hunmanik

Thanks for this! My first thought was, I accounted for this in the timeline section, but overlooked to account for it near the top of the FAQ. But, I think the timeline section on the topic of the 1982 transition from 16K standard to 48K standard for the 800 needs to be revisited and tightened up as well, if possible. That will take revisiting a bunch of sources, now informed by your valuable data point!

I first found the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG in 1990, and the first user I interacted with was almost certainly aa399, Len Stys. I never met him in real life, just through email and online postings. For me, he was not just the heart and soul of the Atari SIG, but most likely the first person I encountered who seemed to be even more of an all-around Atari fanatic than I was. I was excited to start contributing to the SIG, and I was proud to end up heading-up the 8-bit area of the SIG under his overall leadership. His enthusiasm reinforced my own. It seemed like we were all doing something big and important. As the CFN wound down and the work of building the archive of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG at https://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/ neared completion (all credit to Kay Savetz for doing the actual technical work of building the archive, I think my role consisted of things like guidance, suggestions, and testing), I wrote the following little explanation of the SIG from my perspective: https://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/about.php . Obviously, my story with the SIG doesn't happen without Len. Once the archive was up and running, Len agreed to write a history of the SIG as the final contribution to the project. It has lived at https://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/history.php ever since. I was thinking it might be appropriate to include what he wrote here. History of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG by Len Stys, 10/27/2001 I would like to start this article by thanking Michael Current and Kevin Savetz for moving the CFN Atari SIG from a hard drive somewhere to a publicly accessible web site for everyone to see. I would estimate that thousands of hours were spent on the CFN Atari SIG by myself, other Atari SIG operators, and users for the benefit of the Atari Community. My first computer was an Atari 800XL. I started with Atari with the Atari 2600 and I even owned a Pong system (that ran on batteries and connected to a TV). I was around 9 years old when I first bought my Atari system. It took me a little while to convince my mom that it would not break the TV set. It also took me awhile to save my $1 a week allowance, birthday money, holiday money, and even convince my sisters and brother to contribute some money in order to get us into the PC age. My first PC did not have a floppy disk or tape drive. I would spend hours and hours typing Atari BASIC code into my PC and then turn it off when I was done. When my parents realized I could not save anything I was doing, they bought me a tape drive for it. I then saved for a 1050 floppy disk drive and later for an XM301 300 baud modem. I still laugh thinking back how I turned off my PC when I thought a BBS was stealing data off of my floppy disk, only to determine that the 1030 Express program was just adding data to it. Those were the days... Those were the days when you could buy a computer and know that it would still be of current technology 3 years later. Those days are gone, but thanks to Michael and Kevin, you can take a peak of what those days were like. I took over the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG in late 1987. Jim Haynes started the Atari SIG on around December 26, 1986 with the help of John Suchy. Jim later left for health reasons and I took over a SIG that would later become one of the greatest resources for Atari information in the world. I became the Atari SIG manager because I wanted to contribute to the Atari Community, but because of my age (I was 16 at the time), I could not drive to user group meetings or afford a BBS. My first task was to assemble a group of Atari SIG Operators that would be able to help me build the Atari SIG into something special. These SIG Operators were: Mark Leair, Phillip Chow, Doug Wokoun, and Scotty Meredith. None of us were paid for the work we did on the Atari SIG, but we loved Atari products and wanted to help everyone else love them as well. During the years, some SIG Operators left, but other great SIG Operators were added to help maintain the Atari SIG. These operators were: Michael Current, Craig Lisowski, Bruce D. Nelson, Fred Horvat, Barry Cantin, Kevin Steele, Pete Haller, and Tony Thomas. The Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG was transformed from a small SIG with a nine option menu to a large multi-level menu SIG as is shown on this web site. The CFN Atari SIG was not only the largest computer SIG on Free-Net (we were 10x larger than any other computer SIG), but we were also the largest Atari SIG on the largest free community computer system in the world. The CFN Atari SIG operators did not stop with just providing a great resource for Atari information, but the SIG operators went on to make a user group called "Central Atari Information Network" (CAIN)" and to make the incredible CAIN Newsletter that was read by Atari users from all over the world. One of the most memorable accomplishments of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG and CAIN User Group came when Fred Horvat approached me asking permission to use CAIN for a classic swap fest. I talked with Mark Leair about the idea and we decided that we wanted to sponsor something much bigger. The Cleveland area never saw a "real" Atari show and we wanted one before the Atari era was over. That Summer, Fred, Mark, and myself talked, met, and planned the show. Donald Thomas Jr., a friend of mine at Atari Corp., even convinced Sam Tramiel, President of Atari to donate three Jaguar systems and three games for a raffle at the show. Those that attended the show were from all parts of the nation. The show was described by a user afterwards as "Disney-like." I will always remember that show because it was really the last hurrah for Atari users and fans. It was a great goodbye party for Atari. The replication of the CFN Atari SIG that you see here is still a great resource for Atari users. The 8-bit area that was maintained by Michael Current was quite an accomplishment. I can honestly say that I don't think there is or will be ever a better 8-bit Atari resource. There are also many online magazines and newsletters that you will not be able to find anywhere else. My stay with the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG lasted almost 12 years. I grew up with Atari and Atari computers and I made a lot of friends. I now have an occupation working with computers and I owe my skills and talents to the work I have done in support of Atari computers. I would like to thank everyone for visiting this site. I hope that you will look around and do not forget to visit the Atari Library and look at the entries. It really gives a good idea of what Atari was and is all about. Sincerely, Len Stys October 27, 2001

I meant, did Atari really sell XEgs systems in that style box, or is this particular XEgs now mated not with the box it was sold with, but with a mismatched box that originally was sold containing an actual 65XE computer. I suppose you have no way of knowing. Another thought, is there 65XE styrofoam that would fit in this 65XE box? Or are the dimensions of this style 65XE box unique to the dimensions of XEgs styrofoam? I don't know myself whether common 65XE and XEgs boxes are the same dimensions or different dimensions, but anyone with both could answer that question easily enough.

That 65XE box style seems rather unique, I can't find more examples of it. How certain is it that it is the original box for that XEgs? Is there any interesting info on other sides of the box?

I see two different versions of the box art as well, at least the top panel.

Jerry Jessop has described a "Pits Test System" https://www.computingpioneers.com/index.php/Jerry_Jessop https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-30-jerry-jessop-atari and some of the early product catalogs mentioned a "Sentinel System" https://archive.org/details/atari-personal-computer-product-catalog-1981-atari/page/5/mode/1up Perhaps they are all the same thing.. or perhaps several different tries at the same general idea?

If anyone realizes they have the original equipment 240V UK power supply unit for the 1027 in their closet, I hope they will consider sharing details and pictures of it here someday. Seemingly most people trashed them when their 1027 became unusable.

I'm looking for details/pictures of the original equipment unit.

What was the standard power supply unit used with the 1027 printer in the UK? There's the C061636 (two versions) for 120V AC, and the C061605 for 220V AC, but I can't find an equivalent one for 240V AC for the UK. Except for this page with a blurry picture of something but with almost the right description, is that it? https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/406491

Indeed I had the impression that what Atari previewed at the January 1985 CES was not a working unit, that's why I called it a mockup. I noticed this morning that available photos show the 65XEP in three different forms. The modern pictures have three empty holes on the front of the console. The two pictures from Atari Gaming Headquarters show those holes occupied by switches or buttons of some kind: http://www.atarihq.com/museum/atcomp/index.html Finally, the only image from the January 1985 CES shows nothing where the switches/buttons/holes are in the other images: https://www.stcarchiv.de/hc1985/04/ces-1985-kampf-der-kolosse So if there's really just the single prototype unit, it seems it has seen modifications over time. Either that or there's more than one unit out there.

I think 1982-12-23 should be considered the date when Rev.B was completed, not its release date. So the chronology looks like: 1982-10-26 Rev.A completed 1982-12-23 Rev.B completed 1983-03 1200XL released to consumers. All units with Rev.A on board. A few early units apparently with Rev.A OS EPROMs instead of the production Rev.A OS ROMs. 1983-07-12 Tech Tip 18 comes out, telling authorized service centers to replace any failed EPROMs with the production OS ROMs. (I think there were only Rev.A OS ROMs available so far.) 1983-07 1200XL production ended. 1983-09-29 Tech Tip 18A comes out, telling authorized service centers that the guidance from TT18 regarding Rev.A OS EPROMs is still valid, except now the replacement is Rev.B OS ROMs. Plus new guidance: if someone complains about System Reset not working as expected, whether they have the Rev.A OS EPROMs or the production Rev.A OS ROMs, respond by installing the new Rev.B OS ROMs. I suggest the release date for Rev.B may have coincided with the release of Tech Tip 18A, around 1983-09-29. I will update the FAQ with references to TT18A where XL OS Rev.B is mentioned.

That's a new one to me! I have power supply details here: https://mcurrent.name/powersupplies/atari8bitpower.txt Would you be able to make pictures of your C070046 ?

Well, you got one like. I looked over various pictures to further confirm what you noticed, indeed I had not noticed before. Thanks for pointing it out! From further looking at photos in literature from the time, it's not obvious to me whether one was an earlier design and the other a later design, or what.

So it looks like they made some number of demo 16K units at the very beginning, when there were only going to be 8K units for retail. 16K units were not announced for retail until January 1981. Very cool!

BTW #1 Sometimes people contact me trying to contact or contribute to AtariMania since the outdated copy of my FAQ that's there makes my name and email arguably more prominent and easier to find than contact info for the people who actually run the site. "No, I don't run or help run AtariMania" is something I've needed to explain to a fair number of people over the years. BTW #2 I've noticed at least two different Contacts links on the site. These might be the odd ones, where the Contacts link goes to 4 emails as described by Gitbizy: my_atarimania.html and register.html On other pages the Contacts link goes to a single address.