Most liked posts in thread: What's new Pussycat too?

Good luck on your trouble shooting @AlexDrito , I know I have my own share too.

Well, I've been scarce the last week or two, a combination of work, both business and personal, and my room currently in disarray with the partial exodus to my office trailer (Fujilab). But I have also spent time I would normally spend here on some electronics work I've been meaning to do, more on that in blogs or hardware forums later.

I have also been collecting the "parts" needed for a new project involving my Atari 800, just after finishing up upgrade installations and before I put it back together, due to circumstance, I decided on further work with it. This bit is top secret and will have a reveal when I am done. This will be a big surprise with astonished reactions I'm sure, hopefully at how amazing it is, but astonished in amazement or possibly some might react with astonished horror...

In the meantime, my soldering station I bought a few years ago started having issues with the friction-held solder iron tip falling out from years of drastic temperature changes, and when I could get it to stay, with pressure from pliers for example, I couldn't trust the temperature settings compared to actual tip temp anymore not knowing how good the conductivity was still, and in fact noticed.

So I found a "Black Friday October" daily special on Amazon for a new soldering station, including free same-day shipping. I ordered it at 8 am my time and it arrived by 6 pm.

 

Good luck with the breadbin repair, Daz and we all hold our collective breath as to what in tarnation's might rise from the depths of Matt's new trailer service area.

I don't know about getting creative whilst asleep or in one's pit but my mind's working overtime as to what beast is to emerge from Matt's storage location...an 800 with a custom-painted husky colour scheme and four paw-style joysticks?!

Now that would be woof.

I'll get me coat.

 

Check out Ray Carlsen’s website for troubleshooting a 64 Dave. The MOS7709 has a high failure rate.

https://portcommodore.com/rcarlsen/cbm/c64/c64-ic.txt

 

I know I said last time that it was the last time for a post about my 800 here, but I'm not ready to add to my blog yet. So here is one last sneak-peak...





The rest of the keys will be white, I haven't painted them yet as at the last minute I realized I hadn't cleaned them yet. But what do you guys think, from what you see so far; should I paint the space bar grey or white? I know it's the same color (light grey) as the QWERTY keys in the IBM picture, but obviously I decided on a white QWERTY keyboard as I'm not trying to copy it exactly, even the original mock-up was just that, and probably would have changes to it in the end. As I said, it inspired me, but there are some touches I wanted to change myself; like having four blue keys top right, I felt it looked un-balanced, but did want them a different color than the QWERTY keys, so I went with grey on the inside three.. I'm debating the space bar color though...not the blue, you think?

I was going to paint the console keys alternatively blue and grey too, but decided to be more conservative there with just the RESET as blue. The CX85 keypad will get a similar blue/grey/white pattern as well. The console keys don't really show up in the IBM "Atari" PC picture due to the book binding fold hiding them and in shadow, but looking closely, I think they might have all been black except the RESET. But I didn't like that look either if I'm right.

The keys that have the cursor-control arrows on them I decided will also be white, though I did think about grey or blue, but settled on white. But unlike the rest of the white keys, I think when I add the vinyl key decals I will use the black ones for the cursor arrow keys. They will be white on the sides and black with white text on top, distinguishing them from all other keys. The Qwerty keys will be the white with black text decals. But maybe I should paint the cursor arrow keys grey with white tops? Or black? What do you guys think?

Something I didn't think about was getting the painted console keys re-inserted with the pressure tabs that hold them in place on the top case. Try as I might, I scraped off some of the new paint on the sides and will have to touch them up with a fine paint brush where they are, as removing them will only lead to scraping them again when inserting.

 

So I lied again. I'm just too excited about showing it off and not ready to add to the blog yet...
Only the 800 and the TRS-80 Coco analog mouse I converted to work with Atari GUI/GOS and graphic art programs that support the Atari Touch Tablet. I won't show any other peripherals until everything is done. I may post more pics of the 800 itself as I progress with it.

 

Thanks to @Klyde I finally have a new Cumana disk interface clone for my Oric! so I can finally move away from the unreliable tapes.

 

I am waiting on a new project for my Dragon as well but will keep that under wraps until it arrives

 

Please don't put yourself or Sonia out, if either of you are not up to it, then leave it be..

 

I'd be tempted to christen the computer '800 XT'. Paying homage to the original IBM PC XT range and keeping the Atari X(L/E) lineage.

 

Wow, you lads have been busy whilst I've been bobbing about on the Broads.

Matt, your 800 looks truly breathtaking in the new paint scheme - I'm in total agreement with Al, Dazza and the boys - the subtle (early IBM) colour variations are perfectly matched and applied here - it looks a wonder and again I agree it would look totally in keeping with a lab, scientific, hospital or Space 1999 setting!

Chuffed that Dazza is making great strides with his C64 repairs with his pal, thanks partly to Matt's advice, and is now looking to put a C16 back on the road to recovery - it warms our RAM chips when we hear that another old warhorse is being brought back to useful life!

Richie has progress now on his Oric Cumana disk interface to get a working disk solution now for his Tangerine dreams - wonderful, mate. As you know, these babies will always be close to my heart (I have news of something extremely rare coming this way shortly which will make for a great read and has already triggered a wave of interest from a forum where the original programmer replied to my query and basically said - TELL ME MORE! THIS IS BIG! No, Al, I'm not talking about my joystick port).

Richie's fire breathing Dragon also sounds like it's stirring with news of something juicy coming its way and then Paul is eager to get his hands on a (Commodore?) cart coming his way real soon so that will generate some news too.

Jeez, fellas - I need another break just to digest this little lot.

Quick pic from the hols which in summary was a bloody good adventure IF you like boating with the roof off to get under low bridges (pretty chill and damp - ie. frequent rain showers in October), you don't mind a natural shower in a morning as the condensation drips off the aluminium window frames on to your head and bedding and you can tolerate a pretty rank toilet stench all week coming from your mate's room next door. Mind, the riverside boozers, cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops were all very nice and we desperately needed a break from the pressures and stresses of modern living/life/family probs of late. Don't we all?!?


Nobbing about in Norwich (lovely city, guys - loads to see and do and very friendly locals)


Das Boot (Oberleutnant Bev sank several thousand tons of British shipping)



Our mates Fast Eddie and Lynny doing their thang with Bev at the controls driving Britain forward at a time when no fekker has a clue what's ganning on.

PMSL! Twas a blast folks and no mistake.

 

I know over the years I've always promised pictures of my house I've been rebuilding, but I always forget. With Andy showing all the remodel work he's done of the past couple of years I finally remembered and decided it was time for a few pics anyway. This is of the laundry/kitchen/living room area which is one big, long, open room with a vaulted ceiling and pictures of my bathroom, which is finished except for wall/floor/window trim and the door will be painted white to match. All the doors in the house will be painted white to match the trim.

I finally have a few days to catch up on my remodeling, trying to finish the kitchen and living room up in time for the holidays. I had hoped to have it finished before the last holiday season, but life got in the way.

Anyway, we are trying to get the flooring in and painting and trim done by Thanksgiving (we have company coming, so the rush is on). Though one thing that won't be done before the holidays is the center island I want to build to give separation to the room between the living and kitchen areas. It will be just the other side of the wood burning stove. So painting, flooring and trim by Thanksgiving. And the wall were the stove and counter are, with the fake bricks will get painted too, and a brushed metal backsplash added all around. I still need to get the hardware (handles, etc.) for the cupboards too.

So that's part of my humble home, for now. Of course it's a complete mess right now, the after shot will be a nice, clean, tidy and finished area. And I'm standing in the living room area, so you don't see much of it in the picture, but I'll show other angles when it's completed.

 

This XMas time seems to be the greatest of the last 10 or the greatest ever to me! Recently I bought from Richard a fantastic Dragon32, already modded with a new stable PSU board and some weeks before Manu added a couple of VTECH Laser 500 to my collection. Well, I bought an AV cable for the Dragon32 but guess what? The unpredictable and mysterious "man in Paris" has been scheming during these weeks and has succeeded in sending me a wonderful SCART audio-video cable for the LASER 500, so now I can enjoy all the beautiful colours and sharpness of the RGB output of this forgotten computer but full of potentialities to be discovered.

So another great XMas present for me, came unexpectedly and thus truly much appreciated. THX

 

The SCART cable for the VTECH Laser 500 works like a charm! Thanks again, @Klyde!

 

All I got for Christmas was socks and this dumb toy (from family, I bought myself plenty)!


It's got a simple little circuit in it with a couple of little sensors on the bottom that sense a the surface and it goes up several feet in the air and when it gets so high, it slows and drops slowly back to the ground and sort of "hops" sometimes I catches itself sometimes just before it touches the ground or surface and starts up again. It has a one button remote for me to turn it on and off (as well as the master power switch on the bottom). Otherwise it goes where ever it happens to lean or get caught by the wind. It might also stop if it gets out of range of my remote, automatically, but I haven't tried that yet.

Definitely an outside mechanical-electronic toy instead of the desktop ones I usually get, or perpetual motion stuff. So I don't know if I can use it for a desk/shelf knickknack or not. I'd have to make or print a stand for it and that's just so it sits up. I don't know if I engineer a way where I can have it on, but it just goes up and down on my desktop, like have it on a wire. Maybe, but I'd have to make an extension to secure to it that has reach beyond the props for it to be hooked to the wire/small pole or something.



But really, I did get another Christmas gift from the family. A new amplifier to go with the rest of the components my dear departed JVC Quad stereo amp left behind. I will repair the JVC one day, but right now I have enough repairs and mods on the list. So I asked for an inexpensive (just under $100) Pyle brand 5.1 surround amp, which does bring my stereo system into the modern age with Bue-tooth and USB stick and SD cards too. It's a 200W system, that puts out 40W per channel. While my JVC is 400W and 100W per channel.



But it's really more than enough for my small house and room. I still can't turn it up more than 1/4 volume before I wake the dead. It's drives my old 3-way floor speakers well enough and then I had bought a pair of 50W shelf speakers as I only had the two big floor models and they just want too much for large speakers anymore, even at the lowest end they are several hundred dollars. So I got this pair of shelf speakerOs about a foot tall instead. My front center channel speaker I'm using and old 9x6 oval auto rear speaker that I built a box for.

One downside to the Pyle amp is it only has half the RCA inputs of my JVC, which means I have to run components through and RCA switch box to choose from some of my components (both part of the stereo system and some consoles and other video equipment). It has a sub-woofer out though, but I don't need it because I have two 16 inch woofers on my large three-way speakers. And the last thing is no turn-table input with pre-amp and ground. I can make my own ground for the turn-table, and we'll see, it may be my amp works good enough but might need to be turned up more than a 1/4 way for LP's. otherwise I'll have to make or buy a small pre-amp box for the turn-table.

Also, this holiday weekend I had the HDD on my "new" windows 10 PC crash. I'll get a new one for it, but in the mean time I had to drag out my old HP portable from 2004. I did upgrade it to windows 7. I'm using it right now. But, the back-light of it's screen died and so I have to plug it into my TV/monitor like a desktop. Also, it has an over-heating issue which happens rather quickly, within about 5-10 minutes. But I took a couple of spare 12V PC fans I had laying around along with a 12V PSU and attached the to a little wire stand with zip ties. I have one fan blowing into the grill that the original little fan is behind (it still works, it's just not enough anymore) and the second fan positioned on the other end where some more vents are, drawing the air out. I've had it on steady for two days now with no over-heating issue!

 

Some additons to the Al-Cave this Christmas

The two books were unexpected and amazingly I didn't have either of them yet.

The Fusion, Zzap and Crash annuals were all a Kickstarter campaign that arrived just in time for Christmas. Great reads and brings back memories of Christmas specials of the old computer mags.

Joypad is slightly different. It has a switch so can be used left or right handed and also a paddle controller at the end as well. Mainly wanted it to see if I could get the paddle going with Arkanoid on the A8 but no luck so far. However the actual joypad/stick works really well and it's now my new default controller for the 800XL.

Bat Lamp was a total surprise. It's not the brightest LED, but ideal for working on little fiddly projects. In the same photo you can also see the Atari Hot Wheels collection and Evercade VS console. The C64mini is sneaking into the side of the shot as well...

 

I finally received my Infocom-like text adventure game 'Hibernated 1: Director's Cut' a couple of days ago. Pre-ordered and payed for last June, supposed to ship out in August, delay notice finally received in December...though it was supposedly a manufacturing issue and everything else I ordered from Poly-Play, like my Avalon Hill titles, all arrived quite quickly considering coming from Germany. It came with a small poster and a couple other extras souvenirs like the Infocom titles used too.

I'm in the middle of a full cleaning and repaint/touch-up of my 'XL Command Center' and waiting on some poster tacky to arrive tomorrow before adding this poster to the rest I have. New pictures of it all, with new flooring and trim too, coming soon.

 

I really like the 400/800 advert Matt, very retro looking.

Not much new this week, but I did mark another couple of my PSP wants off my wishlist and picked up a couple of old football games for it at the same time. Grand total of £3.40

Also got the latest printed issue of ZZAP! Amiga in the post as well for a bit of reading.

 

LOL! Yeah those old things came with itand crumble if you touch them. They don't even fit any of the windows either. So yeah, those blinds will be changed out asap. I need to apply new weather stripping to all the windows too, currently you can feel a breeze through closed windows! The door too.

Also @Andy Barr , I have Sophia 2 board installed in my 800CX, currently in DVI mode with an adapter to HDMI on that modern display. Eventually I plan to get a nice white CRT 4:3 VGA monitor for the 800CX and reprogram the Sophia 2 for VGA output. And the PC keyboard gets stashed away when I'm actually using the 800CX. So eventually, and most of the time it will look 100% late 70's early 80's retro...except for the 3D printer...sorry, that stays put. Of course there is a PC hiding at the end under the Syn-series and Net Worth app boxes.

I made a couple last minute changes with the wall art; a picture of the IBM 'ATARI' PC my 800CX is in homage too, and an old ad I pulled out of a Compute! magazine for 'Your Personal Net Worth' app I use for my private and business finances. I use Syncalc and Synfile+ too for my business. And I brought out Atarilab software since I already have all my Atarilab Interfaces in the office/lab.



The 800CX will be mainly used for application, educational and lab projects, and my 1200XL will be mainly used for computer programming, art & music creation and viewing/listening, word processing and of course gaming. I'm sure I'll be playing the occasional game on the 800CX too. And my TRS-80 Coco 2 is now being set up next to my 1200XL, where the 800 used to be, and it too will be used for programming, art & music and gaming.

I'm still working on my revamped 'XL Command Center' so pictures on that will come later. It's nothing major, mostly it looks the same, just re-organized and some touch-ups from use damage over the past couple years, new flooring underneath and some hidden shelving under neath mostly to hold and hide power strips and PSU's, but a few other items as well. Of course my entire bedroom/man cave/XL Command Center is being finished and re-arranged better. I have disassembled and removed my glass display case. It just took up too much room and I got a new dresser drawer so it had to go. It will return one day, after me mum passes and my brother takes over her room I'll be expanding mine.

 

I so miss my 1200 that I sold, it wasn't as pimped out as Matt's one but it was an 8MB machine with a HD in and it was in very good nick.

So, glad to see someone get a 1200, you really enjoy it Al, it's a stellar bit of kit with an amazing heritage of great software and lots of FUN software, Enjoy!!

 

My last find: a not so common All Black Irish Atari 2600 jr version, made in Ireland, hence the "Colour" word printed on the case instead of the usual "Color". Some say they were only sold in Ireland and maybe Canada, but I found this one in Belgium, with a euro adapter.

With some dirt and scratches, but good overall condition.

The seller didn't tell if it is in working condition. It only has an RF output and I don't have a compatible tele. I'll try to install a RGB or Composite video adapter.

 

I'll tell you this one because you have the sensitivity to understand it all: some time ago I got a C64 with a power supply that I bought for 45 euros. The seller didn't know if it worked or not and of course it didn't work (the boot screen seemed to indicate a RAM failure). On opening it up I discover that it was a UK-made C64 with plastic lettering/labels embossed near the ports ("USER PORT", "SERIAL PORT", etc). Also, the case looks slightly taller than normal to me and indeed it is. Well, another "piece" that I didn't have, I said to myself.

So I decide to put together some gear that doesn't work or has defects and send everything to the good Carlo P, my favorite repairer second only to Klyde. I'm sending the C64 UK not working, a breadbin C64 with the keyboard that doesn't respond well to typing and a C16 with missing keys and maybe black screen at the start. This was meant to be upgraded to 64K and used for games and demos. Carlo quickly finds the issues with the two C64s while for the C16 I manage to send him the missing keys thanks to a German guy found on eBay who sends me only the keys I need for 5 euros in total.

Carlo in the meantime discovers that the C16 works properly and for the upgrade we decide for a kit that doesn't need flying wires or complex soldering. There is only the problem of waiting for the availability of good RAM (also for the C64 UK) and the kit. He takes care of buying RAM and a kit for the C16. After a few months of waiting, Carlo shows up and tells me: "All set, I'll send you the package on Monday - total 30 € + 10 shipping". He's a man of very few words. I was pleasantly surprised by the low price. Then I remember why I send things to him because he's definitely not a lightning bolt, he repairs things when he has time and when he feels like it, but he's precise and above all honest. And this morning I sent him a transfer of 100 € plus 10 € for shipping. It seemed the least I could do. I know you understand me.

 

I may be able to help you with that, I'm happy to do so, though I've no better source for Coco's than eBay as well. That's where I bought mine, I just happen to get one in great condition on the cheap for parts or repair, prepared for the possibility of extensive trouble-shooting and repairs to a machine I had no experience with, yet luckily it turned out to be a rare revision model that is almost completely socketed, and repair was the mere matter of re-seating the IC's.

I can of course keep an eye out for you in other venues I may visit like mom&pop electronic shops, swap meet/flea markets and local online classified for sales lists. And occasionally I do come across good deals for vintage computers and consoles, but I had no luck locating a Coco "in the wild." I just browsed amongst 3-4 different computer brands on eBay for a couple of years, waiting for what I felt was a good enough deal to pull the trigger.

My first venture out of Atari in 8-bit land since I sold off my 7800 and C64 nearly 20 years ago was solely left up to Chaos Theory and the Cosmos as to what was available to me when the stars were aligned and I had money at the same time as I found a great deal on a classic machine. I was leaning heavily toward the C64 since I owned one a short time back in the day, but the machine that became available for the right price at the right time was my TRS-80 Coco 2.

If it's just a matter of you finding what you want on eBay and then if it would end up being much cheaper for me to buy it on your behalf, and make sure it's gets to you directly or indirectly through me, I'm also happy to do that as well.

But if wanting a Coco is merely a matter of having an NTSC version of the Dragon, are you sure you want a Coco and not an NTSC Tano Dragon? Because I could watch for one of them for you too, though they are more rare than Coco's.

http://www.oldcomputers.net/tano-dragon.html

 

Congrats on the new gear Matt and Richie, always nice to see people enjoying their hobby.

 

Congrats, Richie.

All the best with heaps of Coco loco fun and I'm sure you and Matt will soon be demonstrating what a neat little machine these beasts can be once you guys have supercharged em!

Have stacks of fun and catch you guys after me op.

Toodle pip and take good care.

 

I keep on thinking about a PS3 but as I have it's then rival, the XBOX360 and many of the games came out on both with the 360 being slightly technically superior, it seems a bit silly. I did get the Uncharted set on the PS4 as it was Sony only. Still giving it thought as there's some cracking PS3 only games on it.

Ridge racer I loved but when 5 came out, it felt more generic than RR, put me right off.

As I'm catching up with the thread, a comment about Dr Who.

I used to be a fan, when David Tennant took over it revived the series from the stale kids show it had turned in to but then it got too PC and Matt and Andy say. I have no issue with Jodie Whittaker as an actor, she's got the chops for sure but Russel T Davies is ALWAYS push the PC LGBT side, now I think it's fair to have real life choices in TV but he had to go too far, the Dr as a woman, no probs for me, the Doctor as a gay woman, er hold on a bit, lets not muddy the water too much, the Doctor now having relationships with multiple companions, stop it!!!

It's taken a godly being, a time traveller, a saviour of the universe multi times over and made them in to a glorified trailer trash mum of sort..A person with no clue about themselves....Just stupid..

I'll watch the 60th show just to see Tennant back as the Dr for one or two shows but then, nope..Stopped ages ago..

As for the 7800, good for you Al, I only became console orientated when the PC's were too expensive to keep up with the consoles, never owned other than a Coleco which was a gift, things like the 2600 and the other Atari consoles did nothing for me as Glenn the 5200 man was porting almost all the 5200 stuff to the Atari and the 7800 had a limited range (not saying there's nothing good on it, just that there's not a lot and I've not seen a 'killer app' on it.

But that's me, you have a ball with it al, wish I could be as enthused as you and Matt but there's so much going on around me that is ultra negitive, it's dulled the happy chappy in me a bit. Mind you, if the two lucky dips I won on Sat turn in to anything I'll prove that money can make you happy

Double steak and chips, now that sounds nice