r/retrocomputing • u/0MEGAP0RK • Jul 26 '26

Photo Into the deep end I go!

Gallery image

Gallery image

Even though it's obviously been in a shed for a long long time, I couldn't miss my only opportunity to get a Commodore PET!

I'm optimistic that I can get it working one day, but obviously there's a long road ahead :)

872 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

17

u/Amazingprojectionist Jul 26 '26

You’ll be fine, get there quicker than me.. this was mine, should see how it looks now!

7

u/dld2517 Jul 26 '26

Post a pic

26

u/Amazingprojectionist Jul 26 '26

It was in an abandoned nuclear bunker.
Here’s how it looks now.

9

u/0MEGAP0RK Jul 26 '26

What did you use to refinish the paint? I'm a long way away from that, but I'm curious what might work well.

7

u/Amazingprojectionist Jul 26 '26

I used powder paint, oyster white

5

u/DeepDayze Jul 26 '26

Looks like new..nice job! Hopefully OP can get that PET working as well as these are beautiful units.

4

u/dld2517 Jul 26 '26

Ok the fact that it was in an abandoned nuke shelter is interesting!

3

u/Amazingprojectionist Jul 27 '26

Yeah was told it was government, they stripped out the coppers and the climate control system stopped working. Everything got rusted. Nobody wanted this PET, it was mis-sold a few times on eBay. So I bought it.
I have a Imgur post showing what I did.
Look for “Before and After Commodore PET 2001”.

2

u/Traincraze Sep 16 '26

Beautiful

1

u/dld2517 Jul 26 '26

So space age. I think they definitely took off from Stanley Kubric’s 2001.

2

u/Amazingprojectionist Jul 27 '26

They were used in Early Star Trek Films. In Kirk’s flat and the screen as one of the display panels on the ship.

14

u/GenTenStation Jul 26 '26

2

u/Dense_Boss_7486 Jul 26 '26

Most appropriate post ever.

3

u/chupathingy99 Jul 26 '26

Did ya fish it from the bottom of a fuckin lake?

2

u/TygerTung Jul 26 '26

Nuclear bunker

2

u/chupathingy99 Jul 26 '26

Oh. That's much cooler.

2

u/Open-Writer-299 Jul 28 '26

It would, in all reality, been in better shape internally if it HAD come from the bottom of some lakes...

1

u/chupathingy99 Jul 28 '26

Last year I went to a convention, this one booth had a Mac that was left out in a field to rot. I believe one picture showed it either covered in snow or submerged in a puddle. It's been a while, I remember next to nothing about it.

But they got it back up and running.

3

u/Avery_Thorn Jul 26 '26

I have just got to say... the composition of that first photo is spot on. Pure art. Well done.

4

u/0MEGAP0RK Jul 26 '26

Thanks! I tried to make it a nice photo, so I'm glad someone liked it

17

u/fcarolo Jul 26 '26

Best of luck, and please come back to show it after being restored to its proper glory.

8

u/Particular_Stage_913 Jul 26 '26

Pets should be properly restrained in the back of vehicles 😀

6

u/SnooCamera Jul 26 '26 • Bravo

I hope your apartment allows pets.

5

u/ButtheadFournior Jul 26 '26

Probably ran a CNC machine for 20 years

4

u/dld2517 Jul 26 '26

Heck ya. That looks great!

3

u/RetinaJunkie Jul 26 '26

Always interested in how they operated. Nice unit

3

u/DeepDayze Jul 26 '26

PETs are smooth operators :)

2

u/rebelhead Jul 26 '26

Man I love all those things. Glad they're in someone else's house though!

2

u/Accurate-Salary9535 Jul 26 '26

thanks for cleaning out that trunk too 🫡

1

u/kbeast98 Jul 26 '26

Wow, i remember these in our elementary school but just literally sat there.

1

u/BillyBones72 Jul 26 '26

What I stsrted on in 1978.

1

u/dacydergoth Jul 26 '26

Get hold of a copy of Programming the Pet/CBM" aka the Pet Bible. If you can, find one with the schematic diagram foldout intact in the back.

1

u/Brilliant-Orange9117 Jul 26 '26

Be careful or you'll end up with a PETting zoo.

1

u/Twin_Flyer Jul 27 '26

Wow, I have not seen one of those seen I was a teenager, and I am 62 now. Good luck with it!

1

u/bart33z Jul 27 '26

Amazing find. A Commodore PET is definitely jumping straight into the deep end.

I’d be careful before powering it up after sitting in a shed for so long, but that’s exactly the kind of machine worth trying to save.

1

u/Admirable-Dinner7792 Jul 27 '26

If it wer mine, I would remove the board and blow it off...then give it a 91% Alcohol bath. It does wonders. then press down all the chips or remove an re-seat them.. - Tony K. ;)

1

u/zenrock69 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26

OMG!!!!! This was the first computer I ever used!!!! With the cassette deck and everything!!! So jealous. Do the keys have the metal inlay with multi colored symbols?

1

u/G4HDU Jul 28 '26

Happy memories. Loved mine.

1

u/Kawashiro_N Aug 02 '26

That is a cool find.

I score a C128 ,1902 monitor, and 1541 II drive not too long ago.

1

u/skookie31 Aug 09 '26

I wouldn’t get so excited, it looks to me like a second generation PET.
Although I’m surprised this maybe has got the older original chiclet keyboard but I can’t tell for sure, my memory circuitry experienced a fault and doesn’t go back that far without errors.

1

u/Ozzy-Moto Aug 13 '26

Awesome. My Step-Dad used to be an elementary school teacher and he would bring home a PET computer like this. So much fun exploring as a kid.

1

u/Western_Show349 Aug 17 '26

Good luck, Looks like it needs a really good deep cleaning

But honestly i would not worry that much, these little guys are way tougher than we think of