hunter44102 Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Does anyone else have the early Atari 800 with the hand-written serial numbers and enclosed memory cartridges? As a collector I am curious if these are rare and how many were produced before they supposedly had heating issues and eliminated the enclosed memory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Do you have a photo of the lid + labels? There's photos around of an early 800 with 2-tone label "800" rather than the outline font that you usually see. Unsure what the timeline was but enclosed Ram modules were used for quite a while. Worth a look for you is a thread around somewhere re an early prototype 800 that had different memory map to what was finally settled on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter44102 Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Looks like the normal label. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 The Atari brand memory modules were either 8K or 16K, and were always in cases AFAIK. Memory modules from other companies such as Axlon, Mosaic, etc were never sold in cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) Tis a thing of beauty.....I love 800's....Just Amazing to look at...As for the enclosed ram cards, I don't think that is rare (?) I know the machine I used to have had enclosed ones but it wasn't one of the early batches, must look at the one I now have and see what they are... Hand written serial....Sounds very early... Edited February 10, 2019 by Mclaneinc 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Cool. I don't have the handwritten serial but have one with a CTIA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Should have thought of that... Can you power up with Basic? The quick and easy test for CTIA is: POKE 623,64 If your screen stays blue then you've got CTIA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 The Atari brand memory modules were either 8K or 16K, and were always in cases AFAIK. Not true. The 800 I had as kid (purchased August 1983) had uncased Atari-made OS and RAM boards. All three of my current 800's, all made between mid-'82 and summer '83, have uncased Atari-made boards. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Very nice. I had fun getting ahold of a 8K memory module once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Here's the 800 with cased memory that I used to own. They look great. I never had any problem with it overheating; but, then, I didn't use it much, as it was bought for installation of an incognito board. After I sold the Incognito board, I sold the machine too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter44102 Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Screen turned black with Poke 623,64 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 I think that unit was made in the 9th week of 1981. Perhaps it was serviced, and a sticker with a new, handwritten serial replaced the original sticker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Here's the 800 with cased memory that I used to own. They look great. I never had any problem with it overheating; but, then, I didn't use it much, as it was bought for installation of an incognito board. After I sold the Incognito board, I sold the machine too. mr fish... you had it all, and then you blew it... I feel sorrow, and wish you all the best in recovering from your loss. I do hope you regain both! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Just checked my 800, not hand written, but the ROM and RAM (48k) are enclosed, I've had this one since new purchased early 80's and never had any problems with overheating, I think they removed the plastic casings to reduce cost of manufacture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) My 800 is an early model with the CTIA (of course I replaced it with a spare GTIA as soon as I got it and checked), enclosed memory boards and easy access levers on the case top instead of screws. The bottom label is no longer there so I can't say if it was originally hand written or not. No problems with overheating here either, and I've left it on all day a couple of times. I've only owned it since the end of November this past year...of course I upgrade and mod everything, so it's already had some work done on it, like LED lighting in my Avatar photo and currently modding a 16K board and OS board with Claus B's 62K port B upgrade, which will be self-contained to the boards so I only have to swap out OS & memory boards to return it to stock configuration. Has anyone ever done a Stereo Pokey upgrade to an 800? I'm planning on it myself... Edited February 10, 2019 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Has anyone ever done a Stereo Pokey upgrade to an 800? I'm planning on it myself... It would require one that has the piggy-back socket on the top, instead of the bottom as it is now. Lotharek Simple Stereo Board Mytek TK-II Stereo Board --- Also has Pokey piggyback on bottom (U1) Available Space in an 800 (Pokey = CO12294) So someone would need to create a new version with the Pokey piggyback being on the top instead of the bottom. Also need to change out those green caps for something much shorter as was done below. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 It would require one that has the piggy-back socket on the top, instead of the bottom as it is now. Lotharek Simple Stereo Board Lotharek_stereo.png Mytek TK-II Stereo Board --- Also has Pokey piggyback on bottom (U1) Available Space in an 800 (Pokey = CO12294) So someone would need to create a new version with the Pokey piggyback being on the top instead of the bottom. Also need to change out those green caps for something much shorter as was done below. I was just planning on doing a DIY 2-pokey piggy-back like the norm before stereo boards, as I did in my 1200XL. I do have a MetalGuy66 stereo board that I didn't use in the 1200XL because I couldn't fit it with my 32-in-1 OS board, so I did the old-school piggy-back instead. But I've been planning on installing the MetalGuy66 board in an 800XL I'm rebuilding, which is why I thought I'd do DIY piggy-back in the 800 too. But is there some reason I can't just piggy-back another POKEY on top of the first in the 800? Since you say it would require a a piggy-back socket/board? But sorry, if I do have to use a piggy-back board, I'll use the MetalGuy66 board I already have, and do the DIY piggy-back in the 800XL, instead of buying another board. I have no want of the transkey II stuff included in your board, though I would still buy it, IF I didn't already have MetalGuy66's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) It would require one that has the piggy-back socket on the top, instead of the bottom as it is now. Lotharek Simple Stereo Board Lotharek_stereo.png Mytek TK-II Stereo Board --- Also has Pokey piggyback on bottom (U1) Available Space in an 800 (Pokey = CO12294) So someone would need to create a new version with the Pokey piggyback being on the top instead of the bottom. Also need to change out those green caps for something much shorter as was done below. Sorry, I totally misunderstood what you were saying, actually, I didn't understand at all. I thought you were talking about the socket on the mobo, which is why I didn't understand. I realize now that you were assuming a stereo upgrade board, and I was planning DIY piggy-back on top of the first POKEY all along. I was just wondering if anyone HAD upgraded to stereo on an 800 regardless if a piggy-back board was used or just the chip piggy-backing, which is what I was planning. Of course with the DIY piggyback I have to also piggy-back the a 74LS14 or compatible chip to another 74LS chip someplace. But I do see now that my MetalGuy66 board does have the socket on the bottom, as you say, so it will not fit. I do have to do DIY piggy-back Pokey's. Edited February 10, 2019 by Gunstar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Despite the common idea that Atari removed all the covers on the RAM cards for heat dissipation purposes, the real reason was to cut down on costs. That said, those cards could get REALLY hot in A800's that were used to run BBS's. It took a lot of heat but the 800's would eventually lockup after a time. Just ask anybody that ran a very active BBS (meaning lots of up and down loads). My friends that ran active BBS's always removed the covers from the RAM cards and also removed the large plastic piece that covered the RAM and cartridge slots. And some sysops positioned a fan to blow on the computer too! Atari also ended up removing the brown tabs that held the RAM/ cartridge cover on the machine and replaced them with screws to save a few more pennies towards the end of production. DavidMil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunter44102 Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Wow yes I could imagine a BBS heating up the ram with constant flow of data Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Despite the common idea that Atari removed all the covers on the RAM cards for heat dissipation purposes, the real reason was to cut down on costs. That said, those cards could get REALLY hot in A800's that were used to run BBS's. It took a lot of heat but the 800's would eventually lockup after a time. Just ask anybody that ran a very active BBS (meaning lots of up and down loads). My friends that ran active BBS's always removed the covers from the RAM cards and also removed the large plastic piece that covered the RAM and cartridge slots. And some sysops positioned a fan to blow on the computer too! Atari also ended up removing the brown tabs that held the RAM/ cartridge cover on the machine and replaced them with screws to save a few more pennies towards the end of production. DavidMil When I was a kid, our machine had the levers deleted and the cover screwed down. Interestingly, although all three of my current 800's have uncased boards, one does still have the thumb levers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) mr fish... you had it all, and then you blew it... I feel sorrow, and wish you all the best in recovering from your loss. I do hope you regain both! Haha... I didn't get rid of it by choice; sometimes they've got to go... I did use it for a while, for testing software that needed OS-B. I might get one again some day. They are kind of bulky, though; it definitely wouldn't fit in the spot where my XL is being used right now. I sold off a pristine, boxed 1200XL a few years ago (pictures upon request). You should mourn for me about that one too. Edited February 10, 2019 by MrFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) I have 3 1200XL's back now, and one 800 and I will never again part with the 800 and the 1200XL I did the PBI upgrade too. The other two I intend to keep, as spares/backups/different upgrades, but if I had to sell something, they would be the ones to go. I've sold off an 800 and 1200XL before I finally got these back, and I regretted it, I never make the same mistake twice. I've done this with several other classic computers and consoles, some I have since gotten back, and I will never sell them again either, I regretted it the first time! They were all sold off around the same time, so I still consider it just the one mistake that has taken me a dozen years to recover from about 75% so far... Edited February 10, 2019 by Gunstar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 I don't think the RAM will heat up anymore sitting doing nothing at all as compared to running any specific program. The RAM is refreshed constantly, which is the same as being read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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