Finally got myself a Backpack Drive, so it's time for Forth ... on the Model 100! This Model T is a full on restomod now, with original yellow patina!
- Upgraded the RAM to a full 32K
- Swapped the dying internal lithium for a fresh modern cell
- Installed a REX# for additional bank-switchable RAM and Option ROM
- A Backpack Drive made right here in Missouri for external drive storage via TS-DOS-compatible removable SD card storage!
- And finally because I'm on a weird concatenative kick lately, loaded up MFORTH
Please excuse the terrible view of the screen; it is a nightmare to try and photograph from basically any angle.
I originally got this mainly because I always wanted one, but now that I actually have transferable storage maybe I'll actually do some writing on it! I did a little BBS tinkering earlier in the year with my Wimodem232 but with only a 40x16 screen it's kinda limited in what it can do as a terminal, and hardware quirks made it useless for file transfers.
Talking over on the Factor discord and forgot to mention one of the weirdest quirks of this machine's history: I bought it in Finland.
I have no idea why or how a Model 100 ended up in southeast Finland of all places, given that Tandy and Radio Shack never existed there, but World-Wide Model 'T' Registry does report Tandy models showing up in Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. The latter entry even mentions it came with a Swedish keyboard layout, and several mention there was an EU version of the ROM.
Curiously, though, even though this was found in Finland, it is an entirely American unit through and through as far as I can tell, so I guess whoever imported it didn't bother to modify it for the local market.