ataridude.net

Creating and using disk images

Daniel — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0400

I recently discovered Mikey Walters's Atari BASIC series, and my sons and I went through the tutorials, learning a lot about Atari BASIC along the way. We typed in most of the program, but I also wanted to try Mikey's revised version.

I downloaded the BASIC files for Mikey's game …Continue reading

Mounting disks with FujiNet web interface

Daniel — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0400

I have mentioned it before, but the FujiNet is a really cool device that sits at the crossroads of two of my main interests: Atari computers and computer networking.

Thom Cherryhomes is one of the project's leads, and he has some great videos about the FujiNet.

I bought one a …Continue reading

S-video - wow!

Daniel — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0400

Over the weekend, a friend came over and we started modding more systems -- right now at my house I have a total of three Atari 2600s and five Atari 5200s. Two of each are mine and the rest belong to my friend.

First thing we did was to drill all …Continue reading

Another UAV-modded 2600

Daniel — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0400

My Vader 2600, the first system I modded with UAV, was not known good when I started. In fact, I bought it because the seller listed it as nonfunctional, and these things seem to run forever so I didn't believe his ad for a nonfunctional 2600.

The modified Vader has …Continue reading

Telnetting via FujiNet

Daniel — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0400

The FujiNet is a very cool peripheral available for 8-bit Atari systems.

Somewhere along the way, I learned of the ability to telnet over the FujiNet.

The requirements are simple:

A FujiNet device
A terminal program
Something to telnet into

For the first requirement, I have a FujiNet device.

For …Continue reading

RetroTINK & s-video

Daniel — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0400

My Atari 800 is modified with UAV (on the SCCC board) and Incognito. Today I decided to connect my 800 to my 43" Vizio TV (the TV I use with my 2600/5200) to see just how much difference S-video makes.

In a word: WOW!

The lines are much crisper …Continue reading

RetroTINK 2X mini

Daniel — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0400

As I mentioned in my previous update, my Vizio TV does not like the UAV's composite output: the 5200's output is very jumpy. The 2600's output is not solid either, but it acts differently from the 5200.

Somewhere in the last month, I learned about RetroTINK products, which are designed …Continue reading

Jumpy video from 5200

Daniel — Mon, 10 May 2021 00:00:00 -0400

Since completing the UAV & power mods on my 5200, I have noticed that the 5200's video output is very jumpy on my Vizio D43fx-F4 TV. I took a slow-motion-video that demonstrates the problem.

I have learned that Vizio TVs often have trouble with the composite output produced by the UAV …Continue reading

UAV mods & 4-port power bypass

Daniel — Wed, 05 May 2021 00:00:00 -0400

Recently, a friend came over and we modified his spare 4-port 5200 with both the power mod and UAV (composite only), and the only thing we didn't finish was soldering the UAV onto the 4050. The results on his system were pretty good, and they gave me the confidence to …Continue reading

Incognito drive emulation

Daniel — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:00:00 -0400

A while ago, I bought the excellent Incognito for my 800 and installed it into my system. I have used it mostly for cartridge emulation, but recently my children have started to program the 800 in Atari BASIC, so I needed to come up with a better way to save …Continue reading

UAV mods

Daniel — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 00:00:00 -0400

The Atari 2600 and 5200 game systems are my all-time favorites -- the 2600 because the games are so simple, and it is simply amazing what developers have done with the meager resources available on that system. The 5200 because those are the games I remember. To me, the 5200 versions …Continue reading

Starting my journey

Daniel — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 00:00:00 -0400

My journey started 10-15 years ago, when I bought an XEGS from an eBay seller. I have used that XEGS as a cartridge console gamine system, with classic favorites such as Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Defender, Joust, and of course Missile Command. Until recently, this was my only Atari system.

I …Continue reading