bcombee

I don't think so. Telelink I requires the 850 interface, and the XM301's driver is a bit different and not compatible. The modem shipped with XETerm software (http://www.atarimagazines.com/v4n11/XM301Modem.html)

According to the book "Software Authors Guide", Datamost was based in Chatsworth, California, and accepted submissions of games for possible publication. Their most popular title was Aztec. Dorsett Educational Systems was in Normand, Oklahoma and, according to A.N.A.L.O.G. #10 (from http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an10/reader.htm), they built this educational tape system in 1975 and got Atari to license it for their home computer release.

I've never seen mention of a trackball mode switch on the Accuball controller. I think like the Wico trackball, this is eight-direction digital only.

Groupon has the Flashback 4 with two wireless joysticks for $37 shipped right now; the deal is supposedly on for the next six days. This isn't that competitive versus some of the "Anniversary Edition" deals that include paddles for under $40, but if you've not seen that deal, it's pretty good. http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-atari-flashback-4-classic-game-console-3

I've had a few different LCD TVs. The first one, a 20" from eight years ago, wouldn't sync with anything but true video sources; even the Nintendo 64 gave it problems. My current big screen (a 2011 LG) seems pretty tolerant, but I've not actually tried the 2600 on it. I've got a game room setup with a 24" Sony WEGA Trinitron set that serves very well for the old systems.

That probably indicates that the computer was manufactured in the second week of 1981 which was around the time that production was switched to a 16k standard.

I just learned about this today... sheesh! I don't see any mention of AtariAge as a vendor, but it would be awesome if I was proven wrong.

I'd guess that the 7800 was one of the ones liquidated through Famous Brand Electronics, a group of outlet mall stores that Tandy (parent of Radio Shack) was running in the mid-90s. I got a 2600 Jr and games through one of those in late 1995 at the FBE in San Marcos, TX, but the 7800 packs had sold out there before I knew about it. See http://atariage.com/forums/topic/164557-atari-video-kit-from-famous-brand-electronics/ for another thread on them.

The hard glue isn't likely electrolyte, but instead a molding compound that's often used to hold caps in position during manufacturing and shipping. Usually, electrolyte looks more gray or brownish.

The Atari 7800 controller (CX78) has multiple buttons, They can be read as a group using the standard fire button trigger or read individually using the paddle inputs, IIRC. There also is the Omega Race booster controller, which added a fire button to the classic CX41 stick. This actually was electrically similar to the second fire button on the Colecovision controller so can be read the same way. See http://emu-docs.org/Atari%202600/Controllers/2600cont.html for details.

I think this is a factory change, probably done to improve board yield. Those orange parts are capacitors, and they look to be taking two of the DRAM signal lines to ground, probably as a way to reduce ringing and make the signals more reliable. The blue wire is from a test point to the power input on that chip, and maybe helps provide extra power needed after the PC board layout was found to not work as well as planned.

In general, those are "algorithmic" prices based on the lack of other listings for the book. Since the market is so illiquid for those books, there's not enough pricing information for the "bots" to do the right thing. Alas, both books I have are glue bound. I'm actually OK with the PILOT book being destroyed, but I kinda like the Star Ship one.

Looking on my shelf and at the Atarimania list, I have a copy of "Atari Pilot for Beginners" that needs to be scanned, I also have a neat book from Datamost that's called "Software Author's Guide" that's a listing of publishers and their submission guidelines that I've not seen online, and a few pre-Atari books, including one called "Star Ship Simulation" from 1978 that's a complete listing for a "Star Trek" type game along with lots of annotation and game theory.

If Frogger doesn't fit, it's possible that it's a C64 cartridge. The sizes are very similar, but the C64 had a wider PC board slot.

I'm thinking that #1 has the initials "BR" (or is it just "B").

I remember seeing these at the B&C Computervision booth at Classic Gaming Expo. Best Electronics has a page on them in their catalog too and their addendum still shows a few for sale - http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/addendum.htm. I don't know any history, but given the time, they were likely made to go with their office sales around the time of the Atari PCs or maybe to be sold at the Federated stores that Atari owned for a few years.

Sounds a bit like the network play later that's already built into many NES emulators. See http://www.zophar.net/nes/fce-ultra.html for one of the more popular examples.

The Atari BASIC book is online at http://www.atariarchives.org/basic/; Kevin was able to get permission to post it, maybe he could give you a contact to the authors to see about adapting it. It's based on the original TinyBASIC manuals due to the Bob Albrecht heritage.

Go to http://www.atariage.com/software_search.html?SystemID=2600 and do a search for games made by Atari and match it up yourself.

That thread mentions them borrowing patches, since they didn't have samples of that in their archives.

I think you're thinking of Ken Love and the Activision Anthology. See http://www.atariage....ate/#entry64056 for one of the threads on this, you can search the boards for more info.

Yeah... the 7800 hardware locks out access to the MARIA chip once TIA registers are accessed, so you can't have a 2600 game that uses the 7800 capabilities. In order to unlock those parts, you have to go through the on-board ROM which does the encrypted signature check on the game cartridge ROM.

There were a couple of CD compilations made back in the 90's for Supercharger owners called "Worship the Woodgrain" featuring as many of the 2K/4K ROMs as possible converted into audio files for loading. In some cases, games were modified to change code that would trigger the SC's built-in bankswitching logic too, IIRC. Some collectors might have this for sale. There's a 2008 thread with download links at http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/125293-worship-the-woodgrain-in-mp3-format-4-disks-2pg-track-list/

Growing up in Dalton, Georgia, I clearly remember getting 2600 games from K-Mart, Sears, Lionel Playworld, and Service Merchandise. I have some pretty clear memories of getting several of the US Games titles cheap at the Hills store in Ft. Oglethorpe, GA, and a bunch of Atari, Activision, & Imagic clearance titles from a bin in the aisle at the local Revco, including Riddle of the Spinx, Star Raiders, Earthworld, Fireworld, and Laser Blast. I also picked up some odd games from Kay-Bee, including Solaris, Tax Avoiders, and Basic Programming.

When I first started collecting, I had some great finds with Atari 2600 Glib at a yard sale for $2 and 2600 Crazy Climber at a Goodwill for $1.50. My best find in the wild was at the Dallas First Saturday Sale in 1996 when I bought a box with four or five sealed Myriad 6-in-1 NES cartridges (see http://www.gamesniped.com/2009/10/14/myriad-games-caltron-6-in-1-nintendo-nes/) for $30. I had no idea how valuable they were and traded two or three of them for semi-rare carts, but I still have one opened and one sealed.