UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 The Bit 3 Full-View 80 was the first 80 Column card made for the Atari. It can only be used, exclusively, in an Atari 800, and requires a secondary monochrome display to produce it's output. It was considered to be a very expensive, high-end device, when it was available. There is very little information on the web about this device. It was often mentioned in both Antic & Analog magazines, but I don't remember any in-depth articles on the hardware, itself. I'm interested in learning more about its capabilities, and hearing about actual user experiences with the device. Since there is so little info available, it would be very helpful if someone could post the documentation & specifications that came with their card. I don't know if it had a full-blown manual, or not, or what type of documentation came packaged with the card, when it was new. Since display technology standards have changed so much since the card was produced, it would be useful to know what specific monochrome monitors have been used successfully with the card, and, more generally, what types of connectors & CRT standards apply, to achieve the optimum display quality. It would also be interesting to hear if it has been successfully used with more modern CRTs or LCD panels, and how it was done. It would also be good to know which software, languages, DOS types, & RAM expansions are known to work or not work with the card, and how the display is enabled from compatible languages & DOS types. I don't know if there was only one standard Full-View 80, or if there were multiple revisions, during the product's lifespan, so info on this would also be useful. Not very many types of non-RAM cards were made for the slots in the 800, so this card is a pretty unique example of how to interface a device by directly using the slots in the 800. I'm personally interested in learning how to make these types of 800-specific devices, since it's a whole area of expansion that hasn't really been addressed by modern add-ons. Hopefully enough people here have used one, that we can put together a good, centralized source of info for this device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 That's exactly what I am working towards. Schematics, bill of materials, rom dumps, and gerber files are all part of the Atari documentation project. I can post the manual if you like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I sure am glad you posted this thread, because now my Bit3 manual is missing! Hopefully the missus didn't spill coffee on it and throw it away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 There was a short story by Dave Small, about how he used the Bit3 with the atari assem/editor cart to program some game etc, was a very good read, tho my google-fu isnt up to the task of finding it, it would be a good anecdote to post... sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 This antic article is related to the story you're talking about. I remember reading this in close temporal proximity of the article you reference. http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n9/Missionredux.html I'll keep looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 yep, it was the previous month's article http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n8/missionaccomplished.html Also, the Amdek 300A is an excellent mono monitor that works well with the Full-View 80. Yes, there was a full blown manual, I think I brought it to work to scan... Here's a quick how-to http://www.cchaven.com/BIT3FV80.HTML 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 yep, it was the previous month's article http://www.atarimaga...complished.html Also, the Amdek 300A is an excellent mono monitor that works well with the Full-View 80. Yes, there was a full blown manual, I think I brought it to work to scan... Here's a quick how-to http://www.cchaven.com/BIT3FV80.HTML AH, so there is a full manual! Can you possibly scan that & post it as a .pdf? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I can't find the manual - i was lucky to have one, and now it's M.I.A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I know I had a small copied sheet with info about the card, but was there a real bound manual? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 I can't find the manual - i was lucky to have one, and now it's M.I.A. Oh, that sucks! Hopefully it'll turn up... did you look under the 800, behind the Amdek, and in that pile of stuff, on the left? (No, I'm not NSA, lol... EVERYONE has a pile of stuff on the left... ha). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 My pile of "stuff" to the left! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 It sucks not having basements in Florida. Even a small collection will overflow a closet in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloopy Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 My pile of "stuff" to the left! Next up on Hoarders, is a gentleman hailing all the way from the UK, but now lives in the heartland of the US, he seems to think he has a 'collection', be we all know folks, this is the old excuse for hoarding. We are gonna go in while he isnt home and help him clean up his mess... ;'D sloopy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 My pile of "stuff" to the left! Next up on Hoarders... Yeah, yeah, the neat-freaks that run that show probably have never performed any cable management behind their computers, or filesystem management, or defragmentation on their computers, and their machines are probably just as cluttered as the houses they visit, lol. Audience gasps in horror as Disk Defragmenter analysis shows up entirely red on one cast member's computer, on this special investigative report into The Real Lives of The Antihoarders at 8:00 PM EST. Stay tuned for the marathon, all this week, as Spybot S&D finds all 798265 entries on one computer! Thrill to the harrowing story of the cast member who tripped over her Ethernet Cable, and landed in the Hospital... All this and more onThe Real Lives of The Antihoarders! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 OK, so, ANTIC VOL. 4, NO. 3 / JULY 1985 / PAGE 40 states the following: OSS also has available special versions of DOS XL which directly support the Axlon Ramdisk, the Mosaic 64 board, and the Bit-3 80 column board. This makes it possible to program BASIC XL, ACTION!, and MAC/65 in an 80 column format. I checked the manual for DOS XL version 2.30, December 1983 ( "OSS-DOSXL-V2-30.pdf"), and there is no mention of it in this version. Wikipedia states that v. 2.30P was the last version of DOS XL. I checked the versions of DOS XL that are on the web, and a file called "DOSXL_2.35i1.ATR" exists... I checked this v. 2.35i1, and did not see any reference to the Bit 3 in the file listing, nor did I find any file reference in "DOSXL_v2.20.ATR". Can someone post the file & documentation for the version of DOS XL that has the Bit 3 feature-set included? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I found this OSS disk in my stuff. It is DD on one side and SD on the back, files on each side. Bit3 code is on one, DOC on the other. (I didn't actually open the files...) Bob DOSXLDD.atr DOSXLSD.atr OK, so, ANTIC VOL. 4, NO. 3 / JULY 1985 / PAGE 40 states the following: OSS also has available special versions of DOS XL which directly support the Axlon Ramdisk, the Mosaic 64 board, and the Bit-3 80 column board. This makes it possible to program BASIC XL, ACTION!, and MAC/65 in an 80 column format. I checked the manual for DOS XL version 2.30, December 1983 ( "OSS-DOSXL-V2-30.pdf"), and there is no mention of it in this version. Wikipedia states that v. 2.30P was the last version of DOS XL. I checked the versions of DOS XL that are on the web, and a file called "DOSXL_2.35i1.ATR" exists... I checked this v. 2.35i1, and did not see any reference to the Bit 3 in the file listing, nor did I find any file reference in "DOSXL_v2.20.ATR". Can someone post the file & documentation for the version of DOS XL that has the Bit 3 feature-set included? Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I found this OSS disk in my stuff. It is DD on one side and SD on the back, files on each side. Bit3 code is on one, DOC on the other. (I didn't actually open the files...) Bob DOSXLSD.atr The DOSXLSD.atr has bad data on sector #517 (SDCopy.com), but otherwise both check out okay Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 I found this OSS disk in my stuff. It is DD on one side and SD on the back, files on each side. Bit3 code is on one, DOC on the other. (I didn't actually open the files...) Bob DOSXLSD.atr The DOSXLSD.atr has bad data on sector #517 (SDCopy.com), but otherwise both check out okay Jay Thanks for posting this! I presume that "SDCopy.com" can be copied from one of the other .ATRs that are around, to make a good, usable disk image of this version of DOS XL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Thanks for posting this! I presume that "SDCopy.com" can be copied from one of the other .ATRs that are around, to make a good, usable disk image of this version of DOS XL. Yep, but I just beat ya to it Here is the Fixed ATR... Jay DOSXLSD.atr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Thanks for posting this! I presume that "SDCopy.com" can be copied from one of the other .ATRs that are around, to make a good, usable disk image of this version of DOS XL. Yep, but I just beat ya to it Here is the Fixed ATR... Jay Ha, Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 LOL, DOSX LSD, ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I tried a number of SDCOPY.COM files - none of them run from DOS. They just drop you back on the menu. Did you try this program? How does it work? Bob Thanks for posting this! I presume that "SDCopy.com" can be copied from one of the other .ATRs that are around, to make a good, usable disk image of this version of DOS XL. Yep, but I just beat ya to it Here is the Fixed ATR... Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 (edited) I tried a number of SDCOPY.COM files - none of them run from DOS. They just drop you back on the menu. Did you try this program? How does it work? Bob I just tried SDCopy.com and found that it will not run from the Menu, but if you [Q]uit to DOS XL and type sdcopy, it does indeed work Edit: Also, you can enter the [X]tended Command and type sdcopy for it to work... Jay Edited July 14, 2011 by AtariGeezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Cool... thanks! Bob I tried a number of SDCOPY.COM files - none of them run from DOS. They just drop you back on the menu. Did you try this program? How does it work? Bob I just tried SDCopy.com and found that it will not run from the Menu, but if you [Q]uit to DOS XL and type sdcopy, it does indeed work Edit: Also, you can enter the [X]tended Command and type sdcopy for it to work... Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 (edited) Hi all, I saw an earlier post that mentioned 2.35i version. That is for high speed with Indus GT Drives, but will work fine with anything, just no highspeed SIO with other drives (without mods). -Kyle Edited March 16, 2013 by Kyle22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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