Daze

The power transformer cost $9.99. Here's the link in case someone else may find it useful: http://www.dinodirect.com/AC-Electricity-Voltage-up-Transformer-Converter-Adapter-50W.html By the way, what is B&C? And how much would have a new transformer cost? I think I did a search on eBay and couldn't find any easily. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.

Just placed an order for a voltage convertor and an RCA to BNC adapter. I'll post an update when I get them. Though I own no cartridges so I guess I'll have to buy an SIO2PC/USB cable. Unless someone wants to donate any unused cartridges.

Well, I'm a little dead out of the water. The power supply is a 220V! I guess I now have to look for a 110V power supply or a voltage convertor. Oh well, vintage computing isn't for everyone but I'll have to persevere. It just bugs me that I can't play with it right now.

Hi folks, So my wife was able to get me an Atari 800 XL from her brother who had it stored in his attic for years. It is the PAL version which was bought in the Middle East in the 1980's. It is rather dusty and dirty from years of neglect but does come in its factory box (though torn a bit). I haven't connected it or done anything to see if it works. But considering that we're in North America, I am not sure how useful this computer will be without a corresponding PAL monitor or TV. I should check and see what input voltage the power adapter takes as electronics items bought in the Middle East were of both varieties, i.e. 110V or 220V. But I was wondering... How do I hook this up to my TV? I don't mind buying a convertor for it as long as it is not too crazily expensive. Comments?

Same palette bug occurs with Atari800. Seems to be an SDL related full-screen bug with Windows 7. This also seems to occur with DOSBOX as well, which uses SDL too. Only option so far is to use Altirra which works fine in any display mode. Hopefully, SDL will be fixed at some point. Hope that helps.

I would pick up a cable such as this, but since I have ordered a monitor to composite output cable from eBay, I'll wait for it to come by. Thank you everyone for clearing this up!

Hi guys, I just got a 1040STFM that was donated to me but without any cables, disks, or even a mouse. So I was hoping to find out if someone would be willing to sell me or donate an ST mouse for a reasonable price (incl. shipping and handling). The ones I found on eBay are quite expensive and with the shipping, they are completely off the charts. Please let me know. Thanks much. PS: I am located in Toronto, Canada.

For the mouse, what about something like this? Granted, it is a bit expensive. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 330417261287 Thanks.

Rybags, The antenna input on my TV is a coaxial type connector and I only had an RCA to RCA cable lying around. But I assume there are RCA to Coax connector cables available somewhere? Also, since the machine came with no cables whatsoever and not even a mouse, how do I connect one to it? Is the ST connector for the mouse standard serial? I did see some very expensive USB to whatever the ST uses converters on eBay. Thanks guys for your help so far.

Hi guys, I just got an Atari 1040STFM. It does have a TV OUT port at the back with a channel selection (labeled as H and L). I hooked the TV OUT port (which is just an RCA connector) to my TV's video input, but I get no video at all. I changed the channel selectors but no luck. I have a newer TV, so I am not sure if that is the problem. Any ideas? I am absolutely dying to get this thing working. As an side: While I had an Atari 800 XL while growing up, this computer was donated to me so I couldn't say no. I kind of would love to collect any Atari computers I can get my grubby hands on. If anyone wants to do, give me a shout. Thanks.

Are you already aware that the Capital of The Netherlands is AMSTERDAM and not The Hague??? That program teached you the opposit, and that is wrong. Hmm... I wish I could remember what it taught. But I think you're right about this. I was in grade 8 at the time, and I was quite smart knowing all of my European capitals even if my knowledge wasn't 100% correct. In other news, I was not able to get my hands on any Atari hardware yet. What is a reasonable price for the computer + a disk drive and maybe a cassette player? Thanks, Daze

This made me chuckle. Thanks for injecting a bit of humour here! Daze

According to my wife, my brother-in-law has an Atari 800 XL PAL version stored away (even has a box). When my wife goes back to visit her family, maybe she can steal it for me. Though I may not be able to use it here on NTSC gear. He also has an MSX. Possibilities!

Interesting. Thanks! Daze

So you're suggesting that an unmodified 800XL (that does not include chrominance signal) display is adequate to start with? Did the Atari come with the 5 pin monitor cable? Thanks, Daze

Hi everyone, I have to say -- what a vast resource of information here on the Atari computer and console world. Just to give you an idea of my involvement with Atari... Way back when we lived overseas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, my father bought me this wonderful toy -- an Atari 800 XL computer and an Atari 1010 tape drive. I had an assortment of cartridges for playing games such as Pac Man, Asteroids, Super Cobra, River Raid, Past Finder, the Dreadnought Factor, and a few others. I also had many of those cassette based tutorials that taught you things like the capitals of Europe, how to speed read, etc. I programmed in BASIC because my father didn't like me playing games on it all the time. This was good for me, because I did something productive for a change. I didn't realize that just learning BASIC would be so integral to my development and who I was. I loved computers then, and this continues to this very day. I now work in the IT industry and graduated with a degree in Systems Development. Anyhow, I have so many fond memories of the Atari that I decided to pick one up just so that I'd have it present in my life as something tangible, and maybe someday to show my kids. If you're curious what happened to my original Atari, well, my father decided to throw it away with all the cartridges, and cassettes and everything else when we moved to Toronto in the mid-90's. It pains me to this very day that he did that. Oh well. And I do have a question. I am trying to pick up an Atari 800XL with a disk drive. I have an HD TV at home, and it has all sorts of video input options. I know it has S-Video, Composite, HDMI, DVI, VGA, and regular RCA as well. Do I need any special cables to hook it up to the TV? I have read some postings on the Super Video mods, and have also learned that some later models of the 800XL did have the proper chroma/luminescence outputs for S-Video to work. How do I check this on the Craig's List posting for the machine I am trying to buy? Would it be good to get him to go into BASIC and see if it says Rev C? Even if it is not the right rev, I have no qualms about making the Super Video mod myself. I'm handy with electronics while not super smooth in using a soldier iron -- I could do it if I knew what parts to buy from Digikey or some other online retailer. At some point, it would be nice to get an SIO2SD cable. But that's jumping far too ahead. Anyhow, good to be part of the community again. PS: In my spare time, I am trying to implement a basic 6502 instruction set emulator/interpreter/decoder in Ruby for purely educational reasons. Hope to release it in to the wild if I could ever get the time to work on it and finish it.