YSG2020

As I understand it, is this basically (excuse the pun) just a ROM chip replacement upg? A anything else needed? Thx. I think this route makes the most sense too. I’ll just swap over my video and ram upgrade from the 800xl to it also.

I remember seeing myself in person and trying out the 400, 600xl, 800xl, and 1200xl all for sale new and demo’d beside each other at the time at a large retail store in what must have been about 1983/84. The 400 was on clearance, but the other 3 were being marketed as new. The pricing on the 1200 was stupid expensive and it looked sexy. But the 800xl was significantly cheaper and had better specs. I remember thinking at the time (I was 12) the 600 just looked silly and the 400 looked like an alien toy. Lol. So we bought the 800xl. The expensive 1200 never had a chance and was only offered for a couple months in the marketplace before the 600/800xl showed up beside it. Come to think of it, I remember quite a few years before that seeing the lonely neglected 800 for sale on display at Sears and the price tag on it was very high. If somebody wanted a home computer at that early time, the Apple was better value for the money. Then Commodore showed up and stole the show. Atari was always playing the wrong market at the wrong price, and it was too late when they finally figured it out.

You make a good point there. There’s really not much ever made for it that can’t be added or connected via some other fashion or mod. I might just keep this 1200 to look at in its handsome original shape and fix it... it only needs a couple new ICs and maybe a keyboard liner and its good to go. I wonder how many 1200s are left out there? Didn’t I see a 1200 owners reg thread on here a few weeks ago? I wonder if the 1200s are actually rarer now than the 400s and 800s?

The other easier option here is just screwing a 130xe board into the 1200 and cutting a couple holes in the back of the case. Although, I really don’t want to hack up this pretty 1200.

That PBI extender looks sweet. Even adds double cartridge slots by the looks of it? I’m guessing so you could plug in BASIC and have a free slot like the original 800? That extender would look great in a 3D printed case with feet on it. Anybody have one to sell since it appears they were a very Ltd run?

Or maybe the better way to go would be to fix the 1200 and then do all the mods to it instead? Still left without an expansion port though. Hmmm. Man, I wish they had produced the 1400XL. *sigh*

Has anybody ever tried to put an 800XL motherboard inside a 1200XL? If so, curious how you got the cartridge slot and joysticks adapted/moved to the left side of the 1200’s case. I’m thinking to butcher (gasp!) an extra 800XL board and a non-working 1200XL entirely to attempt this. The 1200 is just so great looking and such a better keyboard once fixed. The 800XL with a UAV and RAM upg is terrific. So why not combine the two? Im guessing the extra function keys would be rendered useless though.

1200XL is a great looking machine. A 400, 600XL, or 800 would be cool too. How about that proto Atari mindlink headband? LOL.

Yes I am glad it is from an era before miniaturization. Almost everything can be accessed , diagnosed and is serviceable and replaceable with only basic electronics knowledge. Thankfully Atari did not cheap out on their boards. They are simple, but really well made from good quality materials. You can beat the crap out of them with a soldering iron as an amateur and the traces don’t come off easily and are more forgiving than most. The original Atari company was much like Apple in the early days. They believed in technology as a quality art form. It showed in their early products and marketing. It’s unfortunately also why they went broke too as their costs were too high.

IO Handler Value not valid error upon updating.... ???

Sorry. Was chatting with different users on the different threads about similar. Trying to solve a perplexing display issue. Thx.

Any update to this? I'm looking for a vintage CRT to use with my XEP80 that will display all 80 columns and also match my Atari computer. Thx.

OK... Answered my own question.. Not possible. The XEP80 outputs 15khz horizontal sync and the Atari SM124 is a 30Khz hor sync. Apparently the SC1224 is a 15khz monitor though.. so i'm going that route now.,, or possibly a Sony PVM.

OK... Answered my own question.. Not possible. The XEP80 outputs 15khz horizontal sync and the Atari SM124 is a 30Khz hor sync. Apparently the SC1224 is a 15khz monitor though.. so i'm going that route now.,, or possibly a Sony PVM.

Anybody ever tried hooking up the Atari ST monochrome monitor to the XEP80? I see it has a composite pin on its 14 pin din connector. I wonder if it’s frequency and sync polarity would match???

Anybody ever tried hooking up the Atari ST monochrome monitor to the XEP80? I see it has a composite pin on its 14 pin din connector. I wonder if it’s frequency and sync polarity would match???

Turns out my Samsung Multisync CRT is not as multisync as it could be... LOL. The XEP80 (and/or my converter) is putting out a frequency and sync polarity that is out of reach for the capabilities of the CRT. So, I either need to get a new vintage monitor (Sony PVD or Commodore or Monochrome composite) or a better video converter box that will let me adjust to more frequencies/sync/polarities. Bummer. One vertical and/or horizontal hold pot on the back of the monitor would have fixed this in a second. They don't make things like they used to.

Bob and Stephen I think you both nailed it. I checked the frequency and sync polarity’s on both my Older multisync crt monitor and my new led tv, and it turns out the newer tv has over 3 times as many frequency sync and polarity option resolutions avail than the old multisync monitor, which is ironic. It would appear the old crt just isn’t wired for the particular frequency, resolution, and sync polarity match that the XEP80 is outputting, which is a shame , because it is a flatscreen aperture grill crt similar to a trinitron which was of the highest quality when it was new. Guess I need to get a Sony PVD or Commodore monitor instead. Bummer.

OK, hooked the XEP80 to my Samsung LED TV using the composite out on the XEP to the Component (green) in on the back of the TV, and it miraculously works just fine and I have a sharp clear black and white screen, albeit the screen offsets are off and need adjustment to fit the entire 80 column screen properly centered. It's interesting that the component green signal adapted is the correct composite signal the XEP80 uses... Is this a Luma only signal on this line? So, the XEP80 is confirmed working. The question now is, how do I get the composite out of the XEP, separated to component (green) signal and then into my SVGA monitor I am using with the Atari? Would a component to SVGA adapter cable work possibly, or do I need yet another powered converter box to accomplish this?

Ok. Tested the XEP80 on my Samsung LED TV and the composite out on the XEP actually works just fine connected to the component (green) video in RCA on the TV. It surprisingly outputs really nice sharp black and white screen to the TV, albeit not centered for the 80 columns... needs some adj. It's interesting the component Green signal is the exact correct adapted composite signal for the XEP80. What video signal is on this green composite line? Chroma? Luma? other? Anybody think a component to SVGA adapter cable would work, or would I need yet another powered converter box to accomplish this to use this on the SVGA monitor I'm using with the Atari? Thx.

Any XEP80 experts here that might know a cure for this display I’m getting out of my XEP80 composite into a converter box and then out to SVGA monitor. Thx for any suggestions to fix. Would the TTL mod on this xep80 for this samsung 763MB monitor possible fix this I wonder? The monitor specs say it can accept a TTL vertical sync as an option. ???

Thankyou. This is helpful. I’ll see if I can find some settings screens in the monitor and converter to adjust this. Sure wish those old knobs were still in the back! I wonder if doing the TTL mod to the XEP80 might fix this for my multisync monitor? It says in its manual it can accept a TTL vertical sync as one of its options. It's a samsung 763MB crt.

I’ll have to try and round up an old monochrome monitor somewhere to test the xep80 without the Chinese converter box. I’ll see if I can play around with any sync settings in the converter and monitor. Hope my xep80 is not fried.

Hooked up my XEP80 to my composite video converter and into my SVGA monitor. This is what I get when I boot with XEP80 disk and the unit hooked up and plugged in and turned in. Any ideas what’s happening here and how to fix? I can hear and see the cursor moving when I type, but the display is slanted and rolling. Monitor and computer work fine with regular composite and SVid without xep80. Could this be a faulty xep80 or is something not syncing correctly with my converter or monitor? Thx.

$$ Burning a hole in my pocket I’d like to give you for one of these.