Jacob Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 Hey guys, I have never heard of this contraption before but came accross one the other day (in the box with phaser patrol along with a boxed copy of dragonstomper) I fooled around with it when I got it home & loved it. I also have recently aquired some other arcadia tape games with another supercharger unit (Not boxed but with Instructions) I was just wondering how hard these items are to come by (atari finds had been pretty dry up until this great find, BTW I paid about $15 for the boxed phaser patrol with supercharger & boxed dragonstomper) The other unboxed games & supercharger were $40 (1 supercharger + 10 games) PS - yes this does mean I have an extra supercharger & some duplicate games anyone?..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 8, 2003 Share Posted August 8, 2003 Superchargers are getting harder and harder to locate. Most of the games range from rare to impossible to find (Survival Island). In any event count yourself lucky that you found one (its no Quadrun, but its a good thing to find!) Nice grab on the boxed Dragonstomper! What other games did you find? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 I just started collecting and told my brother & sister about it. They're really interested in it so I'm picking them up stuff for Xmas. I recently picked up 3 superchargers via ebay. First one for $44 w/3 games, second for $42 w/no games, and the third for $68(it came w/a 2600 and 25 games). You might find this and this useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 I have one and most of the games for it. I rarely play the games because it's too much trouble. I wanted one for so long, and then when I got it in the 1990s, I didn't care that much anymore, but I would have crapped my pants if I got one back in the early 1980s. Timing is everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Sims Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 I picked my Supercharger up on eBay with Dragonstomper for $35. As soon as I got it, I performed Bob Colbert's modification to it to allow it to load all 2K and 4K games, as well as the 6K Supercharger games. I also used Bob's MAKEWAV program to convert 300+ games over to WAV files which I then burned to Audio CD format. I also made one CD with all of the existing Supercharger games on it. I could have just ordered the "Stella Gets a New Brain" and "Worship the Woodgrain" CD's, but I did not want to wait that long, when I could do it myself and start playing with the Supercharger right away. I am following Andrew Davie's Atari 2600 Programming for Newbies tutorial, and the Supercharger allows me to try the programs out on a real Atari with minimal effort. It really is a great development tool. I also have a Willem EPROM burner ready for the day that I actually do write my first decent program. For now I burned the Color Test program onto a cartridge for use in fine tuning my Atari 2600's. Keep your Superchargers. You may have a need for them one day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Mitchell Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 Keep one Supercharger as original and modify the other! The Supercharger really opens up the Atari ROM library to some great gameplay. But the Cuttle Cart does more! Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.FoodMonster Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 in responce to 'sims' post: lemme see if i get this straight. i know that the supercharger uses auido cassets, but this mod does somthing, and then the program converts all the games into the same format as normal supercharger games. then with that you burn a cd, and use one of the portable cd players that change into tapes for older cars and you can play the games? if so, then i DEFINITLY want one of the superchargers =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Sims Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 The Supercharger was meant to run 6K games, but can run 2K and 4K games with the modification. The mod just requires a 20 cent chip (a quad 2-input OR gate), some wire, and a small toggle switch. The chip is hard to find locally. I ordered one online. The MAKEWAV program converts the .bin (ROM) files into WAV files, which can then be burned to Audio CD format. You can plug the Supercharger into the headphone jack of your portable CD or DVD player, and load the games from your newly created Audio CD full of games in CD-Audio track format. For super-quick testing of .bin (ROM) files, I turn them into WAV's using MAKEWAV, play them back using Microsoft Windows Media Player into my microcassette recorder, and then plug my Supercharger into it. If your Supercharger is close to your PC, you can just plug it into your soundcard and play the WAV files directly from the PC into the Supercharger. My Atari is in my extra bedroom and my PC is in my master bedroom, so I don't have that luxury. Haha. You can learn more about the Supercharger mod here: http://members.cox.net/rcolbert/scmod.htm And learn more about the MAKEWAV program here: http://members.cox.net/rcolbert/makewav.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveW Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 I got a Supercharger in 1984 with a copy of Communist Mutants From Space (just okay, not great) and Escape From The Mind Master (The greatest 2600 game i've ever played). The Superchargers were $17.49, and the games were $3.49 each. I've always regretted that I didn't get Killer Sattelites at the same time (Great cover art!) or Dragonstomper (Also great cover art), but since I got my Stella Gets A New Brain CD, the Supercharger never stays far away from my 2600. Eventually i'd like to get another one to modify. But it's not a high priority for me right now. Does anyone know where I could download the old Arcadia/Starpath Supercharger TV commercials? Seeing those as a kid made my jaw drop, seeing what extra cool stuff the 2600 could do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Sims Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 But the Cuttle Cart does more! Wow. The Cuttle Cart allows games up to 64K in size. That rocks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 The chip is hard to find locally. I ordered one online.I picked it up at Fry's Electronics. I45 North @ West Rd. Another place would be EPO(electronic parts outlet) on Fondren near 59S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 But the Cuttle Cart does more!True, but those are even harder to come by than the Supercharger. For the past month I've always seen Superchargers available on ebay, but never a Cuttle Cart. The site says Chad only made 204 of them. For those who are interested, there's currently 3 Superchargers up for grabs on Ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 PS - yes this does mean I have an extra supercharger & some duplicate games anyone?..... Check your PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Sims Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 The chip is hard to find locally. I ordered one online.I picked it up at Fry's Electronics. I45 North @ West Rd. Another place would be EPO(electronic parts outlet) on Fondren near 59S. I called EPO, and they were out of them. I bought the wire and toggle switch for my mod at Fry's, after I had mail ordered the chip. I didn't think to check Fry's for it. I freaked out when I started looking around Fry's electronic components section. It was huge. I also bought a new soldering iron from Fry's to perform the mod with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted August 9, 2003 Share Posted August 9, 2003 I freaked out when I started looking around Fry's electronic components section. It was huge.That it is! It took me about 15 minutes to find the chip - and it was the last one they had. I grabbed the solid copper wire by mistake(instead of stranded). When I put everything back together, the wire wouldn't give enough and it popped off one of my solder joints for the switch. I work at RTRON in Stafford(in the IS dept) and grabbed a few scrap pieces of stranded wire the next day. I also made the mistake of running the excess wire for the switch over the "spiral" where the audio cable comes in. It was causing some interferrence during the loads and kept saying "rewind". I moved the slack wire and it cleared up the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Posted August 9, 2003 Author Share Posted August 9, 2003 Wow - didn't expect so much posts about the supercharger!! I picked up my games today (I had them on hold til I got the cash ready) so here's what I ended up with: 2 - supercharger units 2 - phaser patrols 2 - escape from the mindmasters 2 - dragonstompers 1 - fireball 1 - suicide mission 1 - killer satellites 1 - communist mutants from space all with instructions (BTW I also came accros 4 boxed lynx games & a 2600 "spacechase" A VERY good day indeed. PS I definately will get to those who have PMed me about my duplicates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 Very nice haul. You managed to land most of the more common Starpath games, and with instructions is a definite bonus. I think you'll find Starpath games are loads of fun. Particularly Dragonstomper, Escape from the Mindmaster, and Fireball. Very nice haul indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osbo Posted August 10, 2003 Share Posted August 10, 2003 agree with Stan, nice haul... I remember playing survival island, lots of fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad2600 Posted August 11, 2003 Share Posted August 11, 2003 The Supercharger is something that I'm contemplating picking up over time. I would probably start scouring EBay soon. I already have so much 2600 stuff, that it's putting the rest of my collection to shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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