Atari 400

[Dant]

Hey everyone, I'm brand new to this forum and have an Atari 400 here that I dug up out of storage recently with no cartridges, no cassette drive, and no disk drive (although there were 3 joysticks).

 

After getting the thing plugged in for the first time in a while I noticed that the switch box used those prongs instead of the standard screw-down coax connectors. So after an 3-min argument with the guy at RadioShack about "Yes the RF modulator is indeed built into the Atari." I finally got an RCA-to-Coax adapter and pluged it into my TV.

 

So now here I am typing this as I look at a blue screen with the phrase "ATARI COMPUTER - MEMO PAD" at the top on my little 13" TV I have next to my PC. So to end this my only question is "Now what?". Because quite literally I have no idea where to go from here.

[accousticguitar]

Get some carts and a joystick and start playing some games! I don't suppose you know how much RAM you have in that 400?

[nathanallan]

I miss my 400 and its flat keyboard <sigh>

[kskunk]

So now here I am typing this as I look at a blue screen with the phrase "ATARI COMPUTER - MEMO PAD" at the top on my little 13" TV I have next to my PC. So to end this my only question is "Now what?". Because quite literally I have no idea where to go from here.

 

When I was 5, I got my hands on an Atari 400 and a 13" (black and white) TV, and I knew exactly what to do. I put Star Raiders in the cartridge slot and grabbed a joystick and played 'spaceship' all weekend. Still good advice for a new 400 owner.

 

- KS

[+therealbountybob]

Checkout the Atari FAQ and search this forum of course

[atariksi]

Get some carts and a joystick and start playing some games! I don't suppose you know how much RAM you have in that 400?

 

Yeah, Atari 400 is plug and play. Just plug in a cartridge in the obvious place (bomb calorimeter) and close the lid. You should leave the machine on (on right side) so you can quickly swap cartridges within seconds (faster than the latest modern PC can shut down an application and run another one). Keep a digital camera handy so in case you get a high score for game used in High Score Club, you can submit that score. If you are using rechargeable batteries and didn't have them recharged, don't worry. I left my Atari 400 on for one week without any problems and that should be sufficient to recharge your camera batteries.

 

If you're not into games, I ran an entire multimedia CDROM (2GB of uncompressed data) on Atari 400 using only the 16K RAM and PC interface...

[Dant]

Thanks for the advice!

 

Get some carts and a joystick and start playing some games! I don't suppose you know how much RAM you have in that 400?

 

I believe I have the stock 8k I did some reading and it really sucks that I have to learn how to solder to upgrade it

 

Yeah, Atari 400 is plug and play. Just plug in a cartridge in the obvious place (bomb calorimeter) and close the lid. You should leave the machine on (on right side) so you can quickly swap cartridges within seconds (faster than the latest modern PC can shut down an application and run another one). Keep a digital camera handy so in case you get a high score for game used in High Score Club, you can submit that score. If you are using rechargeable batteries and didn't have them recharged, don't worry. I left my Atari 400 on for one week without any problems and that should be sufficient to recharge your camera batteries.

 

If you're not into games, I ran an entire multimedia CDROM (2GB of uncompressed data) on Atari 400 using only the 16K RAM and PC interface...

 

Yeah I kind noticed the 400 turned off when I opened the lid. I have a really old but reliable AA-powered digital camera, and once again I have only the stock 8k.

[atariksi]

Thanks for the advice!

 

Get some carts and a joystick and start playing some games! I don't suppose you know how much RAM you have in that 400?

 

I believe I have the stock 8k I did some reading and it really sucks that I have to learn how to solder to upgrade it

 

Yeah, Atari 400 is plug and play. Just plug in a cartridge in the obvious place (bomb calorimeter) and close the lid. You should leave the machine on (on right side) so you can quickly swap cartridges within seconds (faster than the latest modern PC can shut down an application and run another one). Keep a digital camera handy so in case you get a high score for game used in High Score Club, you can submit that score. If you are using rechargeable batteries and didn't have them recharged, don't worry. I left my Atari 400 on for one week without any problems and that should be sufficient to recharge your camera batteries.

 

If you're not into games, I ran an entire multimedia CDROM (2GB of uncompressed data) on Atari 400 using only the 16K RAM and PC interface...

 

Yeah I kind noticed the 400 turned off when I opened the lid. I have a really old but reliable AA-powered digital camera, and once again I have only the stock 8k.

 

Most Atari 400s had 16K RAM but even if it's less, the 16K card is a direct plug-in (no soldering). If you have BASIC cartridge, try:

 

? FRE(0)

 

and let us know what it states then we can know how much RAM you have in your machine.

[Dant]

Well, I have no basic cartridge and most 16k Ataris I've seen had a 16k sticker on the bottom which mine doesn't.

 

On the other hand I did find a good deal on a 810 floppy drive, a 410 cassette drive, and a SX express modem so I can dial into the BBSes here.

[atariksi]

Well, I have no basic cartridge and most 16k Ataris I've seen had a 16k sticker on the bottom which mine doesn't.

 

On the other hand I did find a good deal on a 810 floppy drive, a 410 cassette drive, and a SX express modem so I can dial into the BBSes here.

 

I'll have to check out my A400 when I get home to see if there's a sticker on it. I would think some games should still work.

 

If you're missing manuals as well (and given you have no cartridges currently), you can try this one as a start:

 

http://www.digitpress.com/library/techdocs...vice_Manual.pdf

 

This shows 16K RAM would work without any soldering.

[Dant]

Thanks, anyway I swore that only the 800 had the Ram slots but I'm apparently wrong

 

Also will this do? http://cgi.ebay.com/RAMPOWER-32-FOR-ATARI-...93%3A1|294%3A50

Edited July 14, 2009 by Dant

[+skr]

Thanks, anyway I swore that only the 800 had the Ram slots but I'm apparently wrong

 

I have a 400 with 48k, but I bought with that RAM, so I don´t know, how it was expanded to that amount.

 

I know there was a page where it was described, how to expand the 400´s memory, but today Google isn´t my friend. Maybe it was in an scanned article, I will post it here, if I should find it again.

 

Later on I will open it and take a look at the RAM.

[Dant]

Ok, thanks

[LYNXGUY]

Dant, If you live in the states I can send you a BASIC cart as I got an extra one.

[classics]

My poor 400 is so neglected. Might be time to dig it out and hack something into it... or at least upgrade it to 48k.

 

Steve

[sup8pdct]

32K is max amount of ram that can go in with out soldering. A simple plug in just like 800 but with more work. .

James,

Hey everyone, I'm brand new to this forum and have an Atari 400 here that I dug up out of storage recently with no cartridges, no cassette drive, and no disk drive (although there were 3 joysticks).

 

After getting the thing plugged in for the first time in a while I noticed that the switch box used those prongs instead of the standard screw-down coax connectors. So after an 3-min argument with the guy at RadioShack about "Yes the RF modulator is indeed built into the Atari." I finally got an RCA-to-Coax adapter and pluged it into my TV.

 

So now here I am typing this as I look at a blue screen with the phrase "ATARI COMPUTER - MEMO PAD" at the top on my little 13" TV I have next to my PC. So to end this my only question is "Now what?". Because quite literally I have no idea where to go from here.

[sup8pdct]

32K is max amount of ram that can go in with out soldering. A simple plug in just like 800 but with more work. .

James,

Hey everyone, I'm brand new to this forum and have an Atari 400 here that I dug up out of storage recently with no cartridges, no cassette drive, and no disk drive (although there were 3 joysticks).

 

After getting the thing plugged in for the first time in a while I noticed that the switch box used those prongs instead of the standard screw-down coax connectors. So after an 3-min argument with the guy at RadioShack about "Yes the RF modulator is indeed built into the Atari." I finally got an RCA-to-Coax adapter and pluged it into my TV.

 

So now here I am typing this as I look at a blue screen with the phrase "ATARI COMPUTER - MEMO PAD" at the top on my little 13" TV I have next to my PC. So to end this my only question is "Now what?". Because quite literally I have no idea where to go from here.

[ls650]

I had a 400 back in the day that came from the factory with 16 KB. I put in a 48KB expansion kit and a real keyboard as well.

 

I would recommend you pick up a few carts off eBay or CTCW. You can buy a bundle of commons for farily cheap. And of course, any old Atari or Sega Genesis controller will work fine.

[Rybags]

I'm surprised nobody's developed a SIMM-based upgrade... then again the old machines don't really get much attention these days.

[Dant]

32K is max amount of ram that can go in with out soldering. A simple plug in just like 800 but with more work. .

James,

Hey everyone, I'm brand new to this forum and have an Atari 400 here that I dug up out of storage recently with no cartridges, no cassette drive, and no disk drive (although there were 3 joysticks).

 

After getting the thing plugged in for the first time in a while I noticed that the switch box used those prongs instead of the standard screw-down coax connectors. So after an 3-min argument with the guy at RadioShack about "Yes the RF modulator is indeed built into the Atari." I finally got an RCA-to-Coax adapter and pluged it into my TV.

 

So now here I am typing this as I look at a blue screen with the phrase "ATARI COMPUTER - MEMO PAD" at the top on my little 13" TV I have next to my PC. So to end this my only question is "Now what?". Because quite literally I have no idea where to go from here.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

I'm surprised nobody's developed a SIMM-based upgrade... then again the old machines don't really get much attention these days.

 

That's likely because the necessary chips to convert the signal would make it over complicated, and/or too expensive, and/or too big, or just impossible. Mainly because SIMMs act much differently from Standard D-ram like the 400 has, I believe.

[atariksi]

Thanks, anyway I swore that only the 800 had the Ram slots but I'm apparently wrong

 

Also will this do? http://cgi.ebay.com/RAMPOWER-32-FOR-ATARI-...93%3A1|294%3A50

 

There's no sticker on my A400 but it's still 16K.

 

As someone already answered, you can plug in 32K easily:

 

http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issu...0_ANNOUNCED.php

 

Since cartridge space uses up the 8K..16K area remaining $8000...$BFFF, you won't gain as much with 48K if you intend to play cartridges anyway so not worth soldering in a complex circuit.

 

But I would take the BASIC cartridge from the guy offering it to you as you can then also test for GTIA as well with simple program like:

 

10 GRAPHICS 9

20 FOR T=0 TO 79:C.T/5:PLOT T,0:DR. T,191:N.T

30 GOTO 30

[+skr]

As I promised to you, I took a fast look into my (PAL) 400. This is the board:

The inner board must be the RAM:

 

I am not sure how it works, but tomorrow I go to the Fujiama-Meeting and have the 400 with me. There are surely some hardware pros who can explain, what kind of RAM extension this is.

[BigBen]

Hi skr,

nice to meet you tomorrow

Atari produce a 48k expansion board for the 400.

 

 

Many greetings,

BigBen

[+skr]

Hi skr,

nice to meet you tomorrow

 

The pleasure is on my side. You are one of the guys I meant with "hardware pro" :-)

[JokerCPoC]

I had a 400 back in the day that came from the factory with 16 KB. I put in a 48KB expansion kit and a real keyboard as well.

 

I would recommend you pick up a few carts off eBay or CTCW. You can buy a bundle of commons for fairly cheap. And of course, any old Atari or Sega Genesis controller will work fine.

The 400 I had was My 1st computer back in 1980 and I did the same thing, ram and keyboard expansion, But after I got It, I had to take It in for repairs as the memory upgrade had some cold solder joints, But after that It worked like a charm. It looked almost exactly like the one below of course.

 

Edited July 17, 2009 by JokerCPoC