RWAP

Thanks for the feedback - always good to know that my customers are happy

Yes a keyboard should suffice.

The problem is that without a machine, the factory can only guess the possible problem..... It could be the thickness of the mylar, the amount of ink used, the aging capacitors and resistors, the way the membrane contacts are done - who knows...

Thanks for the reminder. Do you want to try the spacers? From memory, the factory wanted to try another 800 and see what the issue was with the replacement mylar as I don't think the spacer fixed it. We need someone to agree to send their 800 to the factory (in Ayrshire)

It is £12 including UK VAT for a single controller set - so £10 if you are not in the UK.

I now have some of the spacers - who wants to try one? PM me your name & address

The Retro-Printer module is proving quite popular to offer an option to either print to PDF or print to a modern USB / Network printer - www.retroprinter.com

Following the various feedback, which has been helpful - the factory is going to produce a clear plastic overlay to go at the back of the membrane (a spacer) and an extra small piece of sticky backed plastic to go on the back of the contacts. This appears to be the ideal solution and is very similar to the Commodore SX-64 membrane issues which the spacer resolved.

No idea at the moment - it will probably be April - the factory is actually operating but just 1 person on the shop floor, worknig 3 days a week because of space. They normally have 3 people working 5 days a week!

Yes I would advise waiting. We have had this before where the factory try the membranes on a test machine without any issues, but once they reach the hands of the actual users, it is a different story. Once the factory is operating normally, I will get a plsastic spacer made and something to put extra pressure on the back of the fingers to ensure better contact and send these out. Rich

Great - thanks for the experimentation - do we have any ideas as to how thick the little bit of foam needs to be on the back of the fingers?

Happy for you to try different approaches - one thing which people successfully trialled on the Commodore SX-64 was to use a piece of insulating tape between each of the key pads. If that is required, then the factory will produce a thin plastic spacer sheet which has holes for each of the key pads and sits between the keyboard and the membrane.... At the moment, the factory are not working because of Covid restrictions.

Hmm - it could well be that - does anyone know what the value of the pull up resistors are for the keyboard? I can then pose the question with the factory.

I don't have an Atari 800 so no photos. Speaking with Jerzy - it looks as though the issue is more to do with the fact that the keys are wearing (the BREAK key is least used and hence why that one works in two cases) - try a couple of sheets of paper behind the whole of the membrane rather than just where the contact traces sit on the fingers.

We are not quite certain what is causing this issue - we think it is down to the amount of pressure on the mylar as it basically just sits against those fingers. You are the second person to report that only the BREAK key is working whereas another person has about half the keys working without changing anything. What we think is required is a small piece of material (such as a thin piece of foam as used on the Commodore SX-64) or maybe even a piece of paper folded a couple of times, between the mylar and the small plastic bar which holds the mylar down. We have suggested this to the affected users, but not yet received any feedback as to whether this helps and if so how thick it needs to be. It might just be a matter of us provided an extra thin sheet of plastic to make the mylar that little bit thicker overall. It may be worth trying a couple of sheets of paper behind the whole of the mylar - Jerzy Dudek says some 800xl mylars have the same issue (where the keys are slightly worn). Unfortunately, the factory (based in Scotland) is struggling with lockdown and not operational at the moment, otherwise they could borrow Adam's Atari 800 again and try a range of materials to work out what is required.

It is easier to PM me with your name and address and I will send the alternative rubber pads. You just peel off the old ones slowly and then apply the new pads.

We only sell replacements for the Intellivision I - I don't believe these will fit. Maybe someone else knows where you can get them for the Intellivision II

I just took one here and could quite easily peel a corner back with my finger tip. If it doesn't want to peel because of the pressure which has been exerted on it by the controller plastic, or you damage the mylar, let me know and I can send this one with the test pad to try. PM me your details so I know which customer you are! By the way, another customer has messaged me on sellmyretro to say: It will be interesting to see if it is the rubber itself, or possibly a combination of that and the fingers no longer being in their original position and/or differences in plastic... Realistically, we need more feedback!

I have now had a response back from the factory: I guess it might just be a faulty embossed overlay, so I can send you a second one to replace it with if necessary. The rubber pad has caused a little confusion, as the only feedback we have received so far has been from a couple of users on here where it seems to be too thick and unforgiving and Adam, who has not had a problem. I guess it might well be that the various plastics used in the controllers may vary dependent on where they were made and how the plastic has aged. The existing pads can be peeled off carefully and the factory has sent me a sample of a neoprene rubber that is adhesive backed & overall is thinner, and gives more to pressure to try. If successful, then I can include this as an alternative to the existing rubber dependent on your controller. Do you want to try this other rubber?

I am sorry to hear that there are apparent issues and I shall investigate with the factory... I worked with Adam1977 to create these replacement parts and between the options available for the rubber pad, the one chosen gave the best pressure on the fingers. Adam didn't report any bulge in the controller (and to be honest, other than his feedback, Crossbow, you are the first person to provide any comment. I wonder if there are variations between the controllers and plastics used? As for the extra blank piece of plastic which goes between the layers - just check that you didn't get an extra one by mistake - they do have a tendancy to stick together and so I might have inadvertantly sent two stuck together!

It would be - but I have to justify getting 250 made and covering the cost!

I don't think it would be worth ordering less than 100 - prices would then be: 100 membranes - £22 each + p&p 250 membranes - £15 each + p&p 500 membranes - £12 each + p&p If I order 50 you would be looking at around £40 each !

I have decided to run a pre-order for these membranes to see if there is enough interest - https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/replacement-atari-800-keyboard-membrane-(mitsumi-56-_7324a)-pre-_order-38662

I have decided to run a pre-order for the Atari 800 membranes to see if there is enough interest - https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/replacement-atari-800-keyboard-membrane-(mitsumi-56-_7324a)-pre-_order-38662 Atari 800

In the meantime, why not put some of these on sellmyretro