6 replies to this topic

[Tickled_Pink]

I think I asked a similar question about the 1050 some time ago (can't remember the answer I was given though). There is a shortage in the UK of decent Atari stuff (when hasn't there EVER been) and not much hardware is appearing on ebay.co.uk at the minute.

So I'm just wondering what hardware sold in the US would actually work in the UK with a suitable power supply or power inverter?

[GroovyBee]

Tickled_Pink, on Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:10 PM, said:

There is a shortage in the UK of decent Atari stuff (when hasn't there EVER been) and not much hardware is appearing on ebay.co.uk at the minute.

Quite a few Atari machines were up on ebay.co.uk earlier tonight.

[Tickled_Pink]

Probably the two days of free listings that did it. There's even an XF551.

I don't actually have the cash at the minute. It's an academic question for future reference.

[MEtalGuy66]

XF551 will work just fine.. If it's an NTSC (north american) unit and you want to use it in europe, just replace the ROM with the HyperXF ROM.. It fixes all the annoying firmware bugs, and makes the drive work fine in either PAL or NTSC environments..

All of the PAL stuff I have ever got from Europe (ATARIs, AMIGAs, etc.) seems to work fine here in North America.. I just use a North American PSU, and a Commdore (or similar) monitor that is capable of true PAL and NTSC scan-rates.. I have never had a problem.. I dont see why you couldn't employ the reverse strategy when using North American stuff in the UK..

[Philsan]

I agree with MEtalGuy66.
BTW, I had problems with an American XF551.
I solved them burning the attached "PAL" rom image that solves SIO bus timing issues.

Attached Files

•  XF551pal.zip   2.59K   17 downloads

[Tickled_Pink]

I think someone mentioned that it was a timing issue with NTSC 1050s. Is there a way to replace the ROM in those or would it require a hardware hack?

Not many 551s going at the minute (just one faulty unit).

To be honest I don't have the room for another monitor. I am thinking that a modern LCD TV should be able to handle the refresh rates, particularly as most can be used as a PC monitor.


EDIT: Just found a working XF551. I'm not planning on paying £150 for one though.

[MEtalGuy66]

"faulty" XF551s are wirth every penny.. Theres only a few things that ever go wrong with them.. 9 times out of ten, they are really easy to fix.