I think I have my work cut out for me.... Atari 800 arrives crushed.

[scm2000]

Well I expected some minor breakage on the bottom case, but the rest of the system intact.   Instead what arrived was a mostly crushed case..  ok so I wanted this to be a project machine... and so here it is

It does power up to memo pad, and all the keys on the keyboard work, and I do have all the keycaps -- found in the box or rattling inside the atari

 

I thought the 4 cards would be in cases, but there they are just bare boards... once I get it stable (I have to hold the microswitch down by hand to run it) I'll do a memory test, and other tests.

 

My thought in another thread about designing an alternate case for it and 3d printing it, has now become more likely to be what I do.

 

Oh... I am very sensitive to dust and other particulates, and my bodies dust detection system is off the scale.. so I'll also look at cleaning the thing.

 

[Beeblebrox]

Sorry to see it's sustained more damage since the listing state. How did the seller package it up, (as it is their responsibility to pack it so it stands a very high chance of not sustaining more damage than that which was advertised)? Granted, it is tricky to ship an already broken and brittle casing,... but still!! Sounds like the seller threw it in a box with next to no internal packaging. 

 

Glad it powers up. Very lucky the key caps didn't damage the plunger on transit. 

 

BTW the earlier releases of the 800 had the ram and os Rom module boards encased  in individual casings, but the later ones tended to just be open pcb module boards. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28 by Beeblebrox

[ScreamingAtTheRadio]

Oh, that sucks. My own 800 arrived in a similar state although not as bad. It's all too common for eBay purchases, that old plastic is extremely brittle.

 

As for the cards, if they don't work, I'd suggest an Incognito upgrade...

Edited May 28 by ScreamingAtTheRadio

[scm2000]

47 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said:

Sorry to see it's sustained more damage since the listing state. How did the seller package it up, (as it is their responsibility to pack it so it stands a very high chance of not sustaining more damage than that which was advertised)? Granted, it is tricky to ship an already broken and brittle casing,... but still!! Sounds like the seller threw it in a box with next to no internal packaging. 

 

Glad it powers up. Very lucky the key caps didn't damage the plunger on transit. 

 

BTW the earlier releases of the 800 had the ram and os Rom module boards encased  in individual casings, but the later ones tended to just be open pcb module boards. 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to be forgiving and not blame the seller.   They wrapped it in a double layer of a type of tubular bubble wrap, and then padded it in the box with newsprint.   I think one bad thing was the boat-anchor of a power supply was rather loose in the box, probably that's what did all the smashing.

 

[scm2000]

ok... so cosmetics aside...   It looks to be in working condition.   I attached my SDrive Max, a monitor cable to a LCD display, and it boots dos fine, and I was able to load MAC65 and assemble a moderately sized program I'm working on.    curious that the screen color at the dos prompt is green background with white characters, since on my 1200xl it's a blue background... I typed in and assembled the WUDSM color cycling sample program... It produces a convincing rainbow of colors... So I think the display circuitry is in good shape to.   In fact, the text display on the 800 looks crisper than on my 1200xl (I think that's been a complaint of the 1200xl's monitor output)

 

I think all I need to do, is further disassemble it, clean it a bit, and get to work designing a minimal case for it.   I might keep it fairly open, because the electronics has a nice look.  all I need really is a base, something to hold the keyboard at a nice angle.. and just keep my coffee cup away from it

[scm2000]

oh... a thing I wanted to ask... the TAB key is sticky.. that is you press it down and it doesn't spring up unless you pull on it... I think the spring in the key is OK,  but something sticky got in there.   Any suggestions on how to clean that?

[+MrFish]

21 minutes ago, scm2000 said:

I think one bad thing was the boat-anchor of a power supply was rather loose in the box, probably that's what did all the smashing.

This is an all-too-common occurrence, attributable particularly to the unlearned (inexperienced) and the uncaring (negligent).

 

[scm2000]

14 minutes ago, MrFish said:

This is an all-too-common occurrence, attributable particularly to the unlearned (inexperienced) and the uncaring (negligent).

 

If I buy another Atari 800, I'll ask them to tape the powersupplly to the inside of the box, or ship it separately (and pay extra for the shipping)...

[joeventura]

CA glue with spray accelerator,  sandpaper and spray paint.

 

I did mine in color shifting green/blue.

 

There was no salvaging it any other way

 

Good luck

Edited May 29 by joeventura

[scm2000]

21 minutes ago, joeventura said:

CA glue with spray accelerator,  sandpaper and spray paint.

 

I did mine in color shifting green/blue.

 

There was no salvaging it any other way

 

Good luck

I like the look!

[joeventura]

38 minutes ago, scm2000 said:

I like the look!

 

Thanks, I also made the LED blue and the cover was so destroyed I replaced it with acrylic.

Edited May 29 by joeventura

[+MrFish]

1 hour ago, joeventura said:

I did mine in color shifting green/blue.

57 minutes ago, joeventura said:

Thanks, I also made the LED blue and the cover was so destroyed I replaced it with acrylic.

It looks pretty nice from that picture. I like the clear card cover. They should have made them that way to begin with.

 

[Edit]

That cover is supposed to have some venting, though.

 

[+MrFish]

If some areas are a little too rough for paint to work, you can always go the ZZ Top route and lay down some fluffy kitty fur -- for that pimped-out too-cool to quit look.

 

 

[Beeblebrox]

5 hours ago, scm2000 said:

I'm going to be forgiving and not blame the seller.   They wrapped it in a double layer of a type of tubular bubble wrap, and then padded it in the box with newsprint.   I think one bad thing was the boat-anchor of a power supply was rather loose in the box, probably that's what did all the smashing.

 

That would do it. Newspaper is next to useless, and having a loose brick psu is a wreaking ball. Seen it happen so many times. It's avoidable and frustrates the hell out of me. Anyway, it is what it is now. 

[Beeblebrox]

5 hours ago, scm2000 said:

If I buy another Atari 800, I'll ask them to tape the powersupplly to the inside of the box, or ship it separately (and pay extra for the shipping)...

Just to add I've shipped and received many 800s and have a tried and tested way of doing it, and definite do not's. 

Any brick psu needs to be heavily wrapped in bubblewrap, kept well away from the casing and most importantly packed in with more bubblewrap and never allowed to get loose. Taping to the side of the box isn't gonna do it, (been there). It needs to have bubblewrap and nothing else packed around it so it simply cannot get loose. 

 

I shared it all here, (where, again, I've shipped a lot of these heavy 800's myself):

 

And here:

Basically, to quote from my post in the latter:

 

 

Yup, there are tried and tested way to ensure the chances of damage are minimised. Even if the seller thinks they are packing it well, they often don't take into account several factors, not least the machine's own weight and momentum, oritentation and also shipping box size/packaging materials.

 

Key points to request from the seller  - especially if shipping from overseas - which is in their best interests also:

 

• (If not USA based....) Tell them to keep the US PSU. As far as using it in the UK you won't really need to figure out how to, as a cheap and reliable replacement psu, or one you already might have for a 1050 drive for example, will suffice. Plus the original brick PSU is a total wreaking ball. If it rests on any part of the keyboard or casing it can do damage. If it gets loose..... well you may as well just put the machine in a spin drying on max. Guaranteed damage!! If you aren't ever gonna use the US PSU in the UK, no need to risk having it included. The seller can just sell it on, (which can be a good way to bring the price down a little).  
• Ask that the computer is shipped centered in an oversized box, on it's base. It's vital it's shipped on it's base and not on it's side or end. If it's shipped on it's end it'll break under it's own weight. Had this happen many many times with 800s over the years.
• Shipped centered in the box with clearance is also vital. If the casing is touching the inside of the shipping box, any impact the box takes during transit gets transfered to the casing and ...damage occurs. (Again, had this happen many time with 800s where sellers just don't take this advice.
• Make sure the computer has at least 10cm, preferably 15cm of clearance all around when centered in the box. Again, any impact to the shipping box will transfer to the casing, so this minimises the chances of damage considerably if the computer isn't a tight fit in the box. The packaging cushions it from all sides.
• Plenty of bubblewrap around the machine itself, with tape ideally so it cannot get loose.. Also a piece of cardboard over the keys before being wrapped. For mitsumi keyboards this isn't so important, but the more common plunger type 800 keyboards (Stackpole and Hi-tek), have keycaps that can fall out easily. Damage can occur to the plungers if keycaps are rolling about inside or are at an angle. If you crack the already brittle plunger plastic it's a real pain to fix.
• Ask the rf cable and metal plug end is wrapped as it can scratch the casing if just bound up with it.
• Never use JUST foam/polystytrene packing peanuts/chips and nothing else. These might seem like a good idea, but under the weight of the machine these compress, becoming next to useless, or even if they don't, the machine can migrate around the box. (Think balls in a kids ball pit, where you can still move around). Same goes for newspaper, pretty useless for heavy machines like these, especially when it has so much movement over many hours in transit. The best combo I've found that works is lots of bubblewrap wrapped around the machine, then more bubblewrap packed around the machine when it's centered inside the box. Then - if you don't have much bubblewrap, use can do a combo of bubblewrap and polystyrene blocks/sheets. But never just packing peanuts/chips. 
• Lastly  - always ask the seller to put this way up and fragile signage on the box. Another good tip for machines coming overseas, is to ask the seller to put a note in for the customs to pack it they way they found it, just in case it's subjected to a spot check. 
•  

Some sellers get really irate if you ask them for this. They point out things like "I've been selling/shipping items for years and had no issues, blah blah blah". That's all well and good but a lot won't have had experience with a 40+ year old Atari 800. Some don't care. Luckily most accomodate my requests and it all works out. Again, it's in their best interests as the seller for it to have the best chance of arriving intact.

Edited May 29 by Beeblebrox

[Beeblebrox]

5 hours ago, scm2000 said:

oh... a thing I wanted to ask... the TAB key is sticky.. that is you press it down and it doesn't spring up unless you pull on it... I think the spring in the key is OK,  but something sticky got in there.   Any suggestions on how to clean that?

It's very likey the white plunger the key cap sits in has a split. So where you press the key cap, it's pushing down into the plunger, widening the split, and the plunger wedges inside the plastic column it sits in. Common issue with these plunger style (hi-tek and stackpole) keyboards. 

 

See here as an example, we're splits are present in the corners of the white plunger.:

 

 

 

There are fixes. 

 

Edit: 

 

 

Edited May 29 by Beeblebrox

[+DavidMil2]

7 hours ago, scm2000 said:

Curious that the screen color at the dos prompt is green background with white characters, since on my 1200xl it's a blue background... 

 

Have you tried adjusting the color on you 800?  There should be a small round hole in the back of your 800 that goes through the aluminum case.  You can but a small screwdriver through

it and try turning it one way or the other to see if that helps the screen color.  To be safe you might want to use a plastic screw drive.  Shoving a metal object into an electrical device can

result in some little puffs of smoke and some very loud (and vulgar) comments! 

 

DavidMil2

[Beeblebrox]

42 minutes ago, DavidMil2 said:

Have you tried adjusting the color on you 800?  There should be a small round hole in the back of your 800 that goes through the aluminum case.  You can but a small screwdriver through

it and try turning it one way or the other to see if that helps the screen color.  To be safe you might want to use a plastic screw drive.  Shoving a metal object into an electrical device can

result in some little puffs of smoke and some very loud (and vulgar) comments! 

 

DavidMil2

Yup, sounds like the colour pot needs adjusting as mentioned above, and maybe just needing spraying with some contact cleaner or detoxit and rotating around a bit. 

 

This is what the pot looks like, (where this is an ntsc cpu personality board) :

 

 

[scm2000]

3 hours ago, Beeblebrox said:

Yup, sounds like the colour pot needs adjusting as mentioned above, and maybe just needing spraying with some contact cleaner or detoxit and rotating around a bit. 

 

This is what the pot looks like, (where this is an ntsc cpu personality board) :

 

 

When cold it powers up with a blue background.   as it warms up it turns a nice green.

So I used a non-conductive screwdriver I have for tuning radio circuits, and nice! it's a nice blue now.

[scm2000]

4 hours ago, DavidMil2 said:

Have you tried adjusting the color on you 800?  There should be a small round hole in the back of your 800 that goes through the aluminum case.  You can but a small screwdriver through

it and try turning it one way or the other to see if that helps the screen color.  To be safe you might want to use a plastic screw drive.  Shoving a metal object into an electrical device can

result in some little puffs of smoke and some very loud (and vulgar) comments! 

 

DavidMil2

yes just did. Thanks!

[scitari]

Been there.... Sorry this happened to you. So infuriating! 

[scm2000]

On 5/29/2024 at 1:43 AM, Beeblebrox said:

It's very likey the white plunger the key cap sits in has a split. So where you press the key cap, it's pushing down into the plunger, widening the split, and the plunger wedges inside the plastic column it sits in. Common issue with these plunger style (hi-tek and stackpole) keyboards. 

 

See here as an example, we're splits are present in the corners of the white plunger.:

 

 

 

There are fixes. 

 

Edit: 

 

 

I haven't take the keycap off yet, but when i disassembled the computer I found evidence inside the bottom case that some liquid was spilled in to that area of the keyboard.

[scm2000]

Disassembly was easy I followed the guide for the first 2 screws, for the rest all plastic posts that screws were screwed into were broken off their footing.   It sure looks like I can make a much smaller case for it.    The orange key caps are a puzzle to me... they don't attach to the key on the circuit board... it looks like they just push against them, but I'm not sure what held them in place to not just fall out if you tip the machine upside down.   That part of the top case seems to have vaporized.

 

 

Here is a view of the smithereens of the case... anything not shown here is crumbs.  oh... the flip-up lid is intact, but won't be part of the new case.

 

 

Edited May 31 by scm2000

[Beeblebrox]

@scm2000 awful sight to see the casing in pieces like this!!

 

So the orange console keys, (Start, select, option and reset), sit in the upper casing in resesses like this, (I've just taken a screenshot from my pdf guide and circled it in blue:

 

 

 

They engage with their respective switches on the power board, and are independent of the main keyboard 

 

 

The power light led emitted plastic unit also sits in the upper casing. See my guide.

Edited May 31 by Beeblebrox

[scm2000]

As I took it apart, I found that any pressure at all would snap pieces off the case. So it's not surprising that it did

not survive shipping.   The plastic was extremely brittle. 

 

Well the good thing out of this is the electronics seem fine, and there only needs to be some work on the tab key.

For designing a new case for it, I see one problem... It's not designed to have the electronics sit in the bottom case, from the

photos in @Beeblebrox's guide it looks like the electronics was only attached to the top case and hung from it.  The bottom just being a cover.

That would be hard to pull off in a 3d printed case, especially a multipart case.  So somehow I'll have to come up with a way to make a bottom cover that  has strategically placed posts that hold the electronics up above the bottom (for ventilation and I have noted, the bottom of the power board does get hot).   I'll print it in ABS to make it easy to weld

the pieces together, plus it will itself not be as brittle as a PLA plastic case.