Atari 410

[mathwontmissyou]

I have this tape drive but not the computer. I plugged it in and the rewind function kind of works. After rewinding a tape about 3/4 of the way, it stopped. It does nothing when the advance or play buttons are pushed down. Is this a lost cause or is it possible that any parts of it could be salvaged?

Edited November 26, 2007 by mathwontmissyou

[Rybags]

The Atari "program recorders" need computer control to enable Play.

 

Lost cause? Probably not. Likely you just have a broken belt drive.

[mathwontmissyou]

I, see.

 

I guess what I really want to know is if this is something that someone would find useful in any way. As neat as it would be to have an Atari 400, I doubt I'll ever get one.

[Rybags]

Just get an XL or XE from eBay. $20-$30 will get a basic setup.

 

Don't chuck the 410 away - there's still collector value in them. Plus, if it's cactus it can still serve as the basis for modding into something else such as a HDD enclosure.

 

If it is the belt, they can still be sourced, or there's always the old fallback of dental floss.

[atariksi]

I, see.

 

I guess what I really want to know is if this is something that someone would find useful in any way. As neat as it would be to have an Atari 400, I doubt I'll ever get one.

 

I remember converting my Atari 410 into a normal tape recorder, but the tape speed was a bit off-- probably because the tape recorder wasn't functioning probably. If you look at sio jack:

 

 

2 4 6 8 10 12

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

 

1 = Clock in

2 = Clock out

3 = Data in (blue wire)

4 = Ground (GND)

5 = Data out (red wire)

6 = Ground (GND)

7 = Command

8 = Motor Control

9 = Proceed

10 = +5V/Ready

11 = Audio in

12 = +12V DC

13 = Interrupt

 

You can turn on the tape recorder by applying +5V to Motor Control line (and pressing play) and hear the audio by using Audio in + GND. Haven't played around with it since a long time ago since I simulated the relevant functions of the device in the Peripheral Simulator.