Atari2008 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 This might be kind of a dumb question but I was reading the manual of one of my Astrocade games and it mentioned turning on the system before inserting the cartridge. I have been treating the Astrocade like every other system and insterting the cartridge before turning the system on and then turning it off before removing the cartridge. Is the Astrocade like the Channel F in that you turn the system on before and then plug in and change cartridges? I know the Astrocade is a delicate system so I want to make sure I keep it happy. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 This might be kind of a dumb question but I was reading the manual of one of my Astrocade games and it mentioned turning on the system before inserting the cartridge. I have been treating the Astrocade like every other system and insterting the cartridge before turning the system on and then turning it off before removing the cartridge. Is the Astrocade like the Channel F in that you turn the system on before and then plug in and change cartridges? I know the Astrocade is a delicate system so I want to make sure I keep it happy. Thanks! With the 'cade it doesn't matter: off, on either way is fine when inserting a game. If it's already on, you just hit the reset button. And yes, like you read in the manual, it was designed this way. For anyone who doesn't already know, there is a ton of Bally related info on the following site: http://www.ballyalley.com/ There is also a great yahoo group for the Bally as well: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ballyalley/ I post there myself under my yahoo account, msdconsulting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Indeed, it is. I bought it from an older guy that said he purchased it, via mail-order, in 1977. What's odd though is that the inside commercial box shows the Bally Arcade. It could be that this unit was sold at the end of that model's run with the new one, being the Bally Arcade, going into production. I read in one of the Astrocade F.A.Q.'s that the Bally Arcade model numbers were, BPA1200, BPA1000 and BPA1100. The model number, as seen on the shipping box bellow, is BL-1200 as it does on the label on the bottom on the console itself. Plus the label specifically states Bally Home Library Computer. Yeah, Bally's are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get... Glad to see there is another HLC out there that still works, counting yours and mine that makes them the only two Home Library Computer models know to work in the world. I finally got around to putting mine out on display with two of my other "prized" consoles: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 There is also a great yahoo group for the Bally as well: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ballyalley/ I post there myself under my yahoo account, msdconsulting. Good luck getting approved for the group. I applied for access there before starting this thread and I'm still waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 There is also a great yahoo group for the Bally as well: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ballyalley/ I post there myself under my yahoo account, msdconsulting. Good luck getting approved for the group. I applied for access there before starting this thread and I'm still waiting. Really? How long has it been? Let me check with the group and see if there are any problems, Yahoo can sometimes be a little flakey... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Indeed, it is. I bought it from an older guy that said he purchased it, via mail-order, in 1977. What's odd though is that the inside commercial box shows the Bally Arcade. It could be that this unit was sold at the end of that model's run with the new one, being the Bally Arcade, going into production. I read in one of the Astrocade F.A.Q.'s that the Bally Arcade model numbers were, BPA1200, BPA1000 and BPA1100. The model number, as seen on the shipping box bellow, is BL-1200 as it does on the label on the bottom on the console itself. Plus the label specifically states Bally Home Library Computer. Yeah, Bally's are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get... Glad to see there is another HLC out there that still works, counting yours and mine that makes them the only two Home Library Computer models know to work in the world. I finally got around to putting mine out on display with two of my other "prized" consoles: Very nice. I love the way the three of them arranged like that look. I was beginning to think I might have been the only one left with a HLC. Nice to see another one. Makes me wonder just how many of them there are left. I also have a Bally Arcade but it doesn't exactly work right. It turns on, gets warm but just produces a black screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari2008 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 This might be kind of a dumb question but I was reading the manual of one of my Astrocade games and it mentioned turning on the system before inserting the cartridge. I have been treating the Astrocade like every other system and insterting the cartridge before turning the system on and then turning it off before removing the cartridge. Is the Astrocade like the Channel F in that you turn the system on before and then plug in and change cartridges? I know the Astrocade is a delicate system so I want to make sure I keep it happy. Thanks! With the 'cade it doesn't matter: off, on either way is fine when inserting a game. If it's already on, you just hit the reset button. And yes, like you read in the manual, it was designed this way. Awesome! Thank you for the info. I hadn't realized that the Astrocade is so rare since it didn't sell well but also due to the fact that many of the original units aren't working anymore. I'll be sure to take great care of mine! At some point I may post pics since the plastic cover doesn't have the label, so I'm curious if anyone could help me identify which model I have. I believe it's the one that was actually labeled Astrocade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Awesome! Thank you for the info. I hadn't realized that the Astrocade is so rare since it didn't sell well but also due to the fact that many of the original units aren't working anymore. I'll be sure to take great care of mine! At some point I may post pics since the plastic cover doesn't have the label, so I'm curious if anyone could help me identify which model I have. I believe it's the one that was actually labeled Astrocade. Whats the label on the bottom look like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari2008 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Awesome! Thank you for the info. I hadn't realized that the Astrocade is so rare since it didn't sell well but also due to the fact that many of the original units aren't working anymore. I'll be sure to take great care of mine! At some point I may post pics since the plastic cover doesn't have the label, so I'm curious if anyone could help me identify which model I have. I believe it's the one that was actually labeled Astrocade. Whats the label on the bottom look like? I just took a look and unfortunately no label on the bottom either. Here are some pics, hopefully someone out there can help identify which model I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 There is also a great yahoo group for the Bally as well: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ballyalley/ I post there myself under my yahoo account, msdconsulting. Good luck getting approved for the group. I applied for access there before starting this thread and I'm still waiting. And my membership was denied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
128Kgames Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 And my membership was denied. PM sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameGirl420 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Ever since I first saw the Griswold kids play one in Vacation I've always wanted one I did'nt think it was an actual system at first,just a movie prop because I thought how weird they're playing a videogame on an old VCR lol. I like the look of it....curious to see how the graphics & games are like too. One of the next systems I'd like to have cos it looks soo vintage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 One of the next systems I'd like to have cos it looks soo vintage. The keyboard looks like it came off my old TI calculator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Rob Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 One of the next systems I'd like to have cos it looks soo vintage. And even better than that, the games are soo awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian63 Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I saw 2 of these today in ok condition. Is it worth buying for $10 each? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 I saw 2 of these today in ok condition. Is it worth buying for $10 each? If one works it's a steal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrizzLee Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I saw 2 of these today in ok condition. Is it worth buying for $10 each? Heck yes.... I need one to replace my dead one :-) Please, please check them out. Its worth the gamble to buy both IMHO. -Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I saw 2 of these today in ok condition. Is it worth buying for $10 each? C'mon. Pull the other one. If you are being serious then yes, most definitely get them both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 I saw 2 of these today in ok condition. Is it worth buying for $10 each? Heck yes.... I need one to replace my dead one :-) Please, please check them out. Its worth the gamble to buy both IMHO. -Lee I need one to play the games I have on... I don't even have a dead one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrizzLee Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I saw 2 of these today in ok condition. Is it worth buying for $10 each? Heck yes.... I need one to replace my dead one :-) Please, please check them out. Its worth the gamble to buy both IMHO. -Lee I need one to play the games I have on... I don't even have a dead one yet. If I get a working one, you can have my dead one. No charge I have a multi-cart here and no working system to play it on. We need a port of Dog Patch on the 2600! -Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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