joeventura Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 So I work for a hospital, I was walking by one of the rooms that contains the TV "head end" equipment for the TVs in the patients rooms. On a set of shelves was this unit, an identical one labeled Typewriter and two XF551s and some modulators. Good news is tomorrow they will all be mine as they have been offline for years!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Nice. I hope you realise that the first thing we'll want is a picture of the innards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 Nice. I hope you realise that the first thing we'll want is a picture of the innards. Expect a full dissection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Very nice find... seems all the Atari units were popular as re-branded video equipment. The ST series was also used heavily as Autodata workstations in auto repair shops. Here are some pictures of an Atari 800 and 800XL that were modified for similar use: http://www.atarimax.com/technfo/cgixl/ Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Really interesting stuff. I don't have a pic, but ST's were also supposedly popular in the late 80's with drag racers who used them to download and analyze engine and fuel system (etc.) data that was monitored during the runs. (I've been a drag racing fan of the Nitro categories for many years.) -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEtalGuy66 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) WD40 or mineral spirits will take that black spraypaint right off.. Just spray it on it coats, let it set for a few minutes, wipe with a rag and repeat.. When you get as much off as you can, that way, get a toothbrush and dip it in fresh stuff, and scrub down in the cracks to remove the last remaining bits.. When all the black is gone, wash the whole thing with hot soapy water, and let it dry.. I bet its PRESTINE grey underneath.. SPraypaint does an excellent job of preserving the plastic.. Edited January 27, 2011 by MEtalGuy66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I am still trying to find out what software my local cable (Marks Cablevision in Green Ohio) company used. It was around 1985, and our school gave us a tour of the cable company. They had several Atari 8-bits in the back. It was not the EPG Jr. software. It used the standard font, and all text was in standard 40*24 (Graphics 0). There was a static header, mid screen had the main information, and the bottom had a smooth scroller. The in between sections were divided using ATASCII block characters, possibly using a redefined font. Does this sound familiar to anybody? I know John Harris (Frogger guy) wrote display software for the A8s for quite some time, but The Google has not turned up anything useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Very nice find... seems all the Atari units were popular as re-branded video equipment. The ST series was also used heavily as Autodata workstations in auto repair shops. Here are some pictures of an Atari 800 and 800XL that were modified for similar use: http://www.atarimax.com/technfo/cgixl/ Steve Steve - can you post some screenshots of the output of that software? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 It's a shame Atari hadn't made the XEs black to start with: it would have saved us a fortune on creme peroxide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) Ok so I just picked them up, dont have them home yet (still at work) But I got two of the units, one looks standard just painted and the other looks highly modified. Also got two XF551's and an XDM121 Printer I have attached a picture to whet your appetite about the modified unit. So far all I know is they were done by Master Video Systems of Dallas TX Edited January 27, 2011 by joeventura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBuell Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I am still trying to find out what software my local cable (Marks Cablevision in Green Ohio) company used. It was around 1985, and our school gave us a tour of the cable company. They had several Atari 8-bits in the back. It was not the EPG Jr. software. It used the standard font, and all text was in standard 40*24 (Graphics 0). There was a static header, mid screen had the main information, and the bottom had a smooth scroller. The in between sections were divided using ATASCII block characters, possibly using a redefined font. Does this sound familiar to anybody? I know John Harris (Frogger guy) wrote display software for the A8s for quite some time, but The Google has not turned up anything useful. Ski Brule had some kind of 8-bit running their "local information" channel. They accidentally left it on the menus one night so all anyone could read was "Press SELECT for ...(something)" "Press OPTION for (something else)" I don't remember what the options were now. This would have been 1988 or 1989. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathy Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hello guys ANTIC had a few stories like these. And IIRC Lance Ringquist of Video61 mentioned a hospital using Atari 8 bit computers too. sincerely Mathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 So you open it up and first thing you notice is the board on top. They don't look like Eproms. I will post the numbers printed on top of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Pull off the board, cartridge edge connectors were desoldered.... Blue wire goes to the power DC+ Green to ground.... Flip the board over and they are wired directly to the data pins on the Joystick ports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 Oh by the way its a 130XE (64 X 4) under the hood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classics Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Steve - can you post some screenshots of the output of that software? I'm not sure I actually own the cartridge anymore, and if I do its in storage somewhere. However I do have a copy of the rom dump I made of the cartridge, which I will attach. So you open it up and first thing you notice is the board on top. They don't look like Eproms. I will post the numbers printed on top of them Muxes to control multiple devices via serial? :-) Can't wait to see the details on how this setup works. Steve cgixl_mdump.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 So, are the joystick ports the only things connected to the board other than power? First guess would have been those ICs being some sort of serial interfaces but only 8 bits I/O shared between them wouldn't make sense. Plus you'd probably want some sort of clock signal going to them. Maybe they're just some sort of multiplexing latches where e.g. you use 4 bits to control which 4 bits of latch you're looking at (giving 16 bits of I/O at the cost of 8 bits on the Atari side) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeventura Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) So, are the joystick ports the only things connected to the board other than power? First guess would have been those ICs being some sort of serial interfaces but only 8 bits I/O shared between them wouldn't make sense. Plus you'd probably want some sort of clock signal going to them. Maybe they're just some sort of multiplexing latches where e.g. you use 4 bits to control which 4 bits of latch you're looking at (giving 16 bits of I/O at the cost of 8 bits on the Atari side) That is correct, no clock, the chips read: SCL 4514 BC 8615 851918 Which is a CMOS 4 to 16 line Decoder with latch per This datasheet Edited January 28, 2011 by joeventura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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