Z-100 LifeLine For Sale Page

I have maintained a huge stock of standard Z-100 series computer parts and offered repair services since 1994, when Paul Herman moved on and I became editor of the "Z-100 LifeLine". Have you noticed the prices for computer products, particularly for Z-100 parts (if you can find them) online? Even floppy drives and what once were common parts have gone nuts on Ebay. I still sell most everything you would need for your Z-100 for much less and still offer repair services. Before you buy elsewhere, give me a call. Check the costs below (which already includes shipping) and if there is something you need that is not listed, I can quote you a price. All my regular parts for the Z-100 are fully tested before shipping.

     Z-100 Costs & Services

Here are the present 2022 prices, which includes shipping, for repairs and most standard parts for the Z-100. Press the back button when you wish to return here.

     Obsolete Electronics Parts For Sale

I know the difficulties of locating replacement parts for your favorite radio, monitor, DVD/CD player, etc. Have you seen the prices on E-bay for these parts, if you can find a replacement at all? Over the years, in addition to saving Z-100 electronics parts, I have been recycling all kinds of electronics equipment and scavenging their electronics parts. I have organized these into several, ready-reference collections that I would like to make available to you. What I would like to offer, if you wish to try me, is used, obsolete, otherwise unavailable electronics parts at reasonable prices. Most was removed from inoperative equipment, but I test what I can. If I can not test an item, like the Integrated Circuits, at least the odds are that it will work, and at these prices, order spares. The transistors, diodes, resistors and capacitors were mostly desoldered and have short leads, but when you need a specific part, something is better than nothing.

To find a specific part, if you email me with the part's numbers (list them all, not just the one that appears to be the obvious part number) and include a photo of the part you are looking for (if possible), I will be happy to check my stock. If I can locate the part, I will return a picture of what I have and quote a price (just above the expected shipping cost). As with all my "Z-100 LifeLine" services, I'm not interested in making money; I just wish to provide a service and keep stuff OUT of the landfills! Here is a look at what I have available. Click on each photo to get a better view and hit the back button to return.

Integrated Circuits!  Fortunately, most of these were socketed, but some were desoldered. I'll let you know when I reply to your quote. You will get the best that I have.

Transistors and Power Transistors!  Unfortunately, most of these were desoldered. I'll let you know the condition when I reply to your quote. You will get the best that I have. 

Diodes and Rectifiers!  This includes a small selection of Zener Diodes. Unfortunately, most of these were also desoldered. I'll let you know the condition when I reply to your quote. 

Resistors, Capacitors, and small Coils!  Unfortunately, nearly all were desoldered. You probably have your own selection of these, but if you need something specific, I'll see what I have. 

     Standard "Z-100 LifeLine" Stock For Sale

I will eventually include pictures for all the stuff. But in the meantime, here are pictures of the last few IDE Controllers that were for sale. I'm sorry, but the spares are now gone. Check with me on occasion, someone may have one available.

The New Z-100 LifeLine Controller!  These come programmed to your specific system (with or w/o MFM Hard drives in the system) and can handle up to four IDE devices. See the IDE Controller page for additional information. Note:  The Master and Slave here are referring to the controller connector, each of which can have two devices. The price includes the necessary ZROM and ZDOS, and shipping. It does NOT include IDE devices nor cabling, though arrangements can be made. My favorite IDE device is a tossup between the 256Mb or the 512Mb Compact Flash. These are now sold out. Sorry.

The New Z-100 LifeLine ZCLK2!  This first image shows the new circuit board layout with ribbon cable, the second with it installed, and the third with the PAINT display on my Z-100. These are now sold out. Sorry.

     Excess Stock

Over the years I have also collected quite a bit of 'One of a Kind' items and some that I have extras of. Here is your opportunity to get items at an excellent price, often at prices just over shipping.   Check this page often because I hope some of this stuff does not hang around long... Click on the pictures for a larger version. Remember, all prices include shipping here in the States.

The FBE ZMF-100 Memory Upgrade for the older 85-2653-1 Z-100 motherboard.  I'm asking $25.00, which includes shipping. Ask for a quote for the 256k RAM chips. 

The CDR Z-100 Speed Module.  I have two of these with the instruction booklet, and a third with just a printout of the instructions. This is the famous 5MHz/7.50MHz Upgrade that usually requires no other chip changes in the computer because it is just short of the dreaded 8MHz modification. Further, it can be switched back to 5MHz at any time. Originally marketed for $49.95, I'm asking $35.00, which includes shipping.

The Zenith Data System's 8087 Coprocessor Adaptor Card for the Z-100. I found several of these installed in some of the U.S. Air Force Z-100 computers. You cannot find these on the web, and once they are gone, they will be history. While I don't believe they speed up normal Z-100 operations much, they were meant for detailed graphics operations or for performing floating point mathematical operations. If you are trying to calculate PI, then these are for you. I'm asking $10.00 apiece for these, if purchased with one of the 8087 chips offered below.

These are  UCI's Easy87 Coprocessor Adaptor Cards for the Z-100. I'm not sure where I picked these up. As with the ZDS version, you cannot find these on the web, and once they are gone, they will be history. As I also mentioned several times, I don't believe they speed up normal Z-100 operations much; they were meant for detailed graphics operations or for performing floating point mathematical operations. If you are trying to calculate PI, then these are for you. I'm asking $15.00 apiece for these, if purchased with one of the 8087 chips offered below. 

Ok, These are the famous Z-100 8087 CoProcessors.  They also work in the Z-100PC (H/Z-151/161 series). As I already mentioned, these are fantastic for arduous graphics work or floating point arithmetic, but I personally see little use for these for normal Z-100 operations. Nevertheless, there are spots for these located on the Gemini Board (the PC Emulator board), and the separate 8087 boards I showed above. I did find some of these listed on E-bay starting at $25 for the 5MHz versions and I'm willing to start there. As a refresher let's review the stats:

8087 Type                Speed                   Asking Price      Notes:

Plain 8087               5 MHz                    $25.00

8087-3                     5 MHz                    $25.00

8087-4                     4 MHz                    $20.00              Not listed anywhere; I suspect it is the 4MHz vers.

8086-6                     6 MHz                    ------                  Not available.

8087-2                     8 MHz                    $40.00

8087-1                     10 MHz                  $80.00 

     High-Resolution Z-100 Video Solutions!

Over the years I have collected several 'unique' High Resolution Solutions to make Z-100 video even better, more impressive. For a description of the Z-100's impressive Interlaced Video see the article: Z-100 Graphics. Here are available solutions that I have:

PROSCAN:  Higher Resolution Z-100 VideoPROSCAN:   See William N. Locke's Z-100 Notebook Article in Sextant Magazine #33, Early Spring, 1988. ProScan was Travis Barfield's contribution to improved Z-100 graphics. This daughter board cost $65 at the time; plugged into the Z-100's video board and required the use of NEC's MultiSync monitor or similar. ProScan gave you a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels - roughly twice the Z-100's usual 640x225 pixels, and the same number as operating the Z-100 in Interlace mode. But the annoying flicker associated with Interlace was gone because with ProScan the normal horizontal scan rate was nearly doubled. See the article on: Z-100 Graphics for additional information.

I have only one of these for sale; it does not include the Z-100 Video Board (pictured just to show installation) and it is untested; I'm asking $80.00. I've got another installed with a ProColor system, described later. Add the Z-100 Video Board (tested) for an additional $100.00. 

PROCOLOR:  Z-100 Video with 512 Colors!  See Paul Herman's Issue #9, Z-100 LifeLine, August 1990.
Travis Barfield developed another impressive video system for the Z-100. The new ProColor 512 color video upgrade for the Z-100. The production model of the ProColor video board consisted of a standard Z-100 video board with two additional circuit boards attached to it. They were all mounted together to make one 'thick' video board which mounted in the same way as the original video board.
Before you could use ProColor, however, you needed to make sure you had the right type of monitor. The best choice was an auto-synchronizing type, like the NEC MultiSync or Logitech AutoSync. At a minimum, you had to have a monitor that accepted analog RGB video signal. The standard Zenith ZVM-134 or ZVM-135 monitor would NOT work, because they were digital RGB monitors. Another reason for going the MultiSync route was so you could use the high-resolution ProScan display mode, which was included with the color upgrade. See the article on: Z-100 Graphics for additional information.

I have only one of these for sale; it is untested; I'm asking $200.00. I've got another with a ProScan board installed, described next. 

PROCOLOR:  Higher Resolution Z-100 Video with 512 Colors!  See Paul Herman's Issue #9, Z-100 LifeLine, August 1990.
Travis Barfield developed another impressive video system for the Z-100. The new ProColor 512 color video upgrade for the Z-100. The production model of the ProColor video board consisted of a standard Z-100 video board with two additional circuit boards attached to it. They were all mounted together to make one 'thick' video board which mounted in the same way as the original video board. This board also has the ProScan High Resolution Board installed. 
Before you could use ProColor, however, you needed to make sure you had the right type of monitor. The best choice was an auto-synchronizing type, like the NEC MultiSync or Logitech AutoSync. At a minimum, you had to have a monitor that accepted analog RGB video signal. The standard Zenith ZVM-134 or ZVM-135 monitor would NOT work, because they were digital RGB monitors. Another reason for going the MultiSync route was so you could use the high-resolution ProScan display mode, which was included with the color upgrade. See the article on: Z-100 Graphics for additional information.

I have only one of these for sale; it is untested; I'm asking $250.00. 

Hughes V1 Board: 16 Color Z-100 Video!  See William N. Locke's Z-100 Notebook Article in Sextant Magazine #31, Nov/Dec, 1987. Also see Stanley Schwartz's article "A More Colorful Z-100 Can Display EGA Video", published in Sextant Magazine #39, Early Winter, 1989.
Hughes Development Systems developed the V1 Video Enhancement Kit, which gave the Z-100 an additional 64K bank of video memory, the intensity plane, for $139.00 (without the Z-100 video board). The Z-100 computer could then bank-switch the intensity plane with the blue plane, under the control of an I/O port. That memory permitted adding intensity to the primary colors red, green, and blue. Those three colors and the intensity could then be mixed to produce a possible 16 colors.
The blue plane and the intensity plane had the same memory address. The V1 control port located at 97 hexadecimal (151 decimal) determined which of the two were used. Bit 5 of this port controlled whether or not the intensity plane was displayed on the monitor. Bit 6 controlled whether the blue or intensity planes are sccessed when writing to memory. And bit 7 controlled whether the intensity plane should be written to automatically when any plane is writen to. If bit 7 was 1, then whenever a value was written to any plane, the same value would be written to the intensity plane. These three bits were the only bits used to control the V1 board.
The V1 board and associated cables were physically installed between the video and main boards of the Z-100. No trace cutting or soldering were involved in the installation.
To see the extra colors, the monitor, such as the Zenith ZVM-135 color monitor, had to have the capability of using the intensity signal. See the article on: Z-100 Graphics for additional information.

I have only two of these for sale; they do include the Z-100 Video Board but are untested; I'm asking $250.00.   

     S-100 Bus Kits!!

Over the years I have also collected several 'unique' Kits, and I offer them here for you. Obviously they have been overtaken by Technology, but they are for the S-100 bus and may very well work in the Z-100; at the very least they will provide hours of fun with your Z-100 to get them to work. Some come with bare boards, some with instructions and parts lists, and some with most of the parts! We start with the kits with some, if not all the parts:

The SSM (Solid State Music) Microcomputer Products MB7 Low Power 16K STATIC RAM Board.  Please note, this is STATIC RAM and not the dynamic RAM normally used in our computers. Does that matter - I have not a clue. All there is is a nice instruction booklet, a blank S-100 circuit board, and I've copied the parts list for you. I'm asking $35.00.

The California Computer Systems Model XVI 16K STATIC RAM Board.  This is a memory board designed to interface 2114 STATIC RAM chips to the S-100 bus. Bank select capability is available which is compatible with AM100, Cromemco and other systems. The board is NOT compatible with address select systems such as IMSAI. Any multiple of two memory chips can be used and the memory can be increased until the full 16 Kbytes are used. There is a nice instruction booklet, a blank S-100 circuit board, and I've copied the parts list for you. I'm asking $35.00. 

An Unidentified Memory Board.  Judging from the other memory boards that I have, it appears to be another board for up to 64 2114 Static RAM chips. All the parts are marked on the board except the RAM chips. If anyone recognizes the board and manufacturer, I would appreciate the info to place here. As I know nothing about it, you are on your own. This is bare board only; I'm asking $30.00.

 I hope that you find something that you can use.