1979 800

[1979 800]

On 3/11/2020 at 11:32 AM, mytek said:

The Germans used it as a rocket fuel for the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet Rocket Plane...

 

Nice demo (about 42 minutes in) of the use of H2O2 in rocketry:

 

This was done in the V2 and its descendants, the US Redstone (Mercury) and the Russian R-7 (Sputnik, Vostok, Soyuz).

 

If you watch the whole video you'll see actual V2 parts, recovered from impact sites and chicken farms.

[PRANTIC]

Here it is. Have no way to test it now, but I was careful not to change code, just comments.

 

Labels starting with L correspond roughly to line numbers in the BASIC code above.

 

PRANTIC.SRC.txt

[PRANTIC]

I'm comparing the printed, commented listing with the RPRANTIC.SRC.txt file above. The printed version used 480 printer dots per line, not ideal for Atari's 320 pixels. The SRC file uses 640 dots, and is likely the version which made the image printouts above. I'm in the process of typing the comments into the SRC file and verifying the code. I'll post it when finished.

[Atari 822 Technical Reference?]

@jeffpiep

Not sure I understand the proposed architecture. Like this?

- PRANTIC 6502 code captures graphics and sends over SIO in some format.

- ESP32 receives over SIO and converts graphics into EPSON codes.

- EPSON emulator converts codes to PNG file.

 

If that's what you have in mind, then half of what PRANTIC does now would run in the Atari and half in the ESP32?

[Very Early Digital Photography]

There were magazine articles about making a digital camera from a decapped RAM chip (ceramic chip with metal cap removed) that was photo sensitive.

[Atari 822 Technical Reference?]

You're welcome to use any of this code for Epson graphics:

 

[What do you think is the best/ugliest looking 80s computer?]

On 3/27/2020 at 11:31 AM, krslam said:

I always liked the sleek look of the Commodore 8032SK, the so-called porsche design:

 

and the similar B128:

The prototype PET had a similar rounded design which did not survive to production.

[Old 800 memories]

Which article was that?

 

Sure, I'll help.

[New old 800 treasures/horrors]

That 256K board might be a David Byrd upgrade.

[Old 800 memories]

Looks like that 74HC373 latch has 6 output bits wired, so it's probably 64 banks of 16K.

[What, In Your Opinion, Is the Best Computer Game of the 1980s?]

The 2600 version is a far cry from the original, which, in 1980, was more spectacular than even arcade games.

[1979 800]

Cut a cross with a sharp razor blade over each screw hole so you can cover the screws again later.

 

I bought a RAMCRAM for my 400 in 1981. Later I got another one and upgraded it to 128K for my 800. 

 

[Did you start out on a TI programmable calculator?]

Cool JS emulators for the TI-57, TI-55, and TI-42 MBA:
https://www.pcjs.org/blog/2017/11/05/

[1979 800]

The truth is out there.

[Help w/ 800XL and 600XL]

Yep, but as Rybags said, ANTIC refreshes in about half that time.

 

 

[Help w/ 800XL and 600XL]

41xxx was a standard part number for bit-wide dynamic RAM. Some manufacturers used 42 or 81 or other numbers. Some had extra features that Ataris didn't need.

 

The xxx gives the size in K bits:

4116: 16 Kb

4164: 64 Kb

41256: 256 Kb

 

All these came in 16-pin DIPs with 13 pins compatible, making upgrades fairly easy.

[1979 800]

Peroxide was not abandoned in rocketry. The Soyuz rocket, for one, still uses it.

 

The Komet was abandoned for rather larger reasons!

[800XL 1mb upgrade]

I agree the OP should install a 1MB (megabyte) upgrade. That's a whole lot more memory than 1mb (millibit)!

[Calling All 800s!]

This will be #4 on the list. Looks like it was almost a 948!

 

More here: 

 

[cassette-only games, recommendations?]

On 3/2/2020 at 4:08 AM, slx said:

All programs that used the cassette audio to present something. Invitation to Programming, Language Courses, and maybe SCRAM. 

Right. PDI educational titles made much use of this. Search Atarimania for PDI.

 

When I worked there I had a tour of the tape duplicator's factory. I recall a large spool of tape with many copies of the master duped at high speed. There was a special audio cutting signal marker in between each copy for the machine that fed the cassettes.

 

Also I sat in on a recording session with a professional voice actor who happened to be my sister.

[1979 800]

My 949 came with 8K RAM boards which were upgraded to 16K professionally two years later.

 

[48K 400 on Craigslist]

10 hours ago, SoulBuster said:

I bought this unit.  It does work well, but does not have the 48k upgrade.

Did you open it? Maybe it has the upgrade but isn't wired correctly.

[Part of keyboard not working]

More logic maybe to support the XE mode of ANTIC and CPU back switching?

[Part of keyboard not working]

On 3/4/2020 at 3:14 PM, xrbrevin said:

...looks like it has a rambo 256k mod fitted 🙂

Not RAMbo. Too many chips!

[Just got Two Timex Sinclair 1000s, and I have questions]

I haven't looked at specific instructions in a while but I think it applies equally to ZX81 and TS1000. In the TS you replace the 2K RAM chip with a socket, cut a few traces, and add a few wires. Any 32K by 8 bit static RAM should work. Their part numbers end in 256 (number of Kbits). I have a bunch of them which were cache RAMs on '486 motherboards but they have narrow packages and won't quite fit the wider socket.