What's new Pussycat too?

Hi Paul
I've created a Blog with a jump table for software and links to cables.
I'm still awaiting my Sophia2's last update on postal service 0:58 on the 7th when it left Poland so down to Royal mail to update.

As SCART is analogue be buying a DVI-I to VGA cable this needs to have the additional 4 pins round the blade so a 24 + 5 connector. at the DVI end, the Active type don't seem to have these.
I'll have to update the SCART details
When I last spoke to Jurek it didn't need any resistors to put the SCART equiped TV into the correct mode (needs 3.3V) and DVI usually 5V so changes to the wrong mode) However I now believe Jurek outputs 3.3V on the 5V line when switched to RGB & Syncs. I need to confirm

https://atari-owner.com/club/blogs/sophia2-pdf-configuration-program-links.18/

PM sent with file. need to re check with Jurek

 

Thanks for the link to the Sophia 2 tech docs @Graham .

I'm still waiting on the PM/email that the 800 version of Sopia 2 is ready to ship myself.
Is there a more complete user guide/tech reference manual available for the Sophia 2? Or is that something one gets a link to when they buy the board?

Anyway, I was looking at the tech docs you linked, and maybe you can verify something for me? Am I correct in believing that the RGB signals/lines off the Sophia 2 are standard ~15kHz and that only if bit 7 is set does Sophia 2 adjust for 31kHz VGA output? I'm planning on using the analog video outs. VGA to start, but once I get my CBM 1080S-P monitor working I'd like to use RGB on it. My current LCD monitors will only display DVI/HDMI in wide-screen 16:9 ratio stretching the Atari's image. But with VGA I can select a 4:3 screen ratio letter-boxed on my monitors.

I'm curious about the hardware side of the Sophia 2 though, and if Sophia 2 auto-detects what type of analog or digital output is being used or if jumpers are required, etc.

The Sophia 2 image in your blog is different, too, than the one Simius shows on AA:



The one in your blog:

 

Never mind on the question, I was reading the Sophia 2 thread further and see that the video out and resolution settings must be done via the software tool and I presume saves the settings to Sophia 2 firmware flash memory or whatever. At least until FJC completes the Incognito plug-in for it.

 

The one with 1 connector is what is shipped..

 

Yep I've put up an image from some while back, it is a Sophia2 as is marked as such however it's clearly not the final version, it appears that the programming jumper (the smaller ten pin one) has been substituted for a bare six pin header block.
Just checked update on my parcel and Royal Mail have at least processed it as of this morning, 8 days after leaving Poland
Matt you can use the software linked in the blog to alter the settings of Sophia2 and yes Bit Seven changes the Scan frequency when set to Horizontal rate of 31KHz and a verticle of either 50/60Hz when in this mode Bit 6 is ignored which would alter the RGB Sync's when used as RGB Analogue opposed to RGB VGA

 

Hi all,

received a stock 1050 drive I won on eBay, no motor spin.

Yes, no 12 volts, so went straight for C70, the 47uF 16 volt capacitor (short cct), changed for a 47uF 25volt capacitor and back in business. 7812 regulator also changed, just to be sure.

Cleaned the rails as they were filthy, a smear of PTFE grease and the drive is now nice and quiet.

Ran the CPS 1050 diagnostic disk and all is well with the world.

I will use this over the next few weeks just to make sure there are no further problems, and then it will probably be looking for a new home. I just need to put a new plug on the power supply 9V ac lead so everything is good to go.

Stay safe everyone.

Regards

Andy

 

Yay, a win for the good guys!

Well done Andy, nice result..

 

Brilliant, Andy. As per Paul, full credit for getting another Atari classic bit of hardware up and running again. Sounds like someone else might benefit from a working 1050 real soon if Andy chooses to sell.
As you know, mate, a little something was sent off in the post for you earlier.
Btw, has your Chrimbo card turned up yet?
The post, at the moment, is all over the place.
Some items come next day (Bev's Amazon Prime) whereas others take weeks to show up.

Btw, just a little heads up, we had a bit of a disaster here last weekend after Doris's infamous CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED speech on Saturday evening.
Still half asleep from exhaustion from her job and feeling crap after realising that was her folks trip off to come and see us Boxing Day, Bev fell downstairs and broke her leg...
Leg now in plaster, on crutches, fibia broken and awaiting a date this week for an operation and possible couple of days in hossie over Christmas...

GREAT!

What a crap year we've all had and ours ends.... pants, pants, pants.

 

Hi Andy, sorry to hear about Bev, lets hope everything goes well for her.

Yes, the Christmas card arrived. Really enjoyed it. Ann thought it different.

Definitely right about the post, some items arriving quickly, others as though they've gone via New Zealand. Bought a CD of eBay and sadly never turned up. The seller gave a refund, so after the New year will go hunting for it again.

Stay safe everyone.

 

Oh hell, so sorry to hear about Bev, that is just awful...What a fecking year.......

 

Oh bloody hell Andy! Sorry to hear about Bev. It’s been a year to forget - send our love to Bev mate.

 

Thank you very much, fellas.

Hossie should have been in touch today with Bev's operation date but as ever if it aint COVID you're on the back burner and she had to chase them and pull a few strings with folks she knows there who are in the know with the orthopaedic team.

Anyway, we go to the fracture clinic tomorrow for them to assess her x-rays and then they'll take bloods and maybe come up with a date sometime soon (preferably not Christmas Day).

We do appreciate your kind thoughts and sentiments as it's been a total write off this year for everyone so I'm sure feeling sorry for ourselves won't help - we'll just do what everyone else has done, roll our sleeves up and get on with the rest of what life's got to chuck at us - I mean anything's better than the thought of me cooking the sprouts... how hairy do you want em?!

 

Gawd Andy, I'm so sorry to hear about Bev please pass on Pam & I's best wishes to her for a speedy and safe recovery.

One of my friends lost his wife to Covid late last week, kind of hits it home. Mum had her first Vaccine Monday, but has sadly deteriorated in other ways over the last months.

I think with what’s been going on over the last year both Pam and I along of course with many others are feeling very stressed especially as neither of us are now happy with the children turning up as Corvid positive, from contact at school. Really don't know why they keep incubating the bloody virus in our school's

Anyway Rant over and sorry..

As you may have noticed not been online very much recently, but I'll get back when my head sorts it self out or the drugs kick in

I've a number of PCB designs I need to send off, along with other bits and bob's not even fitted PokeyMAX and now Sophia2 has turned up.

I've also been working on a USB keyboard interface, has to use a reasonable powerful processor to enumerate properly., and had some positives.. very much harder than PS/2 to work with but should allow wireless keyboards and maybe mice.
Had some issues with my XEGS build so I need to resolve that and move on.

 

Andy, sorry to hear about Bev, hope she is on the mend soon. Rotten thing to happen anytime, but especially so close to Christmas. Are you sure she didn't trip over an Oric or a breadbin though?

 

Sorry to hear your mum is doing so well and you aren’t so great Graham, and that your friend lost his wife to this dammed disease. I won’t be sorry to see the back of this year, hopefully next year will be better with the vaccine rolled out.
To cheer you up mate have a quick word with Andy later when he has some time spare. We have a surprise for you

 

Totally agree with Graham re this deliberate incubation in schools, when I say deliberate I don't mean it in a conspiracy way, I mean that they know the kids are rampant with it yet keep these schools open, that is deliberate by the fact they know its happening. Its nothing more than a sneeze or three to the kids but the teachers and other workers get to bring it home and to US and older it tends to be a killer and certainly a crippler. Although I have recovered and never felt ill I am now tired at the drop of a hat, I walk to the corner shop and come back and I'm like I've done a 5 mile walk, tired and slightly out of breath. Apart from that I'm fine but Cindy is really finding it hard, she's so tired easily..

No other symptoms, purely whacked out tired...Covid long??

Maybe I'm just getting older and more knackered...

My heart goes out to people who have lost folk to this disaster of a disease, one hopes that one day we can all look back at these times and say "what a year that was" while disease free and feeling fine in a prosperous nation. Sadly that seems a million miles away at the moment...

Perhaps we will also remember it as the year Boris topped himself along with a pile of his mates...So much wasted time and peoples money on stuff that never got used and sat in containers on an industrial estate never mind the mates bungs and the peerages for cash. Utter trash..

Roll on 2021, can't get worse....Can it??

 

Sorry about the rant above, not what here is about, just like many, totally down trodden with this year and this virus, but its been like it for almost every one, should not wallow in self pity and go about trying to help others..

So I hope for a happy new year for all of us (especially those with a broken leg at this time of year) and just lets see the year out with a smile and some joyous times..

 

All

I'd like to think we are all adult enough to realise a few written words are not a rant at each other, just a way of letting a lttle steam out, rather than the pressure relief valve failing ..

I wish every one all the best and like to think that 2021 will be better, I suspect that the worst is'nt over just yet but at least some light at the end of the tunnel.

I do however wonder how, 'WE' (UK) seem to have a variant of the virus that's so much more virulent

 

Fellas, all I can say in response is here, here, here and amen to prayers to deliver us from this crappy shitty situation we've all been dumped in and find ourselves incredulous due to way, way, way too late responses we've all seen to this pandemic. Border closures too slow, PPE gear issued too slow, Track and Trace apps... too crap, protecting the care homes....too slow and now leaving schools open far too long with folks testing postive...too ridiculous for words.
The whole world has gone to rat shit these past 12 months.
If we didn't let off a bit of steam and have a laugh on here I reckon there's every chance we'd be hurling Orics at folks down the street and foaming at our user ports etc.
As Paul said, so sorry for folks on here such as Graham who are seeing the suffering at close quarters (my mam and step dad are at each others' throats and she's threatening to leave him - it's all got too much for them) so we can totally appreciate the kind of family concerns going on around us and affecting our nearest and dearest. We've got to be there for them and we've got to pull together in the same direction, remember a bit of humour and patience and see it from the other point of view.
Graham, as Rich hinted, we have some news for you... we have (thanks to Richie) got you a now fully working....

SEE NEW THREAD!!

 

Well we know from American research that they do love testing stuff in remote area's of foreign countries as the normally nomadic people there can be watched and controlled to a degree, sort of sandbox research in a more real way. Now we have noticed that this new more taxing variant has been found in German, Holland and Italy. Now I could be very wrong but all of these locations are the pathways from various countries to here and if you look at the possibility of viral abuse elsewhere it could be the cause.

Again its pure speculation and it could be a genuine chimera mutation here but with COVID being so worldwide spread I just wonder how its was classed as a UK only thing yet we know its IS elsewhere. Have we deliberately infected ourselves?

Its possible, we know that we stealth sprayed a flu like virus on people on London Bridge during the 50's to see what the reaction was, yup released info showed this is true.

But I doubt a UK government would sidestep something as serious as this as ok, its just so dangerous to so many it would be hard to cover. So unless the whole upper tier of the UK government suddenly stop appearing in public I think its highly unlikely we did this to us.

I don't like conspiracies, well only to pick at them as they are so absurd in many cases, nano bots in vaccines, bitcoin numeration schemes built in to the nano bots etc etc..Puhlease...

Can people not understand the complexity of that, just from a computing standpoint it is absurd, we would have to basically shut down entire facilities from doing their normal job to try and over see this and the number of facilities needed let alone the man power is just impossible.

Sometimes we just get it wrong, we mess around with viruses, we even patent them but then like Fukushima, something goes horribly wrong that was not meant to happen. The damage to the Ocean that Fukushima has and still causes if just wrong but it was not deliberate, just a feck up. And the same happens with viruses, we mutate them and then some idiot fecks up it it goes in to the open and viruses love that because that is their thing, to flourish and mutate in a hospitable environment.

So, why has the UK been named as the producer of this variant, pass, I'm willing to bet its not from here but its a 50 50 bet...Being what it is it could be a UK mutation..I just don't think it is.

 

Be weary of the Covid vaccines guys, I've heard they are dangerous being rushed without proper testing, etc., watched a video with my brother yesterday with British, German and U.S. doctor's and scientists saying it's dangerous, unproven, using techniques never been done before, synthesized DNA type shit that we've no clue of side-effects on humans, animal testing skipped to hurry it along, etc. possibilities of virus mutations from it, or entirely new virus creation through it, etc. They've never even gotten a proper test for the virus out; it hails back to the video Paul posted last winter/spring about it. I'll get the link from my bro and post it here...

LINK: https://www.bitchute.com/video/H9GyqoPMvfRa/

This video was already banned from youtube and they are trying to get it removed here as well, so check it out ASAP.

 

The trouble with this video is just who is on there, most folk I checked on are also very political, mostly anti vaccine and anti lockdown , some with connections to far right parties.. In fact 5 out of the 6 people I checked all follow the same political stance.

I can't be bothered to check them all, my look at a few more but they all offer no proof of their claims, its a bit like the Architects for truth movement in the twin towers thing, lots of voices but very very little hard data and a lot with certain agenda's to push.

All I can say as a person who tested positive along with my wife is that I did get one effect from it and that was the loss of taste and smell, I've never had that in my life before and I'm one of those people who gets the flu and it stays with me for ages. Also this tiring in new and the effect on Cindy has been huge and the tiredness in her is nothing that I've ever seen from her in my life. She's not a tablet / meds lover and keeps herself healthy but this wiped her out.

From the sound of it, it did the same to Bev and as she is in the NHS and medical I bet its nothing like anything she has had or seen before.

Could it all be a huge plan to depopulate us, well yes but the plan would need to have been in place for years and a huge long term agreements with numerous governments, most of whom don't trust each other. The actual precision and detail and labour involved would make going to Mars and populating seem like a feature we can do now.

So as much as its possible to force a virus and vaccine on people for nefarious reasons the actual task is cripplingly hard to pull off and keep quiet. I just don't think there would be a total co-operation around the world, sure we can use the words "New World Order" and "Illuminati" but in actual practice its a club that many probably do want to be in but a controlled multi nation / person unit that hides in plain site is not as feasible as some would try and make you believe. Are there secret or not so not so secret societies that the rich and world leaders belong to, yes there are and I'm sure when they have their huge men only meets there's discussion about how they would like the world to be ran but doing it without the world knowing is a bit harder than that. It requires far too much non questioning agreement between far too many people and we know most of these people have no trust but in themselves.

Sorry, as they say on Dragons Den, I'm out...This isn't for me...Its fun for a discussion tho...

 

The vintage Hi-Tek brand AT keyboard finally arrived, stuck in USPS limbo, originally supposed to be delivered by the 11th of December. Anyway, though it does seem to be mechanically close to the 800's Hi-Tek keyboard, the white plungers are smaller and rectangular, not square, like the 800's. I also don't see any leaf-spring contacts inside the plunger, like the 800's Hi-Tek keyboard. I think it might have a membrane inside actually, it feels more like my 1200XL's Mitsumi keyboard. Which is also a good thing, in as much as I have a very nice new, vintage keyboard for my PC, but no serviceable parts for my 800 Hi-Tek. So it's time to take measurements of the 800 keyboard and compare to those given to me from the Oric Atmos's Hi-tek keyboard, of which the plungers and leaf spring contacts at least looks just like the 800's.

Anyway, to my surprise, what I thought was going to be a well-used keyboard in not-so-perfect shape looks like NOS and is in mint condition. It could have been refurbished or just very well cleaned, but they did it right, if so, it's totally clean in-between and under the keys and everywhere.

 

Certainly looks in nice condition, and a shame the key switch post etc. won't help with your 800's keyboard repair
if you wanted to check the keyboards guts without opening it check this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_keyboard
There are links off to the Type F & type M keyboards.
h
I'd really like one of the original metal backed 84 key ones to match my IBM XT 5160 however they command ridiculous prices
I guess I'll have to put up with the clone keyboard it has, although I may weight it down with a load of blue tac inside.

 

It certainly feels a lot better than the PS/1 or any of my many USB keyboards, not that they are anything special to start. But it feels good enough that I'm going back to the wired keyboard and give my wireless USB to the Xbox 360. It's worth being wired up again as long as the cable reaches from where I want to keyboard to the PC underneath.