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codesurfer.dev

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About codesurfer.dev

  • Birthday 09/16/1967

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Niskayuna, NY
  • Interests
    Coding, digital electronics, retro computing, music

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  1. I will do that, thank you Anders. Do you know if this configuration of C64 is anything special/unique? Serial # S00067211. I like to mod my computers and tinker with them, but I would not tamper with a computer that is rare or has collector value in it's original condition.
  2. Hello Anders, It is the five pin DIN A/V, a 326298 REV A of the circuit board. The VIC-II is a 6567R5 dated the forty third week of 1982 (photo of my VIC-II chip attached).
  3. I have never owned a C64 before, but just acquired one from my neighbor to evaluate and possibly purchase (Serial # S00067211). I have been getting more and more into retro computer tinkering and modding, and I started blogging about my projects at https://blog.codesurfer.dev I opened the case to test the electrolytic capacitors before powering it up (I also tested the power supply separately), and noticed that all of the ICs are dated 1982 with the possible exception of the PLA, the sticker on it reads "C64 REV 3 8411". Does that mean that the PLA is a 1984 version? Is this a particularly unique/rare version of C64 with collector value, and should I avoid doing any mods on it? A few interesting things happened when I originally powered this unit up. Firstly, even with the power switch in the "OFF" position, when I connected the power supply to the computer and then plugged the power supply into the outlet, the "POWER" LED came on! Secondly, my monitor registered a signal (the "no signal" prompt went away) but it was the "black screen" that I have read so much about. Needless to say this was bittersweet, I was hoping to see something come up on the screen, but figured, "now I can learn & blog about this C64 while troubleshooting it". I downloaded a copy of the C64 Service Manual from The Internet Archive, and checking the board schematic saw that the POWER LED should only turn on when the main +5VDC is available. The schematic showed that the power switch interrupts the +5VDC coming from the power brick, and one leg of the 9VAC supplying the other voltages on the board. So I opened it up again, but this time removed the board from the bottom case half and tested the DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) power switch with my multimeter. The switch checked out just fine, so before re-assembling it I connected the POWER LED and then the power brick. This time the LED did not come on until I turned on the power switch! Seeing that I decided to connect the monitor using my DIY Atari 800 A/V cable (The 5 pin DIN pinouts of the C64 and Atari 800 are similar enough to make this possible) and I got a clean yet monochrome screen!!! Has anyone else experienced something like this? I am thinking about looking for short circuits under the RF shielding before re-assembly. Any advice from the forum is greatly appreciated.
  4. I just published a new post to my blog where I mentioned the Atariage Forum, and specifically this thread that helped me troubleshoot my problem over a year ago. Thanks to everyone that makes this Forum possible, and all that share their experience and knowledge! Anyone interested can read my blog post at CodeSurferDev Blog - Atari 800 Part 2
  5. The TV is an LG Model No: 22LG30-UA, it appears to be NTSC only, although I am certain there is a PAL variant. The manual is available at https://www.lg.com/us/support/product/lg-22LG30.AUS
  6. Thanks bfollowell. I just went to Goodwill and picked up a $20 LG TV that has HDMI, VGA, S-Video, Composite, RGB, and antenna inputs. I spliced my own DIN to S-Video cable and it looks perfect.
  7. Follow up to my last post: I just tried connecting the Atari 800 to the composite input of an older Samsung Smart TV and it worked. It appears the problem is the analog to VGA converter box. Looking at a more expensive model on Amazon and someone gave it a bad review because it only displays black and white with their Atari 800. Has anyone found a converter that works with the Atari 800?
  8. Help! I am connecting an Atari 800 to one of those imported video to VGA converter boxes to an LG LCD flat panel VGA display. I have tried using the composite input and the s-video input to the converter box and in both cases I appear to only be getting the luminance signal and no chroma. When I try the converter box with a VCR the LG monitor shows color, just not with the Atari 800. Has anybody else had this problem?
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