Pilsner73

*SOLD* JUST WANT TO SAY ADIOS YOU ATARI DEADBEATS. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A PARANOID FORUM IN MY LIFE. YOU ALL NEED TO GET A LIFE! ESPECIALLY YOU STARGUNNER. Let me be the first to say GOODBYE!

Wasn't it Rescue on Fractalus that needed more memory?

Yeah I just bought something off ebay (Atari rf cable the nice one) which was in excellent shape but it smelled of smoke. I opened the package and was like "ughhh" being a non smoker it caught me off guard. I never thought of asking about that and really for the price and the condition I'm willing to take sometime to get ride of the smell but I will now ask on larger items I'm considering.

PM sent

But does it come with some reeses pieces?

Just a quick update after talking to American Hakko a few times, they agreed something wasn't right and sent out a new fx-888 to replace the one I had that was making the loud noise. They also sent a ups call tag to send it back to them. The new fx-888 is much quieter, there is still a hum/noise but it's slight especially when compared to the fx-888 unit I first received.

This is how it worked initially. But we changed the behavior with a later BIOS update. Now you can directly select a game with the paddle. Really because I just bought my Harmony a few months ago brand new so I figure it has the latest bios.

I like the 800 for it's keyboard, sturdy build, 70s style, and that it was my first computer but to me the XL line is my preference. Things like easy access to the cartridge slot, decent build quality (especially compared to the XE lineup), and IMO great looks. The XL could of been a big improvement over the 400/800 but as others have said Atari didn't do as much as they could. What Atari could of done in 1982-83 to help the XL lineup 1) Built in 80 column support 1a) Update the graphics system (maybe a fat antic) with more modes and add some new things to compete with the c64 graphics. 3) Update the sound system (maybe stereo sound with dual pokeys at the least) 4) SIO bus was fine for current peripherals and they did add PBI but I think a new I/o connector that improves over SIO but without the size of the PBI connectors. 5) Models with built in numeric keypad. Personally I don't think these upgrades would change the price of the computer much at all and would have extended the life/usability of the machine for many years.

Then I will be very interested in one and rather see quality build over a few dollars of saving.

I'll probably buy one if it's compatible with an 800xl with RAmbo XL already installed. Quality build.

Thanks for the great description and pictures. With old power supplies we need a way to make sure they can put out the power the system requires and also handle a load for a good length of time.

You know that seems to fit the issue I'm having. I thought at first it was the old paddles I was using even though I cleaned them up not working right but when it's happening with new ones from Best with their new pot upgrade and it still did it but not as bad. So either both paddles are too jittery (doubtful since in games they seem pretty good) or like you said the paddle needs to be aligned just right. I'll give it a try next time I fire up the 2600.

So do you hook the light bulb to the 5v pin only or do you run a ground also? Then for the testing where do you have the multimeter probes hooked to?

This is how I am currently using the paddles and harmony meny system. I turn the paddle to get it to the menu item I wasn and then just press the fire button on that item and usually nothing happens or it works and goes into the next folder but then again nothing.

In addition to the 'XE Touch' replacement silicone cup upgrade you already have, Best Electronics also has a 65XE/130XE 'Mega Touch' keyboard spring upgrade for $9.95, part #CB101634, which is supposed to add additional firmness. I saw they sold it, I actually sent pics to Best Electronics in an email of my keyboard and asked what do they recommend and they came back with the XE touch product but no mention of the springs.

Just wanted to say thanks to Poobah for the hardware, hope those last two 8-bits find a good home.

As for my questions - I really want to use the 800xl as my main Atari 8-bit for games, apps, utils and such. Just want to make sure the Rambo XL is the best memory upgrade to have for it and I'll still be able to do most everything I want. Really like the keyboard, cartridge location, build quality and looks of it. As for the colors seeming a bit washed out, could it be as simple as opening it up and turning that video adjustment wheel/pot to fix? 130xe installed the Best XE Touch keyboard upgrade kit. This upgrade was pretty easy just took a bit of time getting all the new cups in place. Before this upgrade I loathed having to type on the XE keyboard with it's poor keyboard response and mush feel. Now I find the keyboard tolerable with better response and feel to the keys. I would recommend this upgrade to anyone who wants to use an XE but can't stand the keyboard. Does it take the XE into the same class as an 800, 1200xl or the better 600/800xl keyboards, no it doesn't but it does make it a lot better than stock. I did test out new versus old quickly by replacing a few keys and then putting the keyboard temporarily back together to see what difference was noticed and it was plain to see the upgraded keys were more firm with a postive response than the old ones.

I am having some problems being able to run my Harmony when I am using paddles as my main controller. I can go back and forth on the paddle to move the selection cursors but can't seem to get the fire button to always work to select a folder/game. I have tried two sets of paddles (one an old so-so set and the other new from Best with their pot upgrade) and both exhibt the same behavior. I can scroll down to menu items, press fire and nothing, then press fire again and still nothing. Is their a trick to using the paddles to navigate harmony menus? The paddles do work sometimes in the menu enough to get into a game that uses paddles, in the game they work fine with the fire button responding normally.

About bravo sierra if he really does hound people with repeated phone calls to give him stuff that they haven't even said they are willing to part with, that's a bit much and I rather not deal with someone who would do that. I thought he got his stuff by finding people who have no use for their Atari stuff and were going to just give it away or even throw it out. Question I see various people talking about getting shipping refunded from some dealers, is this for orders going outside the United States or something else?

I didn't know who this was and I know nothing of the background. However, I just checked out that website... sweet! Bravo Sierra forms an unfortunate pair of initial letters... I'd like to request that we keep this thread objective especially since the Atari reseller community is so small. As to Ben I see in other posts people didn't like him for spamming and possibly repeated contact of said people on the phone but others defended him. Let's try to keep this thread about business dealings with the person/company. I have never ordered from him so have no point of reference to go on and his website could be better but at least it's there and some of the other Atari dealer websites aren't Amazon/Ebay either. I like that he lists other Atari dealers on his website and though he may be stuck in the eighties aren't we all a bit? BTW - This thread looks like it could be a good resource for people to use to determine who they can buy from and what type or service to expect. order something from BS... i will even give you a 10 spot to order something if i have too... i am sure orpheuswaking would kick in too... then you decide about dealing with him... and please note, my issues with him were over me GIVING him stuff... not even buying... nuff said. sloopy. I am not saying you didn't have issues in fact I just want to keep the thread about the companies people do business with. I have seen in past threads some people seem to trash him from adverts for his company that he posted a lot to newsgroups.

I also would like to know how this works, i do remember seeing that the audio out gets routed through a different port afterwards.

I didn't know who this was and I know nothing of the background. However, I just checked out that website... sweet! Bravo Sierra forms an unfortunate pair of initial letters... I'd like to request that we keep this thread objective especially since the Atari reseller community is so small. As to Ben I see in other posts people didn't like him for spamming and possibly repeated contact of said people on the phone but others defended him. Let's try to keep this thread about business dealings with the person/company. I have never ordered from him so have no point of reference to go on and his website could be better but at least it's there and some of the other Atari dealer websites aren't Amazon/Ebay either. I like that he lists other Atari dealers on his website and though he may be stuck in the eighties aren't we all a bit? BTW - This thread looks like it could be a good resource for people to use to determine who they can buy from and what type or service to expect.

After being advised by more than a few users in a different thread that nothing beats hardware when I decided to get back into the Atari 8bit world, I got out my old Atari 800 and also picked up a 800xl (rambo xl), and stock 130xe. Atari 800 48k machine works fine. This machine is probably going to be boxed up and stored since it's in such good physical shape I'd like to keep it that way. Atari 130xe is stock and has motherboard revision B with 16 ram chips and everything soldered on. Currently no major plans to modify it internally other than the Best XE touch upgrade to the keyboard. I may change my mind about modifying but have read the motherboard on these machines don't take kindly to a novice with a soldering iron. I was pleasantly surprised what good shape the machine is in after all the years considering some posts I read about XE machines holding up. Atari 800xl with Rambo XL 256 (64+192k) internal upgrade. This machine is very nice and the extra ram upgrade tests fine. I would prefer to use this as my main 8bit Atari machine. The 130xe and regular 800 are closer to factory new appearance but the 800xl is my favorite because of the keyboard, cart port, build quality, design. Now I have a few questions about using this as my everyday 8-bit to run apps/utils and play games. 1) The video quality is flat compared to the Atari 800 and 130xe using a composite out monitor cable. I know there are "fixes" for this but is there an easy to do one that gives you the most bang for the buck? I read some of the 8-bit alchemist articles about it but not sure if all the work is worth it or if there is another way. Also I don't want to modify anything that would hurt the machines compatibility and future upgrade ability. 2) Rambo XL is nice to have the extra memory but is it the best memory upgrade in terms of compatibility with software and working with other upgrades?

Getting back into the Atari 8 bit computers and remember how their power supplies could cause many problems back in the day so would like to make sure I'm testing them correctly before any serious use of the computers. I do know to avoid the ingot version (3) of these. I am using this diagram for pinouts http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/section-17.html I have a radio shack auto-range digital multimeter (22-163) which I plugged the black probe into the -com and red probe into +v, i then leave it auto sensing and set for volts and the - with three dots under symbol (not the ~). So to test I would take the black probe to the ground pins (7,5,3) and red probe to to the +5v(6,4,1) pins to make sure each of them was at or very close to 5 volts. Correct? Now if the power supply is reading a steady 5 volts or so on those pins is there anything else to test (amps/ohms) and if so how does one test for that?

So antic access is more for XE software or does it affect XL and older stuff too? I don't mind it disabling Antic access if it's just a few demos made for the 130xe that won't work. To be more specific- with the ramboxl might I have issues and/or compatibility problems with any XL or 400/800 (that worked without the translator) software? Next question what XE software (is this what the freddy enables) in the XE won't run at all or just run like my 800xl is a 64k computer. I prefer to use the 800xl as the everyday do all computer for 8-bit apps, util and games. Also is there a memory upgrade for the XL line that is superior to the rambo xl for compatibility and function?