Most liked posts in thread: I'm going to build a WEFAX interface

I've got a Fujinet on the way, but I haven't really been following the threads about it on AA and have no real idea of all it can do, I just wanted wi-fi for my Atari. Once I get it, I'll read up and learn about it, like I'm doing with the Turbo Freezer now. I haven't even learned and looked into all the possibilities of the Incognito or Pokeymax yet either! I've just been getting stuff lately faster than I have time to learn and use them!

But I've still got so many hardware projects I want to do, I probably won't get around to learning and using any of this stuff to it's full potential for a while. First things on my hardware list now are getting your 1200XL finished Paul, and then the 800XL for my friend Danny, and then, finally, back to my 1200XL. Once I have all of them finished I can actually start learning to use my Atari's with all their upgrades, and learning programming, etc.

The other small projects projects like this WEFAX interface and installing a dual PIA board have to wait until I get the hardware in my hands. I have my two Indus GT's to upgrade as well as my CA-2001 drive, finish trouble-shooting my 1010's Rambit upgrade (I think that is just a lack of proper grounding).Then, comes my robot project, but a large part of that is learning to program so I can program it when the time comes.

Then there are other non Atari 8-bit projects to finish, like restoring and repairing the Bally Arcade, my Atari Lynx, 1084S monitor, and various other audio/video equipment. But this will all be spread out over the next couple of years.

So yeah, when I really start listing all I need to accomplish electronic's wise, I do seem to have a 1001 things going on as you stated, @Paul "Mclaneinc" Irvine . But at least with the Incognito 800 working, I can start these other projects and slowly tick them off. But part of the reason I have so many on-going projects is probably a combination several things including a bit of laziness, even though it's work I enjoy most of the time (it can be a headache sometimes and I just need to step back a while) and I'm pretty sure I've been going through life with a bit of Attention deficit disorder, so I jump around to different on-going projects and I'm a bit OCD.

So I don't feel like I can settle into being a user and programmer until all the hardware repairs,mods and upgrades I want to do are all done and out of the way, especially since they will all improve experiences in using and programming these machines. But I do eventually get things done. I also spend way too much time on AA and here talking about the stuff I'm doing and want to do instead of doing it! And as you guys all know, I'm often "long winded" with my posts, this one being a perfect example. But it's all a part of my overall "hobby,"

As to the Atari being used for so much these days, I agree, it's amazing. I think there are more on-going "home-brew" projects, both software and hardware, than was even being done commercially back in the day, or at leas on a par with it when considering all the third party stuff from back then. It was really just Jack and Atari Corp. that did little for the 8-bit line to keep it a "going concern." The 80's may have been the golden age of computing in general, but this is really a golden age Renaissance for the Atari 8-bit. It's finally getting the attention it deserves.

 

Matt, do you have any spare time in your life...You seem to be doing a million and one things...

Good luck with the project...

 

Its really nice to see the Atari being used for so much these days, was talking to Allan in a chat re fujinet and although its not something I need I do see how much it opens the old Atari up....

Good times for the Atari, will follow the progress of you project Matt...Its not something for me but I love seeing people max out the machines...

 

Hi Matt
close but no banana SSB or Single Side Band refers to a way of saving power on the transmittion, by supressing both the carrier signal, and one half the side band, as identicle information is carried just 180 degrees out of phase. The side bands are call Lower Side Band & Upper Side Band hence USB, depending on your radio either method can be used to re create the original signal for voice however adviced to use USB on the frequency to use for LSB quoted first or USB in brakets, the radio has to recreate the carrier, before it can decode the date hence the two frequencies given for peoples preferred operating mode.
and of course there are four possiable transmission frequencies, usually better to use the higher frequencies, which have more loss over distance (generally) so 17.146400MHz LSB or 17.144500MHz USB
Matt RE AA post I added do you need a board to break out the signals to joystick ports ??

Paul it is indeed, great to be arround when all these new additions are being produced. And theres more to come I'm sure.
other 'Retro' computers are getting the same treatment

 

Its a hive of activity in this thread, so good to see..

 

Hey @Graham (and everyone), here is a link to a video "Fujinet for Dummies" and of course there are other videos about Fujinet on youtube if you just search for "Fujinet."

https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/fujinet

 

Somebody else came along thankfully and just told me the pins that needed to be bridged, however, apparently my Fujinet is a newer hardware version and that's not require(already done for me at The Brewing Academy). My dumb-ass just forgot to install a needed driver (I forgot and was thinking it didn't need one).

Anyway, everything is updated with the latest firmware, I have most things set up, and I even have the local weather report now!


My hardware profile and virtual devices at Fujinet!

 

I agree, looking good Matt. maybe i'll have to put my XEGS to one side and breadboard a fujinet to try ..

or maybe a Side 3 ??

Pam got me one for Christmas and I've had a quick play with it, It appears to be a great little machine .
Also got a case with a built in adaptor from USB to M.2 along with 256GB M.2 drive for a Pi 4 I already had, I use the Pi 4 as a NAS for my old operating systems, so they arn't live on the internet, but my upto date machines can dump files for them on to it, via a seperate network connection. ( coz I'm a bit of a security nut )

 

I hear yer, Al.

Graham's next bit of kit, I hear, is this little project for contacting Oric users in Alpha Centauri:




Graham's just waiting on the cabling and he'll be away shortly (most of this is already hidden under his desk!!)

Graham - we're only jealous, mate - all I've got under my desk is fluff, dust and an old copy of Sinclair(ab)User.

 

Loving all the super tech people on here have / still work with, one of my lads at Maplin went on to work as an engineer for London Underground, Paul then one day gives me a call and invites me down to his station / work place to have a look around as I'd always wanted to see the backend of a tube station. I get there and Paul takes me through the nerve centre and then announces that I MUST see the Relay room. The way he said it sounded like it was the cream of the crop, the command centre or whatever, door opens and its just a room full of switching relays LOL..

I said "oh its very impressive" and moved on...Apparently it IS a very important part of the station but I was expecting...er ...more

But well done to my ex employee, done well for himself...

But back on topic, I'm warming to the Fujinet, obviously its a long way off on my books and in truth I don't really need it but its sounding and looking quite interesting thanks to Matts footage etc.

Currently my kit is covering all bases for which I'm very happy but I do like to look at all the stuff you guys build, the creativity is just so infectious (I use that work carefully). As I've said, most of it is beyond me from a tech POV, my electronics is just above nil, I know component orientation and values and can read a diagram to a certain level but in terms of circuit design, nope....The best I could do is build something that goes bang when I plug it in..

So watching all you guys build and make is great fun..

 

Here is the 8-bit slicks website, which by the way @Andy Barr and other Oric/Atmos heads, now includes Oric/Atmos online! http://8bit-slicks.com/?page_id=207



Here I am on-line with 8-bit slicks on my Atari. A 320K disk image, but only a 64K Atari is needed. Something impossible for my 800 without Incognito.

 

Yes, that 8-bit hub in the video is actually using the inferior ESP8266 chip like other versions of Fujinet do that are not being supported by the hardware sellers and I think you have to compile your own firmware for that version too.
And yes, Fujinet, at least for the Atari, has already obsoleted that except for maybe the 3rd controller port. But I do believe that Fujinet will work with that network like it does with 8-bit Slicks. But that's a great wi-fi system for the other computers that don't have Fujinet, like the Oric.

 

Very nice! You'll be Fujinet'in in no time! If you aren't all on top of the latest from AA, a new game was released for the A8 yesterday called Albert. Did someone ever suggest the 8-bit Atari was an Amiga jr.? After seeing and playing this game, I'm not so sure it couldn't have gone head-to-head with it's over-grown progeny, if the time to really get to know what this machine is capable of had ever been fully researched. Albert, AtariBlast!, Space Harrier, Stunt Car Racer, The Last Squadron, they all look like 16-bit quality games to me, and play like it too. This is no VBXE upgrade or Sophia 2 new GTIA modes...this is good old Antic and GTIA doing what they always could.

 

Just had a quick shot at Albert. That is one impressive (and hard) game!
It's funny how I get more excited about releases like this than about anything that is coming out on the latest Microsoft or Sony consoles....

 

Me too!

I've been hard at it and have made it to level 5 now. Once you figure out which style control works best for you, and you get practiced, you'll get there. I settled on the up-angle for run and button for jump. The wasps on level 3 or 4 are incredible looking too, though it does also reveal a limitation, apparently, to graphics so detailed; no animation. No wings flapping or "buzzy" vibrating, but just sliding by on a wire like at a shooting arcade. Still, the game is fun and addictive, and the new levels with new graphics keep you going back to see what's next.

Playing some more, I realized I had missed the wasp's wings "flutter" with some color rotation. The video of the game above doesn't show the wasp wing animation, like it's skipping every other frame (60fps down to 24-30fps?). In the actual game on my computer, the wasp's wings are fluttering.

 

This is the type of hobby projects I spend my spare time on, actually. I don't watch TV, I have no friends to "hang out" with, and I'm in the middle of nowhere, so besides the great outdoors, my hobby and gaming IS all I have...and contributing to the Atari forums.

This time of year business is slow, so it's the time of year I try and do the most (electronic) projects. This project will only take a few hours to complete. But when I'm not working, like now, I've got plenty of time for neat projects like this. It'll be about a month before the XR 2211 arrives, so this isn't something I'm starting today, except for seeing what components I have on hand and ordering those I don't.

My 800 upgrades are stalled until I get another Sophia 2 as the one I got is non functional and I have to send it back. And I'm waiting on @Graham (no hurry buddy) for my PIA board(s). But, my 800 is ready to start using and my next project here is burning some OS and BASIC eproms and finally finish up your 1200XL. That should keep me busy for a while as I wait.

I was just looking for a shortwave radio with SSB, and most are quite expensive, more than I thought. However, I did find one that should be good enough for me for $60. I have to wait for another week before I have money to order it though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Degen-DE11...-AM-SW-LW-SSB-New-English-Manual/322252459542

 

Sounds a great idea, Matt.
Excellent and useful project that will bring radio comms, Atari classic micro and Panasonic dot matrix printer together to give you weather report hard copies.
Yep, it's something that gives you an immense amount of pleasure building this kind of utilitarian kit and showing the world that our retro micros are still extremely relevant.
Please give us a run through how you get on as and when the parts arrive.
I'm sure we'd all get a buzz out of this one.

 

Hi Matt
That does look an interesting project, especially using an Atari as there is so much that needs a PC now.
I do wonder about the ablity of the Radio your looking at, maybe worth seeing if there are any reviews on it before splashing out for it. SSB can be a difficult signal to recieve, and usually needs some good filtering and a nice VFO to resolve. Saying that It may well be fine, I'll see what frequencies WEFAX is on and have a listen with one of my radios and see what the data signals sounds like.

I also think you should share your 800 AI blog on AA, on AOC as well.

 

Keep me informed about the radio. And I DO have the 800 AI blog up here already! I even tagged you in it! But I guess no alerts are given if you tag people in blogs? I even add a note to the profile news feed down the left side on the main forum page every time I update or create a blog. AA was the second place I posted it, I copied/pasted and redid it over there being less verbose. Just look in the blog section here! It's been an on-going blog I've been adding to for the last year! I've been slowly re-posting my blogs here, over there so more people could enjoy them. I also plan to redo threads/blogs I had on Atari Sector that are now lost forever, here and there. My Atarilab Interface was one of the first I re-did here. I'll redo my 1200XL one eventually too.

 

Thanks for the SWR lesson Graham. As per your question above that I "bolded," yes please!

 

So should be o.k With above, can leave off PSU in and Just add additional Dupont Pins on the board what do you think ?

 

How about this ? 4 lots of Power Pins, can join to other board etc, I can easily add mounting holes so you can join the two boards one above the other buy using short lenths of solid wire, you can fit what ever pins you need to the board, or even solder direct. If you have the space can still add a connector, but worried it'll be two near the case edge ?

Sorry missed one of your posts re PSU, It tends to be a good thing to power something like a robot or at least something with motors in them from a seperate supply Can easily be done externally using your atarilab interfaces. best not to use the same PSU as although there maybe enough, I've not included any form of Power Supply 'conditioning/ Filtering' and Motors with cause electrical noise on your Atari's power possiably even crashing the computer.
Plus you have to remember that the PSU is rated at approx 3A (9VAC at 31VA very approx) but the internal Power Regulator is only 1.5A for the 5V line its a LM340T-5 the 12V LM341T-12 only 500mA

 

That looks and sounds perfect. Don't worry about adding the connector.

 

We've derailed from the WEFAX project, but yes, lots of activity! Though the WEFAX does use a controller port, so it's vaguely related and I will adjust the WEFAX program(s) to use one of these new ports on the new PIA, so I don't have to plug it into one of the front ports.

 

shenanigans...But I used a spell checker I even cheat messages

No need to worry about a topic drift, its all machine related so all good...

Think this little device will make people happy..