JonnyBritish Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Today i picked up a factory sealed Atari 1020 plotter for 25 dollars off Ebay. Question is after so long what are the chances of the pens actually working? Either way another cool piece of Atari technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Today i picked up a factory sealed Atari 1020 plotter for 25 dollars off Ebay. Question is after so long what are the chances of the pens actually working? Either way another cool piece of Atari technology. Chances of the pens working are about 0. I think replacements may be available. It would be cool to find a way to refill the markers. Congrats on the purchase - I never owned an Atari printer and still to this day don't have one. Stephen Anderson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) Very cool find! The 1020 is a cute little unit. It's probably not too useful as a printer these days, but I fire mine up every once in a while so I can show my niece and nephew the cool Spirograph-like designs that it can draw. Atari bundled a sample cassette with the unit that includes programs for creating several such designs, as well as a simple sketch utility (all written in BASIC). Fortunately, you can still get good 1020 pens. B&C ComputerVisions sells paper and new imported pens, as well as leftover pens from Atari. The Atari pens are very old and may not work for long, but they are much cheaper than the imported pens. I'd be more concerned about the drive gears inside the printer, which are a common point of failure. The 1020 is built around a very problematic Alps print assembly, which uses plastic drive gears on the stepping motors which move the paper roller and pen carriage. Those drive gears are very tiny, and after 25+ years, they are also very brittle and prone to cracking open. The only source I know of for replacement gears is The Electronic Goldmine, which sells replacement assemblies (missing a few parts) that can be used as gear donors. However, out of a box of ~24 assemblies that I once bought for that purpose (back when they were fifty cents each), I only found enough intact gears to repair two 1020 printers. Speaking of the 1020 sample programs, I copied them from cassette over to a floppy disk some years ago. I'll see if I can find and post an image of the disk I made; you might find it handy if you don't have a tape drive. EDIT: I've attached the disk image containing Atari's sample programs. They all require BASIC, so boot the disk with BASIC enabled/inserted. The file names correspond to the program names given in the manual: DOS SYS 037 DUP SYS 042 AUTORUN SYS 003 DRAW BAS 033 SHOW BAS 030 SAMPLE BAS 006 RANDOM BAS 010 TRIANGLEBAS 010 GRAPH BAS 009 COLOR BAS 004 TRIANG2 BAS 011 512 FREE SECTORS Atari1020MasterDisk.zip Edited December 2, 2009 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Sucks about all this old hardware dying, even when not being used. I'm glad the old A8s are holding up so well. Stephen Anderson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 Sucks about all this old hardware dying, even when not being used. I'm glad the old A8s are holding up so well. Stephen Anderson Well my Atari collection is growing Atari 130XE bought new in box Atari 800XL - not new but in nice condiion - main Atari machine Atari 1010 Program Recorder bought in new condition Atari 1050 - not new but in nice and working order Atari 1020 - hoping it works as I have kids and would love to see this plotter in action..wondering if bad gears could be replaced with metal Atari 850 SX212 Modem Question - thoughts on Atari 1025 printer? - any issues assuming its a new one? While the 1020 is factory sealed I will be opening up to test. No way this box is staying sealed :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) Question - thoughts on Atari 1025 printer? - any issues assuming its a new one? The 1025 is an outstanding printer. It's a little slow, and unidirectional (the print head only prints left to right), but it's as solid as a rock. If you get a new one now, it will probably outlive you. I believe you can still buy ribbons for it, too, although you might have to look them up under a different printer make/model. As for the 1020 drive gears: brass gears instead of plastic gears would have been so much better. I wonder if anyone knows what the specifications of the old gears are and where one might look for new gears. I'd love to get a handful of new ones for my 1020s, since they're bound to wear out sooner rather than later. EDIT: I just remembered, ribbons for the Okidata ML80 are compatible with the 1025. I think the 1025 is really an Okidata printer "under the hood," in fact. Edited December 2, 2009 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward1469 Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Question - thoughts on Atari 1025 printer? - any issues assuming its a new one? The 1025 is an outstanding printer. It's a little slow, and unidirectional (the print head only prints left to right), but it's as solid as a rock. If you get a new one now, it will probably outlive you. I believe you can still buy ribbons for it, too, although you might have to look them up under a different printer make/model. As for the 1020 drive gears: brass gears instead of plastic gears would have been so much better. I wonder if anyone knows what the specifications of the old gears are and where one might look for new gears. I'd love to get a handful of new ones for my 1020s, since they're bound to wear out sooner rather than later. EDIT: I just remembered, ribbons for the Okidata ML80 are compatible with the 1025. I think the 1025 is really an Okidata printer "under the hood," in fact. i bought one from B&C guaranteed but it had missing gears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) i bought one from B&C guaranteed but it had missing gears I think they told me when I bought mine from them (around 1998) that all of their stock of new 1020s were either bad already or about to go bad; that may be why they don't sell them any longer. Like some of us have said in the threads about the 1027 printer (another Atari peripheral that hasn't aged too well), nobody at Atari could have expected that this hardware would still be in use some thirty years later. That's especially true of "low-end" products like the 1027 and the 1020, which were made to fill a particular niche in the budget-priced computer market of the early 80s and probably weren't intended to last any more than three to five years. Edited December 2, 2009 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 Question - thoughts on Atari 1025 printer? - any issues assuming its a new one? The 1025 is an outstanding printer. It's a little slow, and unidirectional (the print head only prints left to right), but it's as solid as a rock. If you get a new one now, it will probably outlive you. I believe you can still buy ribbons for it, too, although you might have to look them up under a different printer make/model. As for the 1020 drive gears: brass gears instead of plastic gears would have been so much better. I wonder if anyone knows what the specifications of the old gears are and where one might look for new gears. I'd love to get a handful of new ones for my 1020s, since they're bound to wear out sooner rather than later. EDIT: I just remembered, ribbons for the Okidata ML80 are compatible with the 1025. I think the 1025 is really an Okidata printer "under the hood," in fact. B & C is charging 10 dollars for european pens..not too bad. I had the same though about the gears. Of course if you start adding metal then you may overload the mechanism if its designed to handle a certain amount of weight and is not over engineered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Today i picked up a factory sealed Atari 1020 plotter for 25 dollars off Ebay. Question is after so long what are the chances of the pens actually working? Either way another cool piece of Atari technology. Chances of the pens working are about 0. I think replacements may be available. It would be cool to find a way to refill the markers. Congrats on the purchase - I never owned an Atari printer and still to this day don't have one. Stephen Anderson I have a couple 1020's and a 1025 going spare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 I used to have all the Atari 8-bit printers except the thermal one (822?). I still have a 1020, 1025, and the XMM801. Haven't used them for years, though. My ace in the hole (I think) is the Okimate 10 color printer. Since it's thermal transfer, it should keep working longer than most...barring the plastic pieces falling apart. Ah, such a shame. So many nifty printer were produced for the low end market way back when. I miss the 1027 and the 820 40-column printer the most. So quirky and cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 I used to have all the Atari 8-bit printers except the thermal one (822?). I still have a 1020, 1025, and the XMM801. Haven't used them for years, though. My ace in the hole (I think) is the Okimate 10 color printer. Since it's thermal transfer, it should keep working longer than most...barring the plastic pieces falling apart. Ah, such a shame. So many nifty printer were produced for the low end market way back when. I miss the 1027 and the 820 40-column printer the most. So quirky and cool. The Okimate 10 was interesting because it had removable interface modules for connecting to different computers, a reminder of the days when different companies' computers were almost totally incompatible with each other. I've still got an Okimate 10 with a C64 module installed. I haven't tested it, but if anyone wants it to play with or for parts, it's yours for the cost of shipping. PM me if you're interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I just gave away two Oki 10s (they too had the C64 adaptor) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I have a color Oki 20, but it only has the Commodore 64 adapter. Not sure if I am willing to take the time to track down the Atari adapter, since I doubt many new wax ribbons are available for this brick. Stephen Anderson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Fortunately, I stocked up on the Oki 10 wax ribbons 'way back when they were cheap and easily available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorfdbg Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Hmm. The first printer I bought, and even back then for the Atari, was the then "brand new" NEC P6, together with a 850XL interface box to connect it. A bit overshooting for the 8-bit at that time for sure, but it was worth the investment. I used it later on the Amiga, and I still use it today for text printing. *That* beast was designed to last. The only repair I had to do two years ago was the fan of the power supply. No problems ever since. Two ink-printers, bought years later, already died. The NEC still prints as it did the first year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Never had one, but I always thought that it would be a good hack to replace the motors with fast slot-car motors, and replace the pens with laser-pointers. Would make a very cool Atari-controlled vector-based laser wall projector. Follow standard laser safety guidelines, if you decide to make one from a busted 1020. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 The Okimate 10 was interesting because it had removable interface modules for connecting to different computers, a reminder of the days when different companies' computers were almost totally incompatible with each other. I've still got an Okimate 10 with a C64 module installed. I haven't tested it, but if anyone wants it to play with or for parts, it's yours for the cost of shipping. PM me if you're interested. Hah.. reminds me of the Epson HomeWriter-10 that had different modules as well. The Atari module wasn't as fast or as nice as the IBM Centronics one (hooked up via an old ApeFace). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 (edited) Today i picked up a factory sealed Atari 1020 plotter for 25 dollars off Ebay. Question is after so long what are the chances of the pens actually working? Either way another cool piece of Atari technology. I bought my 1020 back in 85, still going strong, Great for Disk directorys, mini print ect... anyway I bought a big batch of commodore pens and found that using steam made them work again. I put the pens in a strainer and have a pan of water boiling takes about 2/3 mins and they work again. Edited December 4, 2009 by bandit 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 (edited) I bought my 1020 back in 85, still going strong, Great for Disk directorys, mini print ect... anyway I bought a big batch of commodore pens and found that using steam made them work again. Thanks for the tip! (That deserves a reputation point.) Edited December 4, 2009 by Ransom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Thanks for the tip! (That deserves a reputation point.) Indeed, thanks for that information! I saved a few dozen "dead" 1020 pens, and I'll have to give your idea a try. One handy use for the 1020 is, as you say, printing disk directories. The paper is the perfect width to fit between the flaps on the back of a 5.25-inch diskette sleeve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for the tip! (That deserves a reputation point.) Indeed, thanks for that information! I saved a few dozen "dead" 1020 pens, and I'll have to give your idea a try. One handy use for the 1020 is, as you say, printing disk directories. The paper is the perfect width to fit between the flaps on the back of a 5.25-inch diskette sleeve. So the 1020 turned up yesterday and as sold on ebay is still factory sealed. Should I keep it sealed for the future or crack it open and have fun as the gears melt and the pens dry up after being stored for nearly 30 years :-) Cannot wait..will open at the weekend and video if anyone is interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastRobPlus Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 So the 1020 turned up yesterday and as sold on ebay is still factory sealed. Should I keep it sealed for the future or crack it open and have fun as the gears melt and the pens dry up after being stored for nearly 30 years :-) I'm pretty sure it's the future already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UNIXcoffee928 Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I'm pretty sure it's the future already. I'd like to trade it in for the Jetsons, Blade Runner, & Metropolis... lol. The Future is not like it used to be... unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyBritish Posted December 16, 2009 Author Share Posted December 16, 2009 Today i picked up a factory sealed Atari 1020 plotter for 25 dollars off Ebay. Question is after so long what are the chances of the pens actually working? Either way another cool piece of Atari technology. Chances of the pens working are about 0. I think replacements may be available. It would be cool to find a way to refill the markers. Congrats on the purchase - I never owned an Atari printer and still to this day don't have one. Stephen Anderson I have a couple 1020's and a 1025 going spare Does the 1025 have two SIO's or is it the end of the chain how much for the 1025? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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