toddtmw Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 I have four 1050 disk drives. I am looking to make one my "main" one with a happy copy and a write protect switch. I'd like to pick the "best" one to do this to. two are made in Hong Kong, two are made in Singapore. The Hong Kong ones have FCC ID's of BPA83A1050 and the Singapore ones have FCC ID's of BPA7VD1050. The date codes are: 474 (Singapore) 474 (Hong Kong) 484 (Hong Kong) 303 (Singapore) Once I open them up, are there different drive mechanisms they used and were some better than others? What else should I consider in making this decision? Thanks all for the help! -Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 The Tandon drives with a notch on the wheel to hold the belt up/on are the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Westphal Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Hong Kong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 (edited) The Tandon drives with a notch on the wheel to hold the belt up/on are the best. Hong Kong Thanks for the info. I just opened my Hong Kong one and the drive mech appears to be Novacomm So, I opened the Singapore one and it is Tandem. I can see that the drive mech looks like it is much nicer. (Interestingly, this one didn't have a metal cover over the board like the Hong Kong one, I wonder if it was removed.) So, Tandem and Hong Kong seem to be contradictory at least given the two I've looked at. I'm assuming Tandem is more important than Hong Kong? Man, that Tandem mech does look WAY nicer than the Novacomm mech. (Plus, since the shield is already out, it will make installing the Happy upgrade easier!) Thanks. Edited May 27, 2017 by toddtmw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 Well. Just opened a third one. This one Singapore. It has a novacomm mech. Now to see if the other Hong Kong has a tandem mech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 It is not Tandem. It is Tandon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 Opened all four. Only one has a Tandon mechanism. It happens to be a Singapore unit. So that will the The One Drive to Rule them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted May 27, 2017 Share Posted May 27, 2017 Novacomm only made the stepper motor, that's a World Storage Technology mech, WST for short. And Hong Kong is the source for these. I have both and never noticed a whit's difference to be noticed but it's your stack so build it how you want to. Once they've been opened, all bets are off as to the contents in the Hong Kong/Singapore deal since the mechs are interchangeable and you don't know what was done before you owned it. They all had an RF shield from the factory just for an illustration of how that works out. Thanks for the good photos, I can now rename them and keep all that straight and you'd think I might have a clue. It never mattered enough to make the effort. Notice the strobe effect lines under the flywheel on the Tandon, shine some fluorescent light on that and have it spin up to speed and those notches should appear to lock step and stay put when it's at designed speed. Rybags caught a lot of grief for the same idea once upon a time. I've never done it to even see if it's a true 288 RPM marking or the standard 300 RPM version. It actually looks like it might be both, thanks to the easy access pictures. And then again they might be 300/360 marks too and 288 has the perceived lines rolling backwards. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 (edited) the WST (Hong Kong) drives are generally the highest regarded. Mine was quiet when seeking, and disk insertion, latching closed, and ejecting were very smooth and loose. Most Tandon/Singapore drives feel much more rigid, stiff, and noisy generaly to me. However, the WST I had used to be my primary driver years ago with a happy and write-protect switch mod isn't so healthy these days, as it seems it may have gone out of alignment as it has trouble reading some tracks, and i can visually see it re-stepping on some tracks, and reading them finally after a delay. Recently I have made a couple drives with tandon/Singapore Mech purr quite nicely with thorough lubrication of the slider rails and top spinner clamp, and replaced the felt pressure pads. One of them had a very noisy rattle on seeking which I was able to almost completely eliminate by putting a perfectly sized screw through the top of the spring-loaded hook/plate where it holds onto the stepper strip, (whatever thats called...) Now testing with sequential seeks from track 0 to 39 and back are just a quiet humm now, just like I remember my WST drive. These will be my new workhorses for ATR'ing my disk collection. Edited May 28, 2017 by Nezgar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 I'm having a hard time figuring out how you'd replace the belt in that Tandon drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted May 28, 2017 Author Share Posted May 28, 2017 This thread makes it look like it can be done. Maybe you can get it under the cover? http://atariage.com/forums/topic/221745-1050-belt-lengths-tandon-mechanism/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 I'm having a hard time figuring out how you'd replace the belt in that Tandon drive. You drop it in around the drum from the top of the drive, then pull it out from the bottom to hook onto the drive motor. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 The WST drives have the occasional issue of tossing the drive belt off its spindles if you close the door and the floppy is slightly offset. Also, as I recall, the drive mechs are NOT interchangeable. WST's have a different ROM and stepping rate than Tandon's. I believe one mech can be used in both units, but not the other (unless of course you swap ROMs) Again, its been a long time since I toyed with these, but there is a thread here somewhere about it. Also, some units have a different FDCs if that matters to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 FDCs? Is there any software that can test how well each one works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 FDCs? Is there any software that can test how well each one works? Are you talking about software to test the floppy drives themselves, or something else? Atari made a good diskette (Atari CPS 1050 Diagnostic Diskette #FD100690) to test the 1050 drives. Just be aware that the some of the test won't work right once you install the Happy Chip/Board. DavidMil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 FDC- floppy disc controller: the WD western digital chip. The best 1050 is the one that continues to work properly lol. Best is subjective and without doing speed and real alignments tests I'm not sure it matters. What you could do is fire them all up and run the diagnostic burn in tests overnight (with the covers on). Last man standing w/o overheating and still formatting/ reading is a keeper. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gargoyle Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 I would say check the belts, check the capacitors (bulging?, leaking?) and run them to see how rough/smooth and noisy/quiet they run, and then pick the one you think is the best, the rest is just luck with those 3+ decade old drives. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 Atari made a good diskette (Atari CPS 1050 Diagnostic Diskette #FD100690) to test the 1050 drives. Just be aware that the some of the test won't work right once you install the Happy Chip/Board. Boot this disk and choose option B to convert a happy drive to a stock 1050 ROM until poweroff. Then you can use the Atari 1050 diagnostics disk with full functionality. https://archive.org/details/a8b_Happy_Utility_Menu_v1.0_1987_Pirate_Software 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 Boot this disk and choose option B to convert a happy drive to a stock 1050 ROM until poweroff. Then you can use the Atari 1050 diagnostics disk with full functionality. https://archive.org/details/a8b_Happy_Utility_Menu_v1.0_1987_Pirate_Software Cool. I'll put this in my happy drive folder. Thanks, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 On 6/28/2017 at 4:09 PM, Nezgar said: Boot this disk and choose option B to convert a happy drive to a stock 1050 ROM until poweroff. Then you can use the Atari 1050 diagnostics disk with full functionality. https://archive.org/details/a8b_Happy_Utility_Menu_v1.0_1987_Pirate_Software I just discovered that the CPS disk tests don't work with my Super Archiver/Bitwriter or Mini-speedy drives either. I would have thought that the SA drive would work since it wasn't "opened". It doesn't even start the drive motor for the speed test. Almost like Atari made it intentionally not work with the modded drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 8 minutes ago, tep392 said: I just discovered that the CPS disk tests don't work with my Super Archiver/Bitwriter or Mini-speedy drives either. I would have thought that the SA drive would work since it wasn't "opened". It doesn't even start the drive motor for the speed test. Almost like Atari made it intentionally not work with the modded drives. It simply boils down to the fact that ICD US Doubler didn't implement the $23 service & $24 diagnostic commands used by Atari's 1050 diag utility supported in the stock ROM. A US Doubler will just respond with NAK to those two commands. A super archiver will also respond with a NAK to those command, and if opened I can't remember if those commands are become available for something else... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 47 minutes ago, Nezgar said: It simply boils down to the fact that ICD US Doubler didn't implement the $23 service & $24 diagnostic commands used by Atari's 1050 diag utility supported in the stock ROM. A US Doubler will just respond with NAK to those two commands. A super archiver will also respond with a NAK to those command, and if opened I can't remember if those commands are become available for something else... Thanks! That would explain it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macsonny Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 Everyone has an opinion on "the best". I have 4 x 1050 drives, two of each type (Hong Kong and Singapore). I have to say that after a good service, I could never really tell the difference in performance of either type. I did have to replace the belts on 3 of the 4 drives, and I have to say the material infused belts for the Hong Kong manufactured drives are sweet. I'm thinking they will last for a lot longer than the plain rubber belts. COuldn't find the same sorts of belts for the Singapore drives for some reason. I have basically upgraded everyone of my drives. Who have Mega Speedy mods installed. By far the BEST upgrade you can do to a floppy drive as you get ALL the mods (US Doubler, Speedy, Happy, etc.) in a single mod. I've also got one drive with a Happy mod and one drive with a random mod (which is rubbish by the way). My advice is just elect one drive, maintain it and you should be good to go irrespective of country of manufacture. Touch wood I've yet to have a drive fail yet! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 5 hours ago, macsonny said: I did have to replace the belts on 3 of the 4 drives, and I have to say the material infused belts for the Hong Kong manufactured drives are sweet. I'm thinking they will last for a lot longer than the plain rubber belts. COuldn't find the same sorts of belts for the Singapore drives for some reason. Console5 sells fabric reinforced belts for the Tandon mechanisms used in Singapore manufactured 1050s, they are $12.95 ea. while the plain rubber belts are only $4.95 ea. https://console5.com/store/catalogsearch/result/?q=atari+1050+belt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draxxs Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 If you have access to a scope. Pick a disk that all drives can read properly. Put the scope on test point 1 and then test point 2 of each drive while accessing the disk. Pick the drive that has the highest peak read voltage of the wave form that you can see on the test points. May not be perfect but should give you the best reading drive to start out with . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.