cbmeeks

I only have one power supply. But it's confirmed working. Anyone know of any SRAM replacement mods?

Yeah, I was afraid of that. I might look into possibly replacing with SRAM. Of course that would be a major mod.

So I bought two CV's off eBay for <$20 each. Both were reported not working. I managed to clean and mod the first one and it works like a champ. However, my second one isn't working correctly. My suspicion is bad memory. The unit powers up, the audio sounds fine but the screen is all messed up. But, it's messed up in a "bad data" type of way. For example, instead of saying "GET READY PLAYER 1" it says "GEP REAWY PCAYER 1". The game select screen says "PPRQQ @UTTML ML IEYPAD"...etc. (screen shots attached). So, what are your thoughts? I've cleaned it up physically. In fact, this was one of the cleanest units I've ever seen. Looks almost mint besides a little dust. All of the electrolytic capacitors are fine. Well, they aren't bulging and there is no leakage. I didn't take the RF unit apart to see if anything was leaking under it but I don't think that is the issue anyway since it isn't a bad picture for RF. Just looks like the letters have been replaced, colors swapped, etc. Thanks.

This is insanely great. So who's going to do Zelda?

Ah good point. BitBanging at that speed would be an issue for an AVR.

So, say I find an AVR with a high pin count and lots of FLASH. Could that be used as a ROM for a cart? Or would you need glue logic in between like a PLD?

I was wondering if there is a cart for the CV that takes SD cards and runs binary files? Like a multicart of sorts. One reason I ask is that I would like to transfer my own programs over for testing. Thanks.

Sorry, wrong place. How can I move this to the right place?

More eBay gouging. I saw a couple copies for $20ish but several for over $50. Ugh that ticks me off. Anyone know of a better deal?

Sweet. thanks.

I saw a YouTube video of a CV mod that had s pause switch. When paused, the CV stopped completely. How was this done? I'm not that familiar with the Z80.

Thinking about this a little more....I think it's more accurate to say that instead of "320 pixel bandwidth" to say "active display bandwidth" from the 63.55uS NTSC scan line. So, to draw 40 chars at 6 pixels leaves no more bandwidth left for sprites. Either way, the active display area is the same in all modes but at 256 pixels there is barely enough time left to deal with sprites. Again, amazing for 70's technology.

You sure? It may be 6 pixel fonts but 256/6 != 40. It may be shifting the chars over 2 pixels to get 6 pixel fonts but the bandwidth should still be 320. But I could be wrong.

I did a while back. From what I read he is MIA.

I've read most of this thread and found it really entertaining. One theme I saw a few times was about the 4 sprite per horizontal line limitation. Some even called it stupid. It's understandable, not stupid. First, the TMS99x8 was designed in the 70's. Second, it's easy to understand why the limit was there. Bandwidth. So in text mode, we have 40 characters which equals 320 pixels of bandwidth. But no sprites. In mode 1/2, we have a resolution of 256. 320-256=64. 64/16 pixels (max sprite width) = 4. Bam. 4 sprites. Now, why can't we have 8 sprites at 8 pixels? My guess is because there is overhead in changing sprite pointers, colors, etc. and that tiny bit of overhead wouldn't fit in the 320 pixel bandwidth. Anyway, just my $0.02.

I would love to aquire one. But I don't think they are made any more are they? Another reason I would like the schematics is that I would like to build some modules myself. Not unlike the SGM but not like it either. I'd like to experiment with putting a SID chip on there using the SIDCog running on a propeller.

Is that basically what it is? More RAM and another SN76488 (or clone)? Not that isn't great. :-)

Ah, didn't know it use CPLD. Either way, would be nice to have schematics, code, etc so others could build. Seems like a great project.

Ah. I read that but missed the posted date. Cool. Hopefully this will become a real product this year. On a side note, this project is very close to what I've wanted to do. For a while now, I've dreamed of designing a Coleco "compatible" computer. I know there is ADAM and MSX but have you priced those lately? Lol Anyway, my idea was to use new parts only and perhaps try to get audio and video through a Parallax Propeller. Oh well, if/when I get beyond the breadboard with my design I will let people know.

Hello all. Does anyone know if the schematics for the Suoer Game Module has ever been released? Would be great to have these so that others could build one without waiting on production runs. Thanks.

Any more news in this?

OK, so I have an Atari 520 STfm that I *think* works. I also have a couple of 1040 STF motherboards. So I thought it would be a brilliant idea to take the 520 motherboard out of its case and put the 1040 motherboard in. I quickly Googled the power requirements and it looks like the built in PSU should provide enough. Plus, everything physically fits perfectly. Then, like a dummy, I realized that the 1040 STF does not have an RF modulator (the "m" in the 520STFM). I don't have an Atari monitor. Only a few composite TV's. I don't know enough about ST's to know how easy/hard it would be to make a cable for the monitor port and (perhaps?) convert the video signal to S-Video or composite. Should I just try and find an expensive Atari ST monitor on eBay? Don't really like that option seeing how even composite monitors are getting harder to find. Or, should I just put the 520 motherboard back in and try to get it to work? I can post pics if needed. Thanks!

Just got a new (to me) Atari 1200XL off eBay. Been a long time since I've been on this forum, btw!. :-) Anyway, I plug it in and all I get is the Atari logo with the color bars. None of the keys do anything. Including the reset. I plug in Pac Man, plug in a joystick and Pac Man plays wonderfully. All of my games work but I can only play the ones that accept fire button as start. I haven't opened it up yet to see if it's something stupid like being unplugged. But I don't know as much about Atari (despite owning 2 400's, 600XL, 800XL, etc...lol). Any clues? Thanks!