What is this cartridge?

[+Larry]

I was browsing on eBay.uk and ran across this item.  What is its purpose/function?  There wasn't any real description that I could see.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165687058207?hash=item2693b7df1f:g:y1AAAOSwatxjKyRs&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsNUlD549Rnlm5WwF4f9mweE8Gkvyf2%2B8Bm7n5NmhQFS99sgw%2Bet1ipH%2BKhBjv3bskOM7plsj4LtetWENkhimCjrtBuZO39djB1BPebxMJ0RJSuPGVQ5rFRgIDZLkDglQaJm7EwD2YatrMkaZ7vYRJEVOggQXUOS%2BmRItL5Rm3S0YlHjhilXGGZTomzjJqcixipqt5Icgp%2FNEdk41TSGbzyBSlpP3nfTdkDpZhXqsQ0IZ|tkp%3ABk9SR66r2eq4YQ

[+x=usr(1536)]

14 minutes ago, Larry said:

I was browsing on eBay.uk and ran across this item.  What is its purpose/function?  There wasn't any real description that I could see.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165687058207?hash=item2693b7df1f:g:y1AAAOSwatxjKyRs&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsNUlD549Rnlm5WwF4f9mweE8Gkvyf2%2B8Bm7n5NmhQFS99sgw%2Bet1ipH%2BKhBjv3bskOM7plsj4LtetWENkhimCjrtBuZO39djB1BPebxMJ0RJSuPGVQ5rFRgIDZLkDglQaJm7EwD2YatrMkaZ7vYRJEVOggQXUOS%2BmRItL5Rm3S0YlHjhilXGGZTomzjJqcixipqt5Icgp%2FNEdk41TSGbzyBSlpP3nfTdkDpZhXqsQ0IZ|tkp%3ABk9SR66r2eq4YQ

Looks like a homemade clone of the Turbo Freezer cartridge.  The Turbo Freezer was designed to dump software out to disk; IIRC, it was mainly used with cassette-based software, but I believe that it could also do disks and cartridges.  Basically, if it was in memory, it could snag it.

 

Haven't touched one of those in over 30 years, though, so someone who has been in close proximity to one more recently could probably fill in specifics better 

[Beeblebrox]

I found this which is auto translated :

 

http://www.atari.org.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5848

 

 

Welcome!

I reviewed what I got from my colleague MaW and it would be appropriate to summarize what I managed to run or dump. Let's skip the cassettes for now because I didn't have time to deal with them and let's go back to the carts. I received two cartridges, one without a sticker, which was slightly out of order, but after minor repairs I managed to run it, it turned out to be a Blizzard Turbo from Atares. Loaders and KOS are virtually identical in appearance to those available in Blizzard Cartridge 2.8 from KNS. At the moment, I do not know who copied from whom, but practically the Atares version differs only in subtitles and a slightly different title. The cart box did not have a sticker, the cart itself looks like this:

Top of the printed circuit board with elements:
http://seban.pigwa.net/atari/blizzard_atares/atares_blizzard_PCB_TOP.jpg

Bottom of the PCB:
http://seban.pigwa.net/atari/blizzard_atares/atares_blizzard_PCB_BOTTOM.jpg

Cart managed to repair, patch the paths on the connector and replace the electrolytic capacitor (I also added a diode in the reset circuit of the RS flip-flop). By the way, I will send a working cart to my friend MaW. The design of the board is funny because it looks as if it was drawn on an ATARI using some graphics program working in "Graphics 8" mode This is evidenced by the fonts and paths used only at an angle of 90 degrees I didn't even redraw the diagram because it is a typical 8K cartridge detachable by any reference to the $D500-$D5FF area. The scheme of such a cart developed by Zenon/Dial can be found in Serious

Cart after launch looks like this:

http://seban.pigwa.net/atari/blizzard_atares/atablz_scr.png

As I mentioned, it is not much different from what is presented by Cart Blizzard 2.8, which was mentioned in this thread. And in addition, it is practically the same thing that Zenon presented to us here . The cart from Zenon's article is 4KB and has no copy. In the card from Zenon we can see the inscription "KNS" again. I wonder if Atares "pirated" Cartridge from KNS by changing only the subtitles or did they do it under license? . It turned out that probably KNS and Atares are the same company, in some blizzard turbo cartridges there are inscriptions KNS "ATARES".

As always, you can download the contents of the EPROM from here . of course, the .rom file can be run as usual under the ATARI800 or ATARI800WIN emulator, selecting "Phoenix 8KB cartridge" as the cart type. For those who do not intend to build a cartridge, I have prepared the atares_blizzard.xex file. By loading this file from SIO2PC, SIO2SD or even a standard tape recorder, the content originally on the cartridge will be launched normally without the need to have it.

The second card sent by MaW was the scrap card. The PCB was no longer suitable for reanimation, but the content of the EPROM was clearly legible. There are no photos of the remains of the scrap metal to show. It is a typical 16KB cartridge that can be detached by any reference to the $D500-$D5FF area. The only thing worth attention is the sticker that was on the housing that MaW sent:

http://seban.pigwa.net/atari/blizzard_atares/atares_phoenix_CASE_TOP.jpg

I don't know who cut out the sticker, MaW would have to say here. But perhaps it was done by the gentlemen of Atares. Perhaps that's how they marked what type of system is on the cartridge Only the inscription "Phoenix" remained. As it turned out, the inscription suggested the real content of the cartridge... at first I didn't want to believe it... but still... on the cartridge there was a soft to Blizzard Turbo which was collected and distributed by Hurek. I have already mentioned Hurk's cartridge here . And again the question arises whether Atares "pirated" Hurk's cartridge? . These were probably too far-reaching conclusions... it would be more logical to assume that Hurek developed a card for "KNS Atares".

Cartridge Atares Phoenix which I bought from MaW looks like this after launching on the emulator:

http://seban.pigwa.net/atari/blizzard_atares/ataphn_scr.png

Download EPROM contents here . Of course, the .rom file can be run under the emulator by selecting the cartridge type: "Blizzard 16KB cartridge". I also attach the atares_phoenix.xex file , which allows you to run the software originally on the cartridge without having to own it. Here are some words of explanation. This cartridge, unlike the others, does not have the ability to choose after the start whether BASIC is to be turned on or not. The cartridge checks the status of the function keys at the time of its start, after loading the .xex file, the following screen will appear:

http://seban.pigwa.net/atari/blizzard_atares/phldr_scr.png

According to the description on the screen, we can choose whether the cartridge should start with BASIC enabled or not. The SELECT key allows you to perform a restart (ColdStart). If you had the original cartridge, when you turned on the computer with the SELECT key pressed, it allowed you to disconnect the cartridge without having to remove it.

I will transfer the cassettes I received from MaW to some lossless audio format such as FLAC or APE when I have some free time.

[Mathy]

Hello guys

 

My guess would be that it's a cartridge for use with a modified Atari tape recorder.  In Eastern Europe, tape recorders were often modified to increase the speed from 600 baud to 6000 baud.

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

[+CharlieChaplin]

It is a cartridge for turbo tape recorders from eastern europe.

 

 

[Nezgar]

Reproduction of the Turbo Freezer demonstrated in action: 

 

[+MrFish]

Atari Area: Blizzard Turbo

 

Note: You need to be logged in to download the ROM and XEX.

 

Looks like the 16K Phoenix ROM type isn't supported in Altirra? I tried "show all cartridge types even if they may not work"; and it only shows "Phoenix 8 KB". Possibly can be added by @phaeron

 

The XEX software version of it works, of course...

 

[+MrFish]

Also, more information here -- including ROM, XEX, etc.

 

Atariki: Blizzard Turbo

 

[phaeron]

2 hours ago, MrFish said:

Looks like the 16K Phoenix ROM type isn't supported in Altirra? I tried "show all cartridge types even if they may not work"; and it only shows "Phoenix 8 KB". Possibly can be added by @phaeron

It's called Blizzard 16K.

 

[+Larry]

So, another turbo tape thingy.  Thanks to everyone for their replies.

[+MrFish]

2 hours ago, phaeron said:

It's called Blizzard 16K.

Yeah, I assumed it was that one too, from the start; but it doesn't run with that banking. There is an 8K Blizzard Turbo cart (too), and it runs using Phoenix 8 KB banking; that's why I'm assuming this cart also uses Phoenix banking.