1010 help! (1050 too - read bottom)

[1010 help! (1050 too - read bottom)]

Badly designed, indeed...apparantly, I've got one of them Chelco models. Pressing play when record's already down just makes record pop back up, and vise-versa.

I'll try cleaning it, see what that does.

As far as stone-age technology goes...maybe so, but one of the cool things about collecting these old computers is getting them to work and function as stand-alone systems as they did so many years ago. Going back in time and pretending the internet, Windows, and none of that stuff exists; that's where a lot of the fun is, considering the first computer introduced into my family was a decked-out PC with Windows 95 and whatever version of AOL.

So yeah, basically I'm a masochist. If this provides to be as unstable as I keep hearing it is, I'll try disks first, and if all else fails, SIO2PC (or APE, either one) seems like a good option.

[[RMT] Music if you wanna listen...]

Not bad. I need to get back into RMT...

One thing, this song is definately lacking in bass. Maybe it's just me being used to the pounding bass drums and doubled-up bass distortions being played in a lot of other songs, but I think some more emphesis on bass could really help it. Also, this song could really be enhanced by using stereo mode. It almost seems like you were using stereo mode, but deliberately avoided the four right channels, 'cuz I'm pretty sure RMT doesn't automatically shift to the left...

Other than that, though, nicely done. Keep up the good work!

[1010 help! (1050 too - read bottom)]

So I just picked up a 1010, but it's been less than user friendly with me...

For one, one of the bands on the inside is so old, it just fell off. I replaced it with a rubber band, which has proven to be less than perfect...

But the worst part of it is, I can't seem to save anything right. According to the manual, you have to press play and record at the same time, but I end up having to hold down both in order to get it to work. Then, when I try to load it, it gives me one of three errors: 140, 143, or 138. I'm using modern Maxell UR Position Type 1 120-minute tapes, maybe this is why? What sort of tapes can I use with the thing? Is there any special method to getting play and record to stick down at the same time?

If it helps, I plugged the tape into a tape player so I could hear what it was doing, and I got this really high-pitched screeching sound, followed by the actual data, which (I'm no expert) sounded pretty garbled, like TV static...as though it wasn't recording properly...

Any help is appreciated!

 

Also, I'm doing this on my standard 600XL which just came in, not the Chelco one. Once I borrow a digital camera from my friend, I can post pictures of all the differences.

[Commodore 64 help!]

Yeah, I disabled key repeats, but pressing keys made the flickering slow down. Something's wrong! Should I return it while I still can?

[Commodore 64 help!]

Nope, just space and backspace (that I've noticed). Also, it's worth mentioning that the cursor blinks incredibly fast.

[Commodore 64 help!]

Just scored me a Commodore 64, but it's acting sorta strange.

Strange as in everything is way too friggin' fast! I don't have any games that I can test on it (yet), but just tapping the spacebar or the delete key sends it several characters forwards or backwards, making things impossible. It acts like a modern PC running a C64 emulator at max speed, basically. This all started not to long after I plugged in the 1451.

So what did I do to "overclock" my C64, and how do I get it back? Help appreciated!

[Chelco 600XL...?]

Then, just bend the metal clips straight and you can unscrew about 6 screw/nuts.

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This is where I get stuck; the metal clips are bigger than the slots they fit in. Even if I bent them, I'd have to clip them off to open it.

[Chelco 600XL...?]

http://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n2/anatomy.html - inside the 800XL.

 

http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/8BITS...o/600proto.html - early 600XL prototype

 

There are at least 2 different keyboards for the XLs.  When I had a 600XL, it had the nice positive feeling one with the stepped rows.  My 800XL has the flat one, with mushy feel.  The console indicators were different too from memory, but both have the text on an underlay beneath the clear plastic.

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The inside pics are a bit too small, and I can't really see any differences. Then again, I havn't taken off the metal plate, as from what I can tell it would be impossible to do so.

And yeah, I've seen the early prototype. Mine looks almost exactley like a standard 600XL.

As for the keyboards, that's interesting...I've never heard about a flat keyboard for the 800XL, but then again I havn't looked into those much. This one feels fine, stepped rows indeed.

On the pictures I was looking at, it looked like the text was on top of the plastic overlay, but looking back at those, they might not be US models...so I guess we can scratch abnormalities 7 and 8, then.

I just bought another 600XL, so I'll be able to do a side-by-side comparison when it gets here.

[Chelco 600XL...?]

In light of your findings, I'd say you probably have a "prototype" of sorts. An actual prototype is generally built in-house, in as much as the motherboard goes, and then sometimes cases for the prototypes are molded by a third party injection molding company. But since your board says 'Chelco' on it and was obviously built by them, I'd suggest that it's a 'Test run' machine. I work at an Injection-molding company, and we often do very small or even single "test run" parts that are then sent off to the company who they're for, to make sure they are satisfied with the product or if they want  to make final design changes, etc. Before the actual production parts get the go-ahead.  I think you have a 'test run' 600XL, and indeed, some final revisions were done on the 600XL design before final production. Chelco did the injection molding of the case or had another company do it but they were stamped 'Chelco', then in turn built and assembled the motherboard and then the 'test run' finished computers were sent to Atari for final inspection and re-design. It may actually be rarer than a "prototype" if more than one prototype was made, and depending on how many 'test run' machines were made, generally just 1 or 2, sometimes a few.

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I see, I see...

So how many test-run 600XLs are known to exist?

Also, I'm now wondering if the power supply is prototype as well. Hope not...

My power supply is a model 1, but when we got it, it had a frayed wire. My dad clipped off the end connector, finding that it had pretty much melted on the inside as well. We didn't know what we were dealing with...I ordered another power supply (model 5, I think...), but it didn't work at all. There's another thing I could use pictures of: the insides and connector for your standard model 1 power supply.

 

EDIT: More abnormalities!

7) CLR and CONTROL are written in black text on a white block on the keyboard, not white text surrounded by a white box. I can't tell for sure, but it would appear that this revision came after the 600XL was released.

The labels on the side buttons are under the plastic rim, not over it. Sorta hard to read.

[Chelco 600XL...?]

Sounds interesting.  You can post pics yourself.  Just select "More Options" next to the Reply button.

 

Then upload each pic and select "Add into post".

 

My SIO cables are Chelco.  Maybe they just did the casting of the plastic cases.

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I meant pics of a standard unit. Can't take pics of mine at the moment, no digital camera.

And yeah, the case is apparantly by them as well, as it's marked with Chelco.

But isn't the motherboard supposed to be marked Atari? No clue on the casing, though...

Apparantly, it's well-known that Chelco made tape drives, I'll look more into that as well...

[Chelco 600XL...?]

Howdy again! I registered here a few months ago to post about what I thought might've been a prototype 600XL. Based on my observations, I knew it didn't have a serial number and didn't show any message aside from "READY" when you booted it up. I was told it was probably a normal unit.

Well, upon ordering a 1064, I discovered that the motherboard was a bit too high up for it to fit, so I sent it in to Bruce & Cathy to fix.

They couldn't, they said it was a nonstandard unit, claiming the power switch was different.

Well, I just got it back, and did a bit more research, and here are some of the anomalous things I found...

1) Power switch is a sliding type, as opposed to the normal lightswitch type

2) Parallel Bus doesn't have a plastic wall to enclose the computer

3) Clamps on the Parallel Bus are much bigger than usual

4) The motherboard doesn't appear to actually be misaligned; looking in through the vents, you can see that the slopes match up with the plastic. Motherboard is naturally offset...? Everything is aligned properly with the casing aside from the Parallel Bus...

5) Back sticker doesn't have any patent information or serial number

6) The motherboard is marked "CHELCO 1983 600XL REV 3". Chelco...?

The Chelco thing is what intrigues me the most. Doing some research, Chelco made the Atari systems, but the boards on normal units are supposed to say Atari.

Here's what I'm asking...

1) Could I get some people who know a bit more about these systems to verify that these are all differences from your standard units?

2) Prototype, mockup or early release system?

3) Just how rare is something like this?

4) It would be most excellent if I could get someone to post pictures of these things on a standard unit for comparison; the back of the unit, high-res; the sticker on the back, and the label on the motherboard. Perhaps also a picture of the whole inside of the system.

Thanks for your help!

 

EDIT: Corrected request #4.