cawley1

All, Wondering if anyone can give me some advice. I recently bought a 520ST(M) - it's marked as a 520ST, but it has the modulator (this is the slimline version without the internal PSU and disk drive, it's also an NTSC machine, not that it's really relevant to this question.) It's a stock machine, with no extra RAM or anything like that. It had a flaky Shifter chip when I originally bought it, I replaced this and it seemed OK, but would occasionally randomly hang, bomb out (various numbers of bombs), screen corruption, bad colours etc. It would often do this when it had been on for a while. At this point it would often boot to a white screen when switched on until it had been powered off for a while. I tested the RAM and also tried a diagnostics cart when it was behaving, and everything came back OK. I am not that fantastic with de-soldering chips, so decided I would have a play with some of the socketed ones to see if that made any difference. I read elsewhere that the PLCC sockets could be an issue, so I removed both these style of socketed chip with the correct chip puller, and cleaned the pins on both chip and socket. I did the Glue chip first, and powered it up - booted first time and ran for a good half hour with no issues. I then did the same with the MMU chip, again, after powering up it behaved fine even after it had been on for an extended period of time. My question is - could it really have been that simple? I have often heard people say 're-seat the chips' but never got lucky like this before. It's been a few days and outside of when I have expected it might crash due to software issue (very occasionally) there have been no other problems. Any thoughts on the above? Thanks, Paul

Hi, I was looking at pictures on your site - I think Atarimania links them from their faq. I'll take a couple of pictures for you, I am sure I have had this style of PSU in the past, so it can't be totally rare here in the UK. Will let you know when done. Thanks, Paul

It sounds like it's OK - I have tried it with a PSU tester and it outputs the same voltage as the other types of PSU I have here, nothing strange. Oddly, I have another type here I can't find anything about - it's part number is CO70046-01. It looks like the original external ST power supply, but in a shorter case. It has; Input : 240v~/50Hz/22VA Output : 5v - 1.0A Type : PS35 P/N CO 70046- 01 Magpower Manufacturers PTE LTD Made in Singapore Complies with BS 5850 For use with Atari computer only Date 4-87

Sorry to bump an old thread, but did anyone ever actually clear up if the UK/European power supply C061763 (240v~50Hz 0.11A +5V 1.5A) is the same as the dreaded US C061982 'Ingot'? I have received one with an Atari 800XL I just got off eBay, and don't want to pass it on when I re-sell if it could take out the computer! I can't find any conclusive evidence that it's actually the same as the bad US one - the only thing against it is it shares the same form.

All, Thanks for the replies - I somehow thought that as the Sophia 2 was DVI, it was only designed for newer flat-screen monitors. It didn't occur to me that you could just use a DVI to VGA adapter and then a Scart cable running off that. I guess I'll wait until I have a few £ spare and get an order in. A couple of other questions - 1) I have seen this SAVO connector on eBay (www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125814510031) which replaces the TV modulator. Anyone using this with a Sophia 2 setup? It says on the item description 'Sophia 2 (analog RGB) - partly supported via Sophia 2 to SAVO adapter', I wondered what 'party' means? 2) Do you get sound out of a Sophia 2, or do you need to tap that off the PCB elsewhere? Thanks again, Paul

Hi all, A bit of a long-shot, but I am after sourcing an original Sophia RGB upgrade kit. I use an RGB CRT TV, so the DVI Sophia 2 isn't an option for me as I want to run it through a Scart Cable... While I am asking, I wondered, did the original Sophia come in PAL and NTSC versions, or did one board do both? If anyone can help me out with this, I would appreciate it. Thanks, Paul

All, I had a non-working PAL XEGS (black screen), it had two socketed chips, though, so I thought I would try my luck by swapping out these chips. One is the CPU (C014806) and the other is PAL Antic (C021698). I got lucky, and swapping the CPU brought it back to life and it booted into Missile Command. However... I had also swapped the Antic at this point, and decided to put the original back in. Somehow I had both chips out the sockets again and (you can guess what's coming next) I switched the chips in the sockets. All that happened is I got a red screen, but the CPU chip in the Antic socket got very hot. I realised pretty quickly and powered it off, but after swapping the chips back into the correct sockets all I now get it a red screen. I have tested the Antic I put in the CPU socket in another machine and it works, I have also tested the CPU I put in the Antic socket (the one that got hot) and surprisingly, that also works, but it's clear I have done something else to this PCB. Anyone car to guess what I have buggered up? Is it likely to be the GTIA? I don't have great skills at deducing non-socketed chips, and would have to get someone to sort for me, but before I go throwing good money after bad, I figured I would ask if it's likely easy to work out what I would have done. Thanks, Paul

You get sent an invoice as a PDF in an email, and that should have the shipping date on it. My order says 28th December 2021.

Hmm. I bought one because the chances of me ever owning a real Commodore 65 are non-existant, and even if I could get one, it would likely be £15,000+ like the last couple on eBay sold for. Give the cost of components, case and mechanical keyboard, it's a punt I think worth taking. I am not worried about bugs, as they have been working on this for so long, plus dev kits have been out in the open for a while now. I doubt there will be may with buyers remorse, and anyone that does suffer from it will probably be laughing all the way to the bank, as given there are only 1,400 in the first run, they will command a swift markup on the second hand market - just look at the Spectrum Next after they released in Summer 2020.

Got my order in, one of the first 400! It’s certainly much cheaper than a real C65! Roll on 2022 for this and my Spectrum Next Issue 2!

Wow! I have been holding out to see something of Rolling Thunder on the Lynx for years, and here it is, a couple of months after the Nintendo leak! Crazy stuff. Sure some of you are aware, but a recent book release here in the UK - The Games That Weren't by Frank Gasking has the full story on both Rolling Thunder and Vindicators for the Lynx, it's a really excellent read in general, and I am sure everyone on this thread would love those particular stories. https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/products/the-games-that-werent I have sent an email to Frank with a link this thread, in case he was not aware - it's incredible these have finally turned up!

RIP Curt, never met him, never spoke to him, but have read so many of his posts as well as Business is Fun, and his contributions to the Atari community are immeasurable. Condolences to his family at this awful time.

Had a good play with this 130XE today - the video really is a massive improvement (and I didn't cut the pad). I actually forgot I had a NOS PAL 130XE in my game room (!), and having plugged that in I can't describe how poor the video is - as bad as this NTSC machine before the UAV. Now do I get another board at some point and modify this NOS unit, or just leave it as-is? Realistically I need three more UAV - one for the PAL 800XL I use (video is not too bad on that already), one for the NOS PAL 130XE I mentioned and one for an NTSC 2600 Jr which has a composite mod. The only issue is the killer fees I had to pay getting this into the UK. The total cost for the board and shipping was a very reasonable $44.68, so roughly £32.80 in Sterling. Despite the box being marked as merchandise with a value of $30, I got hit with £32.03 in customs charges! £8.00 Royal Mail handling fee and for some reason VAT at £24.03 - how is that even possible when VAT runs at 20%? Even with shipping the most it should have been is £6.56 before the rip-off handling fee. I basically paid the price of the board and shipping in fees! I really wish The Brewing Academy had a European branch...

Hi MacRorie, Thanks for the quick reply - I have the latest manual, this one arrived from you a few days ago (I had to get a local computer store remove the 4050 for me and install the socket!). I have just powered it up after doing the mod and it looks awesome - I ran GND to R52 as you suggested. I use a CRT which gives a great image through RGB on other systems, so this is the best image I have seen out of an 8-Bit Atari through composite. Do you think given that I have it socketed in the 4050 space that cutting the ground pad would make any difference, or is it better to leave it now? I don't see how it could get much better! The only other thing - now the internal shield will not fit, unless I cut it. Is it a big deal if I don't put it back in? I would rather get it fitted somehow as I prefer to leave things as 'original' as possible, but is it that big of a deal? Thanks again, Paul

Hi all, can I just pick some brains regarding the 130XE installation and connecting GND... The manual has confused me slightly as on the step by step process for the plug-in board, it shows GND running to resistor R52. However, page 29 talks about when you use the DIN connector (which I do); 'the absolutely cleanest way to wire the UAV is to cut the centre of the split pad for ground, then soldering a ground wire to a place connected to the large ground plane near the DIN port. This wire can be attached to the UAV terminal grounds in the back, OR soldered to the RIGHT side of the 'G' split pad. This way the UAV and the monitor DIN have an identical ground connection'. So, if I want the cleanest way of wiring to use the DIN port, do I *not* connect GND to resistor R52, and instead connect this to the 'large ground plane' near the DIN port'? Also I notice there are two GND on the UAV terminal, and the manual shows using the 5th terminal, yet nothing in the 1st terminal? I was planning on using the GND from the 5th terminal, so I would run this to R52 or the 'large ground plane'? Is this plane the rectangular space with a hole in the middle that the shielding twist comes out of? Sorry for the noob questions, but I want the best video possible out of this XE! Thanks, Paul