Bill Lange

Note that it is the "Pinball Hall of Fame" and as such, it is around 90% pinball machines, from really old, to the newest ones (Jersey Jack's, Stern). It has one row of arcade machines, maybe a dozen or so. It does have the Atari Superman pinball machine. It might have the Atari Middle Earth pinball machine. It does not have the massive Atari Hercules pinball machine. Also in the same parking lot is a used video game store. I always stop in to see what Atari 8-bit carts they have in stock. Regards Bill

I took some pictures, but they are mostly of pinball machines, and none of the Safe game. Here is one of the place, my co worker playing Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons and my wife playing Haunted House. Bill

I was in Las Vegas last week and went to the Pinball Hall Of Fame. They had one there. It is the first time I had seen it, I made a mental note, but didn't actually play it. I was also there in January and they didn't have it yet, so it must be a new add to their collection. Bill

I've been to Richie Knucklez a few times when it was south of the Flemington circle. My wife and I showed up in the middle of the night once to watch George Luetz set the Q-bert record a few years back. I haven't been to the newer location (yet). Bill

I added a new blog post on an Ultima I ad. I also added a new retro photograph to the blog post. Regards, Bill

Thanks for the feedback. I'm traveling for work for a few weeks, but I'll get back at it when I return. Kindest Regards, Bill

As some of you already know, I started writing a blog about ads related to the Atari 8-bit home computers. Basically I want to create an index of print ads, as well as when and where they were published. It also give me a chance to flip through old magazines, research and write a little about our favorite hobby and to enjoy the art and content of the ads. If you are interested, you can find it here: http://atari8bitads.blogspot.com/ Hope you enjoy it. Bill

Here is an .atr with one Music Composer file, Row Row Row Your Boat, entered from the Music Composer manual. Boot your emulator with the Music Composer cartridge inserted and the .atr mounted in drive 1. From the main menu, R, D1:RRRYB.MUS, E, S, L. DOS_20S_Music_Composer_files.zip

Music Composer was a 1979 cartridge release by Atari. http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-music-composer_15784.html

I haven't been able to get any of these files working in Music Composer. I'll keep looking.

Does anyone have an .atr of Atari Music Composer music files? It doesn't matter what the music is. Regards, Bill

As some of you already know, I started writing a blog about ads related to the Atari 8-bit home computers. Basically, I want to create an index of ads, as well as when and where they were published. Why? For no other reason then it gives me a chance to flip through old magazines, research and write a little about our favorite hobby and to enjoy the art and content of the ads ... something I was doing anyway. If you are interested, you can find it here: http://atari8bitads.blogspot.com/ Hope you enjoy it. Bill

I enjoyed the Atari Telelink I and II episode. I really liked the Wargames snippets. I have both the Atari Communicator and the Atari Communicator II kits. I believe that the Tele-link II cart was only available in the Communicator II kit. In the Communicator II kit, there wasn't any box for the cart. It was simply inserted into the packing cardboard inside the box. Here is a pic from the web. If you haven't already seen it, check out Jason Scott's great BBS documentary. Regards, Bill

Bravo. Ditto. Resubscribing. Bill

I just emailed Brad to order one. I'll let you know how it works. Bill

I also 'fixed' mine last summer with conductive paint, but I'm not sure how long that will hold. The newly printed ones look really nice. Bill

Has anyone tried the new upgraded internal replacement Mylars for the Atari 1200XL keyboard from Best Electronics? Regards, Bill

I've been the last two years. It is a three day event with classes/talks all day on Friday. Exhibits take place on Sat and Sun. There are usually forty or so exhibits. Lots of big iron, and old UNIX boxes. And of course machines from the early 8-bit era as well: Apple, TRS-80, Commodore and Atari as well as others. The event takes place in some old drafty military buildings at a now defunct secret Army installation in Wall NJ. I takes place in the red-roofed building and the the white roofed building along the side and back of the first building. There is also two large tens out side with talks and such as well. There is also a small "consignment room" were a bunch of old stuff is sold. Bill

I'm not sure if I am going to exhibit this year either. I haven't signed up to (yet). I might just attend the sessions on Friday like the last couple of years and then visit the exhibits on Saturday. I just check the exhibit list and still no Atari exhibit. Bill

I'd leave the rare, expensive stuff at home. You set up your table on Saturday morning and break it down on Sunday evening. It is left out over Saturday night. You can stand in front of your table to keep people from messing with it, but some times, you want to walk around and look at the other exhibits. Don't bring more than you can keep track off. If you are going to bring carts, bring your duplicates. I had my software on a laptop hooked to my Atari 800 via SIO2PC. Bill

April 15-17, 2016 http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/

There were three or four Atari 8-bit exhibits last year. See here. I had an Atari 800 running Visicalc as one of the original Visicalc programmers was there. I even got his autograph on my copy of Visicalc for the Atari 8-bit. I also had an Atari 400 running Star Raiders. Flech had just about every Atari machine on display. And Redman was there with some modified Atari hardware. I haven't seen him on AA lately though. Also, see this thread. Bill

Is anyone planning on exhibiting at this years Vintage Computer Festival East 2016? We had good Atari representation last year, but I don't see any Atari exhibits on the list yet this year: http://www.vintagecomputerfederation.org/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-exhibits/ Regards, Bill

I can assure you that the 15" monitor covers that I purchased do indeed fit the 1702 with room to spare for the cables. See the photos above. I double checked my 12/2014 order and it was the 15" (17W x 15/11H x 13D) version of which I purchased two. I also do not see the 15" covers available on Amazon any longer. I have my equipment in the basement and it is never in the direct sunlight. Bill

I had fun earlier this year replacing the belts on one of my Atari 410 tape decks. I loaded up a cassette game (maybe SCRAM or Kingdom) to make sure it worked. I then put it back in the box and haven't taken it out again. Bill