New Here - Atari 800 Rocks

[New Here - Atari 800 Rocks]

it warms my heart to see some new blood on the scene. welcome.

[Ordering/Constructing a Lynx dev cart]

i've also been thinking about starting in on the lynx. if you have another dev cart available, please drop me a pm. thank you.

[The old Get them with shipping trick:]

It actually does matter. Ebay allows for sellers to charge reasonable shipping charges. If you charge $5 bucks to ship and the stamp costs $2, the seller in 99% of the time does not know you are gouging him unless you add a description detailing the extra fees for things like....

the box

tape

shipping peanuts (even if not actually used of course)

gas to the post office

air conditioning in your house

child's college fund

toothpaste (gotta fight cavities right?)

 

Whether or not someone is from New York or not (I'm still trying to figure THAT comment out ) overcharging for shipping is underhanded. Period, Dot, End of Story.

 

my point is simply, let people run their auctions any way they please, as long as they are being honest and upfront about their terms. advance disclosure cannot be underhanded.

 

as far as new york goes, you've probably not mail-ordered from one of the "camera shops". don't take my word for it, check out epinions some time.

[Need a mod kit]

talk about good timing!

[Convert an 2600 Unit from PAL to NTSC ???]

i'll post some pics around january.

 

thanks for the info.

[The old Get them with shipping trick:]

doesn't matter how he wants to run /his/ auction, as long as he's up front about it.

 

if he wants to charge 10x the normal shipping rate, and states it up front, fine. if he tries that in an underhanded fashion, he must be from new york.

 

i've had people bid on my auctions and win, then whine about the terms that were clearly stated in the ad. that pisses me off. a) learn to read, and b) if you don't like the terms, you have the option to move along...

[Convert an 2600 Unit from PAL to NTSC ???]

To you hardware guys out there, is this possible? I picked up a 2600 in Europe years ago (a clone, actually, with built-in games), and of course it doesn't work in the U.S.

 

Just a matter of changing powersupply, TIA, ?other? chips?

[CyberTech S-Video Card now available!!!]

very cool.

 

my order is in. i'll be happy to report back to the board when i have some test results.

[When did the 2600 come out?]

at the time (77+), we called the 2600 "the atari". simple as that. everyone and anyone knew what you meant.

[Atari Orange Paint]

i'm certain you're right retro. i don't know anything about painting plastic. i'm hoping someone will enlighten me.

 

p.s. i was thinking povlok as well.

[Terrorists!]

this has to do with atari how?

[Is $5.00 a reasonable fee to ship a game?]

as long as you're up front about it, charge whatever you want.

[AtariArchives.org - Offline Viewing.]

I didn't see a reference to this here or on Atari Archive, but does anyone know if they make .pdf's (or other offline/portable) transcripts of the books on their site?

 

Alternatively, what's everyone's favorite offline webpage reader?

 

It's a wonderful resource, btw. Big thanks to those involved.

 

http://www.atariarchives.org/

[Atari Orange Paint]

Does someone have a recommendation on a touch-up paint for restoring worn-off orange console and joystick trim? I noticed someone selling it on ebay, not my favorite source.

[WTB: "PC Competitor Interface" Atari 2 PC Joystick]

Whilst looking around for a good Atari to PC joystick solution, I came across this half-abandoned site for what might be the ideal solution:

 

http://w5.cs.uni-sb.de/~stahl/com/index_uk.html

 

No modifications to originals joysticks needed, no drivers for parallel ports, just a clean plug-n-play design, and for two sticks to boot. Nifty.

 

Does anyone know of a better solution?

Does anyone have one of these they want to get rid of?

Is anyone else making them (or something like it)? They make the circuit diagram available on their site, if anyone wants to try.

 

What do you guys use?

[New A/V mod being developed - Better than before]

are you taking names for the first 25? i'd like one please.

[My collection is going to be mothballed.]

Sadly, as my new baby son becomes older and more mobile, I realize the importance of keeping my collection well protected from is cute little monster fingers  . To protect it, I must put it away in strorage.

 

I think it's perfectly reasonable to put your son into storage until he learns better.

[Any annual events (or decent swapmeets) around Los Angeles?]

im also curious where to look in OC/LA.

 

i have to say, several years ago, you could find atari related items readily at most major thrift stores. i've been methodically combing them recently, and have come up with nothing, not even a damn combat cart. that well seems to have run dry.

 

i'm looking for lists of swap meets/flea markets? anything?

 

are there any home computer user groups left?

[Starting an Atari BBS - Request for Suggestions]

here's a fairly lengthy list and description of atari bbs software. http://software.bbsdocumentary.com/

 

be sure to check out the top-level domain on that one

 

for a directory of software, check out http://software.bbsdocumentary.com/ATARI/EIGHTBIT/

 

***

 

regarding express pro software -

 

the only bbs i'm aware of that still runs a copy is dave hunt's official support bbs 'closer to home' telnetable at cth.dtdns.net

 

interestingly, it runs on an emulator, and the current version doesn't support real hardware. not sure if it's my terminal emulator or what, but the screen updates are very jerky, and input seems to be delayed. takes some getting used to.

 

use an atascii capable terminal program or a real atari-8 for that almost-real feeling.

 

express has bbs-networking capability, apparently, but that feature is not being used due to lack of partners.

 

i've posed a number of questions to dave, but haven't heard back.

 

***

 

carina. yeah, i noticed that it was listed as being written in basic. that could be good? it might lend itself to tinkering and expanding. regarding the problems at higher data rates -- wonder if it could be compiled?

 

it does seem to boast a bunch of interesting features.

 

***

 

so at the end of the day... sadly, neither of these two packages can interface with the "big" bbs networks.

 

- i wonder if either of these packages have problems with mydos/myide? side note - IDE to compact flash memory adapters are supposed to work with myide ! solid state goodness!

- does one have to use steven tuckers ape (which i have a license for), or can one use the announced ethernet interface solution to create a stand-alone system?

- some of you sound interested in running your own systems (ah, to be the sysop! i think someone is trying to summon me would you guys be interested in creating an express pro network?

 

i begin to wonder if the st series is maybe a better host, but where is the fun in that?

[Atari 800, 800XL what is the difference?]

800: Early models had a removable top cover to reveal 4 expansion slots (slot 1 reserved for OS, 2-4 were designed for other expansion, such as RAM/RAMdisks, modems and 80 column cards) Later models had no expansion.

 

are you sure? i have an 82/83 800 with expansion slot. difference being, the later model had a screw on expansion slot, and the 16k memory modules (in mine) are not individually shielded.

[Combat cart to travel worldwide...wanna help?]

I think a 2600 cart, as opposed to a system, is a much better proposal. Besides the pain of having to package and ship a system (even if it is just a case, but then it wouldn't look right without the switches), it's much easier to conceal and sneak a 2600 cart into various and sundry places for pictures.  The cart will also stand up better to the abuses of shipping.

 

..Al

 

Sure, there are many practical reasons why a cart vs. a system are preferable. I do believe a system (with switches/cart slot, of course), expands the appeal and evtl. viewing audience.

 

Alternatively, how about using a standard Atari Joystick? I'm thinking, again, of mass recognition.

 

Whatever you guys decide, this should be fun. Count me in for Southern California (Disneyland).

[Combat cart to travel worldwide...wanna help?]

sounds fun, but how about an atari 2600 instead of the combat cart?

 

i know, shipping and all.. maybe a mostly empty case instead?

[More info: New Atari collection for PC]

they will probably have this nailed down in their end-user agreement, but wouldn't buying this be a neat way to own the usage rights to 80 original .bin files (for the non-cart collectors in the audience)?

[Atari 2600 Video-Out modification]

did the 4050/stereo pcb ever go into production?

[New A/V mod being developed - Better than before]

povlok1

 

more power to you and your restoration/upgrade service. i think it adds value to this community.

 

js