Serpentor Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 18 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said: AFAIK owing to the global chip shortage you won't likely see any Pokeymax units for sale for a long time. We had to wait several years for Sophia 2 units owing to the global chip shortage. They have only just been made available, and I think (correct me if I am wrong), that's because the creator managed to secure a stash of chips. TK-ii is cheap, and if you can source a Pokey chip, it's much cheaper all round and easy to install. True, the chip shortage has delayed some projects by years. It's an unfortunate thing for those trying to breathe new life into older electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 9 minutes ago, Serpentor said: True, the chip shortage has delayed some projects by years. It's an unfortunate thing for those trying to breathe new life into older electronics. Indeed. Good thing there are alternatives. Check out https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/tk-ii-stereo-keyboard-replacement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 13 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said: Indeed. Good thing there are alternatives. Check out https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/tk-ii-stereo-keyboard-replacement “Requires additional POKEY chip” - so we’re still salvaging one from another system or dealing with a sole-source supplier of NOS chips (at increasing prices) and all the whims that come with dealing with that sole source. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CharlieChaplin Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 Well, instead of SIDE 3 + U1MB + some Pokey enhancement (Pokey-Max or additional Pokey chip) you could also buy SUB (AVG) cart. - comes with 1MB XRAM (and 4MB Axlon RAM) onboard * - has up to 8 (?) different OS - emulates second Pokey (stereo) ** - emulates Covox ** - boots and runs almost everything, like ATR ***, ATX, AVF, CAR, CAS, PDM/PDS, COV/COS, XEX; - comes with RTC - etc. * requires AVG PBI or ECI cable ** requires SUB AVG DAC audio cable *** requires AVG SIO cable https://miscretro.com/ https://miscretro.com/product/subcart/ (end of advertisement.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 15 hours ago, DrVenkman said: “Requires additional POKEY chip” - so we’re still salvaging one from another system or dealing with a sole-source supplier of NOS chips (at increasing prices) and all the whims that come with dealing with that sole source. Absolutely, but in the absence of pokeymax chips it's a viable alternative. I find it best just to buy a whole A8, say an 800XL, for a relatively cheap price, (sourcing NOS or a single chip isn't economical). Then salvage the pokey and either keep the rest for spares or sell it on as such. Get a Hong Kong made 800XL and all the chips are socketed, so removal is easy. Risk factors : -You damage the Pokey desoldering it if it isn't socketed -You are unlikely and the donor machine has a bad Pokey. However, as I have found, sometimes even with a pokey failing, it can still function as a second Pokey for sound, even if it's other functions don't work. ') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 17 hours ago, DrVenkman said: “Requires additional POKEY chip” - so we’re still salvaging one from another system or dealing with a sole-source supplier of NOS chips (at increasing prices) and all the whims that come with dealing with that sole source. I believe that the HOKEY chip by Batari will work as the second POKEY as it will do sound only 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 2 minutes ago, mimo said: I believe that the HOKEY chip by Batari will work as the second POKEY as it will do sound only Good to know. Incidentally I think my 7800's concerto cart has a Hokey installed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 Hokey and PokeyMax et al is the greatest choice, killing other Atari Machines for Pokeys is already a thing by game cabinet people. We don't need to be doing that to ourselves as well. Pokey Chips from game cart is fine, I wish that would just be changed to a pass through cart so only on pokey need be used for all of the 7800 games use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 (edited) Flip side of course is if said donor A8 has other broken parts so already none functioning but can be used to save other machines then great. Edited June 3, 2023 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevymad Posted June 3, 2023 Share Posted June 3, 2023 PokeyOne works as a second pokey. Height is a problem in a tkII/800xl combo though. I tried this and since the pokeyone has exposed components on top it shorted against the keyboard. My solution was to swap 2nd pokeys with my xld, but perhaps just some insulation of some sort would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 13 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said: killing other Atari Machines for Pokeys is already a thing by game cabinet people. Not just the game cabinet people, I noticed that Bruce/myatari is selling a 400 and an 800 main board lacking POKEY chips on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 I managed to scoop up a PAL 600XL this morning and will be using the bottom half of the case rather than drilling a hole in an NTSC unit. I'm kind of OCD about holes perfectly aligning and know I would never be able to match the fitment of an original case. If anyone needs a PAL 600XL board, parallel port cover, or top half with keyboard, those will be available. Now to find some use for the empty hole where the RF modulator was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) I installed the UAV this afternoon exactly as explained in the manual and have a black screen. I did the DIN install as instructed, ran wires where it said to do so, and have nothing. Any ideas what I'm missing? The TV goes from waiting for input to receiving something, but the screen is black. I built the cable myself. The cable has the white and red audio lines tied together on the correct pin, ground on the correct pin, and composite on the correct pin. The instructions mention "some cables on ebay route ground to one of the cables." Is that my problem? I will note, this same cable worked flawlessly with an unmodded 800XL. Edited June 5, 2023 by Serpentor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Serpentor said: I installed the UAV this afternoon exactly as explained in the manual and have a black screen. I did the DIN install as instructed, ran wires where it said to do so, and have nothing. Any ideas what I'm missing? The TV goes from waiting for input to receiving something, but the screen is black. I built the cable myself. The cable has the white and red audio lines tied together on the correct pin, ground on the correct pin, and composite on the correct pin. The instructions mention "some cables on ebay route ground to one of the cables." Is that my problem? I will note, this same cable worked flawlessly with an unmodded 800XL. We really need pictures of your installation. Specifically, the jumper settings on the UAV, the wires connected to the terminal block, and a view of the DIN installation from the bottom. Did you remember to cut the motherboard trace as required, and did you verify that you interrupted continuity on that trace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, DrVenkman said: We really need pictures of your installation. Specifically, the jumper settings on the UAV, the wires connected to the terminal block, and a view of the DIN installation from the bottom. Did you remember to cut the motherboard trace as required, and did you verify that you interrupted continuity on that trace? I have made sure to cut the two traces that must be severed, and all soldered connections are solid and do not make contact with nearby contacts. I have even used a piece of electrical tape to make sure the UAV is not contacting any components underneath. All I can figure is the jumper settings they provided are incorrect for my revision of the board? Edited June 6, 2023 by Serpentor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 What on earth is that massive blob in the last photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 I assume some sort of paint on rubber insulation? There are a few other areas, including the pcb lug holes for the removed RF modulator, where it's painted. I've not come across this before. Care to enlighten us @Serpentor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, mimo said: What on earth is that massive blob in the last photo? It’s just liquid rubber. It peels off easily if I ever want to remove it. I put it there preemptively because I hope to make use of the empty space in the future. I’ve been reading a bit about software that came out for the PAL machines that was unavailable in the States, and that has me wondering. Don’t most modern tv’s accept both NTSC and PAL inputs with no problems? If so, maybe I should just use the PAL unit I have coming and give up on this. I have checked and rechecked all of my work and see no errors. If the PAL unit has a larger library of titles and will work fine on any modern tv, perhaps I’m wasting my time and should just use that. Edited June 6, 2023 by Serpentor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) It's personal preference I guess. I am in the UK and as such all the great games and demos coming out of Poland and Germany, etc from the last 30+ years for example are mainly PAL based, (Although some are coded to detect either NTSC or PAL, like The Last Squadron). If you are having issues with the NTSC one and habmve a working PAL one, it does seem the case that using the PAL as a donor doesn't make much sense. If your TV display can run PAL then great. I would say get a Sophia 2 DVI, but Simius has just literally sold the last one afaik. Unless the brewing academy still has some in stock. Edited June 6, 2023 by Beeblebrox 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 24 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said: It's personal preference I guess. I am in the UK and as such all the great games and demos coming out of Poland and Germany from the last 30+ years for example are mainly PAL based, (Although some are coded to detect either NTSC or PAL, like The Last Squadron). If you are having issues with the NTSC one and habmve a working PAL one, it does seem the case that using the PAL as a donor doesn't make much sense. If your TV display can run PAL then great. I would say get a Sophia 2 DVI, but Simius has just literally sold the last one afaik. Unless the brewing academy still has some in stock. It definitely seems to make the most sense, and I think a lot of people have achieved great video results by removing a single blurring resistor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 11 minutes ago, Serpentor said: It definitely seems to make the most sense, and I think a lot of people have achieved great video results by removing a single blurring resistor. Yup, the c109 ceramic cap. Removing it on the pal 600xl does make a difference. You'll also need to hook up chroma on the 600xl pal in order to use S-video BTW. I've done this with every 600xl I've owed so I can use my svideo cable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84XwomksB4c&t=264s 8.44m in 220uf electrolytic radial capacitor 75ohm carbon resistor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Beeblebrox said: Yup, the c109 ceramic cap. Removing it on the pal 600xl does make a difference. You'll also need to hook up chroma on the 600xl pal in order to use S-video BTW. I've done this with every 600xl I've owed so I can use my svideo cable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84XwomksB4c&t=264s 8.44m in 220uf electrolytic radial capacitor 75ohm carbon resistor meant also to append this: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 24 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said: meant also to append this: If I had anything capable of S-video, I would definitely do the upgrade. My tv has no S-video input, only a shared composite/component input, coax tuner input, and 4 HDMI ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) 49 minutes ago, Serpentor said: If I had anything capable of S-video, I would definitely do the upgrade. My tv has no S-video input, only a shared composite/component input, coax tuner input, and 4 HDMI ports. no worries, if you plan to just use composite then great. Edited June 6, 2023 by Beeblebrox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentor Posted June 21, 2023 Author Share Posted June 21, 2023 I tried another NTSC board and everything works, so it was definitely an issue with the earlier board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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