Looking for specs on Coleco ADAM floppy drive model #7817 power supply

[nectarisneo]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum (and to the Coleco ADAM) and am trying to get some information on the external power supply for the 5.25" floppy drive. I was able to find a drive but unfortunately it didn't include the power supply. If I can find out what the voltage, polarity, and amp rating for the factory unit is I may be able to find a suitable substitute. Info on the plug type would be great too. Thanks.

[coleconut]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum (and to the Coleco ADAM) and am trying to get some information on the external power supply for the 5.25" floppy drive. I was able to find a drive but unfortunately it didn't include the power supply. If I can find out what the voltage, polarity, and amp rating for the factory unit is I may be able to find a suitable substitute. Info on the plug type would be great too. Thanks.

 

9V AC

31 VA (therefore 3.44 Amps)

Since its AC, no polarity.

I have a spare but shipping from Canada might be a deal breaker.

 

There's an Atari equivalent but careful, the connector sizes are the same with circumference but the Atari one might be too short often making the connection intermittent.

Edited February 26, 2011 by coleconut

[NIAD]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum (and to the Coleco ADAM) and am trying to get some information on the external power supply for the 5.25" floppy drive. I was able to find a drive but unfortunately it didn't include the power supply. If I can find out what the voltage, polarity, and amp rating for the factory unit is I may be able to find a suitable substitute. Info on the plug type would be great too. Thanks.

eColeco still has the ADAM Disk Drive Power Supply available for $23 (listed on their website) if you can't track down a compatible transformer locally:

 

http:\\www.ecoleco.com

 

look in the Coleco and ADAM Product Catalog section.

[GrizzLee]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum (and to the Coleco ADAM) and am trying to get some information on the external power supply for the 5.25" floppy drive. I was able to find a drive but unfortunately it didn't include the power supply. If I can find out what the voltage, polarity, and amp rating for the factory unit is I may be able to find a suitable substitute. Info on the plug type would be great too. Thanks.

 

9V AC

31 VA (therefore 3.44 Amps)

Since its AC, no polarity.

I have a spare but shipping from Canada might be a deal breaker.

 

There's an Atari equivalent but careful, the connector sizes are the same with circumference but the Atari one might be too short often making the connection intermittent.

 

I use the Atari brick w/o issue.

 

-GrizzLee

[coleconut]

There's an Atari equivalent but careful, the connector sizes are the same with circumference but the Atari one might be too short often making the connection intermittent.

 

I use the Atari brick w/o issue.

 

-GrizzLee

 

Yes I have used them too but if you compare them side-by-side the Atari connectors are shorter and on some disk drives the connection is not always good. When I first got an Atari ps, on one disk drive that I owned it kept cutting out, and then I tried another and it was much better, seems to be some slight differences on either side of the connection from one ps to another or one disk drive to another.

[nectarisneo]

Thank you all very much for the information, and thank you coleconut for the offer. It is greatly appreciated. I just tried a Nintendo NES transformer (which is 9V AC) but the hole for the center conductor was too small. Hopefully I have something around the house that will work. Also, does anyone have any advice on how to transfer files from a Windows PC to the ADAM, or how to use a PC with a 5.25" drive to write ADAM floppies? Thanks again.

[NIAD]

Thank you all very much for the information, and thank you coleconut for the offer. It is greatly appreciated. I just tried a Nintendo NES transformer (which is 9V AC) but the hole for the center conductor was too small. Hopefully I have something around the house that will work. Also, does anyone have any advice on how to transfer files from a Windows PC to the ADAM, or how to use a PC with a 5.25" drive to write ADAM floppies? Thanks again.

First and FOREMOST, your best bet is to boot-up into plain old MS-DOS to insure that these older conversion utilities will work and then you will need a 5 1/4" 360K FDD on the PC (a 5 1/4" 1.2Mb FDD will probably read ADAM disks alright, but there will be problems writing to them). I have used these utilities on a Windows XP system, but only with a 3 1/2" drive... not gonna get into all the details, but you can format a 3 1/2" disk as an ADAM 5 1/4" 160K when you are in a pinch.

 

TO TRANSFER INDIVIDUAL FILES:

 

Download "The ADAM Connection" provided below. Very easy program to use and a doc file is included.

Boot into DOS and execute "The ADAM Connection" (EOS.EXE)

When transferring individual files always remember to spell the ADAM file exactly as it was named (upper and lower case matters) and include the files extension at the end of the name with no spaces, IE: ZaxxonC is a CopyCart cartridge dump of Zaxxon with the "C" filetype.

Also remember the 8.3 filenaming convention for MS-DOS... no long filenames!

 

Here are some common ADAM filetypes:

 

A = SmartBASIC, SmartLOGO, ADAMCalc program file

H = SmartWRITER file

H = SmartBASIC Binary file

C = CopyCart file

= Machine Language File

 

there are more, but this should get you started.

 

TO MAKE A DISK IMAGE OF AN ADAM DISK TO USE ON A PC EMULATOR

OR CONVERT A DISK IMAGE BACK TO AN ADAM DISK

 

Download the MS-DOS program "DCOPY" that is provided below.

ADAM Disk to PC Disk Image command: DCOPY A: C:\filename.dsk /T:40 /S:8 /H:1

 

A: = your 5 1/4" drive on the PC the ADAM 5 1/4" disk is inserted in

C:\ = the location you want to save the newly created disk image to

/T:40 = 40 tracks

/S:8 = 8 sectors

/H:1 = 1 Head

 

PC Disk Image to an ADAM 5 1/4" Disk (best to format the disk first to make sure it is good): DCOPY C:\filename.dsk A: /T:40 /S:8 /H:1

 

pretty self explanatory and then there will always be the learning curve that you will have to experience, but there's a number of poeple on here who are very experienced with all this to provide help.

ADAM Connection (1988) (SpeedyWrite Software).zip

ADAM Connection (1993) (SpeedyWrite Software).zip

DCopy (1996) (Unknown).zip

Edited October 27, 2012 by Tempest

[coleconut]

Thank you all very much for the information, and thank you coleconut for the offer. It is greatly appreciated. I just tried a Nintendo NES transformer (which is 9V AC) but the hole for the center conductor was too small. Hopefully I have something around the house that will work. Also, does anyone have any advice on how to transfer files from a Windows PC to the ADAM, or how to use a PC with a 5.25" drive to write ADAM floppies? Thanks again.

That NES adaptor only has 1 Amp IIRC so it wouldnt have enough beef anyway. Most off the shelf adaptors wont either. Find an Atari part number C017945 as your most cost-effective alternative and hope the connector is long enough for your drive.

[nectarisneo]

Wow. Thanks again for the very detailed information and file downloads. I'll probably look into finding one of the Atari transformers if I can find one that's relatively cheap. I don't want to spend very much on additional parts for the floppy drive without knowing whether it works or not. Hopefully it does.

[NIAD]

Wow. Thanks again for the very detailed information and file downloads. I'll probably look into finding one of the Atari transformers if I can find one that's relatively cheap. I don't want to spend very much on additional parts for the floppy drive without knowing whether it works or not. Hopefully it does.

Then your best bet is to buy one from eColeco so your not chasing after an Atari one with the correct length connector. It is the original Disk Drive Power Supply that he lists and he also states that he has the alternative power supply somewhere in his warehouse. This alternative unit used only one cable (to attach to the disk drive) and the power prongs where built into the case like the U.S. ColecoVision Power Supply.

[nectarisneo]

Thanks once again for the advice. I'll look into getting one of those.

[Geoff Oltmans]

I have also used the Atari brick with no problems on a couple different drives.

[the-topdog]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum (and to the Coleco ADAM) and am trying to get some information on the external power supply for the 5.25" floppy drive. I was able to find a drive but unfortunately it didn't include the power supply. If I can find out what the voltage, polarity, and amp rating for the factory unit is I may be able to find a suitable substitute. Info on the plug type would be great too. Thanks.

 

I saw one for sale over on eCrater http://www.ecrater.com/p/6570146/coleco-adam-disk-drive-replacement

[NIAD]

Got a replacement/spare power transformer last week from eColeco for $23 plus Shipping/Handling... not bad. They have a good supply.

 

Here is the info on the transformer:

 

Dynamic Instrument Corp.

Hauppauge, NY

Made in Taiwan 0880

Class 2 Transformer

 

CAT NO. 30K0005

120 V .... 9.2 VAC

60 HZ .... 3.0 AMP

60 W .... 40 V.A.

 

LISTED UL 580B LOAD

 

Just notice... time to clean my camera lense!

Edited March 29, 2011 by NIAD