SEgamer Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Went to Goodwill today and found an Atari 1040ST with a printer, floppy drive attachment, and this thing. Trying to figure out exactly what it is. So far I found that it has to do with recording/audio. Front Back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) is a sync tone used in synchronizing a computer running music software or a midi sequencer or drum machine with an analogue tape deck. I'm unsure what this device is referring to when "translating to digital" but I assume it made it possible to use the FSK tone to sync with a device that needed the conversion to synchronize correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Interesting. It's got an Atari 8 bit SIO connector and CLOAD/CSAVE are Atari basic commands for loading/storing data on a tape device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 (edited) Interesting. It's got an Atari 8 bit SIO connector and CLOAD/CSAVE are Atari basic commands for loading/storing data on a tape device. Possibly for saving tempo or song information? FSK had to be set for the correct tempo of the song afaik. I'm assuming it allowed an ST running midi software to add another device, hence the "translation" but this is just a guess on my part. Of course I could be way off base. reading an Atari ST FAQ I saw that the modem apparently used FSK tone so maybe this allowed programs sent over modem to be stored as the raw digital info on tape or vice versa? I dunno... grasping at straws at this point Edited June 11, 2008 by Mark_Wolfe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I dunno... grasping at straws at this point Well since thats an 8bit SIO connector and doesn't have any use on the ST, I highly doubt this would be an ST device. Maybe it is a device for using a 'standard' tape recorder with the Atari 8bit series, as IIRC the Atari cassette units used FSK for data encoding and the conversion was handled inside the tape drive with POKEY performing the A-D and D-A conversion. Or I could be talking out my ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puppetmark Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Maybe it is a device for using a 'standard' tape recorder with the Atari 8bit series, as IIRC the Atari cassette units used FSK for data encoding and the conversion was handled inside the tape drive with POKEY performing the A-D and D-A conversion. That's what it is. Notice the CLOAD and CSAVE on the switch. It's a very rare piece of hardware. It allowed Atari 8-bit computers to use a standard stereo tape deck as a data rcorder instead of a 410, 1010..ect. Great find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEgamer Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 That's what it is. Notice the CLOAD and CSAVE on the switch. It's a very rare piece of hardware. It allowed Atari 8-bit computers to use a standard stereo tape deck as a data rcorder instead of a 410, 1010..ect. Great find! Hmm... I guess that might have been the best $20 I've ever spent. Thanks for the responses. Now I regret selling my 800XL. DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 wow, very cool. I always assume when I see the ST being discussed in the same breath as FSK that it was for music production... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 That's what it is. Cool, I've never actually even heard of this type of device for the A8 (let alone seen one) but after a few minutes thinking it over I guessed correctly. Guess the 'ole memory is still good, yay for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Moss Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Maybe it is a device for using a 'standard' tape recorder with the Atari 8bit series, as IIRC the Atari cassette units used FSK for data encoding and the conversion was handled inside the tape drive with POKEY performing the A-D and D-A conversion. Or I could be talking out my ass. That would be my guess as well, FSK is used for tape storage on older systems the used tape drives instead of floppies such as the C64 and Spectrum as well as being used by modems hence the horrible noise they make if you have ever listed to them. You can look it up for clarification but from my dim and distant memory of nearly two decades ago a 1KHz tone is used for a logic 1 and I think 3KHz is used for a logic 0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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