King Asmo Posted January 23, 2002 Share Posted January 23, 2002 Does anyone know of a place to buy the RCA cord you need to hook up an Atari 800 computer to a Commodore monitor.. or have one their willing to trade? I was planning to use the extra C64/Genesis/Master system cords that I have, but I found that the Atari 800XL needs a cord without the center pin. I had a cord for my Coco3 that I thought would work, but it doesn't seem to. Also, does anyone know if you can hook a TI 99 computer to a composite monitor as well? It has the same port as the 800XL so I'm assuming you can. First I need to find some joysticks for it, tho. KA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted January 25, 2002 Share Posted January 25, 2002 Try www.myatari.com they sell various 8-bit cables and stuff. Its expensive but you will get the right cable the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 25, 2002 Share Posted January 25, 2002 Here's the Atari 8-bit FAQ that has a section describing the pinouts. Search for monitor jack and you should find the relevant information. This would allow you to build your own cable pretty easily, something I remember doing a few times to hook up various Atari 8-bits to Commodore 1702 monitors. In case you haven't seen it, www.99er.net is an awesome website full of TI-99/4a information. Here are the Video and Power pinouts. Unfortunately the video pinouts appear to be different between the Atari 8-bit and the TI-99/4a, so I'm guessing you wouldn't have any luck using the same cable. But again, you could probably make one pretty easily. I bet 99er.net has some links to vendors who could sell you a cable. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Asmo Posted January 25, 2002 Author Share Posted January 25, 2002 Thanks for the tips, Classics and Albert! I order 3 cables from my favorite supplier, MCM Electronics.. I didn't realize that the pinouts might be different. I ordered 3 hoping to use them on my Atari 800XL, TI 99er and CoCo3 respectively.. hopefully they'll work on 1 or 2 of those systems. I never had an Atari 800XL as a kid (my first computer was a Commodore 128).. It actually seems like a really sweet machine. I've had 4 or 5 of the 800XLs over the last few years, but I usually just ended up trading them.. not playing them much. I just ended up hooking it up this week to test it, and I was quite impressed with some of the games. I can't see how anyone would prefer an Atari 5200 over the 800XL.. the games seem quite similar, but you can actually use decent joysticks.. I don't think I'll ever touch my 5200 again. Thanks for all your help, KA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted January 25, 2002 Share Posted January 25, 2002 5200->Atari 400 with slightly remapped memory locations, different cart sizes to make imcomp with 800 series and crappy joysticks. 800XL provides a small footprint, excellent games(most of 5200 games are ported from 800) and a better joystick interface! I only play my 5200 during Twin Galaxies compeitions, otherwise it collects dust! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Asmo Posted January 25, 2002 Author Share Posted January 25, 2002 Oh.. one other question. Does anyone know of a good method to clean 400/800 carts made by Atari. I have a game (Centipede, I believe) that I can't get working at all, and I figure the contacts are just a little dirty.. but I can't get at the contacts because of the casing. Anyone have any ideas? KA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 25, 2002 Share Posted January 25, 2002 quote: Originally posted by King_Asmo: Does anyone know of a good method to clean 400/800 carts made by Atari. I have a game (Centipede, I believe) that I can't get working at all, and I figure the contacts are just a little dirty.. but I can't get at the contacts because of the casing. Anyone have any ideas? All you need to do is insert a small, flathead screwdriver into one of the two holes in the dustcover and then push the whole thing forward. This will reveal the contacts which you can then clean. Here's a picture: ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Asmo Posted January 25, 2002 Author Share Posted January 25, 2002 Cool.. Thanks for the tip.. I've got to try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 26, 2002 Share Posted January 26, 2002 quote: Originally posted by King_Asmo: Cool.. Thanks for the tip.. I've got to try that. You're welcome, hope that does the trick for you. These Atari 8-bit carts are also very easy to take apart. All you need to do is unscrew the single screw on the back and then pop the metal cover off. I believe you can then remove the board pretty easily, although I don't have a cart in front of me so can't absolutely verify it. ..Al 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.