Calling All 400s!

[bfollowell]

51 minutes ago, SS said:

I don't think that I have put up a picture of this 400 yet.  As you can see, it is a completely stock machine at the moment and in fantastic condition.  However, I bought it this past spring right after the 400 Incognito was announced and I will be upgrading it with one of them just as soon as it is available. 

 

 

 

Beautiful machine. I hope to get mine cleaned up and looking this good, other than the hacked up hole in the back of the case, of course. I thought I'd heard rumors of a 400 Incognito under development, and I've been Googling for info, but haven't had a lot of luck. I checked Lotharek's site too, thinking that would be the logical place to find info but, unless I missed it, there isn't anything there either. I did see a page for Incognito 2 under development, but there was no info at all, so I'm not sure if that's it or not. Do you have any links for info on the 400 Incognito, or is there just no info out there yet, other than the fact that it's development was announced?

 

Thanks.

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by bfollowell

[+x=usr(1536)]

3 hours ago, bfollowell said:

Beautiful machine. I hope to get mine cleaned up and looking this good, other than the hacked up hole in the back of the case, of course. I thought I'd heard rumors of a 400 Incognito under development, and I've been Googling for info, but haven't had a lot of luck. I checked Lotharek's site too, thinking that would be the logical place to find info but, unless I missed it, there isn't anything there either. I did see a page for Incognito 2 under development, but there was no info at all, so I'm not sure if that's it or not. Do you have any links for info on the 400 Incognito, or is there just no info out there yet, other than the fact that it's development was announced?

It looks like all that was announced was that it would be coming soon.  Check this thread for details if you haven't already seen it.

 

Lotharek's main Facebook page may also have more recent news, but I haven't trawled through it to check.

[bfollowell]

1 hour ago, x=usr(1536) said:

It looks like all that was announced was that it would be coming soon.  Check this thread for details if you haven't already seen it.

 

Lotharek's main Facebook page may also have more recent news, but I haven't trawled through it to check.

 

Thanks for the links!

 

[SS]

14 hours ago, bfollowell said:

Do you have any links for info on the 400 Incognito, or is there just no info out there yet, other than the fact that it's development was announced?

I am not aware of much information being released about the 400 Incognito other than the initial announcement.  I *think* that I first saw it on Lotharek's Facebook page but it may have been elsewhere as well.  

[ClausB]

Please take the Incognito discussion elsewhere. This is not the thread for it.

[_The Doctor__]

On 10/15/2021 at 5:33 PM, DavidMil said:

Looking at it under a magnifier the first 6 may be a 5 as in: 451623. I've attached a picture.

 

David

that's squared off like nine or a zero sixes are more rounded than that...

[bfollowell]

Well, mine wound up being a different 400, so the person that gifted me mine must have another one from the one he posted here earlier.

 

It's pretty dirty and has a fairly small hole, possibly drilled, but I think it's chipped, at the very edge of the top case and the keyboard, under the spacebar about at the lower left corner of the M key. Oh, and the hatchet job for a composite video/audio mod in the back of the case. I have an authentic power supply coming Monday and then she just needs a good, deep cleaning.

 

My new 400's serial number is hand-written, 9496845 and I guess the WW012/018 is what you guys are calling the date code. Is there anyone here that can help me interpret it?

 

Thanks guys!

 

 

[ClausB]

5 hours ago, bfollowell said:

My new 400's serial number is hand-written, 9496845

Oh wow, you got a 1979 machine there! Only 3 others on our list. The datecodes for those are different. 949 means 49th week of 1979. Congrats!

 

What else can you share about it? Does it have a CTIA?

[BillC]

1 hour ago, ClausB said:

Oh wow, you got a 1979 machine there! Only 3 others on our list. The datecodes for those are different. 949 means 49th week of 1979. Congrats!

 

What else can you share about it? Does it have a CTIA?

So would the second label indicate December 18, 1979, which I believe is in week 50?

[bfollowell]

1 hour ago, ClausB said:

Oh wow, you got a 1979 machine there! Only 3 others on our list. The datecodes for those are different. 949 means 49th week of 1979. Congrats!

 

What else can you share about it? Does it have a CTIA?

Thanks for the info! That’s cool to have such an early machine!

 

I really can’t tell you much about it yet. I plan to clean and restore it as much as I can over the winter, but won’t have a chance to do much with it for at least a couple of weeks. It didn’t come with a power supply. I know I could use one from my 1050, but it’s packed away at the moment and I don’t feel like digging for it just now. I ordered an original 400/800 PSU that should be here Monday. I’ll test out the basics after that arrives. I’ll let you guys know what I find out.

 

[oracle_jedi]

I bought a second 400, and installed the 48/52K RAM card and the Super Color Card. - SN 210043

 

 

 

 

I also installed a 5-pin monitor jack to replace the 2/3 switch.  I had to cut the opening a little larger, but I think the end result is pretty good.

 

[ClausB]

10 hours ago, BillC said:

So would the second label indicate December 18, 1979, which I believe is in week 50?

The other WW numbers in our list don't fit that pattern.

[ClausB]

13 hours ago, bfollowell said:

I’ll let you guys know what I find out.

Please post a photo of the imprint on the case rear underside.

[bfollowell]

Here's some more pictures of my 400, including the imprint. It looks like it says 9 49 6845. Depending on how the composite mod looks, I may remove that and put in a Super Color CPU Card. That is a pretty non-invasive, easy to remove upgrade. The same goes for  TF_HH's 48/52K RAM Card if it still only has 16k. Both of those are easy ways to upgrade it, but still leaving it easy to get back to stock if I wish.

 

She definitely needs a good and thorough cleaning and I may try to find something to patch that whole in front of the spacebar, so that it's not quite so noticeable.

 

 

[ClausB]

This older 400 probably has tinned card edge connectors, not gold, which corrode quickly. So your upgrades should improve reliability.

[BillC]

2 hours ago, bfollowell said:

if it still only has 16k.

The early 400's only came with an 8K RAM card, I have a late 1980 400 that came with CTIA + only 8KB. I wish I had kept the CTIA chip when I also had it upgraded with a Mosaic 64K board in late 82/early 83.

[_The Doctor__]

Thought you could still buy CTIA chips from Best or B&C.. myatari

 

[bfollowell]

1 hour ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Thought you could still buy CTIA chips from Best or B&C.. myatari

 

I’m pretty sure they’ve both been out for a while now.

 

[bfollowell]

On 10/23/2021 at 6:51 PM, ClausB said:

Oh wow, you got a 1979 machine there! Only 3 others on our list. The datecodes for those are different. 949 means 49th week of 1979. Congrats!

 

What else can you share about it? Does it have a CTIA?

 

Well, I didn't have a whole lot of time to dig into my new 400, but enough to know it's going to need a little work. It wouldn't power on initially. It's missing the internal speaker and the lever for the interlock switch. I taped that down so I could check things out and it powered on and went to Memo Pad, so it does that much. Man! Has it ever been a long time since I've seen that screen live. I don't have any cartridges handy so, knowing I have all three revisions of Basic on my Ultimate Cart, I inserted that, thinking I'd try some Peeks & Pokes to see whether this is a CTIA machine and which version of OS it has. Unfortunately, those carts are a few directory levels deep and I needed to press the E key, which apparently doesn't work. Some keys do, a few don't. I'll have to investigate that a little further later. Even if I'd been able to load a Basic cart image, I still can't type Peek or Poke without an E, so that avenue is kind of dead to me for now. I thought about removing the shield, but there's a wire running up from the main board, through the interlock switch hole, and connecting to the power board, so I can't take the cover off without first removing that, and I really don't have the time to play with it today. Also, those audio/video connections soldered onto the back are pretty loose, so I'm certain I'm going to want to remove the original composite mod and turn to a Super Color CPU Card eventually.

 

Oh, and I almost forgot. It only has about 1/4 of the original screws and one of the standoffs/screw mounts inside the case is broken, so everything is really loose and floppy.

 

Anyway, 400 keyboards are bound to be getting more and more rare, so even if there's nothing major wrong with this one, I think I'm still going to go ahead and order a replacement. If nothing else, it'll be good to have a backup. I need to order a complete interlock switch assembly and an internal speaker as well, so it looks like I'll be calling Brad at Best Electronics soon. Anyway, after I get things going a little better, I'll post back with details.

Edited October 27, 2021 by bfollowell

[bfollowell]

I did a little more troubleshooting. I've posted more in a separate thread here.

 

Long story short, the keyboard works perfectly checking with a meter, but lines 1-7 on the ribbon cable are completely broken, or at least flaky, so I need to replace that. I have a NOS keyboard on the way from Best that should arrive Tuesday so I should be able check out the OS then. I'll replace the ribbon cable on the original keyboard later.

 

I did check out the CPU and memory cards. Pictures and details on the other thread. This 400 does have a CTIA card, and if I'm looking at the chips right, 16K of memory.

 

[ByteGeist]

Saved and fully functional with a CS400K and 48k Ram Mapsoft but different revision and wiring needed than the faulty 48k on here.

Inductor replaced Ram card and resistors 3 faulty ram Ic's. LS42 & 138 replaced. Swapped 7805 & 12 for dcdc converters.

 

Pal Atari 400.

Model : 400 U 16k

 

Atari / 431

050 005961

85-16 10/16 L40  P

 

[ClausB]

On 2/13/2011 at 9:35 AM, ClausB said:

Notice there are no NTSC datecodes attributed to 1980.

Well, in ten years of collecting numbers, we have seen no 1980 400s! Over in the 800 thread there are a few from that year, so there is little doubt about the datecodes' validity.

 

That begs the question: did Atari suspend production of 400s that year? Had they built too many in 1979 which did not sell?

[desiv]

Well, surprised myself, and now have a 400 on the way.

Wasn't ready to spend the money on a known working unit, so didn't expect to get an Atari computer.

But I saw a pretty nice looking 400 on e-bay for not too much.  Sold as "for parts or not working" but even then, with the nice looking case/keyboard, I figured someone else would snag it...

But I just won that auction, so it is on the way.  I figure at least, it's a great looking machine, so will look nice on the shelf.

I will check it out when it shows up, but it wouldn't surprise me if it is missing cards/chips.

I do have a CRT TV (currently has an Aquarius hooked up to it's RF) and I think I have a 9VAC power supply to test it around somewhere.

 

Anyway, to be on topic, apparently the serial number is 205475 from the pics.  (NTSC)

 

Now I have to see what I can find out about this machine. (I am aware of the 400/800.  Wanted one back in the day, but couldn't afford them.)

 

[joeventura]

AV 232 880

[andymanone]

Also here unfortunately strongly delayed, but here already once the first four from my 400'er collection.
I also have about 7 more pieces in stock, I'll add them soon?.

 

ATARI 400 - 015603 stamp 082 (4 Pics)
ATARI 400 - 113612 stamp 152 (2 Pics)
ATARI 400 - 307039 stamp 372 (2 Pics)
ATARI 400 - 371967 no stamp   (Last Pic)

 

 

Cheers,
andY