1983 Commodore VIC-1530 cassette recorder

I don't have much use for it because all my Commodore 64 software is on floppy disk, but this C2N Cassette Unit, a.k.a. VIC-1530 cassette recorder, works perfectly.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• commodore
• vic-20
• vc-20
• c64
• 64
• c128
• 128
• 128d
• sx-64
• dx-64
• pet
• cbm
• audio
• cassette
• tape
• recorder
• player
• deck
• unit
• c2n
• vic-1530
• vic-1531
• test
• demo
• basic
• program
• load
• save

[MEGAMAYUN]

can somebody please explain to me how video games were stored and able to be played on a cassette tape?

[vwestlife]

@MEGAMAYUN It works basically the same way as a telephone modem. The computer data is converted into different pitches and sequences of audio tones, which is recorded onto the cassette tape. And when you play back the tape to load the program, the computer recognizes this pattern of audio tones and decodes it back into the program data.

[zaxtor]

I bet the Cassette recorded from Commodore was the inventor of the dialup noise.

Or what would be the first time we hear dialup sound.

I think.

[vwestlife]

@zaxtor Not really. Modems were in use for about a decade before people started using audio cassettes to store computer data. On YouTube there's a video demonstrating a modem from 1964 being used.

[bumtownv2]

Does this work the same way as a dialup modem?

[vwestlife]

@bumtownv2 Yes, the technology is largely similar to a modem -- it's a way of transferring digital data onto an analog medium.

[NotATube]

@MEGAMAYUN; "It's sad that technology as ingenious as this has been made obsolete. "

It *was* clever idea and cheap and better than nothing back when disk drives were hugely expensive.

But it was also slow and a massive pain in the backside. Loading games from tape is one thing I will *never* get nostalgic about. I'm glad it's obsolete!

Quite a few tape games for my Atari XL took over 15 minutes to load- one that took around 25 minutes. Even with a dedicated deck, load failure was common.

[MEGAMAYUN]

@vwestlife Wow, that's pretty friggin' cool! It's sad that technology as ingenious as this has been made obsolete.

[cant1rac]

loved the c64, hated that little cassette deck.

the mechanism was too harsh and it would eventually set the heads out off aligment.

remember having to get the c64 head alligment kit (shows you how bad it was that they sold one)

you stuck a tape in the deck a series of numbers would apear on screen, then you'd adjust the head with a small screw driver till you got the right numbers.

id get as many games on floppy or cartridge as i could if i got the c64 again.

but when it worked it was fantastic.