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DistantStar001

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  1. Thanks! It worked, but how do I go back? Do I really have to reset the computer every time I want to switch between a spread sheet/database and a word processor? I'll look into these. I have a pi1541 and have been looking into an SD2IEC for convenance, but I would need an adaptor for power since they typically use the cassette port for that. Also I have a Promenade C1 that I want to figure out how to use, so will I need my user port open.
  2. Like the title says... New (to me) Plus/4. Came with the original PSU which I'm glad to say works! Mostly because the person who sold it to me tested it to power, so a good PSU means it didn't fry any chips. I've already replaced the 4-pin square jack with a C64 style 7-pin DIN so I can use my after market PSUs that I know are and will remain safe to use. Overall, everything works, and the only other "mod" I made was to add a heat-sync to the CPU. 8501s are nearly impossible to replace. Yeah, you can use a 6510 with an adaptor, but that requires a new Kernal ROM, and my C16 had some bad luck with that as of late. In any case, on to my questions. 1) How do I access the Data Base program? I've figured out the Word Processor and there was a YouTube video where someone showed the Spread Sheet, but they lost interest before getting to the Data Base. It's not that I intend to use it, but I'd still like to know how to get to it. 2) Is it possible to replace the builtin software? Specifically, can I program some games or something a little more useful on an ePROM? Word Processors and business software is nice, but I have other machines for that. So something like a builtin game of Tetris or Asteroids would see far more use from me. Other than that, Any advice? Game recommendations? Add-ons that I should look into? I've had my C16 for a while, but I really only got it working and stable last week. So this is all really new to me.
  3. Just what the title says. I have an NTSC VIC-20 sort board and want to convert it to PAL. So far I have the 6561 and I know I need a new Kernal and crystal, but I understand that some passive components also need changing. Unfortunately, I haven't found a good list yet. Can anyone help?
  4. How exactly would I do that? Also, this is a Coco 1, but I also have a Coco 2 as well.
  5. I've been taking an online class, and since everyone else has set up their little backgrounds, I decided to put some of my vintage computers in mine running some looping BASIC programs on a green phosphor CRT. Obviously, since the classes run for a few hours, I don't want anything too static (screen burn, also boring), so I "translated" a little dancing line program the 8-Bit Guy had in one of his videos for several of my computers, including The CoCo in extended BASIC. However, the graphics screen has a green border which will be problematic, and I was wondering if there was a command that could turn that off (or at least make it black). OK. There's also a screensaver mode that needs to be turned off too.
  6. Yes, I removed the VIC as soon as I discovered the voltage issue. As for the SID, that was never in there. This is a parts board, and while I do have one, I'm not putting one in there until I know everything's good. As for the issue at hand, following similar advice from the good folks at Lemon64, I managed to trace the issue to U30 (the 74LS193). The thing was literally brand new, but I guess it was defective. All voltage rails have been restored. Now all that's left is to address the black screen. It's been a long journey but I think this board will be coming back to me soon.
  7. The rectifier and 7805 were getting hot (both the old and new), but I think that had more to do with the under-volting. At this point I think the problem is somewhere before the rectifier. The regular/straight through 5v rail is unaffected. This is strictly on the 9v AC line. Also the PSU has been tested and works perfectly with at least 7 other C64s and a VIC-20. So I'm pretty sure that it's not the issue. I will add that the bridge rectifier is only putting out about 5v. Hence why the 7805 isn't giving more than 2.5v.
  8. I've been working on this board for some years now. Worked fine for a long time then stopped. However, I think I've narrowed in on the issue, I just don't know what's causing it. Using a Ray Carlson PSU, the 9v line puts out about 9.5 to 9.6v consistently. This is verified when plugged into the board. However, when I flip the switch the AC voltage at the DIN drops to 6.5v and 5.2v at the rectifier. I've recapped the entire board, removed and inspected the coil (it's fine so I put it back), removed C20 and C21 (tested fine), Replaced the 7805 (not necessary, but I didn't know that at the time as it was only putting out about 2.5v to the VIC II). Any ideas on what could be causing this?
  9. Alright, it works! but not quite as expected/desired. Lines 90 and 100 are supposed to determine the length of the lines on the screen, at least they do on the Apple II, VIC-20, and BBC Micro, but on the Atari, the lines don't stay the same length growing and shrinking as the program runs. I've noticed the same issue on the C4 with Super Expander. Simon's BASIC and Extended Color BASIC do something similar but have other issues as well. The issue for the Atari is that, unlike the C64, the lines are favoring the right side of the screen and rarely make it to the left unless the lines have grown to the point where they extend all the way across the screen. I believe the issue can be resolved if I can constrain the lines to the same length but I'm not sure how to do that. Here's the revised code: 20 DIM B1(50) : DIM B2(50) 30 DIM B3(50) : DIM B4(50) 31 FOR I=0 TO 49:B1(I)=0:B2(I)=0:B3(I)=0:B4(I)=0:NEXT I 50 ? “LINE SPACING”; : INPUT S 60 ? “TAIL LENGTH”; : INPUT L 80 D1=0 : D2=1 : D3=0 : D4=1 90 A1=0 : A2=0 100 A3=50 : A4=100 110 C=1 120 CC=0 130 P=0 140 E=1 150 GR. 24: SE. 2,0,1 170 GOSUB 260 180 COLOR 1 : PLOT A1,A2 : DRAWTO A3,A4 190 B1(P)=A1 : B2(P)=A2 : B3(P)=A3 : B4(P)=A4 200 P=P+1 : IF P=L THEN P=0 210 COLOR 0 : PLOT B1(E),B2(E): DRAWTO B3(E),B4(E) 220 E=E+1 : IF E=L THEN E=0 230 CC=CC+1 : IF CC<>5 THEN GOTO 170 240 CC=0 : C=C+1 : IF C=4 THEN C=1 250 GOTO 170 260 IF D1=0 THEN IF A1<=S THEN D1=1 : A1=1 : GOTO 300 270 IF D1=0 THEN A1=A1-S : GOTO 300 280 IF A1+S>=319 THEN D1=0 : A1=318 : GOTO 300 290 A1=A1+S 300 IF D2=0 THEN IF A2<=S THEN D2=1 : A2=1 : GOTO 340 310 IF D2=0 THEN A2=A2-S : GOTO 340 320 IF A2+S>=191 THEN D2=0 : A2=190 : GOTO 340 330 A2=A2+S 340 IF D3=0 THEN IF A3<=S THEN D3=1 : A3=1 : GOTO 380 350 IF D3=0 THEN A3=A3-S : GOTO 380 360 IF A3+S>=319 THEN D3=0 : A3=318 : GOTO 380 370 A3=A3+S 380 IF D4=0 THEN IF A4<=S THEN D4=1 : A4=1 : RETURN 390 IF D4=0 THEN A4=A4-S : RETURN 400 IF A4+S>=191 THEN D4=0 : A4=190 : RETURN 410 A4=A4+S 411 POKE 77,0 420 RETURN Notes: COLOR statements are integrated into the PLOT/DRAWTO lines 180 and 210. Also, the POKE statement was added to the loop at line 411. I tried line 151, but soon learned that it needed to be with in the loop to be executed as needed. I'm guessing that it could have been added anywhere in the loop between lines 260 and 420, but after 410 just felt right. My thanks for all the help so far.
  10. Wouldn't that require me to break out of the program? Also, I don't think my professor would appreciate me turning to my Atari that often during class.
  11. I've been taking an online class, and since everyone else has setup their little backgrounds, I decided to put some of my vintage computers in mine running some looping BASIC programs on a green phosphor CRT. Obviously, since the classes run for a few hours, I don't want anything too static (screen burn, also boring), so I've been "translating" some, shall we say screen savers" in BASIC for several of my computers. I really want my Atari 800 in that mix! It's just looks awesome, and has quickly become one of my favorite 8-bit computers. However, I've run into a little issue. When left unattended for more than a few minutes, the computer goes into a screen saver mode of its own. Ironically, this puts more strain on the CRT than the little monochrome dancing lines or looping sine wave programs that I've been using. As such, I was wondering if there was a way to turn that off? Second: Also I've been running into some issues translating this BASIC program into Atari BASIC. What am I doing wrong? 20 DIM B1(50) : DIM B2(50) 30 DIM B3(50) : DIM B4(50) 50 ? “LINE SPACING”; : INPUT S 60 ? “TAIL LENGTH”; : INPUT L 80 D1=0 : D2=1 : D3=0 : D4=1 90 A1=0 : A2=0 100 A3=50 : A4=100 110 C=1 120 CC=0 130 P=0 140 E=1 150 GR. 24: SE. 2,0,1 151 COLOR 1 170 GOSUB 260 180 PLOT A1,A2 : DRAWTO A3,A4 185 COLOR 0 190 B1(P)=A1 : B2(P)=A2 : B3(P)=A3 : B4(P)=A4 200 P=P+1 : IF P=L THEN P=0 210 PLOT B1(E),B2(E): DRAWTO B3(E),B4(E) 220 E=E+1 : IF E=L THEN E=0 230 CC=CC+1 : IF CC<>5 THEN GOTO 170 240 CC=0 : C=C+1 : IF C=4 THEN C=1 250 GOTO 170 260 IF D1=0 THEN IF A1<=S THEN D1=1 : A1=1 : GOTO 300 270 IF D1=0 THEN A1=A1-S : GOTO 300 280 IF A1+S>=319 THEN D1=0 : A1=318 : GOTO 300 290 A1=A1+S 300 IF D2=0 THEN IF A2<=S THEN D2=1 : A2=1 : GOTO 340 310 IF D2=0 THEN A2=A2-S : GOTO 340 320 IF A2+S>=191 THEN D2=0 : A2=190 : GOTO 340 330 A2=A2+S 340 IF D3=0 THEN IF A3<=S THEN D3=1 : A3=1 : GOTO 380 350 IF D3=0 THEN A3=A3-S : GOTO 380 360 IF A3+S>=319 THEN D3=0 : A3=318 : GOTO 380 370 A3=A3+S 380 IF D4=0 THEN IF A4<=S THEN D4=1 : A4=1 : RETURN 390 IF D4=0 THEN A4=A4-S : RETURN 400 IF A4+S>=191 THEN D4=0 : A4=190 : RETURN 410 A4=A4+S 420 RETURN
  12. Living in the U.S. and built a 3B replica board once. It works perfectly as a 16K, but I was never able to get the upper 32k working. I used Retrolium-TheRetroSparesShop (https://www.retroleum.co.uk) for most of the ICs and hard-to-find parts. This included the ROM and Nebula (ULA replacement). They also have a decent keyboard membrane. I got the board off of eBay. I also have an original 48k rubber keyboard, 48k plus, and a +2. All were AV modded, bypassing the RF modulator with a 100 mf capacitor directly to the jack. Seriously, Google it. It's a great mod and very necessary in the U.S. as the UK TV signals won't work on American TVs. There are a lot of YouTube videos demonstrating this mod. I promise it's really easy. In terms of PSUs, I've been using a SEGA Genesis brick (just needs to be 9v DC 1 Amp center negative). Needed 2 amps for the +2 though. For the Monitor, I have an older Sharp or Insigna LCD TV with composite input. I also use them with my Acorn Electron and BBC Micro as well. Generally speaking, these brands will be able to display a PAL signal without a problem. Alternatively, most monochrome composite monitors can handle a 50hz signal, but obviously no color. Avoid Samsung as the U.S. (NTSC) units won't recognize PAL signals (however, they do work great with my Apple IIs).
  13. Looks to be an Apple II or II+ that was bought in kit form, with a custom case and PSU, along with a third party keyboard.
  14. This is probably a long shot, but thinking it was just a dual 8 inch floppy drive, I recently came across an Alspa ACI-2. It's basically an old CP/M machine that needs a dumb terminal to interact with. Unfortunately, when I got it, it had been stripped of its power supply (to say nothing of most of its screws). I managed to get a new one, but it's not functional, and the markings on several of the components have worn off. So I really need the schematics to repair it. Or at the very least, some hires pictures of a similar unit with clear part numbers that I can compare to. This seems to be an extremely uncommon machine, likely for a reason. But it's quirky, and as such, I'd really like to fix it. Unfortunately, because it's so uncommon, it doesn't seem likely that I will be able to source another replacement PSU. And any modern alternative would not only need to fit inside the case along with the original PSU board (the serial ports are on it), but also provide +5v, -5v, +12v, and +24v, with enough Amps on the +5v and +24v lines to power both floppy drives along with the motherboard. So repairing the "original" is probably my best option. Any help would be appreciated.
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