Expansion port on 7800

[Lastblade]

Okay, I guess I have the original 1984 7800. I always thought the expansion port is cool but useless, was there ANYTHING made for that sexy plug?

[Atari 7800.com]

I hate to tell you but that sexxxy plug is pretty useless. Atari, under Warner Communications, had been discussing many peripherals and components that were to utilize the expansion port, however when Atari fell under Tramiel control, these great ideas were scrapped within days.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the Atari 7800 KeyBoard was not designed to be plugged into this side port. It was to plug into a joystick port, just like the ProLine controllers. I believe that the expansion port would have been used to connect to existing Atari thermal printers and disc drives?

 

I have also heard *rumors* about talk of a future add-on laserdisc component which was to sit under the 7800. This was to be the first "cd" component on a game system, years before Turbo Grafx-16 or Sega released their versions. These are just rumors, and I can't back it up with actual proof, but I have heard this from a few too many knowledgeable Atari historians and former employees to dismiss it. It would have been really cool to see that release though!

 

Dont have too much fun with that expansion port.

 

 

Justin

Atari 7800.com

[Viso]

I looked at the schematics for the system some, and unless I'm mistaken, the port doesn't even offer a connection to any of the data and address lines in the system. Instead, it seems to be a way by which an external device can provide RF audio and Maria style video to the RF modulator in the 7800. I don't understand the usefullness of doing that from a techcnical standpoint.

[DanBoris]

The expansion port mainly has audio/video connections on it. For example there is a composite output, and video outputs directly from the Maria chip. What's interesting is the EXTMEM and RDY signals which are related to the processor. There signals are pretty useless on thier own so I have to assume that the idea was to in some cases use this expansion port along with the cart slot which provides the full data and address bus from the processor.

 

Dan

[atari70s]

u hate to say it unless you look at the board itself(7800) you wont know if its a 1984 system.i have a 1987 with the port also. so if you want open up the 7800 and look for a date on teh 7800 board email me Braves4515@aol.com and letme know

[King Atari]

"Luncheon meats make the sawdust in your stomach explode."  

-- Crow T. Robot

 

Lol, nice quote!