FEAR the tower of Power!

[Cebus Capucinis]

Woohoo! My peripherals for my Atari 1200XL arrived! Here they are:

 

An Atari 1050 disk drive and a 1027 printer! Huzzah!

 

The printer even came with an additional unused ink roller so I'm going to be printing away on this thing provided I can find AtariWrite software.

 

Here's the stack of awesomeness:

 

So much space! I never knew all this daisy-chained stuff would take up so much room. In fact I now have my 2600 forlornly disconnected and in my closet because I don't have the room for it on the little TV cart.....we have a projector in the office, but a 2600 on it would be scary to say the least.

 

I also got a 130XE:

 

I don't know what to do with it yet. It works perfectly. I didn't take any pictures of it yet, though.

 

We decided on the 1200XL in the room because the decor of the peripherals matches the computer itself.

[atarian63]

Woohoo! My peripherals for my Atari 1200XL arrived! Here they are:

 

An Atari 1050 disk drive and a 1027 printer! Huzzah!

 

The printer even came with an additional unused ink roller so I'm going to be printing away on this thing provided I can find AtariWrite software.

 

Here's the stack of awesomeness:

 

So much space! I never knew all this daisy-chained stuff would take up so much room. In fact I now have my 2600 forlornly disconnected and in my closet because I don't have the room for it on the little TV cart.....we have a projector in the office, but a 2600 on it would be scary to say the least.

 

I also got a 130XE:

 

I don't know what to do with it yet. It works perfectly. I didn't take any pictures of it yet, though.

 

We decided on the 1200XL in the room because the decor of the peripherals matches the computer itself.

Very Nice! I used a 1027 for years it was great in it's day!

[yorgle]

Woohoo! My peripherals for my Atari 1200XL arrived! Here they are:

 

An Atari 1050 disk drive and a 1027 printer! Huzzah!

 

The printer even came with an additional unused ink roller so I'm going to be printing away on this thing provided I can find AtariWrite software.

 

Here's the stack of awesomeness:

 

So much space! I never knew all this daisy-chained stuff would take up so much room. In fact I now have my 2600 forlornly disconnected and in my closet because I don't have the room for it on the little TV cart.....we have a projector in the office, but a 2600 on it would be scary to say the least.

 

I also got a 130XE:

 

I don't know what to do with it yet. It works perfectly. I didn't take any pictures of it yet, though.

 

We decided on the 1200XL in the room because the decor of the peripherals matches the computer itself.

 

I doubt you'll be printing anything with the 1027. It's a near 100% certainty that the rubber print head will turn to mush the instant you use it.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Well, I'm certainly going to try nonetheless. Are there replacement printheads for it?

[+bf2k+]

Well, I'm certainly going to try nonetheless. Are there replacement printheads for it?

 

None that don't disintegrate upon use.

[Cebus Capucinis]

So nothing aftermarket then, just original stuff with very old and dried out rubber, eh? No fun, I really wanted to use the 1027 at least once or twice.

 

EDIT: I heard best electronics sells them, but I'm guessing they're degraded and dry-rotted as well, right?

Edited October 29, 2009 by CebusCapucinis

[+orpheuswaking]

So nothing aftermarket then, just original stuff with very old and dried out rubber, eh? No fun, I really wanted to use the 1027 at least once or twice.

 

EDIT: I heard best electronics sells them, but I'm guessing they're degraded and dry-rotted as well, right?

 

Best dumped his stock two years ago... they degraded and dry-rotted...

[Cebus Capucinis]

Hmm, so the printer basically just serves cosmetic purposes. Oh well, it looks cool nonetheless. Sad that I can't use it, though, too bad there aren't replacement parts (but then again, who is really going to use a 1027 printer anymore? not much of a market for those).

[AtariNerd]

Hmm, so the printer basically just serves cosmetic purposes. Oh well, it looks cool nonetheless. Sad that I can't use it, though, too bad there aren't replacement parts (but then again, who is really going to use a 1027 printer anymore? not much of a market for those).

 

I know this has been discussed to death, already, but has anyone actually ever tried to take a mold in plaster or plastic of the typeface at least so we can get a rough facsimile. Not as good as a injection mold, true, but from there one could piece the other parts together into a final mold of the entire piece. Maybe pretty rough in the final product..but modern synthetics would seem to be more durable..

[+remowilliams]

Hmm, so the printer basically just serves cosmetic purposes.

Yes. Unfortunately the materials just couldn't withstand the test of time.

[Thorsten Günther]

Woohoo! My peripherals for my Atari 1200XL arrived! Here they are:

 

Just wondering: the Russian TV standard is a variant of the French SECAM. The 1200XL is available as NTSC only, as it was never sold outside the USA. Does your TV have a multi-norm video input to cope with this or do you only get a b/w picture?

 

 

Thorsten

[Thorsten Günther]

Well, I'm certainly going to try nonetheless. Are there replacement printheads for it?

 

None that don't disintegrate upon use.

 

The one I had (and sold on eBay) still worked, but I had no ink for it, so it printed white on white. Some ABBUC guys were discussing the production of replacement heads in May 2009, but they didn't produce a batch yet - only a prototype AFAIK.

 

 

Thorsten

[Cebus Capucinis]

Just wondering: the Russian TV standard is a variant of the French SECAM. The 1200XL is available as NTSC only, as it was never sold outside the USA. Does your TV have a multi-norm video input to cope with this or do you only get a b/w picture?

Thorsten

 

I have absolutely no idea I'm from a small town in Idaho, USA that simply had the strange fortune of being named the same as the Russian metropolis.

 

I would assume that it's likely that the picture would only show up in b/w on a Russian television, though.

[yorgle]

Hmm, so the printer basically just serves cosmetic purposes. Oh well, it looks cool nonetheless. Sad that I can't use it, though, too bad there aren't replacement parts (but then again, who is really going to use a 1027 printer anymore? not much of a market for those).

 

I agree it's a great looking device. I'm case-modding one of mine into a desktop scanner. I had purchased a new head for it back when Best still sold them. I took me about 2 hours to install. First line of text destroyed it.

[jaybird3rd]

Just wondering: the Russian TV standard is a variant of the French SECAM. The 1200XL is available as NTSC only, as it was never sold outside the USA. Does your TV have a multi-norm video input to cope with this or do you only get a b/w picture?

I think you misread his location; he's not in the Moscow in Russia, but in Moscow, Idaho, USA.

 

Nice setup, though, CC. It's too bad about the 1027; I've got one, too, and I still can't bring myself to throw it away or scrap it even though it's just about useless.

Edited October 29, 2009 by jaybird3rd

[Thorsten Günther]

I stand corrected - must be ea European thing to first assume that Moscow means the Moscow, etc..

 

Thorsten

[jaybird3rd]

I stand corrected - must be ea European thing to first assume that Moscow means the Moscow, etc..

Not at all; it's only natural to think of the most prominent/important city of the same name no matter where you're from. For example, about half of the states in the US seem to have a town called "Jacksonville," but when anyone hears the name "Jacksonville," they think of the one in Florida first because it's the largest and most prominent.

[JayoK]

I stand corrected - must be ea European thing to first assume that Moscow means the Moscow, etc..

Not at all; it's only natural to think of the most prominent/important city of the same name no matter where you're from. For example, about half of the states in the US seem to have a town called "Jacksonville," but when anyone hears the name "Jacksonville," they think of the one in Florida first because it's the largest and most prominent.

 

And to there's a Dublin and Paris in Texas! But I thought of the country too - well at least it's clear now.

[Kernal]

Ive always thought that at least we could reuse the stepper motors inside the printers to build a really cool robot.. or you could build a plotter with a mini pen out of it...

 

just because theres no ink doesnt mean the motors and electronics are junk.. find a new purpose..

im going to be using the stepper motors out of my atari printer..

 

im just waiting to see if anyone makes a new print ribbon..

[idavis]

Hmm, so the printer basically just serves cosmetic purposes. Oh well, it looks cool nonetheless. Sad that I can't use it, though, too bad there aren't replacement parts (but then again, who is really going to use a 1027 printer anymore? not much of a market for those).

 

I know this has been discussed to death, already, but has anyone actually ever tried to take a mold in plaster or plastic of the typeface at least so we can get a rough facsimile. Not as good as a injection mold, true, but from there one could piece the other parts together into a final mold of the entire piece. Maybe pretty rough in the final product..but modern synthetics would seem to be more durable..

 

Maybe discussed to death, but has someone done this? Or how about those 3d scans? Jeez, even some pictures with the dimensions. I find it hard to believe that this can't get reproduced with normal modern materials. Anyone?

[+orpheuswaking]

Hmm, so the printer basically just serves cosmetic purposes. Oh well, it looks cool nonetheless. Sad that I can't use it, though, too bad there aren't replacement parts (but then again, who is really going to use a 1027 printer anymore? not much of a market for those).

 

I agree it's a great looking device. I'm case-modding one of mine into a desktop scanner. I had purchased a new head for it back when Best still sold them. I took me about 2 hours to install. First line of text destroyed it.

 

Speaking of scanners, there is a mod from the old Atari User magazines that you can use to turn your 1027 into a scanner... I'll have to try and dig it up.

[yorgle]

Hmm, so the printer basically just serves cosmetic purposes. Oh well, it looks cool nonetheless. Sad that I can't use it, though, too bad there aren't replacement parts (but then again, who is really going to use a 1027 printer anymore? not much of a market for those).

 

I agree it's a great looking device. I'm case-modding one of mine into a desktop scanner. I had purchased a new head for it back when Best still sold them. I took me about 2 hours to install. First line of text destroyed it.

 

Speaking of scanners, there is a mod from the old Atari User magazines that you can use to turn your 1027 into a scanner... I'll have to try and dig it up.

 

A vintage, vintage case mod. That would be cool.

[MEtalGuy66]

Here we go again.. The 1027 is and alwayse was such a piece of sh!t.. why do you people want to fix it? just put it in it's grave... Get a 1025.. Excellent printer, still very useful, and very durable..

[idavis]

Here we go again.. The 1027 is and alwayse was such a piece of sh!t.. why do you people want to fix it? just put it in it's grave... Get a 1025.. Excellent printer, still very useful, and very durable..

MEtalGuy66, with all due respect, maybe it's a nostalgia issue. I for one got in trouble in High School for turning in a paper printed on a dot matrix printer. I was told that I could not do reports on a "computer". We ended up purchasing a 1027 printer, and I spent a lot of time feeding pages into it, and turning in papers that my teachers thought I typed up. It was a success for technology back when people were still very afraid of it.

 

Why is it so bad that I would like to keep my 1027 up and running, just like all my other Atari equipment? I would love to show my kids exactly what it was like printing on something that wasn't laser driven. I fail to see the disdain for the 1027, but maybe because for me, at the time, it was a wonderful piece of equipment that saved me from hours of mistake riddled typing on our IBM Selectric, and also the wrath of stone age teachers afraid of the coming electronic revolution.

 

I find your statement highly ironic on a board devoted to decades old computer equipment. Let's update your quote:

 

Here we go again.. The (insert any piece of Atari equipment) is and alwayse was such a piece of sh!t.. why do you people want to fix it? just put it in it's grave... Get a (new piece of computer equipment).. Excellent (type of computer equipment), still very useful, and very durable..

 

Don't take offense, but some of us love that little piece of sh!t.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I bought mine because I have never seen one in the wild! Growing up my parents were very PC-oriented (starting with a mail-order Northgate 8086, haha!) and I never got to see any of the "third-party" computer supplies, be it Atari, Commodore, Amiga, Tandy, any of it. I am experiencing these systems for the very first time in my life, and it's amazing to see everything I was missing out on, so to speak. I'm currently addicted to the A8 version of Ms Pac-Man and play it every time I'm in the living room. I'm tinkering with some programming on my 130XE just to see what I can get out of it, and I have the TI-99 sitting next to me to be hooked up today for some Wumpus hunting.

 

Good or bad, "piece of sh!t" or not, I want to experience everything that was to offer in these systems. If it's bad, I want to know why. I don't want people to tell me why, I want to experience why for myself. I want to try to make the system better if it IS bad. I want to experience it all.

 

And seconded on the earlier motion: Going on a vintage video game board and calling something from an older era a "piece of sh!t" is probably not one of the brightest things a person can do.