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Amstari

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I managed to convert the audio files into raw binary data. I used a modified version of an old utility I wrote for another project and it worked quite well. I had to manually fix some of the audio files or they wouldn't convert as is. Especially the first 2 or 3 Picturemate tracks had some issues (see picture) that could cause them not to work at all on real hardware altough I don't have a compumate an I cannot test it myself.

post-10599-0-59550500-1455911408_thumb.png

The picturemate tracks holds 2052 bytes each, while the songmate ones are 1540 bytes. The first 4 bytes are some sort of header, so there are exactly 2kb and 1.5Kb respectively (the compumate has 2kb ram built-in). As you can see in the following picture, I I typed a few bytes from the first Picturmate track into the ram in the Stella debugger and the correct picture started to appear on the rendered screen.

post-10599-0-86035500-1455911406_thumb.png

I also used the raw data to generate new audio files that should be more reliable. If someone wants to try them on real hardware and report if they work, it would be appreciated.

Here are the files:
compumate_tape_binary_v1.zip

compumate_tapes_remastered_v1.zip

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I managed to convert the audio files into raw binary data. I used a modified version of an old utility I wrote for another project and it worked quite well. I had to manually fix some of the audio files or they wouldn't convert as is. Especially the first 2 or 3 PictureMate tracks had some issues that could cause them not to work at all on real hardware although I don't have a CompuMate and I cannot test it myself.

You da' man! Thanks for doing this. :-D

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've been going through my stuff and have the following to add to the CompuMate list.

 

I have two CompuMate keyboards.

 

BC 0100014709 (CIB - NTSC)

BC 0100024700 (NIB - NTSC)

 

 

I've finally added them to the list in the original post.

 

 

Yay! Earliest known:)

Just picked this up today from an auction house here in South Australia:)

Loose unit but it does work:)

 

Also added to the list. Where is this auction house? I'm also in South Australia but haven't heard of about it.

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In Germany the Compumates were released via a mail-order catalogue, Quelle, and those guys were nationwide, and they bought in bulk.

They re-boxed them with the Universum label (a Quelle electronics company), made them to work for PAL TV, and advertised them within the catalogue. Don't know f they sold loads though, I actually don't think so.

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  • 2 months later...

i have 2 compumates, one spectravideo, one universum, both pal but after much hunting i can only find one..

 

pal

universum (quelle)

s/n: 259.151 9

 

oddly it also has a second number sticker BC 0100023088

 

works perfectly on vcs consoles, wont boot on jr's (another cart with compatibility issues on jr's)

 

no box or manual.

 

the other as i say is a pal spectravideo, worked fine before i lost it (untested on jr's) has manual but no box.

Edited by billysastard
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  • 3 weeks later...

 

Did you get it to work after cleaning?

Sorry for the long wait, but it's seemed like this thread had picked up some steam again.

 

And as of now, I am still ad odds with my faulty Compumate. I find that if I put the joystick plugs in the opposite ports, or fiddle with the Atari's switches, different graphical garbage similar to what i've described earlier occurs.

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  • 1 year later...

Sorry for the long wait, but it's seemed like this thread had picked up some steam again.

 

And as of now, I am still ad odds with my faulty Compumate. I find that if I put the joystick plugs in the opposite ports, or fiddle with the Atari's switches, different graphical garbage similar to what i've described earlier occurs.

 

 

I had problems getting both Compumates up and running. I had to go through 4 different Atari's to get the pair up and running. Even when cartridges worked, the Compumate wouldn't on some machines, but work fine on another Atari. It seems the Vader models are flakier in general than the older wood grain models.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 year later...
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  • 9 months later...

I had bought this one several years ago at a retro fair and had never turned it on until today. I expected much less and must admit the design is extremely clever. We even managed to save and load from a tape drive and that goes far beyond my expectations.

 

Universum, PAL, BC0100025286

 

vcs-compumate-box.thumb.jpg.bad59ae5921963134848bdc5ed3d17a5.jpg vcs-compumate-01.thumb.jpg.2e5841268fa73a6c5199984a50740b31.jpg 

 

vcs-compumate-02.thumb.jpg.2f93917e9bf20365d9ccea2d3a4051c8.jpg

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