Interesting eBay 1200xl

[cephallus]

Hi all,

 

It's been a long time since I've been active with the 8-bit, but this is a sickness that just doesn't seem to ever completely die...

 

Anyway, I picked up a 1200xl that some of you may have seen on eBay a couple of weeks ago. It had a funny looking ICD box with it (don't get excited, ha, it was just an ST floppy drive) and a 50-pin ribbon cable sticking out of the side...

 

So fired it up today and...sound, but no composite video. Boo. Cracked the case and found (drumroll) a Rambo XL and PBI mod! It even has the full 800xl OS including built-in basic! Anyone have a black box for sale?

 

But here's where it gets a little weird...

 

There is some kind of clearpic-ish mod done to it - there's separate chroma and luminance, and many of the bits of clearpic have been done (removal of transistors, etc)...but a lot is different. I've compared this to the original clearpic and the clearpic 2 instructions, and it just doesn't quite match up. I'm using it with a custom s-video cable (picture looks *awesome*), but I'd like to have composite video working as well since my lcd monitor only has composite in. Is anyone aware of any 1200xl vid mods that knowingly disabled composite video to provide separate chroma/luminance?

 

The only other real bummer on this unit is that the keyboard is toast. When I finally got it up and running on s-video, I was seriously bummed to find that the keys needed to be pressed, tapped, wiggled, threatened, and cajoled into activating. So I did what any self-respecting 1200xl owner would do...gently peeled away the mylar sheet to clean the contact spots with alcohol. But no matter how gentle I was, I managed to destroy the connector at the bottom of the sheet, so it's off to Autozone for some defroster repair paint on the way to work tomorrow. Hopefully I can salvage it.

 

Since this is already nothing like a 'pristine' example of a 1200xl (and I'm not really into 'pristine examples' per se), I'll probably finish it up with a stereo pokey upgrade, mount rca jacks and an svideo connector on the back of the case, and call it a day.

 

Any 1200xl owners with creative ides for the PBI connector, er, aside from having a big nasty ribbon cable sticking out from the side of the computer?

[Urchlay]

The video mod could be Clearpic 2002 or Supervideo 2.0/2.1... The SV 2.0/2.1 mod calls for a "composite disable" switch, which I left off the one I did on my 800XL (instead, I wired things so composite is always disabled). I can't remember whether Clearpic 2002 also has such a switch, or whether I borrowed the idea from SV2.1, but I deliberately didn't hook up the composite on my 1200XL when I did the Clearpic (my 1200XL board didn't quite match the description in the mod instructions, so I ended up with kind of a modded mod...)

 

Clearpic 2002 directions for 1200XL: http://retrobits.net/atari/clearpic.shtml

 

I was going to paste a link for the 1200XL Supervideo 2.1 mod, but either I don't have it in my bookmarks, or it doesn't exist (maybe it's an 800XL-only mod, which would explain why I did Clearpic on the 1200XL).

 

Anyway, congratulations on your find. The 1200XL might be a red-headed stepchild, but some of us still love her

[carmel_andrews]

Cephallus....Sound's like Frankenstein built your 1200xl

[yorgle]

I was bidding on that one, too. I figured with an ICD box, whatever it was would likely be interesting. One trick I've figured out with the keyboards is to fold a piece of cardboard over the connector part of the board and clamp it in place with one of those large black metal paper clamps while you are cleaning the keypads. This stops you from pulling the mylar away from the connector contacts.

[+Guitarman]

I was bidding on that one, too. I figured with an ICD box, whatever it was would likely be interesting. One trick I've figured out with the keyboards is to fold a piece of cardboard over the connector part of the board and clamp it in place with one of those large black metal paper clamps while you are cleaning the keypads. This stops you from pulling the mylar away from the connector contacts.

 

 

I usually pull the full Mylar away from the contacts because the row of contacts at the edge of the board can use a good cleaning and some of the failure can occur there. To help in good connection afterward, use a circuit writer pen and carefully redraw the contacts. The dried circuit ink will be just thick enough to create a great solid connection when you put the keyboard back together. Take a look at the restoration 'sticky' post at the top of the 8bit section. It has a step by step with pictures for reconditioning the 1200XL keyboard.

[cephallus]

The video mod could be Clearpic 2002 or Supervideo 2.0/2.1... The SV 2.0/2.1 mod calls for a "composite disable" switch, which I left off the one I did on my 800XL (instead, I wired things so composite is always disabled). I can't remember whether Clearpic 2002 also has such a switch, or whether I borrowed the idea from SV2.1, but I deliberately didn't hook up the composite on my 1200XL when I did the Clearpic (my 1200XL board didn't quite match the description in the mod instructions, so I ended up with kind of a modded mod...)

 

Clearpic 2002 directions for 1200XL: http://retrobits.net/atari/clearpic.shtml

 

I was going to paste a link for the 1200XL Supervideo 2.1 mod, but either I don't have it in my bookmarks, or it doesn't exist (maybe it's an 800XL-only mod, which would explain why I did Clearpic on the 1200XL).

 

Anyway, congratulations on your find. The 1200XL might be a red-headed stepchild, but some of us still love her

 

Thanks for all the info! It seems that it may be the original clearpic mod; I didn't realize until I read the CP2002 article that the original clearpic did, in fact, disable CV out. I went backwards when I owned these the first time...I had an 800xl first, and then moved to a 1200xl because the keyboard was so much nicer for programming. I bought a 130xe when it first came out and piggybacked it to 320k ram, but could never get past the spongy keyboard compared to my beloved 1200xl.

 

Cephallus....Sound's like Frankenstein built your 1200xl

 

Yup! And it's ok, because it's landed in hands that can appreciate that...

 

I was bidding on that one, too. I figured with an ICD box, whatever it was would likely be interesting. One trick I've figured out with the keyboards is to fold a piece of cardboard over the connector part of the board and clamp it in place with one of those large black metal paper clamps while you are cleaning the keypads. This stops you from pulling the mylar away from the connector contacts.

 

I figured some people here had to have bid on it, haha. The pics weren't too good of that little box...it's a Konyo Master-3s external floppy drive for the ST (at least it's double-sided). I dunno about the 'ICD' sticker on it...it looks like it still has the factory warranty seal sticker on the drive case, so I'm doubtful that there's anything special inside. The sticker has a 510-area-code phone number on it; I'm wondering if it's nothing more than an Atari reseller that was opportunistically named?

 

That's a good tip on the mylar sheet; I really thought I was being extraordinarily careful. On the up-side, hopefully the defroster repair paint will work, and all's well that ends well.

 

Anyway, thanks all. I'm looking forward to getting back into using my 8bits. I bought a 7.2" flip-up lcd screen for around $25 shipped (has s-video/composite in), so I'm going to find some non-destructive way to mount it to the 1200xl to make a 'luggable' out of it.

 

Quick cell phone pic attached to give you an idea of what I saw when I opened the case.

Edited July 24, 2008 by cephallus

[+bob1200xl]

Well, I tried a couple of external PBI mods but came to the conclusion that an internal PBI hack with CF card(s) is the best way to get a HD on your 1200XL. I have one 1200XL with a 3.5 inch floppy in it but even that is not worth the effort. If you set up your CF cards as floppies, you don't need a fast disk drive at all, really. The rest of the software features of a Black Box or MIO could be incorporated internally also. Back when we might have a whole series of PBI devices for the 8-bit, a PBI hack for the 1200XL was a little more useful. Never happened.

 

You're going to have a big, nasty cable no matter how you configure it.

 

I didn't hook up composite in the early ClearPics because it introduces a discernible amount of noise in the video. I never considered a switch for it...

 

Bob

 

 

 

Hi all,

 

It's been a long time since I've been active with the 8-bit, but this is a sickness that just doesn't seem to ever completely die...

 

Anyway, I picked up a 1200xl that some of you may have seen on eBay a couple of weeks ago. It had a funny looking ICD box with it (don't get excited, ha, it was just an ST floppy drive) and a 50-pin ribbon cable sticking out of the side...

 

So fired it up today and...sound, but no composite video. Boo. Cracked the case and found (drumroll) a Rambo XL and PBI mod! It even has the full 800xl OS including built-in basic! Anyone have a black box for sale?

 

But here's where it gets a little weird...

 

There is some kind of clearpic-ish mod done to it - there's separate chroma and luminance, and many of the bits of clearpic have been done (removal of transistors, etc)...but a lot is different. I've compared this to the original clearpic and the clearpic 2 instructions, and it just doesn't quite match up. I'm using it with a custom s-video cable (picture looks *awesome*), but I'd like to have composite video working as well since my lcd monitor only has composite in. Is anyone aware of any 1200xl vid mods that knowingly disabled composite video to provide separate chroma/luminance?

 

The only other real bummer on this unit is that the keyboard is toast. When I finally got it up and running on s-video, I was seriously bummed to find that the keys needed to be pressed, tapped, wiggled, threatened, and cajoled into activating. So I did what any self-respecting 1200xl owner would do...gently peeled away the mylar sheet to clean the contact spots with alcohol. But no matter how gentle I was, I managed to destroy the connector at the bottom of the sheet, so it's off to Autozone for some defroster repair paint on the way to work tomorrow. Hopefully I can salvage it.

 

Since this is already nothing like a 'pristine' example of a 1200xl (and I'm not really into 'pristine examples' per se), I'll probably finish it up with a stereo pokey upgrade, mount rca jacks and an svideo connector on the back of the case, and call it a day.

 

Any 1200xl owners with creative ides for the PBI connector, er, aside from having a big nasty ribbon cable sticking out from the side of the computer?

[+bob1200xl]

$25!! Where did you get it?

 

Bob

 

 

 

The video mod could be Clearpic 2002 or Supervideo 2.0/2.1... The SV 2.0/2.1 mod calls for a "composite disable" switch, which I left off the one I did on my 800XL (instead, I wired things so composite is always disabled). I can't remember whether Clearpic 2002 also has such a switch, or whether I borrowed the idea from SV2.1, but I deliberately didn't hook up the composite on my 1200XL when I did the Clearpic (my 1200XL board didn't quite match the description in the mod instructions, so I ended up with kind of a modded mod...)

 

Clearpic 2002 directions for 1200XL: http://retrobits.net/atari/clearpic.shtml

 

I was going to paste a link for the 1200XL Supervideo 2.1 mod, but either I don't have it in my bookmarks, or it doesn't exist (maybe it's an 800XL-only mod, which would explain why I did Clearpic on the 1200XL).

 

Anyway, congratulations on your find. The 1200XL might be a red-headed stepchild, but some of us still love her

 

Thanks for all the info! It seems that it may be the original clearpic mod; I didn't realize until I read the CP2002 article that the original clearpic did, in fact, disable CV out. I went backwards when I owned these the first time...I had an 800xl first, and then moved to a 1200xl because the keyboard was so much nicer for programming. I bought a 130xe when it first came out and piggybacked it to 320k ram, but could never get past the spongy keyboard compared to my beloved 1200xl.

 

Cephallus....Sound's like Frankenstein built your 1200xl

 

Yup! And it's ok, because it's landed in hands that can appreciate that...

 

I was bidding on that one, too. I figured with an ICD box, whatever it was would likely be interesting. One trick I've figured out with the keyboards is to fold a piece of cardboard over the connector part of the board and clamp it in place with one of those large black metal paper clamps while you are cleaning the keypads. This stops you from pulling the mylar away from the connector contacts.

 

I figured some people here had to have bid on it, haha. The pics weren't too good of that little box...it's a Konyo Master-3s external floppy drive for the ST (at least it's double-sided). I dunno about the 'ICD' sticker on it...it looks like it still has the factory warranty seal sticker on the drive case, so I'm doubtful that there's anything special inside. The sticker has a 510-area-code phone number on it; I'm wondering if it's nothing more than an Atari reseller that was opportunistically named?

 

That's a good tip on the mylar sheet; I really thought I was being extraordinarily careful. On the up-side, hopefully the defroster repair paint will work, and all's well that ends well.

 

Anyway, thanks all. I'm looking forward to getting back into using my 8bits. I bought a 7.2" flip-up lcd screen for around $25 shipped (has s-video/composite in), so I'm going to find some non-destructive way to mount it to the 1200xl to make a 'luggable' out of it.

 

Quick cell phone pic attached to give you an idea of what I saw when I opened the case.

[cephallus]

$25!! Where did you get it?

 

Bob

 

You can find them for various systems...ps2, xbox, etc - they're made by intec as 'gamer' screens. And probably because they're originally intended for non-collectable, recently-obsolete systems (look for the ones for the original xbox), they're super-cheap. In fact, there's an ebay seller in l.a. selling the 5.6" versions for $20ea buy-it-now. I actually considered picking up the larger 10.2" version they sell for xbox360, but $25 was a long way away from the $115 for the larger screen...

 

Keep in mind, i haven't actually received/tried it yet. But I figure that with s-video in, it's a done deal...

 

I'll probably desolder the cable for the pbi mod, but keep the 800xl OS for now. Maybe could then use something like a myide internally and be ahead of the game. An internal usb sio2pc would be the last piece of the puzzle; then I could load software easily and do regular backups of my stuff.

 

I forgot to mention earlier that I'm setting this machine up to do some assembly programming and music composition. I do have dasm, and mac/65 running in emu, but it's not the same. I always tell people that the last time computers were truly magical for me was when I was a geeky 14yo who almost flunked 9th grade because I was up all night hacking my Atari...trying to sit at the same computer that I use all day for work and then do Atari assembly programming just...doesn't...cut...it.

Edited July 24, 2008 by cephallus

[yorgle]

I was thinking of doing a similar thing with a small lcd screen mounted inside a Touch Tablet case, with a stand that you could set on top of the 1200xl.

[carmel_andrews]

So I guess that it's not a good idea to use an internal hard drive with a 1200xl

 

Mind you, i've only seen 3 1200's in all these years, one was at the atari 90's show (novotel), i couldn't remember if it was pal modified or they were running it of a multistandard tv, one was owned by one of the LACE members, it wasn't pal modd'd as it only showed up in shades of grey or black and white, the last one was at another LACE member's house, it was PAL Mod'd and he was running the 1200 self test (the scrolling colours over the atari name)

 

I think the reason why Atari didn't do so well with the 1200 is because Atari had to get a 64k 800 alike machine on the market to compete with commdore's 64 that i guess is why they rushed the 1200, otherwise Atari would have been left well behind in the 'upgrade stakes'

[Urchlay]

So I guess that it's not a good idea to use an internal hard drive with a 1200xl

 

If you're satisfied with a MyIDE instead of a full PBI mod, there's plenty of room in the case for it, and the result is a lot less frankensteinish... My 1200XL's got a MyIDE with a flash drive, but there's enough room for a laptop hard drive. Of course, the MyIDE uses a modified 800XL OS ROM, so your 1200XL also ends up needing that plus internal BASIC (which can be viewed as an upgrade or not). I went ahead & got a 32-in-1 OS and 256K RAM upgrade, and now I feel like I'm driving a Cadillac whenever I use the 1200XL

[cephallus]

Yep, I removed the PBI mod ribbon cable and ordered a MyIDE today. I'm planning to use it with CF cards, since the case was slightly hacked at where the ribbon cable exited anyway. I like the idea of the sio2sd/sio2ide not modding the OS, but this OS has already been changed to the 800xl w/basic anyway, and besides, I'm not really up for mounting the sio2sd's LCD into the case this time around. Maybe the next one...

 

With the 256k ram, CF card booting, and a flip-up LCD, this system is going to be the most useable 8bit I've owned in a long time. Can't wait to have it all up and going so I can bug you all with tedious mac/65 questions...