Omega-TI Posted September 27, 2019 Share Posted September 27, 2019 Recently I've been on the hunt for another TI to upgrade (when all items become available) with an F18A MK2, Jedimatt42 keyboard adapter and the new power board for inside the console. Anyway I've made few offers on TI's, I went pretty high on one offer, which was declined, but I got the last laugh when I saw that the guy eventually sold it for... $10.00 less than what I offered! Sometimes greed backfires! Anyway on this particular console I made an opening offer of $45.00 (with shipping included ? ) for a TI which looked pretty good and the offer was immediately accepted, so I was happy with that. Well, it does have a couple of small scratches that did not show up in the photos, but hey, it's 35 years old and the price was right. Anyway, I came hope from work and saw that FedEx left it by the front door to get rained on. I was a little concerned until I opened the box and the found that the TI was in it's own case! The seller never mentioned that, so it was a very nice surprise which will be earning him a stellar review! The TI works great, the on off switch is a little tight and I'll need to clean it up a little bit as there is dust between the keys, but overall I'm happy. So, when in search of a TI, it pays to take your time. The TI as it came in the case The other stuff in the case The Case Overall it's been one of my most enjoyable Ebay transactions in a while. Now I just have to have a little bit more patience for the other goodies to become available. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted September 27, 2019 Share Posted September 27, 2019 That's a very nice looking TI. Yes the case is a nice bonus. Now you have a portable TI. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wierd_w Posted September 28, 2019 Share Posted September 28, 2019 I did not get a sexy case like that, but I did get a very nice base system for around 40$ with shipping through ebay. It was sent in an original OEM box, which was packaged inside a shipping cardboard box loaded with air pillows. It is in very nice cosmetic shape as well, and came with power cord and RF adapter. Both work. (the RF adapter "works". Very snowy. Probably needs new caps inside, but I am now using the swanky composite cable I picked up.) I have a 32k sidecar with 44pin expansion, and a finalgrom99. I also have original cartridge basic, and a cassette cable, along with some inexpensive ONN brand shoebox cassette decks (which work flawlessly. Have yet to have a failed program load. Cheap cassettes have really come up in audio fidelity since the 80s it seems. I would still like to get my hands on some chromalloy or metal tapes though.) I bout one of ArcadeShopper's showcase TIPI boards, and combined the order with an atari joystick adapter (Sega genesis gamepads are electronically compatible with atari joysticks, and share the same connector). I am hoping for shipment notification sometime soon. The jedimatt keyboard mod looks interesting, but the original keyboard is part of the system's charm. I will just leave alpha lock UP, and use a gamepad when playing games. Still waiting on those MK2 VDPs though. Hopefully he gives me time to replenish my bank account. All this extra kit handily outclassed the outlay of the original system. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted September 28, 2019 Author Share Posted September 28, 2019 20 hours ago, wierd_w said: The jedimatt keyboard mod looks interesting, but the original keyboard is part of the system's charm. Yes, it's a neat little gadget and you can use both keyboards too. The cool thing about the Jedimatt42 unit is you can plug a wireless USB keyboard into it and have no extra wires hanging around but get back further from the computer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 On 9/28/2019 at 10:57 AM, wierd_w said: I bout one of ArcadeShopper's showcase TIPI boards, and combined the order with an atari joystick adapter (Sega genesis gamepads are electronically compatible with atari joysticks, and share the same connector). I am hoping for shipment notification sometime soon. One note: if the gamepads are expecting +5V to operate, the Atari pin that usually provides it is not used on the TI-99/4A. That is why the Wico Trackball needs a separate +5V power supply. You could build an adapter that injects the +5V to the proper pin on the Atari side of the adapter and all would work properly using an external power supply to feed the +5V into it, but without a roll-your-own, any joystick-like device needing +5V power won't work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wierd_w Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 9 hours ago, Ksarul said: One note: if the gamepads are expecting +5V to operate, the Atari pin that usually provides it is not used on the TI-99/4A. That is why the Wico Trackball needs a separate +5V power supply. You could build an adapter that injects the +5V to the proper pin on the Atari side of the adapter and all would work properly using an external power supply to feed the +5V into it, but without a roll-your-own, any joystick-like device needing +5V power won't work. I see, I was unaware of the +5v requirement to drive the switching chip. I really dont want to mangle a perfectly good genesis controller, so instead I will attempt to make a suitable powered adapter. A crappy wall wart should work fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Or hardwire a USB connector and use a battery pack. This is sufficient to power my NanoPEB. (I put a barrel jack on a USB connector) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbmeeks Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 I love it when you get extras like that in an auction. I once got a Z80 CP/M board inside a IIc that had 512 KiB of RAM the seller didn't know about. But that case is awesome. You totally need to carry it on your next plane flight along with a thick, 80's cellphone. That would rock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Genesis controllers work ok without the 5v.. fyi just need and Atari adapterSent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 6 hours ago, FarmerPotato said: Or hardwire a USB connector and use a battery pack. This is sufficient to power my NanoPEB. (I put a barrel jack on a USB connector) Yeah these USB barrel connectors (like this one) are dirt cheap on Ebay. If the new power PCB that works with the Mean Well external power supply has a connector for 5V you could get one of these... ... and mount it like this... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wierd_w Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 I have a bin full of dubious quality 5v@500mA wall warts though. Since this is just to power a SINGLE CHIP inside a game controller, even with them being old and dubious, it would put one of them to useful work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 7 hours ago, wierd_w said: I have a bin full of dubious quality 5v@500mA wall warts though. Since this is just to power a SINGLE CHIP inside a game controller, even with them being old and dubious, it would put one of them to useful work. True, but that would be YET ANOTHER CORD in the mix. I would dearly love to have a USB power port on my TI. It would give flexibility for current devices and future projects, and eliminate the hassle of and mess of dealing with another wall-wart. A modernized TI would just be too cool too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDMike Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Or better yet, do as the PS4 controller does, rechargeable battery with 5vdc USB port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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