DavidMil
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Posts posted by DavidMil
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On 8/5/2019 at 2:56 AM, DavidMil said:I put these file out there because I was hoping someone could print them. The 3D imaging company that made these files for me said that it would take a
special 3D printer to make them. If anyone can make them I ask that you only charge for the material used and shipping. The idea here is not to make a
profit but to keep our connection to the past alive and well. To answer your question toddtmw, I need about 40 of them for my three 800's.
DavidMil
I got a couple of samples back from the 3D scanning company and they fit into the keyboard fine. The problem is that the plungers are too thick
and the key caps won't fit into the plungers. They are about .2mm too thick. Trying to force the keycaps in caused the plunges to crack! I'm
working with the company to fix the problem and I'm going to order a few to test with. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
David
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10 hours ago, GreyHobbit said:I just recently purchased my first 800XL and was looking inside to see if any of the ICs were socketed. Most of the big ICs are, apart from the 6520 PIA, but the OS and Basic ROMs are soldered along with all of the smaller chips on the board.
Anyway, while I was checking the other components, I noticed that C48 down at the front left side of the motherboard, next to the trim pot, is cracked and appears to have broken in two. There was a slight brown stain round one of the solder joints, like corrosion but it doesn't seem too bad.
The 800XL appears to be working fine, the composite output is better than my 130XE, but my question is what C48 does and could running the computer with C48 damaged cause problems down the line? The Service Manual says it's an axial ceramic .1 uF capacitor. As it's next to the trim pot, is it related to the video circuitry?
I will probably replace it as soon as possible it but I want to know if it's an urgent fix as I don't have any caps of that description handy!
Thanks
Geoff
.1uF caps are the most common caps on all Atari computers. If you want to PM me with a mailing address I can send you a couple.
I have hundreds of them. If not then Best Electronics has them too.
David
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6 minutes ago, S1500 said:Best Electronics' eCommerce solutions are as retro as the merchandise he's selling.
What's a fax machine?
Call the main switchboard!
He told me last year that he shut the fax off because no body was using it anymore. But fax is alive and well
(if you've ever had to deal with mortgage or insurance companies you'd know what I mean)!
David
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4 minutes ago, Trellot said:Mine is BT14 from just the last couple of years. But his site says you can use this number if you ordered in the last year or so ->
- Best Customer number (if you are placed a Best order within a year and have not moved)
Does this mean you lose the number otherwise? Have you ordered something every year from the first order you placed?
I don't think you loose it. It may get removed from his computers though. I've had this number for so long, I can't tell
you when I got it. At least 30 years ago.
David
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15 hours ago, Nezgar said:If you cut the length down to about 20 feet (a hair over 6 meters) and narrow it down to one isle; yes, that's pretty much how my attic looks.
Except there are only a few crates. Most of it is in cardboard boxes.
David
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All this got me to thinking, I've been buying from Brad for so long that he has my credit card on file, I call him and
tell him what I want, he ships the order and I find out what it cost in a couple of days when the parts arrive. When
you call, take a second and ask him how his day is going.
Also I'd like to know what is the lowest Customer Order Number out there. Mine starts with BT06... Anyone got
a lower number?
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2 hours ago, Trellot said:I'm having a devlish time getting a response from BE! I've sent like 7-8 emails from 4 different accounts over the course of several weeks; no response. His site talks about a SPAM filter, so I changed my titles on the emails and on and on. Then I called it in and left a message and return number...nothing lol! His hours are like a few hours in the afternoon, so I'll probably have to call in although i'm so busy during that time ugg lol!
Anyone else having similar issues? Note: I've used all these email accounts in previous purchases with Best, so I don't get what's going on... I know this isn't necessarily 8-bit related, although the parts are all for an Atari 400 repair so figured why not here lol!
~ Trellot
Emails are 'iffy'. I always call him. I related one problem some time back about big orders, and the only problem I've had since then was a package
he sent that had so much tape on it, I thought I was going to have to rent a jack hammer to get it open. That old Atari tape he uses has changed to
shoe leather!
David
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On 8/18/2019 at 12:47 PM, gilsaluki said:Where can one use a dial-up modem today. No BBSs that I know of. Wish I have gotten into telcom back in the day.
I believe there are a few still up and running. I believe that Darklord still has one.
David
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17 hours ago, AtariGeezer said:It's dead, don't go there...
Sorry, I should have followed the thread through to the end. I got the latest now. I'll look at it tonight.
Thanks,
David
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On 12/30/2011 at 2:17 AM, AtariGeezer said:This is a Work-In-Progress program that runs on Windows.
It allows you to do many things with ATR, XFD and PRO images...
http://www.fiftyonefiftysystems.com/Atari/AtrTools.html
Download and let me know what you think so far
Jay
McAfee Says this site is too dangerous and won't let me connect to it.
This is what McAfee comes up with when I click on your link:
David
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4 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:It's usually the reed switch that fails..
I don't think Atari intended to support these modems;
I opened it up and not one part has an Atari part number!
The board does have a part number on it: C070160 REV. A
I take that back. The Crystal and the transformer DO have
Atari part numbers, but those are the only two.
I'll have to see if I can find another reed switch (UDM 105D).
David
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Does anyone know if Atari published any repair manuals for the XM301 modem? I have a nonworking
one that I'd like to fix.
Thanks,
DavidMil
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34 minutes ago, kiwilove said:My own personal opinion on this subject is that - it is like for other copyrighted, etc stuff - like as for movies, tv programmes, etc. Even for books, etc. If you had the money - you would buy the commercial package - and if you didn't (or can't buy for it for any reason) - then you would copy it. And you could always buy the game afterwards - after playing a copy of it. I did make use of a hire library when I was living in the UK briefly for a while.
There are always pluses and minuses to the issue of whether to play 'pirated' games or not?
Of course your own view does change somewhat - when you start developing/working on your own games. I think Infocom showed the way - to provide extras that came with the game to help play the game. Homebrew developers likewise - who make their games - in collector editions.
But not all homebrew developers are going to make such an effort - who are simply happy to just release it as it is - available for a free download.
Those who go to the trouble of providing packaging, etc - and go for a commercial look, etc - and price themselves accordingly, are welcomed to do that.
When special packaging, etc are not available - I think that is an opportunity to make up your own - because colour printouts are so easy to get done. And packaging isn't that hard to make up - if you really want it?
Wouldn't you want the developer to actually spend their time developing - instead of working on packaging, etc - when they don't want to really do it?
What is really 'homebrew'? Those who stick with the original concept - and then there are those who have the commercial homebrew look and feel of that?
I think you're very lucky to have someone still keen enough to develop new software - and you should not do anything to tick them off. There is not enough appreciation for the amount of work put into various projects. I'm not saying that you should not be honest in reviews/comments on the games.
Harvey
It's been my experience that programmers are some of the smartest people I know. The other side of that coin is that they all seem
to be a little "unusual". If I sat in from of a computer, looking at and backtracking through code all day trying to find out what
is creating errors; I'd be in a straight jacket in no time. My hat is off to them. Please keep up the wonderful work!
David
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16 hours ago, DavidMil said:I promised someone a while back that I would post the pinouts for the CX88 Terminal Cable, so here they are.
Both ends of this cable have male connectors and only seven of the pins on each end are used. They are:
On the DB9 end pins 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
On the DB25 end pins 2,3,4,6,7,8,20
The actual wires connect as follows:
DB9 to DB25
1 6
2 4
3 3
4 2
5 7
6 20
7 8
Even though there are more pins on the DB25 end, none of them are used.
And under no circumstances should you every try to plug any type of serial cable to port 4 on the 850 and your modem!
David
Sorry, seems like I've got happy fingers that like to keep typing. On the DB9 connector on pins 1 through 7 are used
Not 8.
David
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8 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:what happens if you do that?
On the CX88 cable, nothing. But any industry standard cable attached to pin 9 on port 4 of the 850 will dump
-8 volts into your modem. I blew my Hayes 300 baud Smartmodem that way before I learned that you shouldn't
use any cable but an Atari cable with the 850.
David
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I promised someone a while back that I would post the pinouts for the CX88 Terminal Cable, so here they are.
Both ends of this cable have male connectors and only seven of the pins on each end are used. They are:
On the DB9 end pins 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
On the DB25 end pins 2,3,4,6,7,8,20
The actual wires connect as follows:
DB9 to DB25
1 6
2 4
3 3
4 2
5 7
6 20
7 8
Even though there are more pins on the DB25 end, none of them are used.
And under no circumstances should you every try to plug any type of serial cable to port 4 on the 850 and your modem!
David
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3 hours ago, toddtmw said:To be fair, i suspect many of us (myself included) were dirty pirates BITD...
But all of my software these days is legitimately acquired. (well, except for the old Atari stuff...)
I'll be honest, I did a fair share of pirating too. But my pirating didn't start until the prices for games and programs got to be ridiculously high!
Even then I tried to buy games that were really good (if we could afford them). Then I got mad at Atari when they dumped us just to keep up
with what they thought was going to make them more money. I truly believe that pirating started because of the greed of software and hardware
companies. If they had kept the prices lower, most all of us would never have started pirating in the first place!
David
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6 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:oh my, hardie board was supposed to be removed and sent the hazardous materials processing years ago... That all needs to be cleaned up. Amazing.
Actually in our wonderful conservative state of Texas, any 6 year old child can walk into any hardware store and buy all the Hardie Board they can pay for.
We also have lots of people (and politicians) that don't believe cigarettes cause cancer and global warming is a joke.
David
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10 hours ago, Larry said:Sorry to hear of your water damage losses.
Was it a flood or a burst pipe, etc.? I'm sure that the ins co explained to you about coverage from riders for specific loss categories or high value items. I really don't know much about flood insurance, if it was categorized as a flood event. But typical homeowners policies have lots of exclusions (as you discovered). But good to see you back here.
-Larry
Yes it was a flood event. Because our house is all brick exterior we didn't get a lot of water inside the house. Neighbors all around us have
Cedar siding or Hardie Board (Asbestos mixed with paper and soaked in cement, and then compressed into sheets about 1/4"(a little over
6mm)) thick. They all had between 4 and 12 inches of water damage, but then no one would ever have suspected we'd get 15" of ran in
two hours.
Thank you for the kind words!
David
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On 8/5/2019 at 6:15 AM, slx said:Welcome back. Had a less severe experience when our apartment's basement storage was affected by a burst boiler and I found out that everything stored in a basement is considered "basement stuff" and you can't claim more than 1000 EUR for all of it unless you can prove it was in regular use (like a bike). Reason enough to bring more Ataris from Storage ;).
I never had a big claim over about 15 years, just a couple of small ones, and they terminated my insurance and offered to change the contract to a new one which was more expensive at less coverage. Bikes used to be covered against theft when in a locked room, now they need to be locked to the building which we don't have the facilities for, etc., etc.
Thank you six. It's nice to be back and hear what everyone has to say! I guess insurance companies are the same all around the world.
As mad at I get at them, it's still better than nothing!
David
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13 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:Welcome back to AA in any event... I hope the damage is limited and the recovery full.
Thank you Doc. Everything in the storage shed in the back yard was covered but the above ground swim spa was not. Fortunately all the electrical
pumps and circuitry is sealed in water tight enclosures. This has to be the case in Texas for all above ground pools/spas that have anything electrical
under the pools (to protect against blasting everyone out of the pool with 240 volts of electricity). We are both fine but tired from all the cleanup and
repairs. On a good note; we did get a house full of new carpet, and I put a vinyl floor in the computer room so the chairs would roll around easier!
Thank you,
David
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8 hours ago, Sugarland said:Sorry to hear!!
Welcome back. Did you lose any A8 equipment as well??
No. I didn't loose any Atari stuff or anything electric except for one clone PC that the table collapsed because one of the wooden practical board legs
gave out. As the water started coming in I was running around unplugging everything and putting all the power cords and power strips up on tables.
The wife got a little upset because I was more worried about all the cords than the furniture, until I asked her if she would like to take a change getting
electrocuted.
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15 hours ago, ivop said:As we say in The Netherlands, that's quite a bitter pill to swallow
For all the years you paid the insurrance company, this is what you get... I also pay my insurrances every month and hope for the best in case I ever need to claim something. Somehow, they always find a hidden clause to pay you way less. But switching companies doesn't help a bit. They're all the same.
Anyway, good you're back and good luck with repairs and all that!
Edit: And TIL what sheetrock is
Thank you ivop! We've been with this well know insurance company for 27 years, and they never had a problem taking our money. But as you
said, that is the way it is with all of them. Everyone around us is complaining about the same thing!
David
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13 hours ago, toddtmw said:@DavidMil How many do you need? (PM me your address and I can print them and send them to you.)
I put these file out there because I was hoping someone could print them. The 3D imaging company that made these files for me said that it would take a
special 3D printer to make them. If anyone can make them I ask that you only charge for the material used and shipping. The idea here is not to make a
profit but to keep our connection to the past alive and well. To answer your question toddtmw, I need about 40 of them for my three 800's.
DavidMil
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Fix for Atari 800 loose key caps?
in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Posted
Here are a couple of pics showing the original on the right and the new one on the left.
David