Looking for A.C.E. Atari Cassette Enhancer

[GRC7800]

During the pandemic, I developed an inexplicable obsession with my program recorder. I never had one growing up. I grew up with disk drives and just bought my first 1010 last year. As a method of data storage and for loading software, I find it incredibly interesting.

 

Anyway, I'm trying to find a copy of a piece of software from 1983 published in the UK by English Software. It's called A.C.E. Atari Cassette Enhancer. Atarimania does not have a dump. a8preservation.com says that it is preserved, but it doesn't seem like you can download from that site in order to use the software. (Or am I missing how to download the file?)

 

http://www.a8preservation.com/#/software/release/2632

 

Is anyone aware of a dump of this program? Or willing to share it here for people to use? I'd also be interesting in learning of any similar programs if anyone is aware of them. 

 

Thanks in advance! 

[+videofx]

I just tried and don't see any dumps for download for any software. I tried about 100 different titles.

[TGB1718]

I asked the same question here, there are links to it in the thread

 

[GreyHobbit]

I uploaded the Atari 400/800 dump to the A8 Preservation site a few months back, I've had the cassette since the early 80s.  There was already a version for the XL/XE OS and I was sent a copy of that dump.

 

I'll attach them here, but if there's a reason I shouldn't be sharing the XL version that was sent to me, let me know and I'll remove this post.

 

The manual is available here https://archive.org/details/ACE_Atari_Cassette_Enhancer_manual

 

Geoff

 

 

A.C.E. - The Atari Cassette Enhancer (1983)(English Software Company)(GB)[!][BASIC].cas A.C.E. The Atari Cassette Enhancer (1983)(English Software)(GB)[ver2.0][OSB][Load with BASIC].cas

Edited May 29, 2021 by GreyHobbit
Got my XL OS & OS B mixed up! :)

[GRC7800]

Amazing! Thanks, everyone!

[atarialoha]

2 hours ago, GRC7800 said:

Amazing! Thanks, everyone!

It's not inexplicable. I totally understand although I don't have any physical Atari stuff right now.

 

The cassette data storage thing is just magical! It's even more amazing you can push the envelope with such limiting technology with this cassette enhancer. The only other thing more amazing to me is actually paper based storage media, like punched cards.

[GRC7800]

I totally agree. Paper tape, punch cards, etc. are really fascinating. 

 

As for cassettes, what I found interesting, is that with all their shortcomings, which primarily boil down to speed, they hold up pretty well. From what I hear, and it's mostly anecdotal, floppy disks (both 5.25 and 3.5 inch) have more problems with corrupted data than tapes. 

 

And I was surprised to find that tapes are still used for data storage today!

 

https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/why-the-future-of-data-storage-is-still-magnetic-tape

 

[+videofx]

If anyone uses real cassettes like me I can make you any cassette you want for $5.00 plus shipping. I got a great deal on cassettes from maxell. So I pass the saving on to my Atari friends

[atarialoha]

Well, the cassettes themselves might be durable, but I wonder about the mechanical aspects of the tape machines. I watched a few YouTube videos about repairing vintage tape decks and walkman players. Seems like capstan rollers and drive belts always go gummy, and I am not sure about the other components. Same goes for paper storage machines. If we can get the maintenance of these things down to a science, and use easy to find replacement parts, that could go a long way toward keeping these magical devices working.