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Atariman

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Posts posted by Atariman

  2. Posted

    3 minutes ago, R.Cade said:

    That was not my experience a couple years ago. We flew into the Osaka airport and took the train to the middle of downtown. It is like landing on a foreign planet if you don't know Japanese, and was overwhelming. Fortunately we were able to hire a guide. Without them, there would be no way for us to navigate the country... I mean there were English words here and there, but that isn't really helpful. Even though some people know some English, it is hard to communicate. It is so different from our culture, we even found it hard to figure out how to use a restaurant and how to figure out how much things cost or even how to pay. The people are very friendly, but that doesn't help in a lot of situations.

     

    A big city is confusing and using the train and bus system would be impossible without help. Maybe it's just me... :)

     

     

     

    I had some of that experience, too. I think without knowing the language, there are going to be times that this is unavoidable. Restaurants usually weren't too bad (and I was a big fan of the ones where you ordered at a kiosk and brought the ticket to the counter) but there were times where unless I had been totally fluent, it was not possible to effectively communicate. I learned to actively avoid anything that required any amount of instruction. :)

  3. Posted

    My general advice is to find places that are slightly off the beaten path. If I remember right, there is a Book Off around Shin Yokohama that was huge... It was a couple km walk away from the train station, but there was so... much... stuff. But you won't go wrong looking around for stores that are a part of that chain. Look for the "junk" sections in any stores you find as well. 

     

    Any places around Akihabara are going to be pricey and picked over, but it wasn't bad for stuff that is common over there like the Famicom Disk System (which was refurbished). 

  4. Posted

    On 4/8/2021 at 1:12 PM, Tuxon86 said:

    It doesn't really help, at least it doesn't give me as good a display that my breadbin gives me. Beside, there's almost nothing that is exclusive to the C128 that I can't live without. I've relegated my last 1571, that I used to have connected to my C128, to ZoomFloppy duty for when I get some stuff on floppies to archive. But the C64 breadbin has replaced the C128 for good in my setup.

     

     

    I recently installed the C128 LumaFix and had substantial improvement, but I must confess that I only just found my C64 after years of it being buried in storage and therefore haven't had a chance to do a full comparison. Figured I would at least share my success! 

     

    That being said... I was worried about the lack of heat sinking I was winding up with after that upgrade and others and it was a pain to cobble together a reasonable scheme of heat sinks and appropriate thermally conductive material. (but the bonus is that now I have a really good non-permanent thermally conductive tape to use on other stuff in the future) 

  5. Posted · Edited by Atariman

    On 4/5/2021 at 4:57 PM, x=usr(1536) said:

     

    Going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it may be an arcade game part, possibly pinball-related.  The edge connector, power connector, and type of pins on the card itself are all giving me that sort of vibe.  The part number (which I believe to be C103041) isn't coming up in any searches, but given the (I think - they're hard to read) 1979 and 1980 dates on some of the ICs on the card it seems reasonable.

     

    What's throwing me is that the main IC on there is an 8048.  Off the top of my head, I can't think of an Atari device that used that particular MCU.  Dumping it would probably yield some clues.  Perhaps one of the beige printers used it?  I'm trying to think of stuff where a card would have been mounted vertically (which appears to be how this one is intended to mount), and those and the 810 are about the only ones that seem to be likely candidates from the timeframe this was likely manufactured.  It's definitely not an 810 part, though.

     

    Going through the MAME source isn't turning anything definitive up, either.  Apparently their arcade version of Tetris included an 8048, but that's the only machine I was able to find from them with that MCU.

     

    One last possibility: Mega ST or Atari PC range.  There is what looks like a ground wire with an eyelet connector on the end of it coming off of the PCB.  This suggests that it needs a ground to the chassis as well as whatever it's plugged into.  Not uncommon in the PC world at the time, and would make sense in a Mega ST to some extent.

     

    Late edit: this also would have been workable in one of their jukeboxes.  Hmmm.

     

    Would it be possible to get higher-resolution pictures of both sides of the card?

    I can say with near certainty that it isn't from an Atari pinball machine. I have never seen that board in any of mine and I have at least one of each!

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    Rest in peace, Curt. Years ago, when the internet was new to me and I had no idea what had happened to Atari, I came across his site. Not only did I pore over every page, but even contacted him to ask questions. He was kind enough to respond to my noob self and I followed his work ever since. Heck, when I found some random back-up tapes that just had the word 'Atari' scrawled across them, he was the first person I thought of. I am totally shocked and saddened by his death and hope his family and friends can take comfort in all of the stories of people who appreciate his work. 

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    Nice! Middle Earth was my first pinball machine as well. I like the Atari machines, too - I think a lot of my attraction to them is that not many people knew that Atari was ever in the pinball machine business, so they tend to grab some attention! I got my machine about 7 years ago and have been pleased with it, although it can be BRUTAL. I had a LOT of low-scoring games early on, but it was interesting enough to keep me coming back.

     

    At this point, I have all of the released Atari pinball machines (including Hercules x 2) and have been building up a small stash of spare parts since some of them are pretty uncommon. I seem to come across Middle Earth parts the most frequently, so it's not a bad choice at all. Any plans for hunting down any more of them? :)

    • Like 1

  16. Posted

    They don't. If the TV does some signal processing that results in lag, the only fix is to turn on Game Mode (if it has it). My TV does the same when in 'normal' mode regardless of the input.

    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    The real question is whether or not the voltage droops down to around 9ish volts when it is loaded. I think that the regulator in there is a 7805 - those things are pretty rugged so long as they can get rid of the excess heat.

     

    I would plug it back in and read the voltage from there. From that point, I would proceed to see if there is 5v coming from the regulator - just do it quickly in the event that it is a solid 20v... :)

  19. Posted

    Then the guy offering the services should consider NOT offering services if he's not prepared to deal with stupid people such as myself. There is nothing wrong with asking questions... especially if your considering throwing down a butt load of money to mod an obsolete handheld game system. I don't care if he's a master rocket scientist, anyone who feels the need to brag about it to try an gain customers on an ebay site is most likely and egomaniac... and based on this guys rude, cocky responses... I'd say he was. People like that won't get my business.

    Fair enough. I wouldn't want to do business with a cocky douche, either. My main point was that I can understand why the guy would at least want to add some credibility to help sell his services (but I suppose without proof it is worth about the same as Master Rocket Scientist), although being an electrician really doesn't equate to modding ability when it comes down to it...

  20. Posted

    To be fair, a master electrician is a level of certification and proclaiming to be a hobby enthusiast isn't particularly over-the-top. Not saying the guy wasn't rude (although your claim is rather vague), but as someone who finds himself on the receiving end of technical questions at work, I understand why guys who provide services like this may tire of inquiries that feel excessive. I'm glad I don't do work like that!

  24. Posted

     

    As in you have more than one of those monsters??!! That sir, is hardcore!!

    I was at the right place at the right time and wound up buying two at the same place rather than the one I had expected. I just relatively recently completed my Atari pinball collection when I picked up a Time 2000 machine. Most of the machines get bashed, but I like them. :)

  25. Posted

    I am looking forward to being there this year! My pesky sister had the audacity of getting married during MWGC last year, so I had to miss it for the first time since 2008. This year I will be dragging along a number of buddies, including three first-time attendees! I am going to have to start a shuttle service from my house at this rate!

     

    I am always jealous of you guys who bring your systems out every year - it really makes me wish I had a way to contribute! Maybe one of these years I can bring along one of my Hercules pinball machines... ;)

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