Atari Falcon questions

[thgill]

I am receiving a Falcon here soon and I have some questions. I briefly owned a falcon maybe 10 or 12 years ago, however I was new to it and didn't really get the Atari way of doing things. So I sold it shortly after. Since then I have gained quite a bit of ST experience, so I feel more comfortable with revisiting it.

 

On to my questions:

 

1. What's the best overall monitor solution for the Falcon? Do I really need both a VGA monitor for Falcon specific stuff and a separate ST monitor for ST low stuff?

 

2. Speaking of ST stuff, is there much Falcon patched ST games and demo's available for the Falcon?

 

3. Where can I buy a new or used replacement case and US or UK keyboard for the Falcon? The one I am receiving had its case painted as it was yellowed. I already checked Best and B&C's website and didn't see anything. I would rather keep the desktop case rather than a rack or tower conversion.

 

4. As a Falcon noob, anything else I should know/consider before making the plunge?

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

todd

[Tempest]

I have a PTC1426 monitor that can be used with the Falcon. I believe it does the high end Falcon modes (the VGA ones) but not the lower regular ST modes. It will do Monochrome (ST High) though. I think the only way you'll find a monitor that does both is if you get one of those mythical multi-sync monitors that are impossible to find.

 

http://www.atariage....ories-for-sale/

[ParanoidLittleMan]

1: VGA LED monitors are cheap now. You can afford separated one for Falcon, I guess (and use ST in mono mode on with proper cable).

 

2. A lot of, and adding new ones regulary: http://atari.8bitchip.info/fromhd.php

 

I can recommend to go on IDE-Compact Flash storage instead SCSI drive - faster, smaller, silenter, easy data transfer ...

[thgill]

Do the adapted ST games require an ST RGB monitor attached to the Falcon, or will a VGA monitor do? I am guessing I will still need an ST low capable monitor for those.

 

 

Damnit Atari, why didn't you design the VGA out on the Falcon to act as a scan doubler for ST stuff.

[jens]

Hi.

Welcome in the world of Falcon users.

 

But don't believe in rubbish!

 

There are two possible adapters for the Falcon that it might come with, VGA and ST.

 

With the Falcon VGA adapter you can use a VGA for all resolutions.

What you won't be able to do is watch demos which rely on RGB.

 

With the Falcon ST adapter you can use the typical range of ST monitors or a cable from ST to SCART.

On SCART the Falcon will be able to use reasonable resolutions, at least that's what I experienced on an old C= 1084 monitor in 2000 or so.

 

There is also this antenna/ composite/ tv /whatever plug which I never used.

 

 

Well, certainly you can look at some ST demos on the Falcon, but I think it's more interesting to watch Falcon demos!

Visit pouet.net to find the demos you like best!

 

If any other questions pop up, just ask. :-)

[Tillek]

I have the VGA adapter with my Falcon and I use a Dell LCD monitor with it... So far, it seems to show every video mode. I go in to the ST compatibility modes and it doesn't seem to have a problem. Works fine with programs like ANSIterm or just about anything else I've tried to do with it. I haven't really tried pushing it with any demos but so far it seems to work ok for me. I'll echo the CF card option. I paid for the HDDriver and formatted it so the first partition can be read by windows which makes it easy to pop it into my PC if I need to transfer files (or when I backed up my old SCSI drives).

[+wood_jl]

I've always wondered about this, myself, as I've never had a Falcon but keep an eye on them. So, to try to process what's been said so far:

 

(1) The Atari PTC1426 (Falcon monitor) will only display the Falcon modes, not the ST modes.

(2) Any "regular" VGA monitor will display both Falcon modes and ST modes

(3) Some demos which run in the ST mode resolutions will not work, without a real ST monitor and ST adapter

 

Would that be correct?

[jens]

Hi

(1) The Atari PTC1426 (Falcon monitor) will only display the Falcon modes, not the ST modes.

(2) Any "regular" VGA monitor will display both Falcon modes and ST modes

(3) Some demos which run in the ST mode resolutions will not work, without a real ST monitor and ST adapter

1. The PTC 1426 is a 640x480 VGA monitor per definition. It can switch to lower resolutions on TT and Falcon, but normally not to higher ones. It is possible to use it with TT overscan modes though (Overscan hardware required).

2. Yes. Falcon and TT do their internal flicker-fixing.

3. Some demos require an RGB monitor, so an SM1224 or similiar monitor will be fine. I believe you can also use the above mentioned C= 1084 for such stuff.

 

I'm using VGA, full stop. There are some demos I'd like to watch, but until now I was too lazy to hook the Falcon up to my SM1224 with another adapter which is lying around at someplace in my flat or cellar.

 

When you have a VGA for your Falcon, you might use an RGB monitor additionally, but you will not be obliged to have an extra SM124. An SM124 in my opinion would only make sense if you don't have a VGA monitor and want to use ST-high, e.g. for a nice Cubase picture or such. I remember using ST-high (and other higher Falcon modes) on that C= monitor, and it was flickering like hell. Can't recommend doing so. I got me a VGA as soon as possible.

Edited February 8, 2013 by jens

[ParanoidLittleMan]

Most of hard disk fixed games work on VGA and RGB too. In rare cases may be some errors, crashes - rather on VGA. There are rutines very timing dependant.

Considering ST demos: many will not work at all on Falcon, regardless from used monitor, because code is made strictly for ST, STE - using special hacks.

 

Furthermore, even with RGB, you need to set refresh rate to 50 or to 60Hz for some stuff to work properly.

[thgill]

Is there a way to force the Falcon to always boot into 50Hz? Any key apps that I should check out?

 

 

Looks like I should have the Falcon in a couple days.

 

Anyone have a nice condition, spare desktop case they want to sell?

[+DarkLord]

Is there a way to force the Falcon to always boot into 50Hz? Any key apps that I should check out?

 

 

Looks like I should have the Falcon in a couple days.

 

Anyone have a nice condition, spare desktop case they want to sell?

 

Hmm, why would you want it to always boot at 50? Just curious.

 

If I recall correctly, that NVRAM software that allows you to adjust so many

things on the Falcon will allow you to set that but I'm not dead certain. It's

been a long time since I used it.

 

Perhaps someone else can verify?

[thgill]

I was thinking most of the games and demos were PAL stuff.

[+DarkLord]

I was thinking most of the games and demos were PAL stuff.

 

Hmm, you know most of the Euro software that I've run has

usually done just fine on my ST's and Falcon, with little or

no intervention from me. (or perhaps in *spite* of me!)

 

Try your software first, see what results you get.

[thgill]

Hmmm...will do!

 

Even though the Falcon will arrive midweek, I won't have a chance to check it out till Sunday evening or monday morning.