Pilsner73

Latest update got both the 800xl with Rambo XL (256k total I think) and 130xe (stock). Cleaned both up some and tested seem to work ok. So I have done some reading and confused about the Rambo xl upgrade and compatibility. What reading I have done say's it can have issues and doesn't allow Antic access. Is this something to worry about and what if any issues/incompatiblities might I run into with software...

Just want to add I would of bought a 7800 if there was a Harmony cart for it. Instead went and found a heavy sixer.

Great product, glad I bought it.

Good to deal with, items as described and packed well.

Just want to say bought a few items and Poobah was great to work with, merchandise as described. Would buy again.

I think Candle qualifiers as an add-on vendor... He is a nice person. I purchased one item which I'm waiting for (vbxe) I think what he does for the community is great! My favorite as already mention is AtariMax. Now, I had very few problems in ebay. most of them ok, but I can qualify them as good vendor either, since some of the stuff I received was not always in the best shape I have also dealt with B & C. I like them... the guy is always very busy but is a good place to find some parts. As far as Best Electronics, I bought a few things from him and it has been always fine. However, Best Electronics while trying to be helpful, at times turned out to be "delicate" if I can say it... I mean that he would tell me that the people in the "warehouse" were mad because I was asking for too many quotes so I had been banned for 3 months and things like that. So I decided not to buy from him anymore. At first, I was a bit worry but it turned out that I can find everything without needed best electroncis. Now, to be str8 , the guy was helpful but a bit prima donna. I'm sure lots of people buy from him, but I never found myself to be wrong to ask for prices when ordering more than 400 dollars. I needed to be sure. Now, his catalog is great. Anyways, most of the dealer have their plusses and minus and I'm glad we have different ones to choose from Not sure why Best would ban anyone just for asking for items/prices since the way the Best website is setup is for users to email/call in to see what's available and for how much. I could see them stating that unless the request was serious they weren't going to take the time for another quote. Now I'm not doubting your story just odd to ban someone.

I have bought from Atarimax, Best, B&C and of course various ebay and forum sales. Overall all of them have been good to work with with some being better on prompt shipping and others on communicating.

Well then that changes things, sucks someone is probably going to get ripped off by the seller. Not to mention the shipping charges that are inflated about 80% 10 Kg (22 lbs) domestically is 20-something dollars and to the US is 30-something. True but I'm just wondering is it possible the seller knows he could be asked for a refund full/partial on the item when it doesn't work which he will grudgingly give to the buyer but refuse to refund any shipping chages? Just a wild guess.

Both the Kijiji ad and the Ebay auction went up the same day. I confronted them saying that if they plugged it in and it wouldnt power up wasnt this a "test" albeit a failed test and therefore isnt the Ebay auction description innaccurate or even deceptive? Reply was something like "thanks for advising me that someone stole my picture off ebay and put it up on a fake ad on Kijiji." then the ad on kijiji immediately was removed. Yeah right! Well then that changes things, sucks someone is probably going to get ripped off by the seller.

Usually people selling items like that who claim they don't have a working display to test state something like "Power light comes on but no display to test fully". It does seem odd an Amiga 500 shows up on ebay with the same exact pictures and location of seller but different description. Now maybe the seller realized how to at least check if the computer has power but doesn't know how to hook the unit up to a display with composite video. My suggestion to anyone interested is as the seller if they have power tested the unit and if so then ask them why they haven't tried hooking it up to a display since it sounds like all the cables are there.

Hey, thanks! The thought hadn't occurred to me. I recall that now that you said it - been a long time since I bought one new. AX I hope they honor the cable warranty without any proof of original purchase because it seems like getting the seller to give a partial refund is going to be a bit of work. Still if the cable was said to be good and was bad when you tested it the seller doesn't deserve favorable feedback.

Just a quick update. Hakko called me yesterday but I was shoveling snow so by the time I got the message it was too late in the day to talk to them. Trying to see if there is a way to make sure the unit is OK without having to send it in. I can live with the noise as long as I know it's not an indication of a real issue.

To save yourself some trouble you may want to just call/email Monster and ask them if they will fix the cable (lifetime warranty).

I feel the same way but since they don't know if the unit is at issue they want it back to determine that. I asked to speak to someone to go over it before doing anything else and they agreed. Yeah if I have to send it back and pay 15-20 bucks shipping cost I am probably going to just return it and be done with it and order a Weller from Amazon or somewhere. But again I'm not even sure what I'm hearing is an issue or just the way it is. I am going to try plugging it in elsewhere and see what happens.

It's 32 OS versions in 1 chip. Got www.atarimax.com and check out the page for more information.

Thanks for the responses. I contacted Hakko to see if this is normal or not and they want me to send back this unit to them to determine if it's bad or not. I rather not pay to ship something back that may be fine especially since I just got it from Hakko direct two days ago.

Have a question about my Hakko fx-888 that I hope someone can answer. I plugged it in and turned it on and it works but notice the station unit makes noise, kind of like an electric hum, is this normal for soldering stations?

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Sounds like you are saying a lot of programming/hardware changes which seems like more work than it's worth and probably over my head. The 800 with the same cable works ok on an LG and older Sharp lcd so I think it's just like you said new tech not working well with old tech.

Scart cable? Quick google shows my TV doesn't have a scart port but the cable I used was the Best Electronics Atari 8-bit monitor cable which plugs in the Atari 8-bit monitor port and has four outputs - composite, chroma, luma, and mono audio. I am in the United States (ntsc) seems like Scart is used more in Europe?

Got my Atari 800 48k (factory so I believe it has the gtia chip) going a few days ago with a Best Electronics atari 8-bit color video cable (sound, comp, chroma,luma) On my LG lcd it works pretty nice, on my 46" inch Sharp d64u it's ok but on my lc60e88un the display looks ok for a second and then looks horrible with lines/flashing. I believe this computer looked ok doing rf with the coax mod on the same tv though tried it only once. I did some searches and this could be interlace issue with the tv and the Atari 8-bit. I tried it through my vcr (vcr to receiver (svideo) then receiver to tv component. This looks better but has what looks to be interference rolling up the page. So do you think it's a tv interlace issue? What other things can I try to get the display to go straight to the tv be it a different video output connection (chroma or luma), different cable type, video mod, tv setting? Want to understand this issue better and what if anything can be done to fix or work around it. Also would trying a different 8-bit help?

The 32 in 1 and VBXE are both interesting. Yeah I see they have a few wireless routing adapters and hubs that probably would work but seem a bit costly. I am thinking more something like what wireless mouse/keyboards have with a device transmitting and a receiver plugged into the usb port of the computer to receive. Doesn't need to be whole house but maybe 10-15' away at maximum. What I'm thinking of is a wireless usb receiver plugged into my laptop, wireless transmitter plugged into sio2pcusb (either directly or with adapter for type b to type a). But so far my google searches more end up showing wireless networking devices or somewhat pricey wireless hubs.

You might want to check with Best electronics and/or B&C computer though prices are probably what the machines cost in 1992.

Thanks to everyone and the help so far. I got my 800 up and running with a sio2pcusb and a composite video cable for it's display. Played some games, loaded dos and a few other things. Awesome little device/software, the sio2pc memory card version probably is pretty nice for people who don't have/want a pc near. Actually has anyone tried to use the sio2pc with a wireless USB extender? I plan to acquire some new 8 bit computers (130xe stock, 800xl rambo) in the near future. Any suggested upgrades/changes for these? I am thinking another composite monitor cable and possible a 130xe keyboard upgrade but I know there are other cool upgrades out there also.

First thanks to the everyone who is offering to help. First I'd like to make it known I have no complaints about the Harmony Cart just would like to use it with my LCD displays and saw other threads where people suggested adjusting certain picture settings and effects on the TV for a better menu display. I already tested a CRT display and saw the menu was better but looking to use my 2600 on my LCD sets. I even saw a youtube video where the menu looks good on what appears to be a Vizio lcd set but maybe they modded the video out of the 2600. unless that's a crt kind of dark to tell. Mine looks more like the following video with lines missing from the menu selections but maybe not as bad As for modding my 2600 video I really like to keep my heavy sixer stock and probably selling my light sixer. I find the Harmony a great product and happy with it overall.