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Some (Mostly) Free Atari 8-Bit Stuff for Albuquerque Locals


ballyalley

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I have some Atari 8-bit hardware (computers, tape drives, and disk drives and other misc. hardware) that was given to me this year.  This belonged to a friend of mine here in town who passed away last year.  This year his mother gave me some of his Atari collection.  If you're local to Albuquerque, and you're interested in Atari 8-bit computers, then contact me privately.  I'm not giving everything away that was given to me, but there is quite a lot of stuff here.  This was all stored in a barn for quite a few years and some of it is in quite poor condition.  I've tested some of it.  There are Atari 800s, 1050s, 810s, 410s and much more.  Some of the hardware has been upgraded.  I don't have SIO cables anymore to test this stuff.

 

I'd like to see this hardware go to someone who has some idea how to use the hardware and how to repair it.

 

From this large collection, I've already sent all rare and unarchived documents that have not been archived already to Allan Bushman and he has been slowly scanning it and adding it to the Internet Archive.

 

If you're local to Albuquerque, New Mexico, then contact me and maybe we can work something out.  Oh, and I will not consider shipping these items; local pick-up only.

 

(And, heck, if you stop by then maybe we can shoot the breeze and maybe play some Atari games!)

 

Adam

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I've already been asked if someone can have a local friend pick this hardware up.  Probably not, as I prefer that someone who knows this Atari hardware pick it up.  I actually hope to go through the collection with whoever it is who wants it because there really is quite a lot here.  We'll sort of have to comb through the collection together.

 

Jason Scott, of the Internet Archive, says it best when he says that someone who is giving a large collection away just wants to know that it is going to a good home.  That was my friend's mom's intentions and I have those intentions too.

 

Atari fans rock-- and I just want to rock along with 'em (whatever that means; it sound good though, doesn't it?).

 

Adam

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Here are three different Atari 800s from the collection that I'm hoping a local person would like to pick up.  I don't have any power supplies for these computers.  Well, I do have have one for the Atari 1200 that I bought form Best Electronics this Spring.  That works with the Atari 800s.  This past Spring, I tested the Atari 800 that looks good and clean and it worked okay.

 

I'll try to post some more pictures over the next few days, including some items that I'm keeping (such as the ATR 8000 and some other goodies).

 

Adam

 

P.S.  Is there a way to insert in-line images anymore without linking to them?  I had to attach the pictures here to put them in this thread.

Atari 800_Number_01 (Cropped).jpg

Atari 800_Number_02  (Cropped).jpg

Atari 800_Number_03  (Cropped).jpg

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I have had several non-local people contact me privately asking about parts of his collection.  I'm not surprised about any of that, in fact I expected it to happen when I started this thread.  I still do hope to be able to give this collection away to someone who lives locally.  Someone did contact me who lived within just a few miles of me until a few years ago.  It's strange how we can miss each other and not even know it.  I'm sure that there must be some other Atari fans here in town.

 

Two people asked me specifically about the ATR 8000.  This is one of the pieces of hardware that I plan to keep.  I've attached a picture of it along with a Radio Shack disk drive that I've been told will work with the hardware.  Using the ATR 8000 is not something I plan to do soon, but I would like to see it in action someday.

 

I have taken quite a few pictures for Allan Bushman of this collection since the spring.  It was through these pictures that Alan was able to determine what pieces of documentation and software that were not yet archived.  I sent that all to him and he continues to still archive it.  Today I spent some more time and took additional pictures.

 

I was a relative latecomer to the Atari community.  In the early 1980s I did have an Atari 2600, but my home computer was the Commodore 64.  It wasn't until around 1993 that I bought an Atari computer.  I bought it at a thrift store with a disk drive.  After owning it for a couple of months I placed an ad in the local newspaper's classified section looking for some more Atari computer hardware and software.  I was able to purchase a gigantic collection for $250.  Before I made this purchase, I went to the local Atari user group here in town and asked if this was a good deal.  Today, what I got in the collection would be a steal, but back then it was only fair price, as most people had moved on to the PC and only a few of the Atari user group members used the Atari 8-bit home computer still (the rest used ST computers).

 

One of the Atari 8-bit computer users was named Ernie.  His son was about ten or eleven at the time.  It was these two people who I became friends with throughout the 90s and would see off on until they past away within the last couple of years.  Like all good computer geeks, we would play with our computers and use them in unexpected ways.

 

In about 1995, I remember visiting Ernie and going online to GEnie with my 14.4 modem being used at 9600 baud through the 850 interface.  My 800 XL was expanded to 256K.  We would download software from the GEnie service at 9600 Baud (which had a surcharge) and save the software to RAM disk and then disconnect from the online service.  Then I would move the software from RAM disk to disk drive.  This decreased the expensive surcharges as I wasn't online as long.  I don't think I got any software worth remembering, but it was a fun experience.  I think I also may have sent my first email to someone "on the internet" through GEnie on that Atari 800XL.

 

Strangely, I did not expect to use this thread to talk about my years with the Atari.  However, I'm finding that this is sort of a healing process.  Talking about spending time with Ernie and his son is something that is inevitably going to happen as I wade through the collection that belonged to them.

 

Adam

ATR 8000 (Cropped).jpg

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Awesome I didn't know the Radio Shack drive worked on the ATR.  Please do show a video of it working with the ATR! Yes the memories of good friends and these machines are more valuable than we realize. The emotions swell up in a beautiful way. I *might* be going through NM this fall or next spring but I don't live local.

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6 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

I didn't know the Radio Shack drive worked on the ATR.  Please do show a video of it working with the ATR!

 

I've not used the ATR 8000 myself.  Leevon told me the drive works with it, but I can't validate that tid-bit of information myself.  Even if that 5 1/4" disk drive is compatible with the ATR hardware, then the Radio Shack drive look to be in pretty poor condition.  My guess is that it doesn't work-- but I do plan to test it out at some point...

 

I just did a search of YouTube and I couldn't find anyone demonstrating the ATR 8000.  Does such a video exist?

 

I've had a few people say that they pass through Albuquerque/New Mexico from time to time and want to know if I can put off parting with the collection.  If no one local to me pops up, then this may be possible.  However, someone local gets priority.

 

Adam

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Here are two Atari 600 computers from the collection.  One has an expansion for 64K.  I tested these computers with my 130XE's power supply this spring and they worked.  It's too bad that the 600XL only has RF out and 16K.  I'd love to keep one of these and have it upgraded with composite-out and internally upgraded to 64K (or more).  It's strange that the angles that I took these two pictures make the depth of the two different 600XLs look very different from one another, but of course they are the same size.

 

My main Atari computer is a 130XE and its keyboard is infamously "mushy."  The XL lines of computers (especially the 1200XL) has a much better feel.  However, this doesn't matter too much to me anymore since I use my real computers for game playing.  If I'm going to type any code, then I use emulation.

 

Did anyone start out with the 600XL?  Has anyone tricked-out their 600XL?  If so, then what's in it?

 

Adam

Atari 600XL_Number with RAM Expansion (Cropped).jpg

Atari 600XL_Number_02 (Cropped).jpg

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Here is the Atari 810 disk drive and the two 410 program recorders that are part of this collection.

 

I was a privileged Atari user, having been introduced to the system in the mid-1990s when equipment was inexpensive.  I had multiple disk drives, at one point probably having more than a dozen 1050s and many more 810s.  Now I use a flash drive alternative.

 

Having grown up a Commodore kid, using the 1050 on the Atari 800 XL was a revelation.  The Commodore 64's 1541 disk drive access speed is legendarily slow.  In comparison, the Atari accessed data relatively quickly.  It took me a little while to get used to using Atari DOS, but I did eventually come to enjoy it more than the clunky way that this commands were used in the Commodore 64.

 

Some people seem to have many fond memories of using the 810 with your Atari 800.  Especially those folks who first got their introduction to saving and loading data from the for 410 recorders.

 

Adam

Atari 810 Disk Drive (Cropped).JPG

Atari Two 410 Tape Recorders (Cropped).JPG

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This is the 300-baud Atari 835 direct-connect modem.  I think that this was Atari's first modem that connected directly to an Atari that didn't require the 850 serial and parallel interface.

 

My first Atari modem was the Atari SX212.  This was also a direct connect baud modem, but it could function at both 300 and 1200 baud.  I used it with my Amiga 1200 (as the modem also had a standard serial interface) and my Atari 800XL in about 1994.

 

My wife was using the SX212 to contact a local bulletin board around this time and she was complaining about its speed.  I did know that 1200 baud was slow, even at that time (there were local boards that would not allow you to connect at such a slow speed).  I took a look at what was going on and realized that she was playing a card game on the local BBS and she had somehow connected at 300 baud rather than the faster 1200 baud speed.  Once she reconnected at the faster speed the card game was a bit zippier.

 

Has anyone else connected at a slower speed with a modem and not realized it?

 

Adam

Atari 835 Modem (Cropped).JPG

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This is a picture of the Atari 1200XL in the collection.  This computer does boot-up okay, but as is usually the case with this computer, the keyboard on this system needs to either be cleaned or replaced. 

 

I bought my first 1200XL at a local bookstore.  I'm not sure how it made its way there, but for $12.99 I got a working 1200XL along with some other goodies.  This was in around 1993.  I was used to picking up computers cheaply (nearly-free!) at thrift stores, but this was my first experience picking up an Atari computer at a bookstore.  After finding this hardware in a relatively obscure place, I changed my collecting tactics I becan to hit-up bookstores more often.  It may seem hard to believe, but at that time, anyway, I was able to pick up other hardware and software around town at places such as this.  I recall vividly getting some rather rare Colecovision cartridges at a seedy bookstore.

 

When I first tried to use the 1200, I thought that there was something wrong with it.  It would come up with Memo Pad.  I didn't know that I had to have the BASIC cartridge inserted into the cartridge slot.  Once I remedied that user error, the system worked wonderfully.

 

Adam

Atari 1200XL Computer (Cropped).JPG

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There are seven disk drives in this Atari collection.  Here is a picture of the four 1050 disk drives.

 

You'll notice that one of these drives is labeled "Happy" and one is labeled "Sad."  Ernie had a good sense of humor.  I believe that he labeled his Happy-enhanced disk drive as "Happy" and his non-upgraded 1050 with "Sad."

 

Adam

Atari Two 1050s (Cropped).jpg

Atari Two 1050s (Happy and Sad) (Cropped).JPG

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Here is a picture of the Atari XF551 disk drive that's in this collection.

 

The XF551 drive is capable of true double-density.  I used to use MyDOS 4.5 with my own XF551 to format floppy disks in double density.  I think a DD disk holds 360K of data.  This was pretty cool, although it limited these disks to be used with this disk drive only.

 

I seem to remember that this drive was also easily upgradable to a 3 1/2 inch floppy.  Did anyone ever do that to their own XF551?

 

Adam

 

Atari XF551 Disk Drive (Cropped).JPG

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Here's a picture of the Indus GT disk drive that's in this collection.

 

Ernie swore by this Indus disk drive.  I think he paid $499 for it when it was new.  This would have been in about 1985 or so.  I was not familiar with the look at this drive time.  He showed me how it worked and how the LED display could be used to your advantage when there were issues loading and saving to and from some disks.

 

The Atari Projects blog has a post called "Purchase an Indus GT Disk Drive:"

 

http://atariprojects.org/2019/02/10/purchase-an-indus-gt-disk-drive-15-30-mins/

 

According to this blog the Indus Drive can run CP/M if it has a 64K RAM upgrade installed.

 

Has anyone here one CPM from this disk drive?!?

 

Adam

Indus GT Disk Drive (Cropped).JPG

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Here are pictures of the Atari Lab Interface, Atari CX85 keypad, Atari Trak-Ball controller.

 

I attended the world of Atari 1998 Las Vegas, Nevada.  B&C ComputerVisions had a booth there that was overflowing with Atari merchandise.  I bought the Atari Lab Starter Kit brand new for $10.  When I brought it home, I used it with Logo and used the temperature sensor to move Logo's turtle around the screen by dipping the temperature sensor into hot and cold glasses of water.  This was not a dependable method to move the turtle compared to a joystick, but it sure was unique and fun.

 

I had many CX85 keyboards back in the 1990s, but I never used them.  I did eventually find the driver for it around the time, but not much software supported this keypad.  Does anyone remember using this with a spreadsheet or any other software?

 

I love the Atari track-ball!  I bought one from KB Toys at a mall in Connecticut in about 1984.  Unknown to me at the time, this was the so-called "American videogame crash," so the entire front of the store had Atari 2600 cartridges and some miscellaneous 2600 hardware.  There was an entire table filled with nothing but track-balls that sold for $5 each.  I bought one and used it with my Commodore 64 for many years.  Crystal Castles and Centipede played so much better with this controller.  For me, even using the track-ball in joystick mode, was a huge step up from using a plain joystick.

 

The track-ball can also be used with the Atari 8-bit version of Missile Command by pressing Control T.  I used to think that this was a trick hidden in the game, but when I got this collection, it came with the track-ball manual, which you can read here:

 

http://www.trailingedge.com/atari8/AtariTrakBallom.pdf

 

That manual actually states explicitly that Missile Command supports this controller in track-ball mode and it tells you how to access it.

 

While not part of this Atari collection, on the same day that I bought my Atari track-ball at KB Toys, I also purchased an Amiga Power-Stick joystick for $5.  These were very small and looked like this:

 

1468136486_AmigaPower-StickJoystick.thumb.jpg.e206b60757214b170666010ed7335494.jpg

 

During the 1980s the Amiga Power-Stick, which you held in the palm of your hand, was my favorite joystick to use with my Commodore 64.

 

Adam

Atari Atari Lab Interface (Cropped).JPG

Atari CX85 Keypad (Cropped).JPG

Atari Trak-Ball Controller (Cropped).JPG

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Here is a picture of the Koala Pad.

 

I never had a working Koala Pad (they seemed error prone and sensitive to breakdown), but I did have the Atari Touch Tablet.  I used to use the Touch Tablet to play Super Breakout.  Of course, it was meant to be used to help an artist draw, but I'm not an artist.  For me, the Touch Tablet had limited use.

 

In the late 1990s, a friend of mine, who was a digital artist who used the Amiga, visited me while my Atari was out and set up with the Touch Tablet.  He was really surprised that such a device existed back in the 1980s for home computers.  He wanted to try it out and before long, using the AtariArtist cartridge that came with the tablet, he was making amazing art.  It was in the hands of people like this that Atari probably could have promoted their tablet.

 

Besides the Koala Paint software that came with the Koala Pad, what other software supported the Koala Pad?

 

Adam

Koala Pad Touch Tablet (Cropped).JPG

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I'll be going out of town tomorrow for about a week.  I'll have limited access to check email and private messages.  If you post any questions here, then you can be sure that I'll catch up with them when I get back into town.

 

Here's an interesting Atari side story: I sold a 20" Sony Trinitron TV today for $20.  It is just too large (and heavy) to keep around; I'm looking to downgrade to a 14" flatscreen CRT TV.  When the guy who bought the TV came into the garage to pick up and lug it to his truck, he saw all of the Atari hardware I've been taking pictures of just laying around in a haphazard way.  He began reminiscing that his first computer was an Atari 800XL.  Then he saw the boxed version of Ultima III in a clear storage box and said, "That's such a great game!"  And then he saw my Amiga 3000 sitting on a shelve and he said, "That's an Amiga!"  Reactions like this from a stranger remind me just how odd and wonderful my collection is now.  As he was leaving he told me that if I come across an Atari 800XL that I should let him know, as he'd buy it from me.  It's neat how the site of an old friend like one of the Atari 8-bit computers can rekindle a passion in someone who probably hasn't thought about that computer in decades.

 

Oh, and thanks to Kevin Savetz for posting a link to this thread in his Twitter feed today.

 

Adam

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I would love to come by and get that stuff. But also, I´m not local. I´m not even US based. I do live in Germany, but I am in Salt Lake City until mid October and could do a road trip easily anytime. Nice locations to stop on the way down, too.

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