Sir_Lucas Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) About a month a ago I acquired a Falcon 030 Really great machine! Falcon with: 4MB ST RAM (awaiting 14MB extension) 68882/33 FPU NetUSBee (awaiting arrival) 4GB CF card External SCSI CDROM BTW, I'm from Poland. Edited January 3, 2011 by Sir_Lucas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paolo Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Welcome! I am sure you will find friends and lots of interesting stuff here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizaptimus Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 So happy I have gotten my falcon to work!! Falcon 030, 14MB RAM, 6GB HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ato Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hi folks, somehow I did not bother to add my Falcon "saga" to this thread for the last three months. Perhaps it is a good New Year's resolution to add it now, including all the add-ons that I got since the "fatal" purchase. - I got a stock Falcon 030 w/o any MB modifications. - I have to say that the Falson was in mint condition; it still has the protective sticky plastic foil on the the Falcon logo. - 4MB RAM - TOS 4.02. - S/N: 43402-2002446, original configuration was 4MB, 80MB HDD, according to the label. - Genuine Atari STM1 in mint condition! - Steinberg Cubase Audio Clock (CAC) was included. - Original HDD had been replaced with a Toshiba 4GB HDD which was very noisy. Meaning of this was that it would be about to die very soon due to a busted bearing. But that's expected when you buy a gazillion years old computer - not a problem at all. If you mind such things, don't buy a used car! - NV-RAM dead, as expected after so many years. See above about used cars. That's what I got then. Now here is what I got since, including the money and time spent so far. Talk about addiction. Or let me think... That is exactly how the Mac world works, no? Perhaps the following itemisation of my spendings can serve as a deterrent for prospective Falcon buyers. You should really know what you are getting into, and, perhaps most of all, have a very supportive better half. - Got a VGA adaptor and a Wizztronics 4/16MB RAM expansion w. a compatible 16MB RAM SIMM from Best (US$155.55 incl. shipping). Installation of the RAM expansion board took five minutes. It was actually a replacement because it replaced the genuine Atari 4MB RAM board. - I am not telling you that I got a new DMA cable for my Mega ST1/Megafile30 and an ST/VGA cable from Best, too. If I did, you would consider me - rightfully - as nuts. - Removed the clock/NV-RAM chip, put in a low profile socket and a new DS12887. Got both at a bargain from Mouser Electronics (US$13.19 incl. shipping). Other vendors did not have a low profile socket or the DS12887 (or compatible from other vendors) in stock. Not for the faint of heart! Soldering skills are really necessary for this. Removing the old chip including the old cemented solder cost me one pad that I had to fix. While sucking the old solder out, a trace came off. No problem, I could fix it with some solder and Kapton tape. Took me, including the disassembly, the busted pad and trace and the assembly, two hours. - Added an MC68882RC33, clocked at stock 8/16MHz. Got this one at a bargain price (US$19.95, free shipping) from a seller here in the US. Compared to the NV-RAM/clock chip this was a no-brainer: Just plug the thing in and you are done. Took only five minutes to install. - Bought HDDriver from Uwe Seimet (EUR48.00 = US$68.77). Installation is an absolute no-brainer. But you should really wait for the manual! BTW: Worth every cent, great support! - Replaced the HDD and added an SD-card reader (US$9.95) plus a 16GB SD-card (US$20.00). Awesome! Obe caveat that I noticed afterwards: The SD-card reader does not have a jumper for Master/Slave mode. Result: see next item. - Got a 44pin HDD cable with two connectors to try out if the SD-card reader supports Master/Slave mode (US$13.98). Result: no. Should have gone with the more expensive SD-card reader. Took me like two days to figure this out - yes, I know that I am a slow learner. Somehow I refused to accept the reality: A 10$ SD-card reader that is Master/Slave-compatible? You must be kidding! - Using our "old" 1280*1024 LC-display for the Falcon in VGA mode. Flipside is that I had to buy a new LC-display for my wife (US$145.00). Result: wife is happy with much nicer LC-display for playing her games, I am happy with great displaying of the Falcon. - The mouse was starting to annoy me. So I got one of those PS/2-USB-ST adaptors and a genuine PS-2/USB mouse (BRP17.94 = US$29.52 (adaptor) + US$7.94 (mouse)). BTW: Awesome! It works great! - I stole the speakers from our Linux server. No problem since it is a Mac Mini PPC and has a built-in speaker anyway and it is a server after all. My wife still has the new LC-display which has speakers built-in. Phew. Pending orders. Yes, I committed myself to more stuff. Yes, I am insane. - I am getting really annoyed by carrying the Falcon through the house to connect it to our Linux server for transferring files that I downloaded from the inter-web. Therefore I got a NetUSBee (EUR59.80 = US$84.30). - While I was on a spending spree anyway, I decided that I had to upgrade my TOS to 4.04. And what os easier that to do it yourself? So why not buy an eprommer? No problem, that is exactly what I did (EUR60.00 = $81.62 US$). Fortunately this will include a GAL prommer that I can use to program new GALs if the ones in the Falcon ever cease to exist. Unfortunately I would need a new Atari to do that because I will get rid of my Mega ST. I promised that to my better half and you know how these things usually work out. So in the end I spent much more than I ever imagined. But this is why I call it a hobby. No real use but only joy. I hope somebody will find this useful. Cheers, Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wongck Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 - Replaced the HDD and added an SD-card reader (US$9.95) plus a 16GB SD-card (US$20.00). Awesome! Obe caveat that I noticed afterwards: The SD-card reader does not have a jumper for Master/Slave mode. Result: see next item. - Got a 44pin HDD cable with two connectors to try out if the SD-card reader supports Master/Slave mode (US$13.98). Result: no. Should have gone with the more expensive SD-card reader. Took me like two days to figure this out - yes, I know that I am a slow learner. Somehow I refused to accept the reality: A 10$ SD-card reader that is Master/Slave-compatible? You must be kidding! yeap... there a huge amount of information on this cheapo MIC SD-card reader on www.Atari-Forums.com (it's down now) as well as the version that does master/slave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wongck Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hi folks, somehow I did not bother to add my Falcon "saga" to this thread for the last three months. Perhaps it is a good New Year's resolution to add it now, including all the add-ons that I got since the "fatal" purchase. - I got a stock Falcon 030 w/o any MB modifications. - I have to say that the Falson was in mint condition; it still has the protective sticky plastic foil on the the Falcon logo. - 4MB RAM - TOS 4.02. - S/N: 43402-2002446, original configuration was 4MB, 80MB HDD, according to the label. - Genuine Atari STM1 in mint condition! - Steinberg Cubase Audio Clock (CAC) was included. - Original HDD had been replaced with a Toshiba 4GB HDD which was very noisy. Meaning of this was that it would be about to die very soon due to a busted bearing. But that's expected when you buy a gazillion years old computer - not a problem at all. If you mind such things, don't buy a used car! - NV-RAM dead, as expected after so many years. See above about used cars. That's what I got then. Now here is what I got since, including the money and time spent so far. Talk about addiction. Or let me think... That is exactly how the Mac world works, no? Perhaps the following itemisation of my spendings can serve as a deterrent for prospective Falcon buyers. You should really know what you are getting into, and, perhaps most of all, have a very supportive better half. - Got a VGA adaptor and a Wizztronics 4/16MB RAM expansion w. a compatible 16MB RAM SIMM from Best (US$155.55 incl. shipping). Installation of the RAM expansion board took five minutes. It was actually a replacement because it replaced the genuine Atari 4MB RAM board. - I am not telling you that I got a new DMA cable for my Mega ST1/Megafile30 and an ST/VGA cable from Best, too. If I did, you would consider me - rightfully - as nuts. - Removed the clock/NV-RAM chip, put in a low profile socket and a new DS12887. Got both at a bargain from Mouser Electronics (US$13.19 incl. shipping). Other vendors did not have a low profile socket or the DS12887 (or compatible from other vendors) in stock. Not for the faint of heart! Soldering skills are really necessary for this. Removing the old chip including the old cemented solder cost me one pad that I had to fix. While sucking the old solder out, a trace came off. No problem, I could fix it with some solder and Kapton tape. Took me, including the disassembly, the busted pad and trace and the assembly, two hours. - Added an MC68882RC33, clocked at stock 8/16MHz. Got this one at a bargain price (US$19.95, free shipping) from a seller here in the US. Compared to the NV-RAM/clock chip this was a no-brainer: Just plug the thing in and you are done. Took only five minutes to install. - Bought HDDriver from Uwe Seimet (EUR48.00 = US$68.77). Installation is an absolute no-brainer. But you should really wait for the manual! BTW: Worth every cent, great support! - Replaced the HDD and added an SD-card reader (US$9.95) plus a 16GB SD-card (US$20.00). Awesome! Obe caveat that I noticed afterwards: The SD-card reader does not have a jumper for Master/Slave mode. Result: see next item. - Got a 44pin HDD cable with two connectors to try out if the SD-card reader supports Master/Slave mode (US$13.98). Result: no. Should have gone with the more expensive SD-card reader. Took me like two days to figure this out - yes, I know that I am a slow learner. Somehow I refused to accept the reality: A 10$ SD-card reader that is Master/Slave-compatible? You must be kidding! - Using our "old" 1280*1024 LC-display for the Falcon in VGA mode. Flipside is that I had to buy a new LC-display for my wife (US$145.00). Result: wife is happy with much nicer LC-display for playing her games, I am happy with great displaying of the Falcon. - The mouse was starting to annoy me. So I got one of those PS/2-USB-ST adaptors and a genuine PS-2/USB mouse (BRP17.94 = US$29.52 (adaptor) + US$7.94 (mouse)). BTW: Awesome! It works great! - I stole the speakers from our Linux server. No problem since it is a Mac Mini PPC and has a built-in speaker anyway and it is a server after all. My wife still has the new LC-display which has speakers built-in. Phew. Pending orders. Yes, I committed myself to more stuff. Yes, I am insane. - I am getting really annoyed by carrying the Falcon through the house to connect it to our Linux server for transferring files that I downloaded from the inter-web. Therefore I got a NetUSBee (EUR59.80 = US$84.30). - While I was on a spending spree anyway, I decided that I had to upgrade my TOS to 4.04. And what os easier that to do it yourself? So why not buy an eprommer? No problem, that is exactly what I did (EUR60.00 = $81.62 US$). Fortunately this will include a GAL prommer that I can use to program new GALs if the ones in the Falcon ever cease to exist. Unfortunately I would need a new Atari to do that because I will get rid of my Mega ST. I promised that to my better half and you know how these things usually work out. So in the end I spent much more than I ever imagined. But this is why I call it a hobby. No real use but only joy. I hope somebody will find this useful. Cheers, Thomas But where... oh where is that CT63 upgrade ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christos Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 - Replaced the HDD and added an SD-card reader (US$9.95) plus a 16GB SD-card (US$20.00). Awesome! Obe caveat that I noticed afterwards: The SD-card reader does not have a jumper for Master/Slave mode. Result: see next item. - Got a 44pin HDD cable with two connectors to try out if the SD-card reader supports Master/Slave mode (US$13.98). Result: no. Should have gone with the more expensive SD-card reader. Took me like two days to figure this out - yes, I know that I am a slow learner. Somehow I refused to accept the reality: A 10$ SD-card reader that is Master/Slave-compatible? You must be kidding! yeap... there a huge amount of information on this cheapo MIC SD-card reader on www.Atari-Forums.com (it's down now) as well as the version that does master/slave. I am still regretting buying mine... Very fast to read, but so slow to write... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ato Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 But where... oh where is that CT63 upgrade ? None on the horizon. I want to keep the Falcon in its own case and do not know how to fit an AT power supply into the case. Cheers, Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ato Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I am still regretting buying mine... Very fast to read, but so slow to write... That is exactly how it is with mine, too. One curiosity though. When I am using Kobold to copy files (no verify) around, even large amounts (10s of MB), then the read and the write speed are A-OK and about the same. Cheers, Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christos Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 But where... oh where is that CT63 upgrade ? None on the horizon. I want to keep the Falcon in its own case and do not know how to fit an AT power supply into the case. Cheers, Thomas You can fit a pico psu, that way it stays in the original case. I've got a pc psu outside of it though. I am still regretting buying mine... Very fast to read, but so slow to write... That is exactly how it is with mine, too. One curiosity though. When I am using Kobold to copy files (no verify) around, even large amounts (10s of MB), then the read and the write speed are A-OK and about the same. Cheers, Thomas I guess it all comes down to the OS routines. I get a better result with mint on the 060 but that's with using a very large cache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Could have been a Falcon owner a couple of years ago if I'd been fast enough ... someone GAVE a C-Lab Falcon and some other Atari goodies away FOR FREE on Freecycle. I was absolutely f***ing GUTTED!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+skr Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Did not see this thread, so here we are: skr, Germany 1 Falcon with dark grey keyboard, 14 MB Ram, AT Bus Card, double CF card adapter 1 Falcon with light gray keyboard, 4 MB Ram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Atari Falcon 030 - Wizztronics 14MB RAM Upgrade - 4GB Compact Flash Disk - NEC MultiSpin 3Xp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox-1 / mnx Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Falcon030, stock (broken IDE HD). Netherlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jens Posted September 5, 2011 Author Share Posted September 5, 2011 Updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majere Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 My toys ATARI Falcon + 14mb ram ATARI Falcon+14mb+CT60+CTPCI+Ethernat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jens Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 Toys added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Guess I better raise my hand. Falcon with 4 megs and 5 gig HDD. Things I'm in the process of doing. Figure out the exact parts to replace the clock IC Obtain a way to format/partition my internal HDD fully without paying gobs of cash. I'm big on the barter system. Upgrade to 14 megs so I can start using Mint. I use to have tons of software from my ST days but so far all I find is old floppies with PC software. It's gotta be someone in my garage (AKA: Where all matter gets put after it gets sucked into a black hole). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlacey Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Figure out the exact parts to replace the clock IC Obtain a way to format/partition my internal HDD fully without paying gobs of cash. I'm big on the barter system. For the clock check out this page: http://www.atarimusic.net/featured-articles/falcon-hardware/108-atari-falcon-nvram-house-of-horrors-how-to-replace-your-real-time-clock-without-the-gore I managed to find the parts elsewhere that would ship to Australia, though the socket wasn't quite as low as the one there: I had to file down the casing of the new chip to fit it under the shielding nicely but they were free so what do I care? As for the hard drive you can partition it with Cecile if you put it on a floppy: http://centek.online.fr/atari/softs/s_cecile.htm For some reason the site isn't loading for me right now but it worked just fine last week! While we're populating the list: Falcon 030 2GB Kingspec DOM 14MB RAM 38882 FPU NetUSBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I didn't see myself on the list... Falcon030, originally purchased with 4MB and 40MB HD from STeve's Computers in Woodland, CA. Upgraded to 14MB via Wizztronics board and generic 16MB EDO from Fry's Electronics. It was used with a special VGA monitor I bought from Toad Computers that could display native ST resolutions. Haven't used since 1998. Purchased a 68882 for it last year on eBay but haven't installed it yet or restored the system yet. In storage. Sacramento, CA. Should we add Serial Numbers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXG/MNX Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 got 4 falcons 1 falcon030 with 4mb and 286 pc emulator inside 1 falcon030 is desktopper case 4mb 2x falcon030 with 14MB board Got some screenblasters and a CT2 not build in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STuck Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 (edited) Hey, I have a Falcon too! 4MB(14MB soon hopefully) Falcon MK-X with Nemesis + FPU, with TT Keyboard, 2GB internal CF card. Running Magic 6. Oh, and I've got one of those Soundpool DSPs but I can't figure out how to use that yet. Edited January 13, 2014 by STuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 For the clock check out this page: http://www.atarimusic.net/featured-articles/falcon-hardware/108-atari-falcon-nvram-house-of-horrors-how-to-replace-your-real-time-clock-without-the-gore I managed to find the parts elsewhere that would ship to Australia, though the socket wasn't quite as low as the one there: I had to file down the casing of the new chip to fit it under the shielding nicely but they were free so what do I care? As for the hard drive you can partition it with Cecile if you put it on a floppy: Thanks for the info. That link for Cecile was bad but I found it here (https://sites.google.com/site/stnonessential/utilities). As far as the battery, that seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I bought Gunstar's Falcon in early December and have been upgrading it here and there. I bought a Wizztronics 14MB upgrade and a new keyboard from Best. The old keyboard worked just fine, but many of the keys had been replaced from a bog standard ST. The look was actually quite nice, but I have this thing about things looking stock. Bought the NVRAM parts, but as of yet haven't installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I bought Gunstar's Falcon in early December and have been upgrading it here and there. I bought a Wizztronics 14MB upgrade and a new keyboard from Best. The old keyboard worked just fine, but many of the keys had been replaced from a bog standard ST. The look was actually quite nice, but I have this thing about things looking stock. Bought the NVRAM parts, but as of yet haven't installed. Get the "ST Keys" mod. It makes the keyboard a pleasure to type on. Probably should've mentioned mine has them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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