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Witchboard

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Posts posted by Witchboard

  2. Posted · Edited by Witchboard

    I believe the belt you have arrowed in red is the same belt viewed from the top and the bottom (I have a 410 open in front of me and it matches exactly - That's just the top and bottom view)

     

    That is correct. It is the same belt, but there are 3 others in the 410, two of which look like they are dedicated for the counter and the other for the motor. If you have a source for the belt that is marked with the red arrow, it would be appreciated.

  5. Posted

    No sense in creating a new topic since a lot of information is already here. I went to replace my belts in my Atari 410 and found there looks to be 4 belts, not 3. I’ve attached images for ease of description. The belts with the green arrows are what I’ve replaced. The one with the red arrow I did not. Currently the symptoms of the recorder are that it will not rewind very well and will not play. It fast forwards fine and the counter works. When I have the unit play, the pinch roller works but the spindle doesn’t move causing the tape not to be wound into the cassette.

     

    I ordered the replacement belts from Best Electronics, but it would seem that they do not have the 4th belt. I guess I'll try and determine how to get this belt out and take some measurements for a replacement.

    post-9468-129824680158_thumb.jpg

    post-9468-12982468134_thumb.jpg

  6. Posted

    Hello. I'm putting out some feelers for some Atari 400 cartridge games. I've been watching them on eBay, but figured I'd ask here and see if anybody had any lying around they no longer needed. Looking for Asteroids, Super Breakout, Dig Dug & Qix. Please PM me with price shipped to 73170. Thanks.

  7. Posted

    No need for a defense. That wasn't meant to be an attack or anything. After Pong the Atari 400 was my first gaming console. I didn't get another one until the Playstation. I had a computer for the rest of the time. I've downloaded a C-64 emulator and have been playing with the games on there. Ah, the memories. :D I probably won't get into consoles as a hobby, but I guess it depends on how interested my son is. I know I've pulled my father into my hobbies several times in the past.

  8. Posted

    I've got my eye on a couple of auctions on eBay. I already have 6 of the carts listed in the one you linked. ^_^ I'll also drop by a couple of thrift stores & pawn shops in the next few weeks, just to check things out. You never know what you find in the old dusty bins.

     

    I can understand the enthusiast position. There are some die hard purists in the coin-op arcade scene.

  10. Posted

    I think this has gone a little beyond the scope of what I was planning on. I was just wanting to play some more games on my old 400 with my son. I'm not wanting to invest in another Atari system. If the MaxFlash won't work with my 400, it's not that big a deal. I'll just have to keep my eye out for some two player games on ebay that we can play together. Thanks everybody! :)

  11. Posted

    The 400/800 have a different operating system and memory bank switching is different than the XL/XE. The primary reason for upgrading the memory in the 400 was so it can run larger disk based programs - and it was quite a bit cheaper than buying an 800 back in the early 80's.

     

    I wouldn't spend any time/effort trying to fix the Atari cassette/drive - they were somewhat flakey even when they were brand new! You should be able to locate the corresponding disk version of the program for free or very little money nowdays.

     

    Thanks Forrest. I'll keep an eye out for it. Problem is, I don't have a disk drive. I'm mainly just fixing it up for sentimental reasons. I don't expect my son to play Galaxy anytime soon. :D

  12. Posted

    Our local electronics store consists of Radio Shack, which is more of a cell phone store than electronic components anymore. Thanks for the link. I should have searched before. I'll hit up a few sites and see what's available. I'm going to be putting in a Jameco order soon, so it would be nice if they carried it, but that would be too convenient. :D

     

    I have more time than money at the moment, so I can always try repairing first and replacing if met with agonizing failure.

  13. Posted

    The problem is with the way that the XL and XE bank switch the 64k plus, the 400/800 just cant do that.

    I would go for the Maxflash cart over the Hollex cart, you get them, and the SIO2PC fromAtarimax

    the owner Steve (Classics) is a member of these forums and goes the extra mile with his product support. There are dedicated forums for the maxflash cart, link on the Atarimax site.

    You will need your 400 to be at least 48k to use the Maxflash carts though

    Thanks for the info. I'll check them out and see if I need to go that route. It may be best to spend the money up front instead of wishing I had after purchasing my 10th cartridge and regretting what I could have had for the same money.

     

    Tell us how the tape load goes.

    I think I found out the first issue with storing these systems in an attic for 20 years. I think the belts in the 410 are dry rotted. I can hear the motor spinning, but nothing is moving. I'll probably have to crack it open and see what's going on. Is there a source for replacement belts?

  14. Posted

    I'm not sure of your level of technical expertise or how much time/money you want to put into this system, but if I were you (and please someone correct me if I'm wrong) I would look into buying a few flash cartridges from AtariMax and getting a PC set up with APE and the proper cable to connect the two systems. You could then download games and write them to cartridge for your son to use.... if it'snot something he likes or doesn't work with on a 400, download another and re-program it.

    I'm pretty proficient technically speakig. My primary hobby is coin-op games. I have a lot of the tools that may be needed to repair these cartridges if need be. Are you talking about the Hollex cartridge? I was looking into that, but also noticed I would require a drive or sio2pc interface in order to get the data to the cartridge, which I have niether. I may go this route if I can get a good deal on them.

     

    No, carts labeled xe game system won't work on the 400 or the 800, anyway there are tons of brown carts around.

    Is this due to the memory requirement or the 400 just doesn't have the internal components to support the games? This is another question I had about the Hollex. If it is just a limitation of memory and the Hollex increases that by 16K, which would increase total system memory to 64K, would I be able to play games intended for the XE systems?

     

    I really appreciate the help guys.

  15. Posted

    All the Atari 400 computers I've seen had 16K. To check the amount of free memory, insert the Atari Basic cartridge and type ? FRE(0)

     

    If it says 37903 (going from memory) then it was upgraded to 48K

     

    All cartridges except those labeled XL/XE will work on a stock 16K Atari 400

    Awesome. It reported 37902. I guess it's been upgraded to 48K, which would mean I could support some of the XL/XE carts? How do you know if a specific XL/XE cartridge requires 48K or 64K?

     

    UNIXcoffee928... I'm still hand winding that tape. :D

  16. Posted

    Your 400 probably has 16k, but some have 8k. I would stick with the brown labeled Atari carts for now, then you can get the early carts from other manufacturers. Stay away from the gray XE style carts as those require 48K or 64K.

    My father says that he upgraded it way back when. However, I'm not sure what he upgraded it to. Is there anything I can do to verify this? Thanks.

     

    A Procedure that is useful for any tape which has been stored for a great length of time.

    Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a shot.

  17. Posted

    It's been up there for about 20 years now. Tested working, which kind of suprised me. We cleaned it up and my father is going to give it to my 4 year old son for Christmas. I figured this would be good considering it's a cartridge system as he wouldn't be able to properly handle discs of the more recent consoles.

     

    Anyway, I'm looking at expanding the game library and was having trouble remember compatibilities between carts. Is any cartridge advertised 400/800/LX/XE backward compatible to my 400? I just didn't want to start purchasing non-compatible cartridges.

     

    Also, I have an Atari 410 cassette deck with one game (Galaxy) and was wondering if it's possible to re-write the tape somehow. I haven't tested it yet, but have a suspicion that the heat in the attic has damaged the tape. Thanks.

  18. Posted

    I'd like the Starfighter game from the movie The Last Starfighter. Sure, it's not a real game, it was pre-rendered footage and a fake cabinet, but movie magic brought it to life, so I would want to play that game on that arcade cabinet like it played in the movie.

     

    The machine from "The Last Starfighter" You know the one where the dude comes to pick you up if you beat it and you get to go save the galaxy, I think that would be my pick.

     

    Hi. First post, but I thought you guys might like this in case you haven't seen it. This website has recreated the game and has available cabinet plans for download. Now, back on topic... being a 90's child I think my arcade experience is too limited to decide on a single favorite. I do like my Neo-Geo since I can have lots of games and change them out.

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