sd cartridge for 7800?

[+slx]

On 10/9/2020 at 12:38 AM, bszarek001 said:

I’m so excited for this product that I will be purchasing the product from Europe, using a step down transformer for my retro consoles I’m bringing over with me. 

It’s probably easier to just get the required PSUs for the power system in your new country of residence. Best Electronics even sells a 110/240V PSU for the 7800.

[juansolo]

On 10/8/2020 at 11:18 PM, mksmith said:

That was definitely great news for us Muddy ?

I picked up a cheap Ballblazer cart a few months just in case ?

I think I've got 3 surplus currently. One will be going into a Super Circus AtariAge, and all being well the other two will be going into flash carts.

[juansolo]

8 hours ago, slx said:

It’s probably easier to just get the required PSUs for the power system in your new country of residence. Best Electronics even sells a 110/240V PSU for the 7800.

 

For PSUs in the UK we use the following (modifying the plugs as required) for everything Atari.

 

For 5V devices do a search on eBay for: pe-1170-1sa1 Either LiteOn or Cisco branded https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=pe-1170-1sa1&_sacat=0

 

For 9V devices we use the Meanwell GS15A-2P1J available here: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/desktop-power-supplies/7212092/ It's not the highest output, but it's plenty for old consoles like these. There are models with more power for higher cost.

 

It's easier to mod in a 2.1mm DC jack into a 7800 rather than try to use the horrible proprietary jack.

Edited October 10, 2020 by juansolo

[koolmoecraig]

On 10/9/2020 at 2:52 PM, BIGHMW said:

When can I PM my address and e-mail, as well as.... do/will you take PayPal???

 

I am running out of options as far as picking up a near-mint (but still pre-owned) 7800 ProSystem I was eyeing up on eBay got sold before I had the $$$.

 

I am eyeing up one more right now but I have no way to get 40 miles to Silverdale, WA to get a payday loan so I can beat the crowd to it, as my 2002 New Beetle isn't running and I hope I can get a grant through UFCW 21 as I work at Safeway here in Port Townsend, to get it fixed so I would probably have to wait again until after my Hulu bill gets debited and then just eat an overdraft fee just to "beat the crowd" so I can have it for the 7800 Edition (and the 8-bit Edition too) of The Atari Report I will be launching in January after Concerto gets released.

Hey friend, I don't know you at all but I can tell your passion. I'd be happy to lend you some money towards the cart if you need it. No reason to be dealing with payday loans and overdraft fees.  PM me.

[Tidus79001]

Sorry if there question has been addressed already, I wasn't able to find the answer in the thread due to how long it is.  Are orders for the cart going to be taken here in this thread, or via PM, or will it be some other website?  I am interested in reserving one so if a per-order list has already been started or if you are taking payment now tell me what needs to be done.  Thanks!

[+groundtrooper]

I think you guys are putting the cart in front of the horse (no pun intended). @batari will announce how this is going to happen. The one thing he has already been stated is that the priority is to get this in the hands of developers first so the can test their wares on real hardware while developing. Then those of us who have had beta carts for a few years will get upgrades and then it will be opened up to everyone. My guess is that there will be a "store" just like the Harmony Cart when it is opened up to everyone. That is just a guess. So maybe I am putting the cart before the horse also.  

 

[Shawn]

The Dragonfly cart has blown all other similar devices out of the water. Just look at was it's currently doing. Dual Pokey, Yamaha, SRAM, On screen display, Power supply management and more. It's like an adult fist fighting a child the gap is so huge.

[xefned]

On 10/9/2020 at 5:52 PM, BIGHMW said:

…(and the 8-bit Edition too) of The Atari Report I will be launching in January after Concerto gets released.

 

Hey Ray, I read this and thought, "January after Concerto" seems unlikely. Although I'm looking forward to listening to that Atari Report whatever month it does happen!

 

I think Batari last said he had PCBs on the way, but didn't say it was a final, bulk order. I've watched niche product development in Atari land and other zones (especially Vectrex) and a final design has often taken years to materialize. I'd say, "any month in 2021" would be highly ambitious. Although, clearly I'm only speculating without any insider knowledge. In Vectrexland, people have died waiting on cartridge projects they paid for 5+ years in the past.   (Also now, 2 years of watching folks get taunted for pre-ordering the android based console that shall not be named.) Saturn folks trying to order a Rhea, or DC folks trying to order a GDEmu for years now will understand. At some point, you just roll your eyes at every new product announcement.

 

58 minutes ago, groundtrooper said:

I think you guys are putting the cart in front of the horse (no pun intended) …

 

? good pun! I'm glad to see someone else was thinking folks were getting overexcited, offering to send money and whatnot.

 

The saving grace is that it's in Fred's hands. Someone who's successfully brought the Harmony cart to market, in sufficient quantities to meet the demand, and at a low cost. It was also perfectly realized, and bug free. As I understand it, the Concerto has already been through a dozen revisions (probably more at this point.) So there are only reasons to be optimistic.

 

If any of this seems like I'm passively inquiring about a timeline, I'm not: just thinking out loud with my fellow Atarians. I'm only on day 3 of Atari 7800 ownership so I haven't been waiting for a multicart solution at all!   ?

 

[+DrVenkman]

29 minutes ago, Shawn said:

The Dragonfly cart has blown all other similar devices out of the water. Just look at was it's currently doing. Dual Pokey, Yamaha, SRAM, On screen display, Power supply management and more. It's like an adult fist fighting a child the gap is so huge.

The price will be prohibitive for many, not to mention it requires a separate power supply, doesn't have an on screen menu (which is an issue for me personally, with my 7800 sitting in a niche in a cabinet below another shelf), and there are yet no games utilizing Yamaha sound aside from Bob's latest Pac-Collection, which itself was intended for the XM, not a standalone cart. In addition, it still has to be proven compatible across a wide variety of systems, especially NTSC units. 

 

In the meantime, Fred is sounding more confident than ever and it looks like Concerto will be ready soon-ish. If the Dragonfly becomes widely available, great! The same thing with SainT's project - the more options, the better for the hobby. 

[Trebor]

3 hours ago, Shawn said:

...On screen display...

The "On screen display" is through the LCD screen on the top of the cartridge itself.  Unless I am misinterpreting something, ROM selection will be through that exclusively utilizing the buttons:

 

 

The developer, rj1307, has stated on a few occasions that he will definitely not include menu selection on screen via TV.  The most recent statement made just a couple of days ago, from the latest inquiry on that item:

 

"I am not a programmer and I will not make a Menu like in Harmony."  

 

Nonetheless, the other features are very impressive.

[xefned]

 

I see the option for on-screen display as being like power steering. If you're only buying one car, most people will chose the more-affordable, Camry with power steering.  But I wouldn't begrudge anyone for buying the fast, red, Ferrari 308 without power steering. Heck, most of us here will probably buy one of each.

[+chicgamer]

I agree with those saying that the competition is good for the hobby. It looks like we have four different carts to look forward to: the Concerto, the Concertino, the Dragonfly, and SainT's cartridge. My guess is that there is going to be a market for each, as everyone creating one is an established member with successful carts released.

 

I currently have a Mateos cart, and while I've enjoyed owning it, it has its quirks (the issues copying over files from an OS newer than Windows XP, and issues I've run into where the files on the cart seem to get corrupt, and I have to copy them over to the cart again). I'm probably going to purchase the first cart I can get my hands on. If that's the Dragonfly with its additional features, great, but I'm not going to wait for it if I can get my hands on a Concerto earlier than I can buy a Dragonfly.

[BIGHMW]

Don't forget guys, I have not gone on air or on YouTube with any OFFICIAL announcement of a debut of either a 7800 or 8-Bit Edition of The Atari Report yet, at least I am holding off on that, smartly at that, although every post makes me giddy about its eventual release and also, it's only October 11th right now, we still have a good month and a half before the new year arrives, and I already acquired a 7800 for it (the 7800 will be here later this week), and can currently use it for the soon-to-be-reacquired Harmony Encore multicart for my 2600 lineup, and I currently own a 5200 and the VCS adapter for it (and have since getting my first 5200 for my 17th Birthday back in 1983) so I'm indeed eyeing up a Concerto and would never have gotten a 7800 if there were no plans for a multicart for it, only the Concerto made it happen for me.

[RevEng]

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

The Dragonfly cart has blown all other similar devices out of the water. Just look at was it's currently doing. Dual Pokey, Yamaha, SRAM, On screen display, Power supply management and more. It's like an adult fist fighting a child the gap is so huge.

I think it's impressive, but bear in mind that dual pokey and yamaha presently have no real-cart hardware other than dragonfly. Targets without any real cart hardware are much less likely to have devs pour time into them. This may change with some advanced version of hokey, or XM, but my 2 cents is you're probably not going to see a lot of homebrew using these features until then.

 

The lack of on-screen menu in dragonfly is a deal-breaker for me. I have an SD2SIO, and I never use the little screen and buttons - it's just too much of a joy to use with the on-screen menu instead, compared to hunching over the unit and doing a bunch of tappa-tappa-tappa in dim light.

I made the suggestion to just leave hooks in the dragonfly device, so the community could provide a menu, but rj1307 had no appetite for that. All good, as it's his project; I just think it's a missed opportunity.

 

Also "power supply management" means it will power off your console, but you still need to power it back on when you change games. So you have one power button push saved.

 

Choices and competition are good. It's just not accurate from my perspective that any cart has blown any other cart out of the water.

[+Muddyfunster]

19 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

The price will be prohibitive for many, not to mention it requires a separate power supply, doesn't have an on screen menu (which is an issue for me personally, with my 7800 sitting in a niche in a cabinet below another shelf), and there are yet no games utilizing Yamaha sound aside from Bob's latest Pac-Collection, which itself was intended for the XM, not a standalone cart. In addition, it still has to be proven compatible across a wide variety of systems, especially NTSC units. 

 

I'm not sure how Dragonfly cost will be cost prohibitive, unless I'm missing something.

 

It's $93 Dragonfly vs $99 for Concerto. Maybe with shipping to the US it Dragonfly would be less competitive (the same is true in reverse shipping stuff from the US to folks in Europe, that's usually a stinger for me), or adding the options for Pokey and Yamaha, but then that's the same for Concerto too I expect. (Pokey, not Yamaha).

 

Compatibility for all carts probably remains to be seen across the spectrum of 7800's, NTSC boxes included, but I hope all of them get to market and fulfil the feature sets being touted, that way there is likely something for everyone's taste, requirement, desire and budget. I don't think it needs to be a partisan discussion.

 

I think this is a fantastic time, maybe even a golden age for the 7800. There are so many developers active now, mature tools like the fantastic 7800Basic and now not 1 but potentially 4 SD cards solutions coming to market that will aid developers and support consumers alike.

 

I just wish that they were here already!  

 

[+sramirez2008]

1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

the more options, the better for the hobby. 

This!

 

...because of this

47 minutes ago, chicgamer said:

I currently have a Mateos cart, and while I've enjoyed owning it, it has its quirks (the issues copying over files from an OS newer than Windows XP, and issues I've run into where the files on the cart seem to get corrupt, and I have to copy them over to the cart again).

 

[Shawn]

1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

The price will be prohibitive for many, not to mention it requires a separate power supply

 

Cost isn't an issue from the prices I've seen mention from all parties. As for the power supply? Who doesn't want to use a common PS over

the proprietary 7800 one?

 

  

1 hour ago, Trebor said:

The "On screen display" is through the LCD screen on the top of the cartridge itself.  Unless I am misinterpreting something, ROM selection will be through that exclusively utilizing the buttons:

 

 

Nonetheless, the other features are very impressive.

 

That is what I meant, the screen that is literally on the cartridge. Sorry for not being clearer on that. 

 

And like Rev said, as far as Yamaha goes, with the XM super unlikely to make it to the masses in any forseable future, $25 on the Dragonfly is about the only way those programs that are using it will see use. I also agree that Yamaha sound is not going to be the norm or even widely considered for many programmers with the Dragonfly being the only option to use such a thing currently. Sure the hokey MIGHT support it in the future but I'm quite sure Batari is a little more focused on making it a proper functioning POKEY way before the Yamaha thing is even considered. He even said so himself yesterday in this very thread.

 

 Myself I'm getting the Yamaha added to my dragonfly cart cause it's only $25 and I consider it a small fee towards future proofing. In the end if it only sees use in Bob's new Pacman Collection (something I believe will be true for some time to come) then I guess I paid $25 just for that.

 

 As for not having a menu on the TV? I agree that is a draw back. I'm willing to accept that because the rest of the feature set outweighs that con for me personally. Plus I see the Dragonfly making it to the masses sooner than public information about it would lead most to realize. And using a POKEYMAX for the option of dual pokey is another future proofing method. If it never gets used? Well I spent $40 instead of $25 on a real pokey chip.

[+batari]

I expect that all three flashcarts (though someone said 4, what is the fourth one?) being worked on for the 7800 will have capabilities that the other two won't, and also, each will lack capabilities that the others have. Also, the design goals of each seem to be slightly different.

 

Concerto's design philosophy is more aligned with the design philosophy of the CC2. That is, to support the full library of production 7800 games while having full 2600 support as well. It may or may not support all of the newer 7800 stuff. Also, I am not going to sell Concerto with a POKEYOne or any other sound chip except for my own HOKEY chip (when that is ready.)

 

People can say what they want about 2600 support and how they would rather have me focus on the 7800 instead, but it's already there from the beginning. Concerto is 100% reverse-compatible with Harmony Encore at the hardware level, so essentially you already have full compatibility out of the box.

 

I thought I would add that HOKEY has always been intended as a low-cost POKEY replacement. The target is a retail cost of $10, not $25, which is what a real POKEY costs at Best Electronics, or $40-$70 (!) for the other options.

 

I think it will come down to an individual choice of what features are important to you.

[Shawn]

2 minutes ago, batari said:

The target is a retail cost of $10, not $25, which is what a real POKEY costs at Best Electronics, or $40-$70 (!) for the other options.

 

 

And that is awesome.

[xefned]

40 minutes ago, BIGHMW said:

…every post makes me giddy about its eventual release

I'm pretty giddy about it too. I've been eyeing the 7800's exclusive library for years now wondering if it's worth it. (Even though I'm a crazy Atari fan already.)

 

You mentioned the Concerto pushed you over the edge. For me it was seeing this comparison video between game versions.

Having played the 2600 version of Dark Chambers for years, I was blown away by the 7800's improvements.

 

 

 

 

Quote

…and I already acquired a 7800 for it (the 7800 will be here later this week)…

 

You ordered yours the same day mine arrived. Congrats! That was super nice of CPUWiz to help out a brother.

 

[Shawn]

I expect that all three flashcarts (though someone said 4, what is the fourth one?)

 

Odds of the 4th one even being offered to the masses would be hovering right around zero so its 

not really worth considering in this conversation, IMO.

[BIGHMW]

1 minute ago, xefned said:

I'm pretty giddy about it too. I've been eyeing the 7800's exclusive library for years now wondering if it's worth it. (Even though I'm a crazy Atari fan already.)

 

You mentioned the Concerto pushed you over the edge. For me it was seeing this comparison video between game versions.

Having played the 2600 version of Dark Chambers for years, I was blown away by the 7800's improvements.

 

 

 

 

 

You ordered yours the same day mine arrived. Congrats! That was super nice of CPUWiz to help out a brother.

 

It sure was a cool thing for CPUWIZ to do, believe me.

[xefned]

13 minutes ago, batari said:

… (though someone said 4, what is the fourth one?) …

Mateos. (It maxes out at 16 games so it's not an expansive, sd-based solution.)

(Other three being: Concerto, Dragonfly, SainT.)

 

 

Edited October 11, 2020 by xefned
added limitation of Mateos

[Shawn]

1 minute ago, xefned said:

Mateos.

(Other three being: Concerto, Dragonfly, SainT.)

 

 

 

No, there is another. Mateos goes in the same pile as the CC2. No longer available. 

[+groundtrooper]

Are we counting the Concertino as #4 with Concerto, Saints and Dragonfly if we are obsoleting CC2 & Mateos?


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