.

Typically we head to the great USAF National Museum in Dayton, and then later to an early afternoon lunch at an eatery. We've done this each year and it's always been fun, and great for kicking jetlag.

If you'd like to be part drop a line to anyone in the TA24 team, there's always room in cars for an extra passenger. -Mav.

National Museum of the USAF Official website of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton Ohio. This is the world’s largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artif...

A week ago the 40th Trash Talk Live went out with a great crowd joining in and many topics discussed. If you missed out on joining in or just wanted to re-cap on what was discussed you can follow the link, below.

Also, keep an eye on the Tandy Assembly website as it's being regularly updated as speakers and exhibitors are locked in. http://www.tandyassembly.com/index.html

Oh, I am still after players in the trivia game so reach out to me to lock your place on the panel for the greatest TRS-80 trivia game ever!

10 weeks and counting until TA24! -Mav.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WmKkHAlp-Y

Tandy Assembly | Home Tandy Assembly needs sponsors. Sponsorships are an integral part of funding Tandy Assembly to help pay for all costs involved in running the event. See the Sponsors page for more details.

Seems to be the time of the year for Vintage and Retro computing festivals. Being 9000 miles away, I missed the VCF-SW Tandy Assembly Meetup, which was running at the same time at the 2nd Bay Area TA meetup. Just this weekend, however, I was able to represent Tandy TRS-80 computers at the Canberra Vintage Computer Expo with my 4P, Tandy 1000 TL/2, Coco 3, and Pocket Computers 1-through-4.

As I type this it's July 1st now, making it almost exactly 3 months until our Tandy Assembly 2024 show. I hope everyone has cleared their schedules, booked in their annual work leave entitlement, and planned their flights for Ohio in September. -Mav.

On this week's look back at previous Tandy Assembly events we again revisit 2018 where we had the pleasure to watch Jim McGinley who is a video game specialist and gave a great talk on game development since the TRS-80 and where it all began. Jim has some not-to-be-missed commentary on many of the games we know and loved.

Would you like to see more presenters like Jim who, although not currently doing big things in the TRS-80 world, offer great insight into specific areas of knowledge and bring a great history lesson? I know I would. -Mav.

Tandy Assembly 2018 - Jim McGinley Watch Jim play the best TRS-80 Model I/III action games at their highest, most intense best at Tandy Assembly 2018. Videos of Jim playing 20 games are shown ...

For those in driving distance of the Dallas Fort Worth area and are looking for something fun to do this weekend, don't forget that VCF-SW is on also featuring a Tandy Assembly mini-event/meetup. Tandy/TRS-80s back in their home. Catch up with and talk to TA committee members Neil Blanchard and Eric Dittman to discuss how to make TA24 even bigger and better.

It's on until Sunday, and for more info: https://www.vcfsw.org/

Pictures below from Friday show this is a great show if you can make it. More pictures to follow. -Mav.

On this week's look back at previous Tandy Assembly events we go back to the forgotten event, 2021. Of course it wasn't forgotten but being in the height of the pandemic a lot of the regulars were unable to travel (including myself). There were still some great talks including this one from Tim Halloran about Z80 programming. Tim has since presented great talks at TA22 and 23, and we look forward to having him back again this year.

Again, we call for speakers to come forward who would like to present at TA24, no matter what your area of specialisation is with the TRS-80, we will fit you in. Send us a message, we don't bite! :-) -Mav.

TA 2021 - Tim Halloran - Practical TRS-80 Z80 Assembly Language Programming in the Modern Era Abstract: This talk presents practical techniques to help get you started in assembly programming for a Z80-based TRS-80 in 2021, regardless if you have a re...

Great news and a super deal for Coco enthusiasts who attended the Last CocoFEST on May the 4th this year. Each and every one of you are cordially invited to Tandy Assembly 2024 free of charge! This is no joke, just show us at the door your CocoFest pass (pictured below) to obtain free entry into the biggest and best Tandy/TRS-80 show on the planet.

Think of it as two great shows for the price of one! -Mav.

This week we look back again at the OG Tandy Assembly event in 2017 at Chillicothe OH. A round table of podcasters was organised with members of TRS-80 Trash Talk, Coco Crew, and Coco Talk discuss podcasting and the general direction of Tandy retrocomputing as a hobby. Perhaps the only time all three podcasts are represented at the same event, the round table idea was dropped for future TA events in favour of a longer trivia game and dinner time.

If you think you know of any improvements which could be made to the format of Tandy Assembly, please let us know below. We're always on the lookout for fresh ideas. -Mav.

Tandy Assembly 2017 - Podcaster's Roundtable Tandy Assembly 2017 - Podcasters Roundtable - Hosts of the TRS-80 Trash Talk, Floppy Days, Coco Crew and Coco Talk podcasts discuss Tandy computers

CALL FOR SPEAKERS AND TRIVIA GAME EXPERTS!

With Tandy Assembly 2024 starting to take shape we extend our invitation for speakers. Do you have something would would like to teach? I bet it would be perfect for Tech Track Friday. How about a history lesson? We can fit you in on the weekend? Likewise have you developed or are you designing some new hardware or software? We'd love to be able to make it's worldwide premiere at TA24. Contact us and we'll be sure to fit you in! Need help with your talk? Ask away!

LIKEWISE we need contestants for the Saturday night Tandy trivia game. I'll be putting 3 NEW people up, so there is no worry about being pit against Eric D. or myself. THIS YEAR I'm implementing an expert round for each contender, so you need to tell me your area of Tandy/TRS-80 expertise. The more niche the better! As usual the audience game will also play concurrently so bring a pen for a crazy night of pub-style trivia craziness!

-Mav.

Today we had the 39th Trash Talk Live! zoom gathering and YouTube stream. If you missed it the link below allows you to replay it. Highlights include examining 80micro issue August 1987 "Ten Years of Tandy Computing", as well as the usual discussion and lighthearted banter. Discussions about upcoming events including Cocofest (currently in progress in Chicago), VCF-SW in TX, Tandy Meetup in California, and everyones favourite show, Tandy Assembly in Sept/Oct.

Next week I'll start looking for people to partake in the annual trivia game at Tandy Assembly, If you are an expert, I want to hear from you 🙂 -Mav.

TRS-80 Trash Talk Live #39

This week we look back a couple of years to a video created by Amigo Petzel who did a great 17 minute report of the 2022 Tandy Assembly event. Nicely edited with short interviews with some of us, it gives you an idea how busy things were at TA22.

Would you like to see more of these report-style videos of the previous TAs? -Mav.

EXCLUSIVE Tandy Assembly 2022 Report! Amigo Petzel was on the ground at Tandy Assembly 2022, the world's largest assembly of fans of the TRS-80, Tandy 1000, CoCo, and more! Take a peek at the mar...

Alex and I are at VCFEast with my Model II Board exhibit that I had at Tandy Assembly 2023. I think we're the only Tandy representation at the show but we're doing our duty for the cause. -Pete

On this week's look back at previous Tandy Assembly events we go back to 2018 where we had a special guest speaker Arthur Gleckler who talks about writing assembly language games for the Model I/III. He wrote the popular game Weerd and has a great insight into what it was like writing games back then within the limitations of his fairly basic Model I system.

Q. Who is your favorite TRS-80 game programmer and would you like to see a talk from them at TA? -Mav.

Tandy Assembly 2018 - Arthur A. Gleckler As a teenager, Arthur wrote the game Weerd on his cassette-only TRS-80 Model I, then had the great fortune of selling it through Big Five Software. In his pr...

Two more exhibitors have just been added. Get your exhibit registrations in early. We did sell out all the tables last year!

http://www.tandyassembly.com/exhibitors.html

Great news everyone! Update your calendars! After much consideration between at least two of the TA committee, Tandy Assembly 2024 is moving to its new venue in Hawaii at the fabulous Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu, right next to Waikiki Beach. Bring your TRS-80! Bring your surf board! Booking's essential! -Mav.

Last week we looked back at a very short 5 minute video from a recent TA show, this week we look back at a very long video from the OG Tandy Assembly in 2017. Don French (co-designer of the Model I) talks about how the machine came into existence, then we follow with a talk by Rick Adams about his programming for games for the Coco. Rick starts at around the 1hr23min mark. The volume level on the now-vintage talks was a little on the low side so listening now is best appreciated with headphones and the volume cranked up!

Q. Which veteran Coco programmer would you like to see at TA24? I'm sure they all have great stories to share of the Coco heyday. -Mav.

Tandy Assembly 2017 - Live Stream Live video from the Tandy Assembly event on October 7th and 8th 2017.

Exhibitor Registration for Tandy Assembly 2024 is now open! Make sure to get your entries in early as we sold out the tables last year. http://www.tandyassembly.com/exhibitors.html

This week looking back at Tandy Assembly shows of the past we go back only 6 months to TA23. Lee Adamson made a great 5 minute video which gives a time-capsule of the show exhibitors. Re-visit the stands you saw and remember fondly. 6 months since TA23 means it's only 6 months to TA24. Make your plans now!

Let's hear from some other exhibitors? Which stand, other than your own, did you like best? I'll go first: Pete's massive display collection of 8in TRS-80 cards. -Mav.

Tandy Assembly 2023 There were many great exhibits, but I was too much of a retarb to film all of them.Join the Discord or Matrix chat server, if it's not too spicy for you. Vi...

The latest issue of the quarterly newsletter TRS8Bit is out! Issue 1 of it's 18th year makes it the longest running TRS-80 periodical by a long shot. For those who are only just finding out about it the newsletter started out as a small quarterly newsletter aimed at UK TRS-80 Model I/III enthusiasts. Over the years it has grown and covers all Tandy/TRS-80 platforms, not just the monochrome Z80 machines. Articles about Cocos, 8in TRS-80s and even the T2K have appeared over the years. I have recently started a column about Tandy Assembly, and remember every year is a competition with a great prize for the winner.

Q: Do you have an article you'd like to write for TRS8Bit? Pitch it here, I bet everyone would love to hear about it. -Mav.

www.fabsitesuk.com

Sponsorships are an important component of funding for Tandy Assembly. Become a Tandy Assembly sponsor today like these current 2024 sponsors! See http://www.tandyassembly.com/sponsors.html.

Last night TRS-80 Trash Talk Live #38 was held on Zoom and streamed on YouTube. We try to run them every month and it's two hours of the committed talking about their TRS-80 projects and future and recent plans. Nothing is off limits so we also discuss TA, VCF, Coco Fest, and we had a good participation of around 15 people. Link below if you missed it and want to see what we got up to.

This time we decided to mix things up a bit and take a 1/2 hour out to discuss a book or magazine to look back with hindsight an talk about what worked, what didn't work, and recollections of the time. This time examined 80micro issue #31 from August 1982 "Annual Games Issue" a 400+ page behemoth issue from the golden age of the TRS-80s popularity.

What was your favorite issue of any TRS-80 related magazine that you think we should cover in a future Trash Talk Live show? -Mav.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVNbIAVEI_0

The 80micro issue:

https://archive.org/details/80_Micro_1982-08_1001001_US

TRS-80 Trash Talk Live #38

This week we take a look back at 2018 and the talk by Mike Yetsko, one of Tandy's engineers back in the halcyon days of the TRS-80 era. His talk is fascinating and will hopefully begin to answer the question of what it was like to work behind the scenes at Radio Shack and designing new and cool products.

Like all of our guest speakers, we would happily have Mike back for a Part II continuation of his time at RS. Which of the former presenters would you like to see back at TA24? -Mav.

Tandy Assembly 2018 - Mike Yetsko Mike discusses his experiences working for Tandy Radio Shack, first as a store manager and then as an engineer in Fort Worth, Texas.

On this week's look back at Tandy Assembly events we look back again at the OG years 2017-2019 and re-watch a very educational talk by Paul Fiscarelli about disk drives and formats. These days this talk would equally fit in the Tandy Tech Track Friday as in the main show. Its still a fascinating talk with a deep drive into low level disk formats.

Q: What would be some good tech track topics you would like to see discussed at the TA24 show? -Mav.

TA 2019 - Paul Fiscarelli's Discussion on Floppy Disks Paul Fiscarelli talks about the low level details of floppy disks and drives.

Time for a public service announcement:

Do you know rooms at the Marriott (Courtyard Springfield Downtown) are selling out faster for TA than ever before? The hotel allocates us a block of rooms at a reduced rate for those who want to stay at the same venue Tandy Assembly is. Typically they sell out by April or May, but they are selling fast at the moment. Once source citing they already may be all gone. If you plan to stay at the Marriott this year I would not delay contacting the hotel and securing your room for the event. Their number is (937)-322-3600 and tell them you want the 'Tandy Computer Convention' rate.

In other news Pete has updated the TA official website (www.tandyassembly.com) so do return regularly to keep up with how the show is progressing for 2024. -Mav.

Tandy Assembly | Home Tandy Assembly needs sponsors. Sponsorships are an integral part of funding Tandy Assembly to help pay for all costs involved in running the event. See the Sponsors page for more details.

The regulars of TA help to make the show what it is, and update us each year on their projects. Arno and Sascha have been there from the beginning and this week looking back at the origins of TA we look at their 1st talk in 2017. For those who don't know, these guys organised to the successful California show in November 2023. It will be great to see what they come back with at TA24.

Who is your favourite presenter you come back year after year to see at TA? -Mav.

Tandy Assembly 2017 - Arno Puder & Sascha Haeberling Tandy Assembly 2017 - Speaker - Arno Puder & Sascha Haeberling - "An Android-based Emulator and Retro App Store for the TRS-80 Model I/III"

We have T-Shirts and hoodies from the 2022 Tandy Assembly now for sale on our website http://www.tandyassembly.com!