Exotic disk drives

[+davidcalgary29]

While looking for that ever-elusive Toms 710, I stumbled into the utopia of Allegro, which is my new favourite thing. The multicarts! The turbo tapes! The banged up 800XEs by the dozen! Then there's the unique storage fauna of Central Europe -- which didn't appear to migrate to North America. Tragedy!

 

I take it that this and this are Indus GT clones. And there's already a thread on this (which I've ordered), so we'll have to see that turns out.

 

What are your favourite obscure storage media for the A8? I haven't yet seen any XC12 Turbo systems, but am waiting to pounce on the first one I see for sale.

 

[+toddtmw]

A friend had the dual Amdek 3" drive. That was pretty impressive BITD. Those seem to be pretty rare. I've only ever seen one on eBay.

[E474]

Hi,

 

   Thanks for the heads up on the site, I thought this https://allegro.pl/oferta/xf551-stacja-do-atari-xe-wewnetrzna-naped-3-5-8159602768?reco_id=f07c4be7-c913-11e9-bcc6-246e96849ee0&sid=1147bbb04b955b96a226cab2e664258d9124ef0862320b2d7366fdd6604cf017 was pretty impressive (inbuilt 3.5" drive in an XE)!

[+davidcalgary29]

19 minutes ago, toddtmw said:

A friend had the dual Amdek 3" drive. That was pretty impressive BITD. Those seem to be pretty rare. I've only ever seen one on eBay.

I loved the case on that -- it looked so hi-tech in the magazines! I think I remember the eBay listing for that one.

15 minutes ago, E474 said:

Hi,

 

   Thanks for the heads up on the site, I thought this https://allegro.pl/oferta/xf551-stacja-do-atari-xe-wewnetrzna-naped-3-5-8159602768?reco_id=f07c4be7-c913-11e9-bcc6-246e96849ee0&sid=1147bbb04b955b96a226cab2e664258d9124ef0862320b2d7366fdd6604cf017 was pretty impressive (inbuilt 3.5" drive in an XE)!

That looks like one of Zaxon's creations. He has another site here that accepts PayPal (and Allegro does not). 

[doctor_x]

I had that dual amdek for the Tandy at one time - never used it, just scored it in a pile... Man I would have KILLED for that for the atari when I was running bbs's...

[Kyle22]

3 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

While looking for that ever-elusive Toms 710, I stumbled into the utopia of Allegro, which is my new favourite thing. The multicarts! The turbo tapes! The banged up 800XEs by the dozen! Then there's the unique storage fauna of Central Europe -- which didn't appear to migrate to North America. Tragedy!

 

I take it that this and this are Indus GT clones. And there's already a thread on this (which I've ordered), so we'll have to see that turns out.

 

What are your favourite obscure storage media for the A8? I haven't yet seen any XC12 Turbo systems, but am waiting to pounce on the first one I see for sale.

 

 

The 710 has an 8080 in it. Is the other hardware similar to the Indus, CA-2001 and LDW? If so, it shouldn't be too difficult to run the same ROM code. We can upload it to the drive similar to how GTSYNC.COM and INDUS.SYS operate.

 

[Gunstar]

I have a CA-2001 that I bought off of @brenski about a year ago, sans English PSU. I just recently finally got around to making my own PSU for it (it requires a dual-voltage PSU 16v/9v). There is a thread about it Here: http://atari.boards.net/thread/3425/california-access-2001-euro-model

 

Mine was pretty dirty and scratched up on the case, and I wanted it to match my XL system, so I painted it to match. 

 

But yes, it is an Indus GT clone, though it uses a different PSU board, so Indus GT PSU's aren't compatible. But, it also has full CP/M capabilities built-in, no upgrade required. 

 

I also own 2 Indus GT drives now that I bought from @Timothy Kline earlier this year, not upgraded for CP/M.

 

Even though @brenski gave me an incredible deal, with shipping I payed $210 for my CA-2001 without PSU. The 2 Indus drives I bought for an incredible deal also, including shipping, and including the PSU's, cost me slightly less for both drives. The CA-2001 is of course more rare and with built in CP/M, so they go for about twice as much as Indus GT's.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention that only 1 of the 2 Indus drives I purchased as a package deal was in working order, so I got both for cheaper than usual for that reason too. But I found it was just one bad IC, so I quickly got the non-working unit working for less than $10 additional for the part and shipping.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Gunstar

[Kyle22]

Beautiful drive. Is that a Chinon mech in there?

 

[Gunstar]

Yes, IIRC, it is a Chinon mechanism.

[+davidcalgary29]

Did those California drives get any type of North American release at all? I don’t ever recall seeing or hearing about them in the ‘80s, even though it looks like they were made in the US. Maybe they were developed for the XEGS, and then retooled for Central Europe when that market developed.

[Kyle22]

16 minutes ago, davidcalgary29 said:

Did those California drives get any type of North American release at all? I don’t ever recall seeing or hearing about them in the ‘80s, even though it looks like they were made in the US. Maybe they were developed for the XEGS, and then retooled for Central Europe when that market developed.

 

My best guess is that is exactly what happened.

They are beautiful drives.

 

[Gunstar]

I also think they are beautiful drives, but I do prefer the look of my Indus GT's because of the tinted door which makes them look much sleeker. If I couldn't have repaired the second Indus, I was going to use it's face plate and door for my CA-2001. Or at least attempt too, the mechanisms sit at different heights in both drives. But the entire face plate would have to be changed since the CA-2001's face plate can't use the door alone.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Gunstar

[Kyle22]

Hinged faceplates are nice to keep out the dust, but I like ALL of the GT clones.

 

[Jeffrey Worley]

On 8/27/2019 at 5:36 PM, davidcalgary29 said:

While looking for that ever-elusive Toms 710, I stumbled into the utopia of Allegro, which is my new favourite thing. The multicarts! The turbo tapes! The banged up 800XEs by the dozen! Then there's the unique storage fauna of Central Europe -- which didn't appear to migrate to North America. Tragedy!

 

I take it that this and this are Indus GT clones. And there's already a thread on this (which I've ordered), so we'll have to see that turns out.

 

What are your favourite obscure storage media for the A8? I haven't yet seen any XC12 Turbo systems, but am waiting to pounce on the first one I see for sale.

 

Indus didn't just die, like Percom, they became, briefly, "Future Systems", for example.  I think this is an actual Indus GT, made from spare parts from some Future Systems fire sale.  I really doubt anyone went to the trouble of recreating the shells, closure, buttons...  The appearance of the thing is too original for it to be a clone.

[+davidcalgary29]

Did Indus ever produce the GT in beige or white? I can see the connection to the LDW, but those California drives appear to have considerable cosmetic differences. 

[_The Doctor__]

Flip all of them over and you will see the standard indus bottom plate... with alternate stickers on them of course. :)

[+Nezgar]

I'd love to see the following disk drive/controller combinations alive and functioning:

• Black Box Floppy Board, I know some forum members still own one! 😉 I'd love to see a video of it accessing/formatting/benchmarking 5.25 media up to 1.2MB and 3.5 media up to 1.44MB.
• "L.E. Systems disk drive" by the venerable David Small in 1982. Described in @hunmanik's FAQ and mentioned in the ANTIC Podcast Interview 11 with David Small. It was a controller board that plugged into an Atari 800 slot, and could control up to 8 floppy drives. Could read or write a full disk in 17-22 seconds, and also write up to 7 disks simultaneously. Apparently it caused hideous RF interference according to Dave Small in the interview though.
• Seeing a real Atari 810 running with true double density. (Really soon now hopefully!)
• SpartaDOS X accessing 15 separate REAL 1050's online at once. This is technically possible with custom USDoubler EPROM's configuring the 4 drive select options for 1,2,3,4 or 5,6,7,8 or 9,10(J),11(K),12(L) or 13(M),14(N),15(O). One day I might do this...  😄

 

[Gunstar]

41 minutes ago, Nezgar said:

I'd love to see the following disk drive/controller combinations alive and functioning:

• Seeing a real Atari 810 running with true double density. (Really soon now hopefully!)

For me as well, I'll be getting a Happy upgrade for my 810 in the near future. And one more Happy for my second 1050 and I will have 6 double-density drives; 2 Indus GT, 1 CA-2001, 2 Happy 1050's and 1 Happy 810. Split between my 1200XL and 800 until I get my second 1200XL working, then each will have two drives.😁 Though with the prices 1200XL's are commanding on eBay these days, I have been seriously thinking about selling my second 1200XL. It will be restored and upgraded though, so I could sell it for north of $500! (Assuming all those $500 1200XL's on eBay are selling...) I have a third 1200XL, but that is a promised gift to someone once I finish restoring it. I'm paying it forward, as that third 1200XL would only be a motherboard if not for very generous gift of a case and keyboard for it anyway! (and much more than that too!)

Edited August 30, 2019 by Gunstar
Typo

[Kyle22]

If the L.E. board could be re-worked and down sized, add a few ports, redone in 800 RAM card form factor using PBI, (And that's a big if) then it would be almost a mini ATR-8000 inside the 800 Incognito (or the proposed 890 expansion box on XL/XE).

 

Edit: ONE CARD that is compatible with Incognito 800/600XL, 800XL/XE, 130 XE, 14x0XL(d), and some 65XE's. Also 1088XEL.

Basically anything with a PBI.

Edited August 31, 2019 by Kyle22

[+Nezgar]

3 minutes ago, Kyle22 said:

then it would be almost a mini ATR-8000 inside the 800 Incognito

With the ATR 8000 on the completely opposite side of the speed spectrum (until someone writes ultraspeed firmware lol) the L.E. Systems interface would be the F*ing fastest floppy drive interface ever seen on an A8 LOL. Well, maybe quite comparable to BlackBox floppy board performance... Dunno, I've never seen either in action. 🤣

[Kyle22]

2 minutes ago, Nezgar said:

With the ATR 8000 on the completely opposite side of the speed spectrum (until someone writes ultraspeed firmware lol) the L.E. Systems interface would be the F*ing fastest floppy drive interface ever seen on an A8 LOL. Well, maybe quite comparable to BlackBox floppy board performance... Dunno, I've never seen either in action. 🤣

Of course, I was comparing features, not speed. The speed advantage is blatantly obvious.

:)

 

[BillC]

On 8/30/2019 at 1:24 PM, Gunstar said:

And one more Happy for my second 1050 and I will have 6 double-density drives; 2 Indus GT, 1 CA-2001, 2 Happy 1050's and 1 Happy 810.

I was under the impression that the Happy 810 is only single density.

 

AFAIK the only DD capable mod for the 810 drive is the Neanderthal Computer Things 810 Turbo(only 300 were made).

 

[+Nezgar]

50 minutes ago, BillC said:

I was under the impression that the Happy 810 is only single density.

That is absolutely correct. The Happy 810 is essentially just a ROM and RAM upgrade, with some extra logic to allow a larger address space for each. The original WD1771 controller remains, which is limited to single density. (FM) The 810 Turbo replaces the controller chip as well to gain DD (MFM) capability.

[Gunstar]

Wow. And for the last 34 years of owning an Atari computer, I always thought Happy upgrade for the 810 upgraded it to DD as well as faster, just like the Happy 1050! I never owned an 810 back in the day, so never looked at the specs too closely for this upgrade. Well, then...I guess I'll have 5 DD drives and 1 SD, all Ultra/Warp speed capable! 810 Happy is faster isn't it? Wait...the upgrade wasn't just for "archiving" was it? If it isn't any faster, then I'll just forget the whole upgrade, my Happy 1050's can do all the single density stuff too! Especially since the main reason for my Happy 1050 upgrade is DD and US, and not for copying, since I can get just about everything downloaded off the net and onto floppy with APE/Prosystem.

 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Gunstar

[+Nezgar]

On 9/6/2019 at 8:30 PM, Gunstar said:

I guess I'll have 5 DD drives and 1 SD, all Ultra/Warp speed capable! 810 Happy is faster isn't it? The upgrade wasn't just for archiving was it?

Well, "technically" your Indus GT and CA-2001 drives never did "Warp Speed" or "UltraSpeed" - they did "SyncrhroMesh" and "Super SynchroMesh". That is until recently, as @MrMartian developed a replacement UltraSpeed capable ROM, and @rcgldr released an Indus "doubler" disk.

 

All but maybe the very earliest revisions of the Happy 810 had "Warp Speed" capability, as well as single track buffered reads. Writes were not buffered by default, but could be enabled by software. (The Happy 1050 enabled buffered writes by default) Rev 7 of the Happy 810 added "UltraSpeed" support.

 

*

SynchroMesh = 38.4Kbps

SuperSynchromesh = 68Kbps

Warp Speed = 38.4Kbps

UltraSpeed = 52Kbps (Most common speed in conventional drives, but the protocol itself supports variable divisors up to 0, or ~127Kbps)