First ST find today.

[madhatter667]

Hey all,

This is my first post in the ST forum. Today I became the owner of an Atari 520ST. I found it on Craigslist for $30. The guy I bought it from said that everything worked, and the only iffy piece was the mouse. The unit has some discoloration/yellowing from over teh years... but the guy WAS the original owner, going off of the warranty info that was filled out in 1986. I haven't tested any of it yet, as I just got home. I'll take some time to clean it up a bit in the next couple days.

So, the whole haul was:

 

520ST computer

Dust cover for the computer

4 joysticks

Computer owner's manual

ST BASIC Soucebook and Tutorial

Atari LOGO Sourcebook

SF314 Dual Density Disk Drive

SF314 manual

SC1224 Monitor

Monitor Owner's manual

Warranty card/info

ST Mouse (could be fixed maybe, if not...replaced)

All the PSUs and cables.

78 Disks for the computer, about half of which appear to be games. These are almost all copied disks, but I am really not caring too much... as long as nothing is defective I have an instant play library.

 

One noob question (for staters...I am sure I will have more)...do you guys just plug the power supply cables into the wall with these old computers given that they are similar to AC adapters used on game systems? Or is it still best to plug them into a surge protector first?

[ppera]

Yeah, just connect to wall. But if you have protector, it will not harm.

[madhatter667]

Ok! So, I cleaned things up a bit... and it doesn't look too bad. The monitor cleaned up really nicely. The computer itself is more dirty than yellowed, though there is some yellowing, it doesn't bother me that much. The most yellowing is on the disk drive. The mouse body looks fine, but the wires at the "D" connector might not be so hot... the sheath around them has been opened up... I haven't tested the mouse... I figure replacement, or find someone who knows how to fix them. Are the 9 pin D connections all the same? Would it be possible to Gut a controller and solder its cable onto the board inside the mouse?

Other than the mouse issue, everything apparently works fine! I still need to do a little case cleaning...I'm thinking of taking the upper case and tossing it in the dishwasher.

 

So far so good... overall, I'm pretty happy with the acquisition.

[tjlazer]

Congrats, if you want to get system disks check out my site.

 

You should check out this forum thread on how to properly clean a ST!!

 

http://atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13971

[madhatter667]

Hey TJ... I sent a PM to you a while ago about some XE carts as well...

Dunno if you cheked your AA inbox... but you did have some that I was interested it.

Thanks for the links...browsing them right now.

 

Dude, you are waaaaaaay local compared to many of the other guys who I have bought games from. I live about 30 minutes from Tacoma.

[nathanallan]

That was a HELL of a score for $30! Even if half of it didn't work, I would still count it as a good haul.

 

About the mouse, I would experiment with it. If it doesn't work, you have nothing to lose, plus you can help us other ST owners with mice with your findings.

 

Nathan

[madhatter667]

I've seen some of the color monitors go for WELL over the price I paid for the whole lot... I think I could recoup my expenditure if I wanted to sell the monitor off, since the computer can output to the TV. But WHY would I want to do that??!!! Break up the system? No way! It all looks so nice run through the monitor!

 

I am insanely happy with the acquisition. Working at learning how to write floppy images for the thing. I have a bunch of game ROM/images... so... yeah... trying to increase the library.