CHELCO 1983 600XL REV 3

[+mytek]

46 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

The label should have been black and went from edge to edge for most chelco hong kong units... there were variants though and this one isn't one of them.

So it looks to be a replaced label... the old glue is still there, if re labeled at the factory it wouldn't look like this either.

Yeah that's my feeling as well - it should have had a "Made in Hong Kong" black label.

 

But the case itself was definitely made by Chelco, and had to be made for this particular board since it has the smaller power switch opening. I compared it to the normal hole for a rocker switch, and there is no way that the rocker switch would have fit through that smaller opening.

 

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it looks like the 45th week of 1983 on the label that was used. That would put it towards the end of November 1983 which would seem late in the production for this early revision level board, but still interesting that the white label isn't really far off the mark. Of course I'm only guessing on the manufacture date stamped as part of the serial number.

 

Quite a mystery

 

[_The Doctor__]

No doubt it's a Chelco through and through... except for the label, so I wouldn't worry about decoding the label.

[+mytek]

2 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

No doubt it's a Chelco through and through... except for the label, so I wouldn't worry about decoding the label.

Agreed. So when I do my restoration I'm not going to worry about retaining that white label.

 

I would still like to know the history and the decisions that went into designing these Rev 3 boards, since they are so completely different than what came later.

 

[JGRAHAM2]

18 hours ago, mytek said:

This label really doesn't make sense to me.

 

 

Because according to this...

LINK

 

This Chelco unit should have been made in Hong Kong not Taiwan as the label says. I really wonder if someone slapped a different label on it, because the case was made for the slide power switch which matches the board.

 

It is possible the bottom case and label are not original. It is different than the one I have. Look at the hole position below the label.

Edited March 29, 2022 by JGRAHAM2

[+kheller2]

Let me add to the confusion.....

AT 85 is typically 1985 Atari Corp. (see the 7800 threads on serials)

It does look like there are four digits in the ink stamp 0345, but if we ignore the 0 over the 1 and focus on "345" that would be week 34 of 1985, which is August... which falls right into the "There were also some units assembled at ATMC in July 1985 (NTSC), apparently factory-refurbished from stock originally manufactured earlier."

 

Just looking at the sticker makes it look like a label was removed and another added.   Now I really doubt this was made in 1985 from leftover stock... the only units with this Rev3 board that I've seen are 1983 less than week 34.  Funny how there is a 34 in that inked number, however.