Gunstar Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 As to the Happy, as I recall, the switch was extra. But except for a bit of luck on eBay or similar, I think the only place you can get a Happy is from Atarimax today. And no, they do not have a switch either. But the software only takes about ten seconds to load up and disable the Happy for normal 1050 operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 As to the Happy, as I recall, the switch was extra. But except for a bit of luck on eBay or similar, I think the only place you can get a Happy is from Atarimax today. And no, they do not have a switch either. But the software only takes about ten seconds to load up and disable the Happy for normal 1050 operation. B&C/myatari.com also sells upgrades for the 810 & 1050 drives, their prices are higher but I believe they are selling NOS instead of reproductions. Below is taken from: http://www.myatari.com/atarixlh.txt ACA011 ICD US Doubler 1050 Upgrade EPROM 29.95 J2/J4 in Gives a stock 1050 true double density ACA007 HAPPY 1050 UPGRADE 125.00 Turns a stock 1050 into a 1050 Happy drive ACA008 HAPPY 810 UPGRADE 99 Turns a stock 810 into a 810 Happy drive ACA009 HAPPY 810 ROM UPGRD >5000 24.95 ACA010 HAPPY 810 ROM UPGRD <5000 24.95 Upgrade Rom for original 810 Happy Drives ACA012 SUPER ARCHIVER 1050 CHIP 69.95 Turns a stock 1050 into a Super Archiver 1050 Requires soldering!! ACA013 PCB 810 ARCHIVE W/SIDE 39.95 Turns a stock 810 into a Archiver 810 ACA014 ARCHIVER 1050 HAPPY 29.95 Turns a 1050 Happy into a Archiver 1050 ACA015 ARCHIVER 810 HAPPY 29.95 Turns a 810 Happy into a Archiver 810 ACA016 SUPER ARCHIVER UPGRADE 29.95 Gives many Super Archiver features to any Archiver 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 B&C/myatari.com also sells upgrades for the 810 & 1050 drives, their prices are higher but I believe they are selling NOS instead of reproductions. Below is taken from: http://www.myatari.com/atarixlh.txt Yep, I ordered my 810 Happy Enhancement from B&C. NOS board, floppy, manual and warranty card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 The only noisy stuff about a 1050 is when it steps tracks with DRY head support rods. Lube those rods with a bit of vaseline (the kind that has no acid in it)....... and you've got a very silent 1050. But reading entire tracks in one go with a (Mega)Speedy sure helps too In the past I tend to think so too, but it is not the only reason for noisy 1050's. If it was this simple, I would have had only silent 1050's. The noise is not only from the head-support rods. The noise is from the step-motor and the rest of the mechanism itself. Even when everything that should be lubricated is running fine without any form of resistance, it still can be a noisy 1050. I have a stack of more than 30 1050's here and there are slight differences between them, and so is the noise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
as... Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) There was produced around 300-380 Toms 720 drives only and mostly only people from Poland knew about this device. Additional, price for Toms 720C was simillar to price of new Amiga 500 so it was definitely not cheap. This is true! But maybe less.? Who know about... Toms 710 they did almost 100 pcs. Toms 710 and Toms 720 is the best drive for Atari 8bit. -availability, does not exist (some time, some one find one this item toms, price is around more thank 500-800 usd, but not sales dont exist )... In the past only 3 maybe five times this items show on allegro (something like ebay, but this is Polish market) Edited October 20, 2017 by as... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 In the past I tend to think so too, but it is not the only reason for noisy 1050's. If it was this simple, I would have had only silent 1050's. The noise is not only from the head-support rods. The noise is from the step-motor and the rest of the mechanism itself. Even when everything that should be lubricated is running fine without any form of resistance, it still can be a noisy 1050. I have a stack of more than 30 1050's here and there are slight differences between them, and so is the noise. 30? Wow - you trying to make one of those "floppy organs"? 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Yeah this sent me down a rabbit hole... stopping by the wintergerten marble machine and ending up at the oldest playable organ in the world... thanks for that... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 (edited) um perfectly polished clean and dry is how the 1050 is meant to be wiped clean with the thinnest of dust resistant oils but never wet...but you can get away with teflon dust or god forbid some graphite.. Edited October 27, 2017 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nasty niff Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Atari 1050 with mega speedy upgrade,by far the best drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 I notice a lot of folks seem to have like 10 similar atari drives, mostly 1050 and its upgrades, stacked up. Some mention going through a lot of them over the years (for unmentioned reasons), while others mention having the same one 20 years. Do people stock pile them because they tend to die every couple years, and a few folks are lucky, or why? I just got a Happy 1050 and I'm a bit curious if the increased speed and functions wear on it faster. It does seem to be a possible trend in this thread that the stock 1050s are faring better than the upgraded ones. Still, always wanted a happy 1050 with the unhappy switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 I purchased a happy mod earlier this year. I have put it in 2 drives and in both cases, the drives have failed weeks later with very light usage. I have been using a non-happy modded drive off and on for months with no issues. Could be a conincidencs. I'd love to hear what others think. -Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 I notice a lot of folks seem to have like 10 similar atari drives, mostly 1050 and its upgrades, stacked up. Some mention going through a lot of them over the years (for unmentioned reasons), while others mention having the same one 20 years. Do people stock pile them because they tend to die every couple years, and a few folks are lucky, or why? I just got a Happy 1050 and I'm a bit curious if the increased speed and functions wear on it faster. It does seem to be a possible trend in this thread that the stock 1050s are faring better than the upgraded ones. Still, always wanted a happy 1050 with the unhappy switch. I purchased a happy mod earlier this year. I have put it in 2 drives and in both cases, the drives have failed weeks later with very light usage. I have been using a non-happy modded drive off and on for months with no issues. Could be a conincidencs. I'd love to hear what others think. -Todd Hmm I have a different experience. Most of my failing 1050's are the stock ones, and the 1050's that seem to live forever are the ones with an original Happy board. Since some time I moved from Happy to the Mini Speedy (not the Mega Speedy!) and I must say, that tiny upgrade did steal my heart. It is simple, it is accurate, and it just works. Have ordered a huge stack from tf_hh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 some upgrades can reveal capacitor or regulators at the end of their lives... this can be a coincidental crap shoot... I have found that once an upgrade has been installed it is best to allow a proper burn in from 24 to 48 hours.... it seems when this is done it confirms it is rock solid and I never have a problem after that... the quick I installed it, it works and I turn off installs and builds seem to fail at higher rates... perhaps caps and other circuitry reform during the burn in... not really sure... but I darn well perform the burn in period on almost everything I do. It's good enough for the entire industry, it's good enough for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 some upgrades can reveal capacitor or regulators at the end of their lives... this can be a coincidental crap shoot... I have found that once an upgrade has been installed it is best to allow a proper burn in from 24 to 48 hours.... it seems when this is done it confirms it is rock solid and I never have a problem after that... the quick I installed it, it works and I turn off installs and builds seem to fail at higher rates... perhaps caps and other circuitry reform during the burn in... not really sure... but I darn well perform the burn in period on almost everything I do. It's good enough for the entire industry, it's good enough for me Thermochemistry, electronics and the atmosphere make a strange menage et trois 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 Since some time I moved from Happy to the Mini Speedy (not the Mega Speedy!) and I must say, that tiny upgrade did steal my heart. It is simple, it is accurate, and it just works. Have ordered a huge stack from tf_hh. Oh? I'm going to check with him then if he has any more, might tie me over since I missed the Mega Speedy boat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Maybe an stupid question, but why is that Atari xf551 can format, write and read HD floppies and the 1050 can only read them? I am already surprised it can read them, through. I just got a 1050 for first time and I started to have problems and then I figured out the source is that some of my diskettes are HD. I never paid attention to that before, I thought that since I used them in DD mode anyways with ED Dos 2.5 format it wouldn't matter, I guess I was wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) XF551 can't use HD disks either. It only adds true double density over a stock 1050, and double sided support. HD disks use a different magnetic formulation that requires a stronger magnetic field to write, and a smaller/finer read/write head to focus it in smaller tracks. Edited December 4, 2017 by Nezgar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) but, with some super surgery.... Edited December 4, 2017 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) but, with some super surgery.... AFAIK, XF551 mods only went up to 720K on 3.5" disks, and not 1.2MB on 5.25. I only ever knew of the Black Box Floppy Board supporting 1.2/1.44MB... Edited December 4, 2017 by Nezgar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) that you're aware of..... it's involved it's been done.... it's wasn't worth it back then, it might be now.... but I doubt it... does maxi allow those 1.4 drive mechs? Edited December 4, 2017 by _The Doctor__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manterola Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 (edited) I've used 3m and basf hd diskettes for years without a problem. I have a xf551 with misumi mech since 1990. Every time I got the opportunity to get some floppies I just got them, from flea markets, friends getting rid of their old pc, etc. I never paid attention on the 2D OR HD thing. That is how I ended up with those 3m and basf diskettes. I even have a couple of 1S/2D which are formatted for both sides and they are still reliable after all these years. Is it maybe that 3m are good quality hd floppies and that is why they worked? It is just I am very surprised about all this. Edited December 5, 2017 by manterola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Even the ST/TT computers were only 720k until they used hand selected / tested WD1772 chips in order to be HD capable, when Atari couldn't obtain these any more they developed the AJAX FDC. http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/custom-i.htm#Ajax 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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