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bbking67

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Posts posted by bbking67

  4. Posted

    Thanks for posting the video Kevin, I look forward to seeing the others (eventually). I remember seeing these things in Analog and Antic and thought about buying one but never pulled the trigger. The Covox Voice Master is the one that I remember best...

     

    I guess that's the problem with these things... what are they good for in practical terms? It's really more of a tech demo than something useful. I guess the same can be said for SAM.

     

    I have a friend who dug out some old PC based Covox stuff (Speech thing, Disney SoundSource) from a few years later... I'm assuming that's what the original Covox evolved into.

  6. Posted

    Not sure if anyone saw this, but apparently Atari's trackball was copied when they designed the first Apple mouse...

     

    http://9to5mac.com/2014/08/18/how-the-atari-arcade-system-inspired-the-original-apple-mouse/

     

    I had read that Woz designed the Apple mouse, but here another engineer is taking credit for the design. Maybe Woz just improved the design and reduced the number of chips required (the story was that Woz was responsible for bringing the power requirements down).

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    Mine has the solid end panels... maybe that's why my memory fried... I ran a BBS, so it was 24x7. When my MIO died I actually bought another one so I could keep going... I eventually sold that one to the NCAUG Atari group (Ottawa Canada users group) to run their BBS. The port is there... I recall that the other unit I had did not have the port (I'm assuming it had the perforated sides, but I can't remember). Mine was bought June 11, 1987, so I would think that it was manufactured early in 2007. The unit was abnnounced at the Winter Consumer Electronics show in January and released shortly thereafter, so my guess is that only the very first run still had the port.

     

    In the original Antic article from April 1987, you can see the unit with the video port intact (its the one closest to the front of the case right beside the DB9 for RS232.)

     

    http://www.atarimagazines.com/v5n12/ICD.html

    https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.sys.atari.8bit/MCqBahoXOjw

  11. Posted · Edited by bbking67

    I think it drives a composite monitor - mono, for sure.

     

     

    I just pulled out my MIO and it has a DB9 for the Video (mine is populated--I think some later productions might not be). Thing is, a DB9 seems like overkill for composite, so that's why I always thought it might be TTL or even RGB.

     

    Funny, I took out the MIO just now to look at the port... my original receipt dated June 11, 1987 was in there and I paid $300 for the MIO (I'm in canada and prices are higher here). Then there was a torn customs slip from a repair I had done a couple of years later than cost me $164.95.

  12. Posted

    agreed I think that's why I lost interest, everything the show tries to make "gee willikers" is about 5 years late to the game, OR they are making it out way harder than it was for a company to accomplish, add in the over the top soap opera drama ...

     

    needs a greybeard to smack some reality in their story heh

     

    if one craves good propaganda, drama and 100% reality please watch

     

     

    target was to release the Rainbow 100, a high res (1280x1024 mono i think like xerox?) workstation PC IN 1982, unlike this show which is still treating computer development like it was 1972.

    Basically its Mad Men set in Texas during the early PC era... I think they are doing a good job with the show... not exactly technically accurate, but they have to make a show of it.

  15. Posted

    i had heard that the Multi I/O was originally supposed to ship with a video port. I'm not sure if that meant a monochrome composite style port like the XEP80, and RGB like the ST or a TTL like the IBM, but I'm pretty certain it was originally going to include video--specifically 80 column video of some sort. I'm assuming getting rid of the feature was cost cutting measure as well.

     

    Does anyone have additional information about the video port? Did any prototypes get released with video?

     

    Personally I always wanted a high quality 80 column capability for the 800XL... I did buy the XEP80 (and it was okay, not great but did work), but would have love a parallel bus 80 column adapter.

     

    Here is the quote from the manual:

    80 Column Video Interface

    The MIO has a video port on its front left side. This is for use with an optional 80 column adapter which plugs on top of the MIO circuit board. The pin assignments are listed in the 80 Column Adapter Users Manual.

    I'm assuming that the adapter never got made?

  17. Posted

    My first original Atari was an 800XL and I have an 800XL that I've had in my possession since the 80's... I don't know if it's my original one though. It certainly could be, but it's a bit too pristine. I think I have my 130XE purchased ion 1986, but i have three. One is not working and looks pretty nasty (yellowed). I suspect that's the original one.

     

    I have a Multi I/O, but again I can't say if it's my original bought in the 80's as I have owned several. I have my original box from ICD (plain white nothing fancy). my original Indus GT disappeared... possibly lost in a flood. I have several 1050's I acquired in my teens...

  18. Posted

     

    I'd forgotten about this one. Nicely done trivia game with some personality. There are a few things I don't like though. For instance it doesn't show the correct answer when you miss a question. It just lets you know you're wrong and moves along. This should be a basic requirement. How can anybody learn and progress if they're not corrected? Nevertheless one of the best trivia games on the Atari.

     

    I like the Atari version of Trivial Pursuit too. They did a pretty nice job on it. The questions can get pretty difficult, even frustrating. But that's Trivial Pursuit; it makes you think and even learn. Can't fault it for that. That guy with the long nose is kind of weird though. Where in the world did they come up with that idea? Luckily you can turn him off.

     

    I think the reason that Trivia Quest doesn't show you the correct answer is that the game has a fairly limited database of questions, so this kind of extends the re-playability of the game. The questions do repeat fairly quickly. I never thought is detracted from the game (and I played it a lot with friends). It always went over well. As for Trivial Pursuit, in the day I never actually knew it existed! Looks like a PAL release... but for a major Canadian board game you'd think a Canadian Atari fanatic would have been all over it, but it was not the case. I'll have to try it out!

  19. Posted · Edited by bbking67

    ICD needed to make the case fairly easy to open as it was also used for the R-Time8 cartridge, which requires replacement of the battery occasionally.

     

    I remember buying ROM updates from ICD a couple of times... they just sent the pre-programmed chip for $15 (IIRC). The RTime8 was a bit annoying... instead of having a battery socket for the button battery, the battery is welded in. I just hacked mine out and held it in with electrical tape... one day I really need to put a proper battery holder in there. So yes they are made to take apart...

  20. Posted

    I always go with the same favorites it seems, but for me the funnest party games are:

     

    Wizard of Wor

    Lords of Conquest

    MULE

    Bacterion (a rip off clone from Analog Magazine--its awesome)

    Hard Ball!

    Ballblazer (of course)

     

    Honorable mention to Trivia Quest--a great fun game, but I expect the Trivia content to be a bit dated. Loads of fun though and great graphics and sound for what it is.

  21. Posted

    SRAM would be a better solution, put 1MB right on the motherboard. No worrying about refresh and all that. Wasn't there a mock up floating around somewhere of a A8 motherboard in a SF351 ST Floppy case?

     

    Okay, SRAM is fine so long as it is removable...

  22. Posted · Edited by bbking67

    Yup just provide sockets for some 30 pin SIMMs (DRAM) and sockets for the various components--BIOS, ANTIC, POKEY, CPU, etc.

     

    A cartridge/PBI extender would be useful to give them access to the backplate along with the video and other bits. I'd stick with a strictly retro motherboard... maybe room for tons of memory though. 30 pin SIMMs are easy to get and the right general speed and type of memory.

     

    My idea would be to keep it pretty retro... nothing too outlandish--almost something that could have existed in 1984. Not Orwell's 1984 mind you, but the actual one.

  23. Posted

    You are getting 850 Express and 1030 Express mixed up with BBS Express. Basically BBS Express had an initial version simply called BBS Express, and then there was BBS Express Pro, a complete rewrite.

     

    The 850 and 1030 express programs were great terminal programs (probably the best out there at least until Bobterm came along). they were easily the most popular when I ran a BBS--almost all callers used some version of Express (terminal program). I think MPP users often used other stuff (though it seems they may have eventually gotten express too).

  25. Posted

    The show is really probably more about Compaq than any other company. Moreover its about the Texas computing scene (silicon prairie). Some elements remind me of the old Hyperion luggables, which pre-dated the Compaq... however Hyperion was Canadian and the show's premise is of a Texas-based company. I guess the fictional backdrop is the entire industry as it existed in the early PC era.

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