Please help a noob with some Coleco Adam questions

[bb_hood]

Hi, I'm rather new to these forums. I'm not a huge Atari fan (I like 5200 a lot), but I am a huge Coleco fan. I have a few Coleco/Adam questions I am hoping you guys can help me out with.

 

1.I have an Adam computer with 2 tape drives and I was wondering if it is possible to make copies of super game packs to back them up? I have a a few games including Quest for Quintana, Super Sub roc and a few others that I don't want to damage, but I would like to play from time to time. I assume I would need to use an empty data cassette, and I do think I have one or 2. I also have a bunch of Adam cassettes with junk programs on them, would it be possible to format these and use them?

 

2.When using ColecoVision carts with the Adam computer, is it necessary to turn the printer power off when changing games? Can I just switch over to the word processor and switch games, or will this possibly damage the carts? I remember my dad telling me once on an Atari 2600 he removed a game while the power was on and it fried/damaged the cart.

 

3.I have a Dynamic Sound Digitizer cartridge with the Adam cassette that goes with it. Is this rare? I can't find any information about it anywhere. I also have a Cosmic Crisis ColecoVision game by BIT Corp. The Digital Press rarity guide puts this at a R9 and says 'Questionable whether it actually exists. Be aware that Adam's House makes very good copies.' How would I know if this a copy by Adam's house, would there be some distinction on the cart?

 

4.On the Super Action controllers, what is the spinning knob below the keypad used for? Does it calibrate it or change settings with the game? I can't seem to play a good game of Defender, the ship sometimes doesn't move, and after fidgeting with the dial the ship will move for a little bit then stop.

 

Thanks in advance!

[jeremysart]

Not only can you back up your game and data on Data Packs, there are new programs used to actually put compatible roms onto cassette for use on the Adam.

Here are a few pretty good Adam resources:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco_Adam

http://ann.hollowdreams.com/adamsupplies.html

For some nostalgia http://oldcomputers.net/popsciadam.html

 

The sound digitizer is fairly rare, and lucky you if your Cosmic Crisis is real! Im sure there is a way of telling, maybe by looking at the board.

 

Also, I never turned my Adam off to switch out Coleco carts, however, it would probably be a good idea to do that just in case

[doubledown]

1.I have an Adam computer with 2 tape drives and I was wondering if it is possible to make copies of super game packs to back them up?

 

Yes, but you will need special formatting/copying software to do so. There are no Coleco-branded programs that will allow the copying of "official" software, only files like SmartBASIC and the likes.

 

2.When using ColecoVision carts with the Adam computer, is it necessary to turn the printer power off when changing games?

 

It is recommended by the manuals to do so. I personally don't use the printer as my power supply any more as I have my mini ADAM power supply so turning it off and on is easy for me.

 

3.I have a Dynamic Sound Digitizer cartridge with the Adam cassette that goes with it. Is this rare? I can't find any information about it anywhere. I also have a Cosmic Crisis ColecoVision game by BIT Corp. The Digital Press rarity guide puts this at a R9 and says 'Questionable whether it actually exists. Be aware that Adam's House makes very good copies.' How would I know if this a copy by Adam's house, would there be some distinction on the cart?

 

I'm not familiar with the Dynamic Sound Digitizer program. Can you provide pics of the cartridge and DDP? As far as your Cosmic Crisis, same goes here, can you provide a pic of the cart?

 

4.On the Super Action controllers, what is the spinning knob below the keypad used for?

 

The "spinner knob" is for controlling your running speed in games like Super Action Baseball and Super Action Footbal, and presumably CBS Super Action Football (soccer).

[ed1475]

4.On the Super Action controllers, what is the spinning knob below the keypad used for? Does it calibrate it or change settings with the game? I can't seem to play a good game of Defender, the ship sometimes doesn't move, and after fidgeting with the dial the ship will move for a little bit then stop.

 

 

Colecovision Defender cartridges don't work right in a stand alone Adam. Coleco did release an Adam compatible Defender cartridge but I think those are really uncommon.

Edited September 17, 2009 by ed1475

[bb_hood]

Thanks for the input so far!

Let me know what you think of the pictures. When I was getting out the Dynamite Digitizer I noticed this copy of Time Pilot with a white label. Any input on this would be appreciated.

[else]

I believe it's been said that white-label games came from Adam's House (or was it Telegames?) Either way, they're not all that rare or valuable. I think I have a few white-label games myself somewhere....

[Murph74]

Hmm... Never saw the Digitizer cart in what looks like an Atari cart case-- mine is in a coleco case. Either way, those appear fairly rare as your sis only the 3rd I've seen this decade! (one is in my collection, one was on Ebay a year or so ago)

 

As for your Cosmic Crisis, that looks original and legit to me!

 

I'm not sure if there is anything on the forums about it, but it's pretty easy to make your own DDPs with a dual cassettte deck. Back in the day, the preferred cassettes to use were Sony HF=60's. The biggest trick (aside from doing an audio copy of a blank DDP) was to drill the holes on the back side of the `soon-to-be DDP under the write-protect tabs so it fits in the DDP drive. You also have to drill holes in the bottom of the source DDP if it's a factory DDP so that it fits the idler pins of a normal cassette deck.

 

There were 2 notable DDP copying programs back in the day-- look for Packcopy or Quickcopy. Either one will usually do the job of copying a DDP with one or (much easier) two DDP drives. I seem to recall Quickcopy being the only one to use the RAM expansion to help copy with one drive, but don't quote me on that.

 

Also, if you're new to the Adam, and really dig using the real hardware for games and the like, make sure you look for MMSG CartCopy+. It allowed for copying 6-8 cartridges to a DDP or disk so you didn't have to swap carts out constantly (or if you weren't/aren't against it, didn't even have to own the cartridge!).

 

And I agree, the white labels are nothing special-- to most collectors I've encountered (self included) they seem to be less desirable, almost like bootleg versions even though as I understand it, they technically are not.

[Rik]

4.On the Super Action controllers, what is the spinning knob below the keypad used for? Does it calibrate it or change settings with the game? I can't seem to play a good game of Defender, the ship sometimes doesn't move, and after fidgeting with the dial the ship will move for a little bit then stop.

 

 

Colecovision Defender cartridges don't work right in a stand alone Adam. Coleco did release an Adam compatible Defender cartridge but I think those are really uncommon.

If I'm not mistaking,the spinner dial is for games were you are running like Football,things of that nature,on the ColecoVision anyway,should be the same for the Adam.

Edited September 20, 2009 by Rik