Atari8bitCarts Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 (edited) I thought I'd check to see if anyone on the TI side has a ROMOX Charging station (Software Center). I've been unable to find one. And considering that there were a few in the markets, California and Canada, and that the charging station was used for several platforms, that someone kept a unit or two They were used to move games to blank ECPC cartridges. Please PM me if you have a charging station or know where one is. Information: The Software Center was an off-whitecolored plastic cabinet and monitorthat looked alot like a computer. Itwas approximately 18" wide by 6" highwith a color monitor approximately 12"wide by 8" high. There were ten slotson the front panel of the cabinet fordifferent types of computer cartridgeconnectors and a membrane covered keypad for typing in the catalog numberof the program to burn in to ECPC'sre-programmable chip. The user pressed any key to start theSoftware Center, selected a programfrom the screen or the Romox Catalog,paid for the new program and a clerkwould activate the Software Center.The machine would notify the user whenthe new game was ready to go. That wasall there was to it. Only 5 of the 10 slots in the ServiceCenter front panel were used, probablybecause Romox already had the majorplayers in cartridge software businesscovered, but they built the machinefor the possibility of new machines inthe future. I know the SpectravideoSV-318 and the Coleco Adam both camewith a cartridge port and there mighthave been a couple of others, but the"big guns" were already on the panel. Going from left to right while facingthe Service Center, the slots werededicated to: - Slot 1: TI-99/4A - Slot 2: Commodore Vic 20 - Slot 3: Commodore 64 - Slot 4: Atari 2600 VCS - Slot 5: Atari 400/800 Atari 600/800XL Atari 1200XL TI-99/4A games housed in the ServiceCenter were: PRODUCT^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^MANUFACTR^NMBR--------------------- --------- -----Ambulance^^^^^^^^^^^^^-Funware^^03185Anteater^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-Romox^^^^02025Cave Creatures^^^^^^^^-Funware^^08185Character Crayons^^^^^-Romox^^^^07025DataBase Sort Utility^-Navarone^02155Driving Demon^^^^^^^^^-Funware^^06185Henhouse^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-Funware^^07185Hen Pecked^^^^^^^^^^^^-Romox^^^^03025Princess and the Frog^-Romox^^^^01025Rabbit Trail^^^^^^^^^^-Funware^^05185Rotor Raiders^^^^^^^^^-Romox^^^^06025Schnoz-ola^^^^^^^^^^^^-Funware^^04185St.^Nick^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-Funware^^01185Topper^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-Romox^^^^05025Typo II^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-Romox^^^^04025Video Vegas^^^^^^^^^^^-Funware^^02185 Although the TI-99/4A was first in thefront panel slot position it occupied,it was dead last in the number ofprograms available to the ECPC owner.As you can see a total of sixteenprograms were offered for the 99/4Aowner. Compare that to: - Atari 2600 VCS : 49 - Atari (all others): 39 - Commodore Vic 20 : 51 - Commodore 64 : 26 - TI-99/4A : 16 As far as I can determine, the IUG wasthe first to announce a product usingthe Romox ECPC when they announced theimmediate availability of D-Station inNovember 1983. The John Phillips gamewas offered for $24.95 with promisesof an extensive library of otherprograms to come, all available at areasonable $9.95. No other programswere ever added to that "library"though. Thank you. ROMOX ECPCs and SOFTWARE CENTERS.pdf Edited February 3, 2017 by Atari8bitCarts 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted February 5, 2017 Share Posted February 5, 2017 Other than the one Kyle Crichton had, I have never seen a survivor of any type for the ROMOX stations. As to the IUG ROMOX programs, there were a few that they offered, IIRC, as I seem to rember seeing them advertizing D-Station II as well--although I have never actually encountered an IUG-programmed ECPC cartridge (of any kind) in the wild either. ISTR that a version of QUBIT from Bill Gronos (ARTIOS software) was also listed as being for sale using the ECPC cartridges at some point. . .I also found a notice from Unisource Electronics that they had the Cartridge Programmer for sale for $299 along with ECPC cartridges in the early part of 1984. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacman000 Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Sounds like they were rented to retailers. I'd imagine whoever owned them recalled them and scrapped them to recoup whatever they could from their investment when it didn't take off. No reason to stop looking tho. I'm a hopeful person. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kl99 Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 Here is the patent entry for the Romox Cartridge programming system: https://www.google.com/patents/US4597058?dq=inassignee:%22Romox,+Inc.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijrpTStcHXAhUL_KQKHaFrA3UQ6AEIKTAA 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flottmann1 Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 more Info https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/wp-content/uploads/gtw64/a/anteater/cat-romox-84.pdf https://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n4/132_1984_Winter_Consumer_Elec.php https://books.google.de/books?id=d-tPdHcBE9wC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=romox+terminal&source=bl&ots=-4fUWQQl5M&sig=ACfU3U2MXkN2iAxocU65H_hptlUWiQjXqw&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjE7urbvs7wAhWBjaQKHdzJBfUQ6AEwEnoECAcQAw#v=onepage&q=romox terminal&f=false 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digdugnate Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 That's really neat. reading through the pdf now! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 Too bad one hasn’t shown up yet. I’d make room for it in my collection if someone finds one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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