exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Hi there,

I am new to this forum, but not new to Atari computers. I started back in about 1981 when my dad bought an Atari 800 with a 410 Cassette desk and an 810 disk drive. I was so happy. He, however, didn't like the constant clicking of the machine's keys, so he made a speaker that muted the sound with the flip of a switch on the side, allowing me to do my homework at night (and I did). Anyway, I eventually got an Atari 520ST and then a 1040STe years later. I however didn't go any further (which I did want to). I now use the hAtari emulator and Altirra for emulators for the machines. I hope someday to get "new" Atari stuff to run the software on a real machine.

I live in the US where there isn't as big of a following as in the UK and other parts of the world (at least it seems that way to me).

Greetings, and welcome...! :)

:welcomewave:

Welcome to the forum!

:welcomewave:

Darklord wrote: 14 Apr 2025 20:52 Greetings, and welcome...! :)

Thank-you

stephen_usher wrote: 14 Apr 2025 23:25 :welcomewave:

Thank-you

JezC wrote: 14 Apr 2025 21:10 :welcomewave:

Welcome to the forum!

Thank-you

:welcomewave:

Welcome! I always love hearing these stories of experiencing the machines "organically" during their original run.

I was born in 1989, but since my family was lower middle class at the time, I got to also experience previous generation 8-bit systems. Our first consoles were an Atari 2600, NES, and our first computer was a second hand C64 we found at a yard sale when it was already about 10 years old.

I got my 520 STFM much later in life, and would love to some day get an Atari 800XL or something.

Always love nerding out about retro gear and everyone's favorite games and utilities on these old machines - especially through the lens of the 80s when they were the latest and greatest still at the time! It really is a completely different experience now with all these hardware fixes, modern storage addons, newer software, etc.

Welcome to the forum!

Did he like the key click sound on the ST? It's such a quirky sound. The ST's unique looking function keys make the same sound when you remove them and drop them in a parts container. I've always wondered if this is a coincidence or not!

I too love the stories from back in the day!