MAC-42
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Posts posted by MAC-42
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I got sick and tired of my joystick not working correctly so I took out the dome contacts and installed microswitches inside. The stick feels like it works a lot better now. This has worked well enough that I think I'm going to modify the rest of my joysticks for this. Has anybody else done this before? And if so what results did you find?
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For my part, I would advise against buying any 5200 without first knowing that the sticks are functional. If "they haven't been tested," treat them as though they don't work. For that matter, don't buy any 5200 that "hasn't been tested." That's just a pet peeve of mine. How much effort does it take to plug the doggone thing in and run it? Good grief.
Finally, just watch the price you pay for one. There are people who think they can really scalp 5200s; in my experience, and according to others, you can get them very reasonably if you keep your eyes peeled. (Also, definitely put up a Wanted listing in the Marketplace forum here. The people here are pretty good folks and will treat you pretty fairly.)
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I'll second this question. My 5200 has its pink plastic over the metal band and I'd like to remove it. Left up to me, I'd toss the thing; I'm curious if, in the event that I ever have to sell the unit, I might be able to squeeze another $0.85 out of somebody because it's still there. (I'm becoming more and more like my dad as the years pass.
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I too think this machine was wayyyy underrated.
Yup, learning this with each play. I'm on my first 5200 here, and it really is quite something. I grew up with a 2600 and 7800 and had the time of my little life with them. And I really never wanted a 5200 when I got back into buying these old systems again--thought my XEGS would cover me for 8-bit gaming. Glad that the whim to buy it came over me, because it's...different somehow. Really good stuff.
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Goodness, Seethransom, that's pretty terrible. At least it worked, I guess. Have you been able to get it cleaned up satisfactorily? Sounds like yours is a 4-port, correct? It would have been a real pain in the posterior had that switchbox not been there.
Mine arrived recently as you know. Paid $41 total on eBay for it, which came with three sticks, a coupler, and three common games. The thing was in pretty nice shape. Needs a little embedded dust cleaned out of it in places, but that's hardly the worst thing in the world. The worst parts were the broken boot on one of the sticks--which was clear in the picture--and the mucked up front sticker on the Pac-Man cart--again, no surprise there. I think my power cable has a break inside, so that's a small detail. And, as I mentioned to you in the status updates, two of the three sticks don't work. (Not entirely unexpected, so I wasn't disappointed. Gonna buy new flexies for them, which should bring them back to life.) The most amazing thing of all was how well the stuff was packed. Each piece was packed so well and then fitted to the next one in such a way that they could have survived the Apocalypse, Ragnarok, and a disappointing match at Wembley Stadium. It took me a half hour to unpack, I kid you not. Oddly, that was perhaps the most gratifying part of this whole thing. A bit like archaeology, maybe.
Anyway. Good to hear that your baby is at least alive. And it was good to hear that you've corrected your friend there as to its fun factor.
My six-year-old daughter loves the thing, as does my wife. Her family didn't have a lot of money growing up and, besides, didn't believe in video games; all these old machines I have are all new for her, so she really enjoys them.PS, I think AtariBrian is, in the main, correct. I took a small gamble with mine that the inability to start games described in the auction wasn't internal and it paid off. If I weren't a gambling man caught in a moment of whimsey, however, the Marketplace would have been the better way to go.
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I just picked up a 4-controller 5200 with three joysticks, a dual-joystick holder, and three games--simple common stuff, Pac-Man etc.--for about $40 shipped on eBay. The seller said (and the pictures show) that the unit powers up and games load, but that he could not start them. I took a gamble that it was just the buttons on the sticks that were broken and hope to make some repairs with a little help from Best. I have no practical experience with the 5200, so I'm wondering how I did. Any thoughts?
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Just what it says on the tin, really. I'm restoring a VIC-20 for a friend of mine and got burned on an eBay purchase of said item. Anybody around here have something like this laying around?
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Could a smell possibly indicate a blown capacitor? Never had that happen (knock on my wood block head) so I don't know if there would be a smell, but just throwing that out there in case the simple faults don't pan out.
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Congratulations on your new baby! I'm on my second one now. I think my parents sold it after we moved from New York to Florida 23 years ago. They never admitted anything either way. So I'm glad to have my old friend back. My kids love the thing, too. A 6-year-old playing 2600 games in the 21st century. Who would believe it?
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Hi Mirage, thanks for the heads-up on this. I think I'm going to wait for Jaybird3d to get back in town. If I bring too much of this stuff into the house at once, my wife will clip my head off and barbecue it. She's a sweet, kind soul, you know? :-) Thanks for the offer though.
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you might also consider the Aquaricart, a compilation cartridge for the Aquarius that I released in late 2011:
Jaybird3d, I know the Aquaricart well, actually. Your effort on it was probably the first retrocomputing thing I ran into a year or so back when I really started looking this stuff up. It's a wonderful thing and I will definitely consider it.
Interestingly, we're about to have our kitchen torn to pieces and probably won't be back home until sometime next week ourselves. We'll reconvene then. :-) PM me when you have a chance and we'll discuss the Aquarius. Thanks very much!
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Now, there's a study in contrasts, eh?
I grew up with an Aquarius computer and am really thinking it's time the old thing came back into the fold. I think all I need is the computer itself and a RAM cart--4k is sufficient, more is better. (I don't think the RAM cart requires the Mini-Expander, does it? Never had the RAM carts when I was a kid, so I'm relying on my increasingly frail memory.) I'd love a Mini-Expander, don't get me wrong. But if a RAM cart can run without it, it isn't crucial. Don't really need any of the other peripherals. (I can record CSAVEs to a PC.)
The Atari is a maybe. I'm not really sold on buying one, but for the right price I might. I have a 7800 so don't need to worry about 2600 compatability; therefore it doesn't matter if it's a 2-port or 4-port. That weird RF switch/power device on the 4-port is...fascinating, but I don't necessarily need that, either, if you know what I'm saying. I guess I'd take a 2-port over a 4-port if the price was better. I really don't care which one it is, I suppose.
I'm not really set on that 5200, as you might be able to tell. Price matters. If you've got one being used as a doorstop and want to give it away, I'll take it if it works.
But really, if you have one, let me know what you think and we'll see what happens.I'm in Florida, BTW, for shipping purposes.
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As a would-have-been-in-an-alternative-dimension archaeologist, something that looks like that just means buried treasure that needs to be unearthed.
It's funny, my 6-year-old loves my old stuff. She loves my 7800, but her favorite game is the 2600 Foozpong game. She loves my XEGS. For her, playing these old games is as natural to her as anything else out there. She knows about newer systems, but doesn't care to pursue them. We've got a NES and she wants an original Gameboy, but that's it. No Wii, no Xbox. Curious how they look at these things, eh?
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Congratulations, tep. Looking forward to this more than I can say!
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Agree with those above. I think the ProSystem version is much nicer, but these sorts of things should never be wasted. There's almost always someone looking for what you don't need. (Actually, ApolloBoy above looks like your guy!)
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Schmutzpuppe, this really is most excellent. Great work. I agree with Jaynz, you should get in touch with Albert about getting this in the store. I'm looking for a first homebrew to buy, you know.
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In the vein of Cebus's suggestion, Atarimax also sells an SIO2PC unit and software that emulates floppy drives on a PC. Connect the (very sweet looking) Atari's SIO port on one and and your PC's USB cable in on the other. Then load disk images via the APE software and you're off to the races. You can even read/write files if you'd like. (I actually use my XEGS as a word processor and for a dash of programming, so this is useful.) Oh, and you can share your printer to your Atari, too. Very handy thing! You can find it by digging around on the Atarimax site.
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Congrats, Mister VCS! I, too, recently brought a 7800 back into the fold after about as long a time. ($40 on Craigslist with a bunch of games, the joysticks and a trackball.) My 6-year-old daughter loves the old thing, and even my 2-year-old wants in on the act. Had to pick up a CX78 for the elder daughter because she hates--hates--the ProLines. Thank goodness for Best, eh?
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I've been reading Assembly Language Programming for the Atari Computers. It's been a useful guide for the basics thus far. (I don't know anything about assembly language so this is nice.)
Just grabbed Atari Roots from AtariMania. Thanks for the heads-up about that book.
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Oh, you'd better be good to her!
You've definitely found yourself a good woman, sir. Congratulations! -
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Cybearg, I'm making my first AtariAge post to tell you that Heartbreak is a tremendous game. I've had a chance to play Fixit Felix briefly and like it, too, but Heartbreak really seems like one of those games, you know? I've been seeing some of your travails over the last while and am thankful that you've stuck them out. Great fun!
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Proline modification
in Atari 7800
Posted · Edited by MAC-42
Will do. They're on my iPad right now so I'll get them up when I can.
I cannibalized one of my Proline sticks to make a gamepad from Nintendo gamepad. I haven't had a lot of play time with this new configuration yet, but I think I'm beginning to regret that decision. Maybe it's because I'm a purist. The stick still has that ridiculous tiny throw, but I don't feel like I have to push it as hard anymore to make it respond.