I've been interested in the Atari ST for decades., but I know little about them. While not as difficult to find in the US as Amiga computers, I spent most of the last year biding my time waiting to find just the right unit at just the right price... last Sunday was my big day. A local seller bought a warehouse and was parting out items from inside - I picked up a pair of untested Atari 520ST, a pair of floppy drives, to PSUs, and two mice ($300). So far, this has been a journey full of surprises, so I decided to try and poke this otherwise quiet sub-forum with a bit of a vanity post and a few questions to help guide me on my way.
I have an Ultrasatan and video cables on order, I hope to have them next week. I'm itchy to get started but without the video cables, there isn't much I can do.
Unit one: Atari 520
This cleaned up unbelievably well - the case is in pristine condition, and aside from some yellowing on the keyboard, I have absolutely no complaints about this. As a bog-standard ST without an RF modulator, there's literally nothing I can do except power it on until a video cable arrives (the power light activates... and that's it). When I opened it, I found a couple of surprises:
I know enough from watching YouTubes that the center "mess" is a memory upgrade of some kind. I know they came in many different flavors. Any ideas, speculations, or advice? The paper label beneath the wires reads "Repaired 1-3-89 -REK 43,431"
The ROMs also seem to have been "touched" - I notice someone wrote sequence numbers on them, and the top one looks like a programmable aftermarket ROM, right?
Unit Two: Atari 520STfm (or is it?)
Again, an absolutely beautiful case, the interior posts are sturdy and present, the only problem I've encountered is that one of the drive posts broke off of the motherboard, but it fits just fine "floating" until the screw is fastened in place. This unit does have an RF modulator, and despite getting both the drive and power light when I power on... no screen at all. Not even a flicker or recognition from the reliable little CRT TV that I use for this sort of thing. I'll be waiting for the video cable as a secondary test, but I don't know what to expect when the time comes if I continue to have no video signal.
I took it apart to get a look at the caps and the layout was confusing me based on what I saw online - then I realized the answer was staring me right in the face - this is not an Atari ST520fm...
Again, kind of exciting to have this secret "upgrade" hiding in this case. I keep wondering, considering how beautiful this case is... do I try and find a partner to swap cases with so I can have a proper 1040STfm case? Keep it and see if I can remove and replace the label with a 1040STfm label? Or not be a spaz and just leave it well enough alone?
Oh, one other question - floppy drive cables seem priced really high at around $40 pre shipping. I get it, what the market can bear etc - but if anyone has any tips/guides to either making my own or suggest an alternative I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, I'll lean in and just spend the money on a cable.
Anyway, thanks for indulging - I'd love to hear any comments or thoughts you might have about what I should be prepared for, look into - etc. And who knows, perhaps we don't have an ST "gang" here on TinkerDifferent, that's cool too. Just testing the water.
I have an Ultrasatan and video cables on order, I hope to have them next week. I'm itchy to get started but without the video cables, there isn't much I can do.
Unit one: Atari 520
This cleaned up unbelievably well - the case is in pristine condition, and aside from some yellowing on the keyboard, I have absolutely no complaints about this. As a bog-standard ST without an RF modulator, there's literally nothing I can do except power it on until a video cable arrives (the power light activates... and that's it). When I opened it, I found a couple of surprises:
I know enough from watching YouTubes that the center "mess" is a memory upgrade of some kind. I know they came in many different flavors. Any ideas, speculations, or advice? The paper label beneath the wires reads "Repaired 1-3-89 -REK 43,431"
The ROMs also seem to have been "touched" - I notice someone wrote sequence numbers on them, and the top one looks like a programmable aftermarket ROM, right?
Unit Two: Atari 520STfm (or is it?)
Again, an absolutely beautiful case, the interior posts are sturdy and present, the only problem I've encountered is that one of the drive posts broke off of the motherboard, but it fits just fine "floating" until the screw is fastened in place. This unit does have an RF modulator, and despite getting both the drive and power light when I power on... no screen at all. Not even a flicker or recognition from the reliable little CRT TV that I use for this sort of thing. I'll be waiting for the video cable as a secondary test, but I don't know what to expect when the time comes if I continue to have no video signal.
I took it apart to get a look at the caps and the layout was confusing me based on what I saw online - then I realized the answer was staring me right in the face - this is not an Atari ST520fm...
Again, kind of exciting to have this secret "upgrade" hiding in this case. I keep wondering, considering how beautiful this case is... do I try and find a partner to swap cases with so I can have a proper 1040STfm case? Keep it and see if I can remove and replace the label with a 1040STfm label? Or not be a spaz and just leave it well enough alone?
Oh, one other question - floppy drive cables seem priced really high at around $40 pre shipping. I get it, what the market can bear etc - but if anyone has any tips/guides to either making my own or suggest an alternative I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, I'll lean in and just spend the money on a cable.
Anyway, thanks for indulging - I'd love to hear any comments or thoughts you might have about what I should be prepared for, look into - etc. And who knows, perhaps we don't have an ST "gang" here on TinkerDifferent, that's cool too. Just testing the water.
