Atari 800 top cover

[deffroe]

Evening all,

 

I recently finally bought myself an Atari 800 which has been away in storage until today.  It's a NTSC flavour which I'm planning to convert to PAL.

 

The top cover is held in place with a single screw.  I had already bought a multi pack of screws with thos hope at least one of the sizes would match but it's a reverse Goldilocks, they are either too big or too small and none of them are just right 😕.  Are there any UK based owners on here that have had to source them also, have a link or location or correct size measurements.

 

Must say too, I can see why its described as a tank, I'm gonna have to remove EVERYTHING from my desk to make space for it.  It's huuuge!!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Phil

[Beeblebrox]

50 minutes ago, deffroe said:

Evening all,

 

I recently finally bought myself an Atari 800 which has been away in storage until today.  It's a NTSC flavour which I'm planning to convert to PAL.

 

The top cover is held in place with a single screw.  I had already bought a multi pack of screws with thos hope at least one of the sizes would match but it's a reverse Goldilocks, they are either too big or too small and none of them are just right 😕.  Are there any UK based owners on here that have had to source them also, have a link or location or correct size measurements.

 

Must say too, I can see why its described as a tank, I'm gonna have to remove EVERYTHING from my desk to make space for it.  It's huuuge!!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Phil

See my pdf guide in my signature for tips on opening this up. If you need any tips converting it to pal then let me know. I've converted ntsc 800s to pal. Depending on the cpu board you have it can be a relatively quick job. 

 

You'll need:

A pal sys clock crystal 

PAL OS Rom module

PAL cpu board or convert the ntsc cpu board if it is the model that has the pcb placeholders for the resistors, capacitors and colour burst crystal, etc. 

PAL gtia and pal antic

 

If you have one of the ntsc cpu personality boards that can't be converted then you'll need to source a pal cpu personality board, or you can buy a sccpu board from tf_hh in Germany. 

 

Re the top cover, I assume you are taking about the two screws that secure the top cart bay down? Tbh you don't really need the screws for this as the unit has tabs that insert into the alloy Faraday cage and then the front engages with the cart bay door push button. 

 

Or are you referring to the whole top case? 

 

Also, presumably you have the correct 9vAC psu all ready to go? I can recommend a great modern ac psu I use all the time for 800s and 400s.

 

Edited July 17 by Beeblebrox

[deffroe]

3 minutes ago, Beeblebrox said:

See my pdf guide in my signature for tips on opening this up. If you need any tips converting it to pal then let me know. I've converted ntsc 800s to pal. Depending on the cpu board you have it can be a relatively quick job. 

 

You'll need:

A pal sys clock crystal 

PAL OS Rom module

PAL cpu board or convert the ntsc cpu board if it is the model that has the pcb placeholders for the resistors, capacitors and colour burst crystal, etc. 

PAL gtia and pal antic

 

If you have one of the ntsc cpu personality boards that can't be converted then you'll need to source a pal cpu personality board, or you can buy a sccpu board from tf_hh in Germany. 

 

Re the top cover, I assume you are taking about the two screws that secure the top cart bay down? Tbh you don't really need the screws for this as the unit has tabs that insert into the alloy Faraday cage and then the front engages with the cart bay door push button. 

 

Or are you referring to the whole top case? 

 

Also, presumably you have the correct 9vAC psu all ready to go? I can recommend a great modern ac psu I use all the time for 800s and 400s.

 

Yes its the 2 cart cover screws, I think it would bug me if I don't have it screwed down properly, it's held by one screw and washer at the mo.

Regarding PSU, I used a 1050 psu to test it when it forst arrived but do need to source a dedicated supply for it.  I'm plannig  to open it up fully pretty soon, just need to reorganise my desk space for it, so will check which boards are installed and post photos.

 

Thanks

 

Phil

[deffroe]

Are the cart cover screws, well I guess are all of the screw imperial or metric?  I've tried M3's (too small) and M4(too big) so was planning to pick up some M3.5's tomorrow.

[Beeblebrox]

22 minutes ago, deffroe said:

Yes its the 2 cart cover screws, I think it would bug me if I don't have it screwed down properly, it's held by one screw and washer at the mo.

Regarding PSU, I used a 1050 psu to test it when it forst arrived but do need to source a dedicated supply for it.  I'm plannig  to open it up fully pretty soon, just need to reorganise my desk space for it, so will check which boards are installed and post photos.

 

Thanks

 

Phil

I am sure I have the screws. Pm me. 

 

A 1050 9v ac psu is fine  and I have a great modern equivalent ideal for the 800, used by me all the time. I'll dig out the link. 

 

Check out my pdf guide in my signature as I say. It's the incognito guide but the opening  up guide is the bit you want. 

 

The key thing is to acertain the cpu personality board situation as previously mentioned. 

 

FYI I have loads of colourburst crystals so can spare you one. However the sys clock crystal you can only get from  a pal 600xl/800xl, pal 800 or a 2600 jnr console. 

 

Edit:

 

So here is the modern 9v ac psu you'll need:

 

https://poweradaptorsuk.co.uk/products/2000ma-2a-9v-18va-ac-ac-ac-output-mains-power-adaptor

 

And here is the barrel plug adapter you'll need to convert it to 2.5mm:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174950199535

 

Edited July 17 by Beeblebrox