Motherboards...which to use? Need advice please!

[cbmeeks]

OK, so I have six Atari ST's. I don't know which ones work. Out of the six, two of them are the very first 520 ST (no f, m, or anything..plain vanilla 520 ST). So, I'm not going to worry about them at the moment.

 

Which leaves me with four ST motherboards. I can't seem to find reliable information on identifying these boards. Here are the boards that I have:

 

 

A:

C070789-001 REV. C

Date code: 3587

NO Modulator

All SIX of the RAM socketed on left

All 32 RAM (I guess?) RAM chips soldered in upper left. Is this video RAM?

 

 

B:

C070859-001 REV. 2.0

Date code: Unknown

HAS Modulator

Only TWO of the six RAM is socketed.

Only 16 of the 32 RAM chips soldered in upper left. Half missing. Less video RAM??

 

 

C:

C070523-REV. D

Date code: 1988 (can't find week)

NO Modulator

Appears to have six RAM chips socketed but on of them appears to be a battery backup board?

Has all 32 RAM chips soldered along the bottom. Two rows of 16. Is this video RAM?

 

 

D:

C070523-REV. D

This appears to be the exact same board. The only difference I see is that it only has 16 of the 32 RAM chips soldered on the bottom.

 

 

My purpose is to get at least one of these running. I do not have an Atari monitor. So, I'm going to try and get some type of converter or maybe try and built an S-Video adapter (I did this with the Amiga).

 

90% of the stuff I want to do is play games. I would, however, be interested in running some music software in hi-res if possible.

 

Out of the four, I'm thinking the C might be my best. It seems to have all RAM chips populated. However, it's missing the modulator. But, if I can get some other type of display out, I may not care about that.

 

Your opinions are appreciated. I've never used the ST before so I'm flying blind here.

 

Thanks!!!

 

 

 

PS:

 

I can post pics if needed.

Edited September 19, 2016 by cbmeeks

[pixelmischief]

I am absolutely NOT the expert on Atari ST motherboard hardware. However, my otherwise long experience with these systems is that socketed beats soldered and NO modulator is better since it puts interference on the better video signals coming from the monitor port.

 

** Newb Advice **

If you are going to run mostly games, 1MB will be pretty much all you'll ever need and a 1040 will always have that. I can't speak for music software, but unless it manages samples in memory, I can't imagine it requiring any more RAM than a game. S-Video is nice, but there a quite a few LCD monitors out there that will scan down. I use an NEC MultiSync 1970NX and it kicks ass. Buy one and the Best Electronics VGA cable and never look back. The Best cable also taps audio from the monitor port to an RCA male. For the love of all that is good, replace that tank mouse with anything else. Most aftermarket Amiga mice have a switch to Atari ST, so you might already be OK there.

[cbmeeks]

Thanks for the tip. That cable looks nice.

 

Do you know where I can tell if these motherboards are even 1040's? YEARS ago when I bought one of them, the guy said it was a 520 ST. I even have the 520 ST case it came in.

Thanks.

[pixelmischief]

Check this out.

 

http://www.atari-wiki.com/?title=Atari_ST_motherboard_revisions

[cbmeeks]

Thanks. But, I actually saw that before.

 

It doesn't appear to be consistent because some of the model numbers say the board is a 520 and others say a 1040. Even for the same model and revision.

[Lynxman]

6 sockets -> TOS ROM, not RAM!

 

16 memory chips -> 512Kb Memory, total RAM including Videoram

32 memory chips -> 1MB Memory, total RAM including Videoram

 

520STF(M) and 1040STF(M) is the same board, the difference is only the memory assembled.

[cbmeeks]

@Lynxman

 

Thanks! That's very helpful information.

 

So, why would there be a battery backed up board in place of one of the ROM chips?

[Lynxman]

@Lynxman

 

Thanks! That's very helpful information.

 

So, why would there be a battery backed up board in place of one of the ROM chips?

 

I think it is a Buffered clock.

TOS 1.02 or higher should use it without additional driver.

TOS 1.00 need a driver for the buffered clock.