Recent 800 acquisitions

[Mr.Toast]

I'm from the CBM bubble-and this is my first tentative step into the land of Antic and Pokey... (please be gentle)

Recently acquired two 800s, a 1050 drive and a 410 cassette. Right now it's pretty much chucked into a flea market box as purchased-but I'd like to get these re-capped, refreshed and scrubbed up. One is missing a few keys and I'm hopeful I can get at least one of them working for a good shakedown to see what the fuss was about. After I dabble with them for a bit, I'll probably pass them on to somebody who will give it a good home. In the meantime, it will be fun to explore and experience the 'dark side'...'the others'... the ones we sparred with in epic flame wars on long forgotten BBS's back in the day

I blame Jan Beta for the inspiration.

I've got three original PSUs that all pass the multimeter test-which I assume is a good sign. However, past experience has taught me that PSUs really need some warm up and loading to give them a good shakedown.

My question for this audience is simple: Is there a substantial risk in plugging in an old PSU (like the magic smoke of a C64 from a failed PSU)? Or are these things just generally hardy-less some crusty old caps?

Any other warnings before proceeding to the temples of the enemy territory for this weary old C64 and Amiga guy?

Thanks for any advice!
Toast

[PhilC]

Hi Toast,

Some say that the ingot snapped psu is a possible machine killer but apparently that's machines from the US market, so it will depend where you are from and exactly which machine you have.

I have an old 800 (not XL) and the psu for that is a simple step down transformer, 9VAC, with nothing else inside, however, the 800XL ones are DC, so id expect a rectifier, caps etc inside but saying that, with my UK machines all my power supplies have worked ok.

If in doubt, it won't hurt to wire up a load to the psu and run it till it warms up, whilst monitoring the voltage. But as I say, no problems so far with any of mine.

Good luck with the Ataris.

[rubber_jonnie]

I'm still running an original 800XL PSU with both my 800XL and my 65XE (I've owned from new) with no problems. My experience of Atari 8bit PSUs has been nothing but good, and I've had 8 Bits for over 30 years. I'm in the UK BTW.

That being said, it is always worthwhile to dismantle and check there is no dirt/debris lying around that could cause a short.

I've not yet had to recap my 8 bit machines, but it is always a worthwhile endeavour, however you should ensure you use good quality replacements with low ESR, especially in power supplies.

I'd avoid using the tape deck, unless you want to wait for hours to load stuff!! Floppy drives are good though, the 1050 is a good drive. However I'd recommend getting an SIO to SD device, it really does help when it comes to loading. Atarimax is a good site to visit too, some great stuff there.

Good luck with them, they are great machines.

[Mr.Toast]

Awesome for all the info. Yes, I am in the USA and will be double check and make sure there is nothing rattling. I did run all the bricks for a bit to verify consistent voltage levels. They're not spot on with 9vac but none seemed to be above 9.6vac and these machines look chunky enough to withstand some larger tolerances.

Thanks for the tips on the SD card reader as there's little love for floppy/tape media in my 21st century impatience.