gary_m_walton

Hi Phil, Amazing and nice to hear from you! You were a big part of us Atari users in the day and I hope you enjoy the scans-I'm glad I kept them Maybe you have some more stuff? Would be great to see any other docs you have. If not, I hope you enjoy what I have scanned. All the best, Gary

One of the great programmers of the Atari era passed away this day in 2017. I knew Paul and worked with him. He was a nice bloke and extremely clever. R.I.P Paul and thanks for all the memories.

Another of my little musings. Curious as to what this refund could be (can't find the original slip). Anyone have any thoughts?

I'm hot on the trail of the start date of the very first meeting. I've now actually got it close to October 1982 but it would be nice to get a definitive (true) start date of that inaugural meeting. I was there and want to put it in my diary!!!! Anyone on this forum attend that meeting and can shed some light on the date? Or even any stories of what happened in the first or other meetings?

Cheers @ClausB. Yes, I have read about his adventures there. Most interesting for sure BTW, The advert is incorrect. I believe it was the 'Central' hotel (now Britannia) and not 'Centre' hotel - just to add to the confusion! A bit of cutting and pasting me thinks. You weren't at that show were you @Mclaneinc? Be nice to confirm the venue now we have the date.

Thanks for the replies everyone, That's what I love about this hobby. @ClausB Thanks for that - so it looks as though 32K was fairly straightforward but not 48K. I have 32K in my head so I think they could have done that quite quickly. @segman40 Yes, I agree. It was a nice keyboard and now I'd probably keep it in preference to the 800 - which was a bit of a brute for sure. If I had, I would have retained my VCS also which I really enjoyed. I think he got the better part of the deal BTW I really like the styling of the 400 but my 130XE looks quite chic also. Happy memories. Just for info, I'm doing all this to chart my Atari Journey and am attempting to catalogue (and date) each bit of Atari item I bought. Luckily, I have some (but not all) receipts and you would not believe the research I've had to do but the results are interesting. I may screenshot and post some day to so you can all see how truly sad I am (but I don't care )

If, like me, Atari was the most exciting thing seen in a long while back in 1981, then catching the Maplin Atari roadshow was essential. Here we could see (and play!) with the best computers around at the time. A number of venues were given including Manchester and Birmingham. I attended the one in Birmingham and was amazed. I still remember that evening vividly. Anyway, back to the present day, I always wondered when and where in Birmingham it was since I am charting my Atari journey. By pure chance, I came across the advert that must have sparked my interest. It featured in Personal Computer World November 1981 (available from archive.org). Here is the ad in all its glory and at least I can put that long-standing mystery to bed. Who knows, someone else may have been wondering the same question (doubtful) but it's here as another bit of our Atari heritage. Hoorah!

Recently been mulling over memories from my Atari days and have this query that has perplexed me for a while. When the Birmingham (UK) Atari user group started at the Matador pub around October 1982, there were various inaugural competitions to add some excitement. I won 'Adventureland' - but this required 24K to run. I only had a 16K machine so I needed a RAM upgrade. Now, I'm not sure whether I had a 400 at the time or if I'd swapped my 400/VCS for an 800. The 800 would have been easy to upgrade. If I had a 400, would that have been a difficult job to increase the RAM? I remember going to Maplins (Newtown, Birmingham) on the Saturday to get extra RAM to run Adventureland. If the 400 couldn't be easily upgraded, this suggests I *did* have an Atari 800 at the time and simply bought an additional RAM module. Perplexing question answered!!!! Anyone know of the complexities of upgrading a 400 back in the day. Fairly sure I didn't leave my 400 with Maplins. Cheers

Amazing looking at all of this stuff from Silica Shop. I was in Birmingham so sadly never really got a chance to see them - although I'm fairly sure I went to see them once as I had a friend who lived in London. I'm basically trying to catalogue all of my Atari purchases and, luckily, I still have a fair few receipts. Once that has me really puzzled is the attached. It's from Silica Shop and has a code that appears to be UAD9021? Anyone from Silica shop have any clues as to what this could possibly be? Thanks again for all the memories.

Looking through the remainder of my Atari papers, I came across this hidden away. I would say that this is the first (if not the very first) list given out by Mr Hancocks for Midland Games Library. This list simply requests that you select six games from the entire collection. Subsequent lists request that you select from one of four groups which is why I think it pre-dates the other lists. It is possible that the covering letter from the previous list I have noted as Jan 1983 is actually for this list. I'll keep you posted if I can determine this. I have called the file "MGL 1983-00 Page 01" Note that the first advert I saw for MGL was C & VG Jan 1983. For now, admire what games were available from the off for a machine that we loved - and still love to this day. Enjoy.

Okay, people did ask. Some background. I clearly whinged at Dave for not being able to supply a game. Not Dave's fault and the response was nicely put. If you're seeing this Dave, I truly apologize - I was out of order ..... Anyway, here they are for me to eat humble pie.

Thanks for all the comments. I wanted to post these for posterity before I check out lol. They do make for interesting reading certainly and it is a bit like peering into a time machine. It brings back wonderful memories of a time when all we had to worry about was beating the high score of your mate. Happy days. I have a project on the go to catalogue all of my games (all systems) and where and when I bought them - pathetic I know and I attach a sample. These documents help. PS. I clearly whinged to Dave Hancocks at Midlands Games Library about the availability of some game as he wrote me a very nice reply back - which I didn't deserve. It's scanned but unsure as to whether I should post it. I may do as I'd like to apologize for my immaturity. Sorry Dave and, if you ever read this, please comment back so I can offer that apology.

Another set of info I had this time from Gemini electronics based out of Manchester UK. Makes for interesting reading.