Does anyone near Pittsburgh have a spare 850 for sale?

[Kyle22]

I finally re-re-re acquired all the items I need to get a BBS going again, but my 850 crapped out.

 

Does anyone have an extra one for sale (for a reasonable price)?

 

Please PM me if so.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[DavidMil]

I don't live near Pittsburg, but I have an extra 850 that I was going to put on ebay for $40.00 (add $10 if you want a power supply) and I'm guessing from $5 to $10 more for shipping

(depending on if you want the power supply). I'm sure that the four RS232C ports work as per Atari specks, but I won't guaranty that the parallel port works as I don't have a printer to

test with. My loopback tester only flashes the LEDs, so I can't be certain that the data is transmitting out of the printer port correctly.

Let me know if you're interested. You might also give Best Electronics a call to see if they have one.

 

DavidMil

[Kyle22]

Thanks, but I already had 2 people PM me about it. I'll keep yours in mind, but I want to wait at least until the first one arrives before I accept any more offers.

 

Again, Thanks for replying.

 

[Kyle22]

If I have an 850 connected to SIO and powered up, I should hear a long BEEEEEEEEEP when I power up the 800, right?

 

Typing RS232 in SDX farts and gives a 138.

 

I have tried two different computers, replaced the PIA in one of them (suspecting a /Command line issue), but nothing has made either of these two 850's load their R: Handler.

 

Ideas?

 

Edit: Yes, the 1050 responds to SIO commands, so it's not a hardware issue with SIO as I once suspected.

 

Edit: Edit: (sorry) I have also tried several different SIO cables.

Edited November 26, 2016 by Kyle22

[Mclaneinc]

Pass, such a long time since I had an 850, the last thing I remember was when you booted DOS you got the famous long tone midway through the boot after the first 'farts'..

Edited November 26, 2016 by Mclaneinc

[charliecron]

Maybe try a different DOS. I've got a 850 hooked up I haven't used in a while. When I boot a factory Atari DOS 2.0s disk the handler get loaded.

 

Try a different power supply on the 850?

[Brentarian]

Does the parallel port work?

[AtariGeezer]

If I have an 850 connected to SIO and powered up, I should hear a long BEEEEEEEEEP when I power up the 800, right?

You should get this if just the 850 is connected and powered up when you turn on your 800.

To test the 850, just connect the 850 to your 800 and turn the 850's power on, then turn on the 800 with Atari Basic (leave all other SIO devices unconnected).

You should then hear the long Beeeep (bootstrap loading), then in Atari Basic:

type in open #1,4,0,"R1:", if the 850 is good, then you should just get the "READY" prompt without any errors...

[Kyle22]

Does the parallel port work?

I haven't tested it yet. My main priority is serial.

 

@AtariGeezer: Thanks for confirming that.

 

I'll put the 800 back together tomorrow. I had two of them apart swapping PIA & POKEY (with no luck).

 

Then I guess I'll start chip swapping in the 850's. Ugh.

[Kyle22]

Update:

 

Over the weekend, I did a complete overhaul of my 800, including transferring the Incognito to a new motherboard. There is nothing wrong with the computer. It boots a 1050, so it should boot an 850.

 

I have been reading the 850 service manual. I am going to try a few things, but it will be difficult without an oscilloscope.

[Kyle22]

Well, it's been quite an ordeal, but I survived the bad RIOT I had here... Thankfully, it was only a 6532 RIOT.

 

Thanks to all who offered their help and support. My 850 is now working (on R1: anyway, haven't tested / don't care right now about other ports).

[NF6X]

I don't live near Pittsburg, but I have an extra 850 that I was going to put on ebay for $40.00 (add $10 if you want a power supply) and I'm guessing from $5 to $10 more for shipping

(depending on if you want the power supply).

 

 

Since it appears that Kyle22 doesn't need your 850, is it still available? I got my first 800 recently, and I'd like to add an 850 to the system.

[Kyle22]

OK, 850 taken care of. Now, the question is: Keyboard, anyone? Or should I call Best?

 

Thanks.

[NF6X]

I just ordered a keyboard from Best earlier this week, to replace the dead keyboard in my new 800. I tried to repair the membrane, with poor results. If you would like, I can post my results here once I receive my replacement keyboard.

[Kyle22]

Yours has a membrane (mylar)? It must be a Mitsumi. I sure wish Best would get some of those mylars in stock.

 

PM me if you want to get rid of your old keyboard, maybe I can do something with it.

[NF6X]

Yes, it is a Mitsumi keyboard. No promises until I get the replacement and try it out, but I may not need the original keyboard any more after I replace it.

[NF6X]

I received my order from Best today. The new keyboard is a Stackpole. It looks like it has individual keyswitches soldered to a base PCB, so I hope that means it will be more easily repairable in the long term. I may not get around to installing it until this weekend.