Jump to content

svenski

Members
  • Posts

    1,538
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by svenski

  1. I can confirm that the chip offered on eBay by Galtron, that seems to be based around Robert's design, works great.
  2. Hi Josh, I'd try cleaning and lubricating the drive rails first.
  3. I'd go for the budget please - I'm not Chuck Norris enough to get away with wearing a cap.
  4. Brilliant I'll give this a go as will save me having to try and scan one.
  5. It may just need a clean and lube of the drive rails. Check if the head mechanism is moving. l’be had numerous drives where a quick clean has returned them to service.
  6. Hi, I've managed to find my second XC11 . The spring is tapered and by my rough calculations is around 1.3cm dia at its widest, and around 1.3cm high. The top coil is about 0.5cm wide. I've got a cap, so if I can work out how to scan it (will need to research an app for my iphone) and turn it into an STL I will do.
  7. I haven't got an XC11 opened up at the minute. The compression spring, if someone has one to hand, should just be a case of measuring outside diameter and length and getting one off ebay. Chinese sellers sell sets of these things very cheap. The cap is going to be harder to find but you just need something to keep the spring compressed to maintain the tension. If someone has a 3d print design for this or similar I can print one off.
  8. I would really like the VCS to be a success but I think Cebus' comments are probably closer to the money. Atari has actually lost money recently and they remain in the black simply because they've done some licensing, got an advance on potential court case wins, that sort of thing. Atari doesn't have the cash, doesn't have the cash flow, and certainly hasn't really been throwing the cash at it. Any mention of Walmart seems to have vanished, as has any mention of Amazon in Australia - when I looked anyway. This year will certainly be the year that makes or breaks the VCS. Kudos where it is deserved though, they saw the VCS through.
  9. I'm guessing that the Mexico produced units would have been toward the end of the line, so any corner that could be cut would have been cut by then. Might be wrong. Apart from that, B&C has always been pretty good with me. I wouldn't pay $200+ for a NOS 65XE though.
  10. Absolutely not, I never stated it did. However, your points above highlight why I believe certain A8 users are clueless when it comes to the C64. I am doing everything i can to learn about the architecture of the A8 and it's various enhancements and operation, it's obvious you haven't done the same regarding the C64 and here you are sprouting opinion like it's fact. They are both great machines, similar in many ways but approaching the issues of their ageing design differently. It's that simple. Erm... what were my points and opinions that I was sprouting as fact? Maybe I was a tad enthusiastic about FujiNet ? Just because you have the desire, time and or inclination to find out about the A8 doesn't mean that other people should do the same with the C64 or whatever else - that doesn't make them clueless. Is there a law that says I must learn everything I can about the C64 architecture, enhancements and operation? Is my doing that going to change the world? I bet you haven't taken the time to study the architecture, enhancements and operation of the Oric-1 , Oric Atmos and Dragon 32, or subscribed to the Airfix model club... but does that make you clueless ? It is that simple, so makes this whole thing mute really - and certainly no need to fall out over it.
  11. FujiNet is pretty awesome and I'd suggest that any Atari enthusiast that hasn't bought into this yet go out and buy one right away. It is actually very quick and easy to get running with the FujiNet but there is a lot under the hood that isn't necessarily obvious right off the bat. Some very talented people put a lot of time and pain into the project, and they continue to do so, and it really is a game-changing device. It is worth putting some time into using the device and playing around with it. Does that make these A8 users bad people? Many people will have had no interest in advancements made on the C64 or the Spectrum, or the Dragon 32... because they didn't or don't own one - not because they curse the Commodore logo every night before going to bed. How many C64 enthusiasts would be well versed in advancements for the the Atari 8-Bit? Probably not many, and does it matter? - Not really. Anyway, FujiNet rocks for anyone that is still on the fence. Support it and the guys behind it so that it can continue to develop. FujiNet isn't just about connecting to a BBS - you can do that with an SIO2PCUSB cable, notebook and Bobterm - or just go dialup! FujiNet is the biggest thing to hit the Atari 8-bit since the Atari 1050. I do not have shares in FujiNet.
  12. Given Rosen's other interests, some of which are retro related some of which obviously aren't, then we might see some positive traction but if the focus remains on Atari mobile and squeezing the last buck out of every free-to-play game then they may be in trouble. If this is a sign that Atari is going to focus primarily on games then that could be great news. It's not like they are short of a vast array of titles that could be reimagined, exclusively for a while, for the VCS.
  13. I don't know why this thread even started, we all know that the king of hill is the Oric-1.
  14. I'm not sure if Atari is keeping its powder dry at this point or if this is going to be as good as it gets. The VCS is still awaiting its retail rollout and I'm hoping that things do improve and that there is interest. Personally I'm not too interested in having a mini PC although having the option to run Windows on the thing is something that a lot of people have enjoyed. I think my VCS is great for what it is, having the Atari logo big-screen in the living room, the Fuji on the controller... there is a hint that everything could all be very magical. Will it be? Buggered if I know. If it is a dismal flop then there is PC mode, and the pretty cool Atari branded cardboard boxes.
  15. Unfortunately the time lost and damage done during the time Warner looked to offload Atari, and the eventual sale, was too much. Look at how quickly the C64 gained traction. When the C64 was first becoming a thing in the UK, everyone was pointing to the Atari as the machine to beat, even software houses that had never supported the A8. The success or lack of for the Atari platform doesn't mean it wasn't a great educational, business or games machine. It was all of those things. But, regardless, 16-bit machines were always going to have been around the corner. Unfortunately the US epoch ended with the Atari XL, which was when the European Epoch started, followed by the Eastern European Epoch. Just call me Epoch Powell. Those later epochs pushed the capabilities of the platform more. Looking at a C64 now, first time in my life, I haven't seen anything yet that has made me think wow... this is leaps better than an Atari 800XL. Maybe Atari should have done what Commodore did Vic-20/C64 and kill off the 400/800 and make a bigger leap with the XL series. But, like I said, I haven't seen anything yet on my C64 that blows my mind compared to what I can run on an Atari XL or even Atari 800. Let's not even talk about disk drives.
  16. The 1530 that I ordered that was supposedly tested was an improvement on the one that came with the C64C in that it found "Hero Quest". I got very excited but then nothing would load. A quick drive belt change and it is working fine now. Off to play ACE..
  17. I'd go with an 800XL personally, I just find them to be a better quality machine overall. The Mexico 65XEs were pretty much the end of the line so any corners Atari could cut would have been cut. If you want something new in box for collecting purposes then go for it.
  18. Thanks for the heads up. The Kung Fu arrived today and had a quick go with a couple of demos that came on the supplied card, so confirmed the C64C is working fine.
  19. I’ve ordered a Kung fu flash cart as a starting point. l replaced the main belt in the 1530 and tried another couple of tapes but it never finds anything and the tapes just play to the end. l did try a quick type in alignment program but that never did anything either- just the screen blanking when pressing play. I’m going to consider this 1530 as duff for now, and get a spare. Apart from that l’ve managed to restore most of the case color on the 64C and given it a good clean so it is looking a lot better. l’ve found a 1530 cheap that is supposedly tested but missing a lid. I will try that and then just swap the casing, but next stop an SD2lEC.
  20. Thank you very much guys, lm certainly going to invest in an SD device, now l know that this 64 is reasonably OK. I will have a play with the C2N as well but lm guessing from the state that everything was in that it has been in an attic or similar for years. I will try a blank tape etc.
  21. Update to this: The monitor OUT issue seems to have fixed itself, I'm guessing contacts weren't clean so I now get an even sharper image. I found this: 0 POKE54296,15:POKE54296,0:GOTO 0 as an example for a quick test, I get a continuous tone so I'm presuming sound is OK? I'm not getting any noise as I type - but not even sure if the C64 does that, and no sound when attempting to load the one tape - which I presume is faulty. I've cleaned the heads on the C2N.
  22. Hi guys, I did a terrible thing.. I bought a C64C. It was cheap, pretty dirty but came with a C2N and joystick so I thought let's give it a whirl. I purchased a SCART lead for it but when I connect to the TV the picture is there but out of sync, flickering, lots of background noise. I then tried a normal TV rf cable and get a pretty decent picture but no sound that I can tell. It came with one tape (Heroes Quest) - it goes through the motions of trying to load, I'm prompted to press play... screen goes blank... tape plays then runs out of tape. I'm not getting any loading noises but I'm presuming that there could be a sound issue. Does the C64 give you a noise everytime you type a key? Could someone give me a few pointers on where to start troubleshooting this? Thanks in advance
  23. Thanks for this, really helpful and appreciated. All the MT RAMs have been removed, so all new RAM. Sys-Check is one impressive tool - whilst on this XL I haven't been able to get far yet, Sys-Check at least allows the computer to boot - which shows that there is still hope.
  24. I just wanted to say great service from Jurgen. Ordered last Saturday, all confirmed by the next day. Arrived yesterday, Friday. Excellent. I have a tech question; I have an 800XL, Taiwan model. I thought that this was my original 800XL but it has been opened that many times and I now have so many I can't remember. Anyway, this does nothing, but chips are warming up so there is life. I swapped out RAM chips that were noticeably getting warm - MT chips. This made no difference. I tried swapping out a couple of other chips with known working onces such as Sally and PIA. No change. So Syscheck has arrived. Sys Check is reporting all RAM is bad. Not convinced by that but proceeded to swap out RAM - no change. Every RAM chip is reported as BAD. In the end I swapped the bottom most RAM chip again with a "new" RAM chip - same result. So I've done some tinkering with Syscheck. If I use SysCheck's internal 64K RAM and the OS on the Atari then I get a blue screen. It doesn't like using the RAM expansion and Atari OS though, I get nothing. So using 64K on the SysCheck and the Atari's OS I get a blue screen which then goes to the self test presumably because no keyboard is connected. Does anyone know what will be causing a total RAM failure or perceived total RAM failure?
  25. I must say Mr Robot that this looks freakin' awesome / mighty fine.
×
×
  • Create New...